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A review by bottleblondebookworm
Never Gamble Your Heart by Lindsay Lovise
4.5
I was so excited to be back in Lindsay Lovise's world of governess spies! I loved her debut, Never Blow a Kiss, and Never Gamble Your Heart was just as good!
We meet our FMC, gentlelady turned governess, Frankie Turner, in Never Blow a Kiss. After her sister goes missing, Frankie, a gifted mathematician, agrees to work for The Dove, the mysterious woman running the governess spy network, in exchange for her help in locating Frankie's sister. During her own investigation, she discovers that many gently bred young ladies of a more radical mind are being married off to old, lecherous, and v conservative men. The only connection, the men are all members of Jasper Jones' gambling hell. Luckily for Frankie, Jasper Jones has just taken custody of his 15 year old niece, Cecelia, and needs a governess. Sparks fly between the bespectacled, socially awkward, mathematician and the stern, finance minded, gambler.
I really liked Frankie. I was intrigued by her in the last book and very pleased that Never Gamble Your Heart was focused on her story. She's brilliant at maths but because she wears spectacles and stumbles over social conventions she's been told she'll never make a match and desires to write mathematical papers for the rest of her days. Seeing her growth throughout the book was wonderful. She starts to revel in her newfound confidence, as bolstered by Jasper and Cece, and leans into her personality instead of hiding behind it.
Jasper Jones is a rake of the highest order... or is he? Spoiler: the man is down bad for Frankie practically from first meeting, though the arrogance of the man? Off the charts for the first bit, but he's very quickly humbled by our mathematician and his scheming niece. Which brings me to my favorite character, Cecelia. At first, I found Jasper's niece to be an annoying little piece of the puzzle, but she very quickly became a favorite with her scheming and plotting to marry Jasper off so she can have a moment's peace! I imagine this to be v relatable for anyone who has been a 15 year old girl in the care of her grumpy uncle during the 19th century. She had some absolute bangers here, and I wouldn't be upset to see a story about her once she's debuted and looking for love herself. Hint, hint.
Slight spoiler: When Jasper confesses his love to Frankie she basically says, "thanks but no" and it's absolutely iconic. Girl panics and says peace out. To be fair, there's a lot going on such as murder at a house party, so really, Jasper, why would you chose this moment? It's still a gorgeous declaration and I loved it. I said he was gonna fall first and hard and he very much did.
If you enjoy comedic histroms with a side plot of mystery, pick up this series!
Thanks to Forever Publishing for the complimentary arc. All opinions are my own.
We meet our FMC, gentlelady turned governess, Frankie Turner, in Never Blow a Kiss. After her sister goes missing, Frankie, a gifted mathematician, agrees to work for The Dove, the mysterious woman running the governess spy network, in exchange for her help in locating Frankie's sister. During her own investigation, she discovers that many gently bred young ladies of a more radical mind are being married off to old, lecherous, and v conservative men. The only connection, the men are all members of Jasper Jones' gambling hell. Luckily for Frankie, Jasper Jones has just taken custody of his 15 year old niece, Cecelia, and needs a governess. Sparks fly between the bespectacled, socially awkward, mathematician and the stern, finance minded, gambler.
I really liked Frankie. I was intrigued by her in the last book and very pleased that Never Gamble Your Heart was focused on her story. She's brilliant at maths but because she wears spectacles and stumbles over social conventions she's been told she'll never make a match and desires to write mathematical papers for the rest of her days. Seeing her growth throughout the book was wonderful. She starts to revel in her newfound confidence, as bolstered by Jasper and Cece, and leans into her personality instead of hiding behind it.
Jasper Jones is a rake of the highest order... or is he? Spoiler: the man is down bad for Frankie practically from first meeting, though the arrogance of the man? Off the charts for the first bit, but he's very quickly humbled by our mathematician and his scheming niece. Which brings me to my favorite character, Cecelia. At first, I found Jasper's niece to be an annoying little piece of the puzzle, but she very quickly became a favorite with her scheming and plotting to marry Jasper off so she can have a moment's peace! I imagine this to be v relatable for anyone who has been a 15 year old girl in the care of her grumpy uncle during the 19th century. She had some absolute bangers here, and I wouldn't be upset to see a story about her once she's debuted and looking for love herself. Hint, hint.
Slight spoiler: When Jasper confesses his love to Frankie she basically says, "thanks but no" and it's absolutely iconic. Girl panics and says peace out. To be fair, there's a lot going on such as murder at a house party, so really, Jasper, why would you chose this moment? It's still a gorgeous declaration and I loved it. I said he was gonna fall first and hard and he very much did.
If you enjoy comedic histroms with a side plot of mystery, pick up this series!
Thanks to Forever Publishing for the complimentary arc. All opinions are my own.