brandece1 's review for:

The Governess Game by Tessa Dare

5.0

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One of my personal reading goals for 2021 was to read a historical romance, and after much research I picked the first book in this series and fell absolutely in love with it. We meet Alex in the first book and get a glimpse of Chase. In that book Alex wasn't my favorite side character, so I didn't have the highest hopes for this book. I figured I would like it, but in the end I loved this one just as much as the first book. Were there some things I didn't love? Absolutely! Did I still give this book 5 stars? Heck yes. Not only did I really end up loving Alex so much, but I also love Chase (not as much as Ash from the first book), BUT there are two little girls that stole my heart in this book (truthfully I probably would have 4 stared this book if it wasn't for Roasmund and Daisey). I'm usually a sucker for grumpy men who have gotten custody of orphaned children. I love seeing how Chase's little grumpy heart just opened and how he try his best to deny it. The best part of this and example of Chase letting his walls down for the girls was Daisy and her doll. I literally laughed out loud every time Millicent (the doll) was mentioned. As far as troupes/premise; I don't know if this is a common troupe in historical because this is just my second historical, but I really enjoyed it. I loved Alex being a governess, I felt like even though that wasn't her professions, she settled into the role and I loved seeing her bond with the girls and I also loved that she found a way to teach them even when they were being "unruly". The chemistry and banter between Alex and Chase was through the roof. I enjoyed their love story, Alex was the perfect person for Chase and I loved seeing them come together. This book just like the first checked all of my romance must have boxes. It was steamy, sweet, swoony, and it was hilarious.