Title: All's Fair in Love and WarAuthor: Virginia Heath
Series: Miss Prentice's Protegees #1
Pages: 384
Publication Date: May 28, 2024
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Historical
Synopsis:
A new Regency romp of a series, about governess who believes in cultivating joy in her charges, clashes with the children’s uncle who hired her, only to find herself falling in love.
When the flighty older sister of former naval captain, Henry Kincaid, decides on a whim to accompany her explorer husband on an expedition to Egypt, he finds himself unwittingly left in the lurch with her three unruly children and her giant, mad dog. With no clue how to manage the little rascals, a busy career at the Admiralty that requires all of his attention, and no idea when his sister is coming back, Harry has to hire an emergency governess to ensure that everything in his ordered house continues to run shipshape. In desperation, he goes to Miss Prentice’s School for Girls prepared to pay whatever it takes to get a governess quick sharp to bring order to the chaos.
Thanks to her miserable, strict upbringing, fledgling governess Georgina Rowe does not subscribe to the ethos that children should be seen and not heard. She believes childhood should be everything that hers wasn’t, filled with laughter, adventure, and discovery. Thankfully, the three Pendleton children she has been tasked with looking after are already delightfully bohemian and instantly embrace her unconventional educational ethos. Their staid, stickler-for-the-rules uncle, however, is another matter entirely…
This blog uses affiliate links for some book recommendations, and if you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission. Thanks for supporting this little bookish corner of the internet!
This is the first book in Virginia Heath’s new historical romance series, and I was excited to read it after enjoying her Merriwell Sisters series. Heath writes such lovely romances, and I really enjoyed this one! It kind of reminds me of The Sound of Music with the military and ordered MMC and the free-spirited governess, as well as the slow-burn, opposites attract feel to their romance.
A governess who hasn’t made it past the interview stage, Georgie is too opinionated and not traditional enough in her educational philosophies. Luckily, Henry is a bit desperate for a governess since his sister dropped her children off for an extended stay with him, and he needs to hire someone immediately. And luckily for Georgie, Henry’s impetuous charges thrive under her instruction. I liked Georgie a lot. She is intelligent and firm in her beliefs about teaching and interacting with children. She’s very different from the conservative military man who hired her. Henry is a good man, kind and caring, but he is very structured and controlled, which clashes with Georgie’s more relaxed attitude.
The banter between Georgie and Henry is great, and I liked all of their conversations about education, philosophy, what the kids were learning, and more. They have a ton of chemistry even though they are very different, and I think their differences and their growing closeness changes both of them for the better. And the kids are great! They’re wild and inquisitive and funny, and they bring a lot of life to Henry’s home, as does Georgie.
Overall, I enjoyed this story. It’s entertaining and fun, and the characters and romance are lovely. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.
- The romance.
- The kids.
- opposites attract
- slow burn
- boss/employee
When Virginia Heath was a little girl it took her ages to fall asleep, so she made up stories in her head to help pass the time while she was staring at the ceiling. As she got older, the stories became more complicated, sometimes taking weeks to get to the happy ending. Then one day, she decided to embrace the insomnia and start writing them down. Twenty books and two Romantic Novel of the Year Award nominations later, and it still takes her forever to fall asleep.
This sounds so fun! I love the Sound of Music comparison angle 😀
Me too! It was so fun!
I thought I followed you already ops sorry