The Governess Game

"This was a disappointment to say the least. After seeing these two meet in The Duchess Deal, I definitely expected myself to like this book more. Their meet cute had me sold but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to save this book from what it was. This story follows this girl named Alexandra who sold a book to this Duke named Chase and since then hasn’t gotten him out of her head. When she runs into him again, he asks her if she will become the governess to his kids. I am a sucker for the single parent trope. What I’m not a sucker for is a parent who doesn’t show love to his kids. It honestly made it so hard to sympathize with his character. Like I don’t care about your issues dude. That’s not an excuse not to show them love. What I’m learning about Tessa Dares book is her romances come off more lust based which as an emotional romance reader makes it harder for me to care about them. “I’m sexually attracted to you” just doesn’t make for an entertaining romance. Along with that, another thing I’m noticing is our protagonist are just these flawless sunshiny humans who have no internal conflict and instead it just relies on the male character having to grow. When a book is dual pov I expect both characters to have some internal conflict. Instead Alexandra was just there to help with Chase’s internal conflict without having any of her own. I gave this a 2.5 because at the end there were some scenes where the emotional element of the romance was kind of sweet and I liked those parts. Also I enjoyed the kids. Overall, this kind of just read like The Duchess Deal. If you loved that book you’ll probably love this one two. Both have these forced living situations, heroes who hate themselves, and a protagonist who shows them they’re worthy of love but I just didn’t pick this book up to read that one all over again. I’d like to give Tessa Dare one last chance but I have a feeling her books just aren’t for me."

"I by no means was expecting this to beat my all-time favourite book of Tessa Dare’s ([b:The Duchess Deal|33259027|The Duchess Deal (Girl Meets Duke, #1)|Tessa Dare|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1490030736l/33259027._SY75_.jpg|53979944]), but I at least wanted to like this, and regrettably I didn’t. It took almost a whole month to finish this short book. I’ll just start with the positives first:<br/><br/>I loved the heroine, Alex, who just loves loves, although she was more than a little naïve about Chase. After meeting him in the previous book at a bookshop, she and her group of friends refers to him simply as “The Bookshop Rake”. Rosamund and Daisy (Chase’s wards that come with his estate) are like Wednesday Adams on crack, they gave me LIFE! I liked the way they explained Alex’s backstory with her family as well.<br/><br/>What I didn’t care for as much (there is so many):<br/><br/>I wasn’t believing Chase’s ***** excuse that he would just suddenly get over not wanting to be in a relationship/wanting to get married and carry on the family name. It really irked me also that they didn’t explain who the parentage of the girls is (they don’t know the name of the two sisters’ mother or father even though the sisters remember their mother). I didn’t really get the reason he never had actual sex with women for a number of years, beyond not wanting children and disease. Also, Chase only mentioning once close to the end that he remembered who Alex was from the bookshop and hired her for the Rosamund and Daisy’s governess afterwards, was beyond confusing; if you didn’t have feelings for her right away, why not just tell her that you remembered her. Finally, I wouldn’t take back someone after the way he treated her close to the end of the book and just expected that giving her a gift would solve everything, especially after the lapse of time. She got over it reeeeeaaalll quick IMO. <br/><br/>In general, I’m just disappointed at this book, but hopefully the next one in the “Girl Meets Duke” series will be a better endeavour."

"I should not be surprised by how quickly I read this, considering I read the first in the series in a single day, but I really love these books and I can’t seem to get enough! I was charmed, and while I swooned over Chase, it was Alex I loved most. She was practical and strong willed, and I’ll take that over romantic any day. This was honest and funny and, more importantly, it’s a story about how we don’t need to let the past define us.<br/><br/>I will certainly be continuing the series, but in the mean time I will be getting my regency romance fix via the new season of Bridgerton! Happy TV release day to all those who celebrate."

"I really really really love Tessa Dare's writing. <br/><br/>This book felt so real to me. I fell in love with Alex, Chase, Daisy, and Rosamund. I think every time I pick up one of Tessa Dare's books, I know I'm going to be transported and its such an experience. <br/><br/>I adore that the girls aren't "proper" girls that they are fun and unique. They have very different interests that don't really fit into society for the 1800's and that is what makes them so special. Alex might end up being my favorite."