ARC Review: When a Duke Loves a Governess (Unlikely Duchesses #3) by Olivia Drake
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Series: Unlikely Duchesses #3
Author: Olivia Drake
Published July 27th 2021 by St. Martin's Press
Goodreads Synopsis
A stunning new Regency from beloved author Olivia Drake, When a Duke Loves a Governess...!
Tessa James has worked and planned tirelessly to open her own millinery shop. All she needs now is a loan from the lord who sired and abandoned her. The only problem is, she doesn’t even know his name. What’s a woman to do to find him but enter the aristocratic world by becoming a governess?
Guy Whitby, the new Duke of Carlin, has returned to London after years abroad to discover that his young daughter Sophy has become a wild-child known for scaring away every governess who's crossed his doorstep. When Tessa James applies for the job, he hires her in desperation despite his misgivings that she’s too bold and beautiful–and that she might be fibbing about her qualifications.
Their blooming attraction leads them on a completely unexpected path to love that neither wants to deny. But when an old enemy threatens Guy's family, their forbidden romance goes up in flames. Can they still learn to love and trust each other as forces try to tear them apart?
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
Tessa James wants to find her aristocratic father, who abandoned her mother while pregnant, and ask him for a loan so she can start her own millinery business, rather than being at the beck and call of others. She has scrimped and saved for years, and has a small savings pot, but needs to speed it up. The problem is, the only link she has to her father is a locket her mother gave her before she died, with a heraldic emblem on it. When Tessa overhears that the Duke of Carlin needs a new governess for his young daughter, Sophy, Tessa decides to try and blag her way in, and hopefully use the time to find her father. However, the growing attraction between herself and Guy, and the love and affection she feels for Sophy, soon make Tessa want more than just her own millinery business, and will the 'Carlin Curse' come back to haunt them?
This book was definitely my favourite of the series, even though I enjoyed all of the others. As soon as I had started it, and met Tessa, Guy, and Sophy, I was hooked, and one thing I will say for Olivia, she knows how to write families, and romances. Tessa and Sophy may have had a difficult start, with Sophy feeling unwanted by her father, hating being taken from her grandparents and elderly nursemaid when Guy returned from overseas, and had been running all her other governesses out of the home with her behaviour. She didn't want to like Tessa, and didn't make it easy for her, but with Tessa's history of living in an orphanage, and looking after the younger girls, she knew how to gain her trust, and later, her affection.
For Guy, he never expected to be duke, as the son of one of the younger sons, but when his uncles, father, and elder cousin died, his grandfather made him heir, and he had to return home for his travels looking at botany and wildlife abroad. All of his relatives seem to have died in weird or strange circumstances, and when his aunt proclaims that there is a curse on the family, Guy, with the help of Tessa, start to investigate it further. I will admit that I had guessed that the culprit was involved somehow, but not to the full extent of it all. Even so, I loved the mystery, and the resolution of it all, as well as how the truth of Tessa's heritage was. I never expected it all, especially when more is revealed about her mother's past, but it fit her perfectly, and, more importantly, fit the story. Tessa and Guy had a fantastic relationship, and I really appreciated the growth in their friendship first, then romance. They both truly cared for Sophy, and that brought them a kinship, which helped them realise their love for one another, and that they could be together. I can't wait to see what Olivia releases next!
Dates Read:
April 8, 2021
Rating
4 Stars
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