3 reasons you’ll want to play Tessa Dare’s The Governess Game

The second book in Tessa Dare’s Girl Meets Duke series will likely keep you reading late into the night. Here are 3 reasons you’ll want to pick it up.

Even though summer is slowly coming to an end (although the weather might not feel like it just yet), that doesn’t mean that it’s the wrong time to pick up another romance novel. Avon Books sent along Tessa Dare’s The Governess Game, and this reviewer is happy to report that it’s another great love story.

But for those who might be a little wary of picking up a historical romance these days, or not sure this is the one for them, let yours truly give you some insights on why this book might just tickle your fancy.

Meta humor

Chase Reynaud knows his ways around the expectations of a love story, and he comments on it frequently. Although these moments are played for laughs, they actually pair nicely with his very real emotional issues.

Also, he’s brought his rakish skills to a new level; while we don’t want to spoil the surprise, suffice it to say that it seems like Dare had some of the current conventions in romance on her mind when creating Chase (down to how he came by his name). He’s certainly the half of the pairing that excels at this, but Alexandra Mountbatten, the heroine, doesn’t slack behind either, thanks to her remembering their actual first meeting and mocking herself for how she thinks about it.

Alexandra’s a step forward

Alexandra is mixed race; her father’s American, but her mother is mestiza and from the Philippines. Much like Eloisa James’ Born to be Wilde earlier this summer, it’s not necessarily perfect — but it’s clear that Dare did put in the work here. With Alexandra’s family history playing key parts in how she ends up educating Daisy and Rosamund, Chase’s young wards, it’s good that that work was done.

Moreover, the book doesn’t ever make it seem like Chase is into Alexandra just because she looks different; he’s attracted to her personality, though he certainly notices both during their first encounters.

Rosamund and Daisy

Rosamund and Daisy, the two girls under Chase’s aegis, do not magically warm up to Alexandra within 30 seconds of liking her. In fact, the two of them end up trying to get rid of her as they have many governesses before her. But when they do open up, they open up to both Chase and Alexandra; in fact, Chase even having a relationship with them all is a strong point, given that he’s pretty much opposed to commitment in general when the book starts. (That’s what character development is for, right?)

Also, they have funerals every morning for Daisy’s doll, Millicent, who “dies” by increasingly terrifying diseases. Not only do these moments give Chase’s humor time to shine, but they also let the kids be kids. Yours truly can remember being more than a little morbid in her own childhood. Why can’t fictional girls be the same?

The Governess Game is out on bookshelves now.