The Governess Game (Girl Meets Duke Series #2)

by Tessa Dare

Overview

New York Times and USA Today Bestseller

He’s been a bad, bad rake—and it takes a governess to teach him a lesson

The accidental governess

After her livelihood slips through her fingers, Alexandra Mountbatten takes on an impossible post: transforming a pair of wild orphans into proper young ladies. However, the girls don’t need discipline. They need a loving home. Try telling that to their guardian, Chase Reynaud: duke’s heir in the streets and devil in the sheets. The ladies of London have tried—and failed—to make him settle down. Somehow, Alexandra must reach his heart . . . without risking her own.

The infamous rake

Like any self-respecting libertine, Chase lives by one rule: no attachments. When a stubborn little governess tries to reform him, he decides to give her an education—in pleasure. That should prove he can’t be tamed. But Alexandra is more than he bargained for: clever, perceptive, passionate. She refuses to see him as a lost cause. Soon the walls around Chase’s heart are crumbling . . . and he’s in danger of falling, hard.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062672124
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/28/2018
Series:	Girl Meets Duke Series , #2
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	85,009
Product dimensions:	4.10(w) x 6.60(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Tessa Dare is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of more than a dozen historical romances. A librarian by training and a book-lover at heart, Tessa makes her home in Southern California, where she shares a cozy, cluttered bungalow with her husband, their two children, and a pair of cosmic kittens.

Editorial Reviews

08/06/2018
In Dare’s sizzling second Girl Meets Duke Regency (after The Duchess Deal), a young woman discovers that her romantic fantasies about a handsome rake are vastly different from the reality of him. After bumping into the effortlessly charming man of her dreams in a bookstore, Alexandra Mountbatten meets him again when calling at his London home, offering to set his clocks. Chase Reynaud mistakenly believes that Alex has come to apply for the position of governess to his two precocious wards, Daisy and Rosamund—and she needs a job, so she plays along. The witty banter of the misunderstanding is the perfect prelude for their future encounters. Chase professes himself a confirmed rake who refuses to marry as self-punishment for his past actions, but Alex sees through Chase’s callous façade to the kind and generous man inside. Even as she tries to convince him that he deserves happiness, she knows that he must marry someone of suitable rank, which excludes her. Alex is an intelligent, independent heroine who is the perfect match for Chase, whose hardened heart softens as Alex reveals how much she cares for him. Sensuality and witty repartee fill the pages of this fast-paced story, which is made complete by the expertly developed characters and hints at future installments. Agent: Steve Axelrod, Axelrod Agency. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

From the very first page of this whimsical and wryly inventive masterpiece, the latest in her fetching Girl Meets Duke series, RITA Award–winning Dare reels readers in and then keeps them firmly hooked with her distinctive blend of exuberant characters, lively dialogue, buoyant wit, and bone-melting sensuality.

Booklist (starred review)

Romance doesn’t get more delightful than Tessa Dare’s The Governess Game...a standout romance that readers won’t want to miss.

BookPage Top Pick

If historical Regency romances are all the inevitable inheritors of the work of Jane Austen, Dare is undoubtedly the lady’s clearest successor when it comes to her wit.

Entertainment Weekly

Alex and Chase are playful, intense and stubborn—their flaws make them a magical match, not perfect but perfect for each other.

New York Times Book Review

★ 2018-07-02
When an independent spinster loses her livelihood, she reluctantly takes a governess position in the home of an infamous rake and finds herself believing in dreams."Alexandra Mountbatten had common sense. That's what her friends believed. The truth was, Alex had no sense at all—at least, not when it came to charming gentlemen with roguish green eyes." Or one gentleman, anyway. She'd met the stranger at Hatchard's bookshop and made a complete fool of herself, but that didn't keep her from dreaming about him for months. Then, on the fateful day when she met him again and learned his name—Chase Reynaud—and that he was the heir to a dukedom, she also lost her livelihood as a clock setter due to a panic attack that left her chronometer at the bottom of the Thames. Accepting Chase's offer of work as governess to his wards, two young sisters named Rosamund and Daisy, she's swept into the household. Daisy likes to start the day by announcing her doll's latest macabre death, and Rosamund is determined to challenge Alex. Relying on her own experience of being an orphan, Alex uses authenticity and ingenuity to engage with the girls, and before long the house becomes more of a home. Chase loves his wards and soon realizes he's in love with Alexandra, but after a lifetime of self-loathing, he doesn't trust himself to take care of them. Just when Chase moves forward, a misstep sends Alexandra away, forcing him to take a stand and fight for her. A sprawling cast of delightfully eccentric characters adds texture and depth to a captivating love story.Dare continues her splendid, quirky Girl Meets Duke series with wit, heart, and humor.

Kirkus Reviews

Dare deftly navigates the entanglement between employer and employee…[Alex] is sharp and smart and funny—the whole book is, actually…The child care—and comet-hunting—never detract from the love story, instead giving it a vivid world in which to flourish. Alex and Chase are playful, intense and stubborn—their flaws make them a magical match, not perfect but perfect for each other.

The New York Times Book Review - Jaime Green

Alex and Chase are playful, intense and stubborn—their flaws make them a magical match, not perfect but perfect for each other.” — New York Times Book Review

“If historical Regency romances are all the inevitable inheritors of the work of Jane Austen, Dare is undoubtedly the lady’s clearest successor when it comes to her wit.” — Entertainment Weekly

“A sprawling cast of delightfully eccentric characters adds texture and depth to a captivating love story. Dare continues her splendid, quirky Girl Meets Duke series with wit, heart, and humor.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“A ducal heir who dreads failure and a comet-obsessed sea captain’s daughter with her own ghosts to slay finally give in to romance in an affecting gem enhance by laugh-out-loud humor, scorching passion, and sparkling repartee. Pure reading joy!” — Library Journal (starred review)

“From the very first page of this whimsical and wryly inventive masterpiece, the latest in her fetching Girl Meets Duke series, RITA Award–winning Dare reels readers in and then keeps them firmly hooked with her distinctive blend of exuberant characters, lively dialogue, buoyant wit, and bone-melting sensuality.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Romance doesn’t get more delightful than Tessa Dare’s The Governess Game...a standout romance that readers won’t want to miss. — BookPage Top Pick

From the Publisher