This was one of my favourite reads of 2017. A properly British, proper Regency romance with heaps of funny, quotable lines, and plenty of story to go with the relationship. I had no idea what to expect from an author with zero internet presence and no other books at the time I read this (early October), and was pleasantly surprised.

Look, there’s one thing that I struggled with, but I also think it was handled as well as it could be: the evil, beautiful blonde. This misogynistic trope is #1 on my list of Things That Will Make Me One-Star A Book – and yet… I don’t know… I guess I loved everything else so much I could overlook it. Also, the way the arguments were shut down so hilariously… it helped make “the other woman” look a bit human.

These days book-length varies quite a bit, but there are still some standard lengths for novels. Some authors pack a flimsy little story into a word count. And then you have books like this one, where we cover months, have a hero and heroine start off as totally different people and change entirely. We have the romance plot, the revenge plot, the missing heiress plot, the dangerous family plot.

There’s A LOT of story in here, which makes it feel like a much more satisfying read.

However, the two things I liked the best: the language, and the in-jokes.

I just enjoyed the language in this one so much. It was funny, it made use of interesting words and phrases, and it worked for me so well for so many reasons.

And – because we take time to get to know these characters – the little personal jokes they have with each other, and the references that are formed at the start and are brought up again at the end, make it feel like you really know these characters.

I don’t really know how to explain the difference between this and your standard wallpaper-y romance. I see some early reviews aren’t glowing, and I think that’s because this book – while light-hearted – doesn’t fall into the “Hollywood” version of historical romance most people are writing these days.

It is an individual thing what kind of historical romance you’ll enjoy. However, this one was for me.

Really cute, witty Regency romance. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and Tam cracked me up all the way through.

To be fairly blunt, I had a strong dislike for this book until at least 25% in - I was very close to DNF'ing it and moving on, but I'm always reluctant to do that with ARCs and try to make it at least 50% through before giving up. And lo and behold, I actually started enjoying myself finally and ended up finishing this in one sitting.

I'm a big fan of regency romances - I'm well-aware of the genre's flaws, but when done well, it thrills my heart and makes life rosy and grand. 'My Lady Governess' is definitely not an example of regency done well. It's better viewed as a parody of the genre and knowing that going in would've helped greatly because once I adjusted my perspective, seeing it as skewering the more ridiculous regency tropes and deliberately exaggerating common themes enabled me to enjoy it more once I was in on the joke. I went from 'this is atrocious, who approved this for publication' to 'omg, that's hilarious, I totally agree this kind of thing is ridiculous, lmao'.

It's like when I watched Fifth Element as a recommendation from people who said if I enjoyed Star Trek, I would like that movie. I went in expecting something familiar and instead it was completely wacky and out-there and I hated it. But Galaxy Quest was sold to me as a loving parody of Star Trek and I adored it! There's the catch 24 with satire - when people don't realize it's satire and take it seriously, it bombs completely.

But after I caught on, taking this book with a grain of salt made the experience much more palatable. I mean, honestly, I dare you to read this excerpt and tell me it's meant to be taken at face value:

"She gasped, her face filling with devastation, then she choked, gasped again, then burst into howling tears. She really howled, too. It wasn't at all like her anger at Doncaster. This was something else, an agonised wailing beyond her control, water literally pouring down her face so fast it fell off her chin within seconds of her starting.

Fortunately, Lord d Waare was never at a loss, whether facing enemy gunfire or wailing women. He summoned up his most commanding manner. 'Erminia, pull yourself together!' he barked.

There. That should do it.

She ignored him. The wailing continued, thick with distress, great heaving sobs, shaking her whole body, as if he hadn't spoken, to his astonishment."

Ladies and gentleman, I present to you our level-headed heroine, in response to a snide comment from the hero. Not facing mortal danger or presented with news of a loved one's death, simply Marina's reaction to a cutting set-down from Tam. She literally cried herself to sleep in his arms and had to be carried to bed!

This is the woman who put a brave face on being abducted and forced into living with Lord de Waare, repeatedly informed they were going to be married and being kissed into submission anytime she protested, but a minor insult in their usual banter is what pushes her to an emotional breakdown. Riiiight. And even if you buy that maybe it's the straw that broke the camel's back, there's no way on earth that any man is going to think that response is going to solve the situation! 

I completely loathed Tam for the first half of the book, but once I had my revelation that none of this was to be taken seriously, he became more tolerable. Tam is the typical regency lord who values honor and society's principles taken to the extreme - he keeps insisting that he has to return Marina to her family even after she begs him not to and tells him that she fears her abusive uncle, even with the scars to prove her story. But oh no, what a conundrum, what to do!

"Of course he had to write to her uncle! He had a runaway former heiress here, a girl so distraught at being cut from her grandfather's will that she had gone insane and never recovered. A spoiled brat of a girl, form all accounts, come to a terrible end for her pride.

Miss Frome. Erminia. The pert little blonde. The girl he'd wrenched from a house and position, insulted, smacked on the backside and made cry, who had just given him the most outrageous story on little evidence, and of whom he knew nothing for certain except that she was covered in fencing scars on her shoulders."
 
HMMM. Definitely isn't clear at all how to proceed...

But of course, all his chivalry and vaunted values don't count for a thing when it comes to the hero's dealings with the heroine! Somehow the rules of conduct with regard to ladies are completely disregarded, thrown out the window and never to be thought of again.

"Not a man blessed with a vast reserves of patience, he decided he'd argued enough with her; he knew a quicker way of dealing with recalcitrant females. Time to use it. Suddenly his arm shot out, then he seized her little chin, forcing it up so that she was stuck staring at him as he leaned across the table until his nose was two inches from hers. His great chest swelled with purpose and Ethelberta, he was pleased to see, gave a convulsive swallow and then shut up entirely.

"You know you've no choice. Do you understand?"

"This is all your fault," she spluttered, in a high strangled voice.

"Yes, so I'm making amends for it. Do you understand?" With one flick of his hand, he mad her chin waggle, his eyes not moving from her face.Finally, with massive reluctance, she nodded. "No, Erminia. Say it aloud. And now might be a good time to use my Christian name."

'No!' squeaked the blonde, five feet one of defiance.

It was far too easy. Back to her shoulders, back on her feet, back in his hold and back to being kissed, although this time she managed to fight for all of five seconds before he felt her sway into him and catch him on his own shoulders, unable to break away. When he did it for her, he kept hold, but she was in no state to do anything but put big, shocked eyes on him, her chest heaving.

Hand back under her chin, he repeated inexorably, 'Yes, Tam.'

'Y-yes, Tam,' she got out, defeated."

This is clearly a mockery of how often the heroes shut up their love interests by slamming their mouths together and swallowing her protests. It annoys me every time I read this in a book, and the number of times it crops up here in such an exaggerated manner just has to be intentional. 

"She abruptly stopped yelling at him. She had no choice because Tam grabbed her and in an instant his lips were crushing hers; she was slammed up against his chest as he gave her the full benefit of his expertise in kissing a woman. And since he had an awful lot of expertise, for all her fury Marina lasted about two seconds before she exploded into kissing him back."

The problem is that even though I recognize the satirical nature of 'My Lady Governess', there isn't a lot of valid characterization to latch onto that can endear the characters to us. Tam is a send-up of the dictatorial arrogant alpha males that litter the romance market whose forceful high-handed treatment of the heroine verges on sexual assault at times, but parodying this doesn't allow for much nuance to make him likable.

Marina is the only seemingly sensible straightforward character as she starts off fairly calm and composed, but then is promptly reduced to a watering pot for much of the book. It reaches the heights of absurdity when there's an amusing part where she's reportedly been weeping for four days straight even while impressing everyone by issuing orders and taking control of the situation.

With such characters that operate on the extreme ends of the spectrum, it's too hard to engage on an emotional level with them. I found this story entertaining but ultimately shallow and frivolous.

Lord de Ware is aware matchmaking mama's are encouraging their daughters to ensnare him in marriage. He is more concerned with an ugly, cheeky governess.

To be honest, I didn't like either of the main characters. I couldn't find anything relatable in Marina, and de Ware was unlikable. I didn't like how in mid-chapter we would switch between seeing things from his point of view to her point of view. The plot was one I've seen several times and didn't bring anything new to it.

Also, there is a sex scene. It added nothing to the story but made me want to stop reading altogether.

Marina has been has been successfully hiding her true identity, escaping from her past until she is forcibly removed from her position by Lord de Waare in a uncharacteristic moment of gin soaked madness. Beautifully written historical romance at its best. Full of humour and drama, recommended.