A cute story about Tessa who bluffs her way into a job as a governess. Tessa is very likeable. Some things that happen are a bit far fetched, yet it is a very enjoyable story.

I received this book from NetGalley in return for a honest review.

Fun romance with a single parent who falls for the governess trope , Cute Kids too, I love kids in boooks

Tessa an orphan who decided to become a governess to find out who her father was and ask to get a loan to open a hat shop.
Tessa becomes a governess to the Dukes unruly young daughter and she starts to feel something for the Duke while trying to find her father.
Great characters mystery and romance.
Enjoyed reading.
Voluntarily reviewed.

So good, so good, so good! Loved every page! fabulous, she knows what she wants and plans to get it.
I never write a spoiler, but really, this is great .I can't wait!! for the next book.

When a Duke Loves a Governess ⭐️⭐️.5

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?

Not sure why but I found myself struggling through about 3/4 of finishing. The characters were OK, the storyline predictable including the several plot twists. Nothing really grabbed at my heart or captured my interest.

I received this ARC for free in exchange for my honest review, along with my apologies for the tardiness of this review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you NetGalley, Olivia Drake and St. Martin’s Paperbacks.

3.5
This was a fine read. The characters were well and consistently depicted and the mystery was fun. I liked the author's writing style.
There was some weird cultural appropriation of headdresses and some uncomfortable colonialism with the Guy's documentation of the "exotic" new world.
Pretty low steam. I would go back and read the first two. Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, This is book 3 in the Unlikely Duchesses series. This was a good read and I really enjoyed it a great deal,

I received an arc from NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.
Tessa is a strong willed and determined young lady. When her creative fashion is criticized and used against her she is bound to find a new way to follow her dreams.
Tessa acquires a new job as governess in search of her Nobel family who can hopefully help her fulfill her dream however her charge Sophy and her father start to mean more to her and there is someone who not only wants to harm her but harm Guy, her employer.
Great story with some romantic suspense thrown in.
4.5 stars

I enjoyed this book but it wasn’t my favorite read. There were some things that tied up too nicely for my liking. It’s very happy ever after and it was ok.

I kind of liked When a Duke Loves a Governess. I thought it really lukewarm but, unfortunately, forgettable. Though I liked the writing and thought it flowed well, none of the main characters felt like they had real depth or that the reader could actually get to know them. Their connection felt lacking. Guy was also kind of boring. Oh, and it's really lukewarm in the heat department too. 2.5 stars.

I love a good governess story and I found this book delightful. I would continue to read books by this author.

Orphan Tessa quits her job in a milliner's shop when she hears of a Duke who is in desperate need of a governess. She realizes this might be her big chance and finding out who her real father is, as she thinks he is a member of the aristocracy. The Duke is hard on her at first, but quickly becomes to depend on her as she is the only person who can get his lively daughter to listen. A great romance with some mysteries to be solved and some suspense as well!

I'm a sucker for a regency book with a governess plot. A hatmaker as the main character was an interesting take on things. She's a strong character who doesn't back down from what she wants. The duke was the typical brooding persona at the start and then comes around. All in all a fun story.

When a Duke Loves a Governess is a slow burn romance/mystery which follows Tessa James, a young woman with the modest dream of opening her own millinery shop. Having lost her mother at a young age, Tessa has known nothing but hard work with little payout. When the opportunity arises to be a Governess for the incorrigible young daughter of the Duke of Carlin, Tessa jumps at the opportunity. Not only will she be able to leave behind her awful working conditions, she'll have the opportunity to investigate the true identity of her unknown father. With only a locket detailing her nobleman father's coat of arms, she enters Carlin house ready to uncover her father's identity and beg him for a loan to pursue her dreams. What she wasn't expecting to uncover: affection for a mistreated young girl, mutterings of a family curse, and passion in the arms of a Duke. As more secrets unravel, Tessa realizes that nothing is quite what she assumed it to be, including her own identity.

This book was very enjoyable! While some plot points were easy for the reader to predict, others had me genuinely surprised and eager to know what would happen next. The book had a great range of scenes: tender moments with Sophy (the duke's daughter), intriguing tales from the duke's travels around the world, witty banter between Tessa and… well… pretty much everybody, and of course, the mystery behind both Tessa's heritage and the Carlin Curse. Overall, an ecstatic ⅘ stars!

Many thanks to NetGalley and to St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I enjoyed this book. I have not read an Olivia Drake book before, however, I will be reading more of her novels.
The story started a little slow but quickly picked up. All the characters were well written and the story interesting and enjoyable.
I recommend reading this book and I look forward to reading her other books.

We follow Tessa James, a lone working class woman that dreams of opening up her own millinery shop one day. In a hunt for her unknown father she applies to be a governess to Sophy, the only daughter of Guy, the Duke of Carlin. Sophy is a terror that drives away all her governesses until Tessa comes along and recognizes the pain the little girl is hiding. As she helps Guy and Sophy connect as father and child she searches for her own long lost father. In doing so she uncovers more than she bargained for. Guy and Tessa work together to uncover a nefarious plot and an unknown enemy before all is lost. Along the way they fall headlong into love. A wonderful story full of heartbreak, loss, and love overcoming all odds.

When a Duke Loves a Governess ARC review, swipe to read the blurb from Goodreads. ➡️➡️➡️

⭐️⭐️⭐️

❓Do you like books that feature children? 👶

As a mom of two young kids myself, I’m always going into governess / single parent themed books with two exclamation marks over my head in warning⚠️ A lot of times (ahem, *most of the time*) kids in books are: Not realistic, excessively whiny, talk too well/ too childish for their age, or are horrible cock blockers 😂😏

One thing I really appreciated about this read was the Duke’s daughter was horribly misbehaved but it didn’t seem inaccurate to me. Girl had some good reasons to be pissed 🤣 It’s a big deal when I don’t find myself annoyed with children in books TBH 😅 Do I feel like she should have been punished a little more than, “Hey let’s talk about this?” esp when she’s breaking windows?! Maybe, but who gives a crap about my parenting?! I ain’t the governess here 🤣😂😅

This book has a lot of drama and mysteries including:

❓Governess trying to find her dad
🗺 Treasure maps!?
🗡 Heirs to a Dukedom dying off! 👀
🤨Why a Duke would hire a stranger with no references to be around his 4yo and be totally chill about it even when she lied?!

Okay so that last one isn’t really part of the subplots, but it is still worth asking 😂🤨 We will just let that slide for the sake of romance. 🤷🏻‍♀️

This gets three stars from me as it didn’t super pick up for me until the last 25% when the mystery really gets good. I went through about ten scenarios to solve the dang mystery and still didn’t get it right!! 😱 Good job, WADLAG!

(WADLAG. Got me 😂🤣)

Thank you @netgalley and @smpromance for the copy! This review is my own 💕

When a Duke Loves a Governess comes out July 27, 2021!

A very interesting story that reminds me of some of the first historical romances I read as a teenager; with a smidge of gothic overtones to it. You see; there seems to be a curse on the men due to inherit the title of Duke of Carlin over the past 5 years....

The present Duke of Carlin, Guy Whitby, has been away all that time on a scientific study of flora at ports around the world. He didn't even realize that he had become the Duke of Carlin until months later. Forced to return home to take up the title; he is ill-prepared for the requirements of such a position and he also has to worry about his daughter; whom he hadn't seen since she was an infant (her mother died after giving birth). A string of governesses have gone through their home because of the ill-mannered child. Guy is at his wit's end.

Tessa James, an orphan and milliner's shop employee, overhears some talk between members of the Ton while she is working on a hat for a waiting client; about a Duke in need of a new governess. Tessa's dream is to open her own shop and she has been scrimping and saving as much of her hard-earned money as possible. She has also been trying to find her father; a man she's never met and doesn't even know his name. She has a clue to his identity that her dying mother gave her. She hatches a plan to acquire the governess position in hopes of tracking down her father and maybe getting him to help her open a shop.

You know the old saying about people's plans and God laughing...

This was a delightful story. It is well written with some charming characters and a superb plot. I enjoyed it tremendously.

The author has the ability to place the reader into the story as if they were a bystander observing the tale unfold. The story line is believable and you are able to relate to the main character as she overcomes numerous personal and social stumbling blocks. This is a story which will leave you feeling good about the outcome. As it is said love conquers all.

I have rated this book 4.5 stars and recommend it if you enjoy historical romance.

I received an ARC from Netgalley for my unbiased review.

Good light read as typical of this genre. All in all, it's a fairly average novel. Better than most ARC I've read, but definitely not one of the best books in the genre.
Things I liked about this book:
- I tend to like heroines with a backbone and this one definitely has it.
- Mysteries not too dragged out. Because there are multiple story lines, each one is kind of a mini arch, and so some of them get resolves partway through the book so it doesn't get too tiring.
- Story kept moving enough that it kept my interest.
- The sort of twist to one of the mysteries.
- Jiggs was probably my favorite.

Things I didn't like:
- Typical heroine with a sob story
- Hero does NOT have a backbone
- I felt the story needed a resolution that included Sophy
- Characters were flat and too much of a caricature of people of the era. The Norwoods, Lady Victor, Edgar, were all too silly.
- Tessa was unbelievable in that she had genteel mannerism and way of talking even though she grew up in an orphanage, and her only real exposure to higher society were the old ladies that shop at the hat shop. I would expect her to have more of a working person's mannerism and language, with odd bits from the older generation high society, which should have been odd for somebody her age.