Sometimes a book can have it all: in-depth characterization, high stakes plot, and a charming and diverse cast of characters and still fall flat. This is the unfortunate reality of this book, which I was immensely excited for. After reflecting as to why I did not absolutely love this book that has all the right bits for a good novel, I think it boils down to authorial choices for telling the story and how those parse up with genre expectations. This book uses a third person POV, which is fairly common in the world of historical romance. However, with this third-person POV, the story only follows the perspective of one of the characters which made everything else about this novel from the high stakes plot to diverse set of side characters to even the romance feel wholly disconnected and subsidiary to the novel. Are there romance novels in which only one character is followed and it works? Yes. That was just sadly not the case here. So in the end I think this novel would work well as an introspective historical fiction piece, but does not let us see enough into the other half of the love story happening to make it a success as a romance. I enjoyed the writing and characterization done in this novel so I will continue to pick up books by this author in the hopes their craft continues to develop.

Heat Factor: One non-explicit scene right at the end.

Character Chemistry: It’s that opaque hero, antagonism + confusing-tingles vibe.

Plot: Emily takes her sister’s place as a governess, even though she hates children.

Overall: I loved it.

Picture this: a widowed naval officer has two children who he doesn’t know how to talk to. He is in need of a governess because the last one was unsuitable. A governess arrives and settles in. She castigates the officer for ignoring his children. The officer is attracted to her, but she is oblivious. They dance together.

If you’re like, “Cool, that’s called the governess trope!” you would be correct. And all of those things happen in Trouble—but not exactly in the normal way. I think, though, what really makes this book stand out for me is the voice. It is dry and sarcastic *in the extreme* and I thought it was friggin hilarious.

Emily—impoverished gentry, former millworker, general misanthrope—has accepted a position as governess in her sister’s place. Amy is the only person in the entire world that Emily cares about, and Amy is ill, and this governess job pays better than working in the mill. Plus, she might have the opportunity to steal some stuff from those terrible rich people (they definitely won’t notice). (Emily is very much of the “eat the rich” school of philosophy.) Governesses in romance books are not always truthful about their background (and, like Emily, are frequently in desperate straits for one reason or another), but do not generally lie to the extent that Emily does. Emily lies about her name and about her background; she tries to lie about her disposition, but, let’s be real, she’s not all that successful. And she starts nicking trinkets as soon as she can.

"Her certainty about her own character meant that she very rarely experienced any kind of moral conundrum; the qualities of being both headstrong and never in any situation with the aim of making friends did not give rise to the need for much umming and ahhing about the path ahead."

I loved Emily as a heroine, but I do want to state, for the record, that she is not a nice person. There’s a scene where she gets into a screaming match with one of her charges (age 16) that involves some name calling. A lot of her interior thoughts are about how she doesn’t like people—and about how people don’t like her. (Even if she’s not a nice person, I would argue that she is a good person, but that doesn’t really become apparent until about halfway through the book.)

The settling in also does not go as it normally does in these books. I feel like, usually, the rest of the staff is either not important to the story, indifferent, or hostile to the governess. In this case, the staff is close-knit and works hard to befriend Emily (despite her best efforts to the contrary). In fact, Emily probably shares more page time and conversation with Meera (housekeeper), Akia (maid), Oliver (valet slash groom), and Joe (cook) than she does with Captain Edwards. This is a deeply unconventional household everyone supports each other and steps up to do what’s needed to keep things going and sees each other as equals, though the fact that this also applies to the boss eludes Emily somewhat until quite late in the book. Despite the fact that she mistakes him for a groom in Chapter 2.

Although Emily’s method’s in the classroom are somewhat unorthodox, she does bond with her charges, who are—luckily for both Emily and the reader—teenagers and well-developed characters in their own right. Governess books sometimes go over the top into the land of twee, but Aster and Grace successfully navigate the line between engaging and too cute. It helps that they have dramatically different responses to their situation: Aster is angry and aggressive and acting out, and Grace desperately wants Emily to like her. Aster declines to come to lessons and Grace is thrilled to get to sit in the classroom and tell Emily all about The Mysteries of Udolpho. Yes, Emily’s teaching method is to have Grace tell her about whatever horrid gothic she’s reading.

"Seven days after Aster returned to the schoolroom, she left a painting on the table instead of squirrelling it away in her room as she usually did. She had titled it Death of the Governess, and probably thought it very threatening. It depicted someone who looked suspiciously like Emily in the process of violently drowning. It was really rather good.

"Emily propped it up on her bedroom mantel, so that she could look at it every morning and remember how important it was that she survived."

Of course, we must talk about the romance. Now, we’ve definitely got a slow burn, “I’m not sure what he thinks of me” kind of romance, where the hero is aloof and we don’t see into his head. This makes for a very different kind of chemistry. You know, the kind where brief touches mean *everything.*

"“Oh,” he said affably. “No, I couldn’t possibly . . .”

"“It’s just a hand, sir,” said Emily.

"“It’s your hand,” said Captain Edwards.

"The best that could be said of this statement was that it was accurate. Emily was starting to get rather annoyed.

"“Well, if it is somehow repulsive to you, I will retract the offer and leave you here to—”

"Captain Edwards took her hand. He wasn’t wearing a glove. Emily wasn’t wearing a glove. After her insistence that it was just a hand, and that grasping it did not require extensive deliberation , the feeling of his fingers on hers was far more complex than she had anticipated.

"It was the way he did it. It wasn’t brusque and practical, as he usually was. He was being . . . gentler than he had any right to be. Careful, as if she should be handled delicately. It was the way someone might take your hand before they leaned over to press a kiss to the fine skin over your knuckles, or before they ducked their head and led you out on to the dance floor.

"It was horribly intimate, and Emily wanted to shake him off at once. Instead, she dug her heels in and helped pull him to a stand, trying not to notice the way he rested his weight on her for a second before he stepped away and released her, and very much noticing it anyway."

High heat romance is fun and all, but sometimes you just want that first brush of fingertips to make you swoon. At least I do.

Of course, Emily and Captain Edwards are both Bad At Feelings and Worse At Communication, so after the fateful brushing of hands (and subsequent familiar conundrum of “is it love or is it indigestion?”) they do a lot of dancing around each other and antagonistic conversations and not being honest with themselves or each other. It doesn’t help that Emily is acutely aware of the power imbalance between them and is predisposed to assuming the worst about people. So if you want to see the protagonists spend a lot of time together and not be oblivious, you may find this book extremely frustrating. But I thought it was delightful.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

All in all, this may be my favorite of Croucher's books, Croucher just simply gets better with every book she writes! This is my third book with Lex Croucher’s work and is my favorite of them all. Trouble is a romance like few others. Emily unexpectedly becomes a governess to provide for her struggling family. She gets shipped off to Edward’s household. She is tasked with educating Captain Edwards’s teen daughters.

Well, you can imagine the rest or not, but a good book to read, as always set in historical times.

Thank you to the publishing house NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. You will enjoy, and love this book.

This novel was a cute and easy read. Funny and engaging, I found Emily to be a refreshing character. Grumpy from beginning to end, she grew but her personality stayed true to who her experiences made her to be. Her obliviousness was often aggravating at times but I understand where it came from and why the author went that direction. I loved every character, they were well written and well developed and added to the story in their own ways. I enjoyed Emily’s connection to the children and the representation in the novel was consistently present and seamlessly integrated. Overall this novel is a solid choice and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to read it!

I always love a nanny or governess romance! Seeing someone fall in love with a family not just a person one of my favorite types of stories. I also loved that this story had an aspect of found family that went beyond that.

Emily isn't the easiest heroine to sympathize with. Her life has been challenging and it makes her wiling to do anything to help the people she loves. It also makes it difficult for her to initially see the non financial challenges that some of the other characters she interacts with are facing.

There is a lot of great representation in this book. I loved the LGBTQ plus and BIPOC rep. I also really appreciated seeing a character struggling with a chronic illness, who didn't want to be defined by it. I particularly related to this because I have been recovering from COVID-19 for the last few weeks and have to be incredibly mindful about how I use each bit of my energy. Getting to remember that I'm not alone in that experience was helpful.

I enjoyed the romance between Emily and Captain Edwards but I would have loved to see it build a bit more. We saw them bond a bit but I felt like it was more admiration of how she connected with his children on his side and physical attraction on hers.

I think this would be a great romance for anyone who likes found family, lgbtq plus representation, a brooding hero, and a fun cast of side characters. There were multiple side characters who I'd happily read a whole book about!

🌶️🌶️ - This book has one open-door scene that is not terribly detailed. It is somewhere between fade to black and open door.

A cute lighthearted historical romance that was all things sweet, intriguing, and humorous. The characters were all well written and represented a variety of queer identities. They were all easily likeable and charming. I loved the blossoming friendships between Emily, Aster, Grace and the other staff.

The characters all went through a bit of development that was well executed and really just made me love the characters more. Emily was so relatable and her boldness was refreshing.

Trouble however, did have a slow beginning for me but it quickly picked up pace. I loved the coastal setting and the depiction of Fairmont House. Everything in this was just so well done and amazing. I just wish we saw more of Ben’s character and more of a romantic buildup. Overall, I really enjoyed this cozy historical romance, and I will definitely be checking out some of Lex Croucher’s other books.

Tropes:
-slow burn
-regency era
-grumpy/grumpy
-single dad
-queer rep
-chronic illness rep
-inspired by the sound of music

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Another fun queer retelling from a master of their craft; Lex Croucher has quickly become an auto-buy author for me and I'm positively elated to see they have a queer retelling of Robin Hood coming to the US this fall!

3.5 stars for Trouble!

I did enjoy this one but it wasn't my favorite. I love a good governess/single father trope, but I think I struggled with the fact that Emily didn't like the children. In fact, I struggled with a bit of her characterization at all, in that I didn't really love her. She didn't have to like the children, but she was downright mean at points, and this is where a lot of my struggles lie.

With that being said, I really loved that most of the characters weren't these perfect caricatures of their role, and they were deeply flawed and human.

The love story felt a bit underdeveloped, although I could sense the respect for one another between the characters.

Overall, a fun, witty read, but didn't blow me away!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was thrilled to receive an arc for this one! That being said I was not able to finish it...I'm not sure if my expectations going into it didn't align with what the story the author was trying to tell or if the writing style simply wasn't for me. I got 25% in and decided I was not invested enough to continue. I found the character of Emily shallow and repetitive. She gave very "not like other girl" energy which is just not my vibe. I think I would have enjoyed it well enough if I were to continue however the story just wasn't gripping enough for me to do so. I am hoping to read other books from this author to hopefully change my opinion!

Trading places!

Emily Laurence is a fighter. When her father dies, she and her mother and sister realize they have very little in the way of assets. Emily doesn’t take their change of fortune lying down. Troubled and determined, Emily fights to keep them all going, taking a job in the mill, whatever it takes.
When her sister Amy lands a job as a governess she’s happy for her. Amy falls ill before she can take up the position so Emily swaps identities with her sister and presents herself to her employer as Amy. After all, how hard can it be?
So Emily who can’t relate to children, and knows nothing about teaching, finds herself posing as a governess to two young women, Grace Edwards who has the same sort of illness as Amy, and Aster who refuses to be governessed.
Ah well, Emily just lets Amy read and talk about her beloved books and Aster stays in her room with plenty of drawing supplies.
It’s a strange household. There’s Captain Edwards, with some sort of scandal in his past, and the servants who are even more peculiar. What’s more Emily seems to get into arguments with the Captain at the drop of a hat. How he hasn’t dismissed her is beyond her.
Emily helps herself to a couple of trinkets, drinks too much at the Rose and Crown (the Village Inn) and meets a stranger, Charles, who will pay her for any information she can dig up about the Captain. A chance to make money for her invalided sister and mother! She takes the opportunity!
It niggles at her, and when Charles brings pressure to bear Emily is truly conflicted and worried, because by this time she’s come to appreciate the Captain, her charges and the household’s servants
Whoa! a galloping read with misunderstandings and conflicted moments on every page!
I am loving Lex Croucher’s writings. Her books are wonderfully different, her characters bouncing with energy, and Emily is definitely a mouthy one! Well read!

A St. Martin’s Press ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

The hills are alive....Sound of Music-ish

Sound of Music-ish meets diversity.
Emily steps in for her sister Amy, as a governess. Emily is not equipped to be a governess.
Captain Edwards is diverse and in need of a most improper governess. A touch of queer, nice diversity and a great read.

Recommend.

I absolutely adored Gwen & Art Are Not In Love so when I saw this book, I knew I needed to read it! The same wit and humour fill the pages of Trouble and I found myself laughing out loud so many times while reading it. All of the characters are so well rounded and make you feel like you know each one not just the main characters.

Emily is so perfectly prickly and grumpy and I really enjoyed watching her pretend to not to be and think she was perfectly nailing it when the people around her weren't so convinced. The back and forth between her and Ben was perfect and the amount of spice just right. It had that restrained regency heat that really smolders.

Aster and Grace were my favourites I think and I especially loved reading as the bond between Emily and each of them grew. Aster was also the most hilarious and had me in stitches with their dry humour and wit. The joke about the dog and it's legs was chef's kiss and I'm still thinking about it days after I've finished as one of the best lines in the whole book.

I loved how this book was so queer too but not in a super overt way. Subtle mentions in conversation or small moments that revealed more about the characters. I love how it was talked about too like it wasn't something groundbreaking or shocking about the person, just another small aspect of one's personality. Really the way these things should be. The scene with Emily and Aster with the hair cut was so touching too. Just allowing someone to look the way they want to look and support them with such love and care was so touching.

Definitely one not to miss and will make you want more of Lex's wonderful writing as well. I know I will be reading everything they write as soon as it comes out!

I received an advanced ebook copy of this book through NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for my honest review. I will happily be buying a copy to have for my own library I loved this book that much!

3.5 stars rounded down.

Lex Croucher came onto my radar last year with "Gwen and Art Are Not in Love," which was one of my favorite reads of 2023. This is an entirely different vibe, but delightful in its own way.

Emily Laurence doesn't like children. She's no good at taking care of them, and she's certainly not qualified to be educating them. So the fact that she's suddenly found herself pretending to be her chronically (very) ill sister, Amy, and acting as governess of the Fairmont House is... going to be everyone's problem. Especially Captain Ben Edwards. Who is very good-looking without a shirt on, but probably just out to use her. She'll just have to use him first; earn a few months' wages, sell the man's secrets for a profit, and sell whatever she can steal from the manor. And not fall in love.

The absolute highlight of this book is, without a doubt, the queer rep and unabashed acceptance found in Fairmont House. Both Emily and Captain Edwards are queer. There is a trans character who comes out on page and is accepted and embraced without hesitance by the house. While it is not a queer-normative world by any means (and homophobia in fact plays a role in the overall plot), the acceptance that the characters find within Fairmont is also exceedingly important to the story. No matter what else happens within the plot, that easy safety of everyone's identity is so comforting.
The other strong point is the secondary characters. Captain Edwards two children, Grace and Aster, are delightfully quirky and lovable - even when they're downright frustrating. (Team Give Grace a Dog!) The staff at Fairmont House had me cackling out loud multiple times, especially Oliver, who might rank with Grace as my favorite character in the entire story.

On the other hand, the overall plot outside of Emily's secret identity was... lacking and very much secondary to everything else. It was all wrapped up so easily. And, honestly, Emily herself was downright frustrating at times, refusing to accept even a modicum of help or love to the point I wanted to bang my head off of something.

Coucher is quickly becoming an autobuy. A Regency romance with a romantic swoonworthy twist. What a roller coaster of romance. Not to be missed.

Trouble presents an intriguing premise with the arrival of Emily Laurence as the governess at Fairmont House. The story unfolds with Emily assuming her sister Amy's role due to unforeseen circumstances, setting the stage for a tale of deception, family struggles, and unexpected connections. The strengths of the novel lie in the author's ability to craft complex characters and interweave their individual dramas. The book was a fun read but it was sometimes a bit slow and I think the pacing could have been better to keep me engaged.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I had a lot of fun with this book. The characters were all interesting and well-rounded, and stand out pretty well compared to other books of the same flavor. The romance itself takes a while to really show up in the story, but the book hardly suffers for it. There's enough charm in the growing relationships between all the rest of the characters to carry the story naturally forward.

The characters were likeable, the romance was sweet, and the conflicts that drove the plot forward were interesting and entertaining. It was a fairly quick read, and one that I will likely read again. Would definitely recommend as a nice weekend read (I tried to read this while I was working and had a hard time putting it down long enough to get anything else done).

This was a fun read. It was a good slow building romance with some unexpected twists in it. Emily needs money to take care of her sister, Amy, so she decides to take Amy's governess position at Fairmont House since Amy is too ill to go. Emily has never had any interest in children, and she isn't exactly the warm and fuzzy type. When she arrives, she doesn't correct them thinking she is Amy. She finds out that the children are actually teenagers. Grace is sweet and loving and Aster is rough around the edges. She also finds that the household help is very informal and Captain Edwards is very good looking but might have something to hide. She just wants to steal some items to sell and get back to her sister. She ends up meeting a man at the village pub that says he'll pay her to get dirt on Captain Edwards. She figured this is how she will be able to leave quicker than planned. This leads to quite an adventure for Emily as she ends up growing close to the girls and the staff, and even has begun to like the Captain. I thought it was refreshing to have the LGBTQIA+ written into a historical fiction novel in a seamless way that doesn't try to make a point other than we are all people. Highly recommend this one if you're looking for entertainment with a little romance thrown in as well.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for advanced copy, and I give my review freely

Lex Croucher continues to cement themselves as one of my favorite authors. I was thoroughly amused by this queer-friendly, regency romance loosely inspired on The Sound of Music. And I do mean LOOSELY. There are only two children, no nuns, no singing Do Re Mi (or anything else), and the vast majority of the characters are a-holes. Lovable a-holes, but still. While Captain Edwards did give off Captain von Trapp vibes, his reluctant governess was the polar opposite of Maria. Emily, snarky and not a fan of children (or most adults for that matter), secretly has a heart of—well, maybe not gold, but possibly silver or brass, impersonating her much-closer-to-Maria Augusta von Trapp ill sister since she needs money to pay for a doctor.

I enjoyed the witty dialogue, found family, and excellent gay, bi, and trans rep. However, the romance aspect wasn’t as compelling to me as the other platonic relationships, and I honestly could have done without it. This wasn’t really a swoony sort of love story, but more of a begrudging admission of romantic feelings in spite of one’s better judgment.

Readers who want to be swept off their feet by friendlier characters may prefer Gwen & Art Are Not in Love, which is my favorite Lex Croucher book.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher and am voluntarily leaving this review.

Put an irascible pretend governess into a household of eclectic personalities and you get the funniest and entertaining read. The characters are smart, witty, and accepting of people. It’s a wonderfully funny but inspiring book about love, acceptance and belonging. And I just found another favourite author.

To heck with Bridgerton - where's the TV adaption of Lex Croucher's books?! Or, let me tell you all the ways I loved this.

I'm iffy when it comes to historical romances - I prefer to watch them over reading them - but I loved the fact that this book reads very modern, while still taking place in the past.

Add to the fact how HILARIOUS this book was. Seriously, I can't remember the last time a book made me laugh out loud like this one did! It made me love it that much more.

All the characters here are so delightful. The romance between Emily and Captain Edwards honestly had me swooning Bridgerton style.

This was my first book by Lex Croucher, but rest assured it will not be my last.