I absolutely adore Virginia Heath's Regency romances! She has such a great way of writing loveable characters and very believable and adorable enemies-to-lovers/forced proximity romances. I loved the tension between the main characters and how they had an instant attraction that slowly moved into mutual respect and then love. I also loved the side characters! The children and dogs were cute and hilarious additions to the story! I can't wait to read the next book in the Miss Prentice's Protegees series!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first Virginia Heath book titled All’s Fair in Love and War. The premise had me intrigued, a governess with progressive ideas of education that has a hard time being hired. A Navy Captain who has suddenly been given the responsibility of his nieces and nephew and is desperate for help hires her. He likes things orderly and on time. She believes learning should be done in an unconventional way. They are drawn together even though they are so very different and seem to hate each other’s quirks.

It seems though for much of the story that they dislike each other or try to avoid one another. It’s not till two thirds of the way into the book that any relationship building seemed to occur. The interactions between the FMC, Georgina, and the MMC, Harry, was not my favourite. The enemies to lovers animosity seemed extreme to me for a large portion of the book. Georgina grated on my nerves for her lack of self awareness and filter. Harry came off as condescending to Georgina which made him hard to like. I also found the books descriptions to be long and sometimes repetitive which made it hard to get into the book at times. Overall it was a well written book and the secondary characters were great, especially the kids but I just couldn’t relate to the main characters and I didn’t find myself rooting for them to be together in the end. If Georgie’s friends had a sequel I might be intrigued enough to read about them.

This was a cute read, albeit somewhat slow. Georgie and Harry were fun characters to follow. I was a bit put off by the rigid grumpiness of the MMC, but the story kept pulling me along! Loved the ancillary characters, it can be really hit-or-miss when it comes to children side characters, but they made this a fun read. Would love to read more from Heath!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this ARC!

I love Virginia Heath's books and read the entirety of her last regency series centered around the Merriwell sisters, and was excited to hear that there was a new one coming out!

All's Fair In Love and War centers around our lovable heroine, Georgie, who, despite being a graduate of a prestigious governess school, has trouble staying employed due to her firm beliefs around education centering around childrens' curiosity and learning. This is contrasted well with the typical ideals of the time period, like using corporal punishment and the idea that children should be seen and not heard.

I loved both our characters together!! Georgie's passion, and particularly the detail with which Heath goes into to discuss her educational philosophy and how she's enacting it is so well=done and believable. I always have hated when we get governess's in books, and it feels like they don't spend time with the kids or they don't go into detail about the schooling when a large part of the identity of the female protagonist is being a governess. It's just, ah, we did maths today! Our main male character is an organized, Type A man who was raised in an unstable household and as such, goes through life with anxiety and the need to be on-time. Our two characters clash, but at the same time, it is totally clear how they can find common ground and fall in love.

This is a lovely slow=burn romance that had lots of heart and charm!! 4 stars for me!

Charming, delightful, will put a smile on your face read! Great weekend read just for the pleasure! Virginia Heath never disappoints.

I really enjoyed this book and it was my first read by this author! It had a nice, slow burn when it comes to a romantic tension story and I adored the characters!

Henry Kincaid is a rigid and militant uncle who is stuck with his nieces and nephews for the next few months. To bring about some much needed order, he hires a governess. However, Georgina isn’t what he expected. She’s mouthy, free spirited, and.. kind of charming?

This story was fun, heartwarming, and amusing (especially the dinner party scene)! The children were precious and fleshed out. I found myself lost in this book.

My complaints in this section all stem from my personal preferences, so someone else might still find this to be a five star read. I never really like the cold, unfeeling man trope. I wouldn’t even call this grumpy c sunshine because he was a pure downer at first. I also felt his ex fiancée wasn’t necessary to the storyline, which was already a bit unbelievable before you add the ex and her antics.

If you like a good historical romance, spunky women, and when he falls first, you’ll enjoy this engaging book!

What happens when you are forced to take care of your wild nieces and nephews on a whim, but you are a captain in the queen’s navy so have too many responsibilities to take full care of said children. Well, you look no further than the towns local school for women trained as nannies. You think nothing of the fact that there seems to be the perfect nanny ready and available, especially since most of the nannies from this school are spoken for extremely quickly. More importantly when you get her home you find that both of your educational ideologies maybe are not quite on the same page. But darn it she is very pretty, and the kids do seem to like her.
This is a fun story. Both Harry and Georgie are quite fun characters with personalities that just fly off of the page. I love the witty arguments and quirky scenarios both characters seem to constantly find each other in. This is a fun first book in a series and I can’t wait to see where it goes from here.
Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
Virginia Heath is becoming a top favorite in historical romance. All's Fair in Love and War was a slow burn, with lovable characters and an introduction into a new series that was beautifully done. I can't wait to read the next in the series and was delighted to be introduced to side characters (with future MC potential) without being slammed with their backgrounds right away.

The different POV chapters were done beautifully and gave great insight into the personalities of Harry and Georgie. I love to see my romance with a side of character growth.

Thanks to NetGalley for an eARC.

A cute premise with Georgie being hired by Harry to be governess to his sister's three kiddos who are left with him for the summer. Set in England in the 1800's, if you are a lover of regency romance, then this might be the book for you!

While I enjoyed reading this book, I found myself skimming over huge sections of the book that moved slowly to me. I enjoyed reading the dialogue between the characters more than the middle pieces that seems to drag on for too long. I liked the characters: Georgie, the unconventional governess and Harry, the hard-shelled Captain with the soft center.

A cute read if you're looking for something to pass the time.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review.

I would like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

This is the first time I read anything from Virginia Heath and I must say, it will not be my last. I loved it! While it was definitely a slow burn, it was fun and adventurous. I find that the characters were well written. Georgie is a bold, strong minded, yet a fun loving character. Harry is quite strict, reserved but we do see his soft side and that is admirable. Their methods of teaching children is different. They are complete opposites, however, the banter, the wittiness between Georgie and Harry was adorable and comical. Their chemistry is so great and I'm always in for a fun grumpy/sunshine romance. Both characters progress througouht the book and I also appreciate the family dynamic, I adored the secondary characters. They fit perfectly in the story and were enjoyable to read as well. The historic element was there and well representated but what I loved the most is that it was a fun, light and witty romance novel. If you are looking for a low angst rom-com, this book is definitely for you.

Although I wished this book was a litlle bit more fast paced, it was entertaining with great characters in a historical setting. I'm very grateful I had the oppourtunity to read this ARC. I'm excited to read the rest of the series.

Thanks to NetGalley for a ARC of this book. This was a fun historical romance about two people who learn to see past their difference and fall in love. This book is a fast read. I loved the charters and plot. I am excited to read the other books from this series.

A fun read! I enjoyed not only the relationships between the main characters but the relationships between thr main characters and the side characters. A great Sunny Grumpy book and the banter is chef's kiss!

This is a fun, entertaining read. Harry and Georgie are interesting, complex, strong, intriguing, relatable, entertaining, fun characters. I enjoyed them as individuals and a couple. I loved their growth throughout the course of the story. The secondary characters – especially the children and dogs – added to the fabric of the story and my enjoyment. I’m a lover of epilogues and really wish we had gotten one in this story – I did however love how the story ended. The story is easy to read and get into.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

this was a cute and enjoyable read! I enjoyed the banter between the two love interests and I thought the interactions with the children were cute. this just didn't knock it out of the park for me. I wanted more tension between the two and there felt like there was so much backstory and details between dialogue that made it hard for me to not get bored at parts. BUT I still found it enjoyable and it wouldn't stop me from trying any of her other books!

Georgie Rowe isn’t your average governess. When she takes a job looking after Harry’s mischievous nieces and nephew it is clear she has her work cut out for her. Georgie accidentally makes a terrible first impression on Harry and must work to regain his respect. Meanwhile, Harry must try and balance his familial duties with the demands of being in the navy. As they care for the children, Georgie and Harry find themselves more and more attracted to each other. Will they keep their connection when the job ends?

All’s Fair in Love and War is a slow-burn regency romance. Readers who love stories about a governess coming in and sweeping a household off its feet will love this book. Georgie is a breath of fresh air to the household. While they initially seem to have completely opposing ideologies, Georgie and Harry slowly grow on each other. I would have liked to see a little more romance, but this is perfect for readers who love slow-burn. There were lots of good details about taking care of the children and Harry’s work with the navy. It’s clear the author researched many details about the building of ships. Readers who like tropes such as opposites attract, governess and employer, and slow-burn romance should check this book out.

Thank you to Virginia Heath, St. Martin’s Griffin, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Goodreads, Instagram, Storygraph, Amazon, Barnes & Noble etc.

I am always a fan of a historical romance. This is definitely one to read if you are a fan of the likes of Bridgerton or Downton Abby. The dynamic between Harry and Georgie is a classic enemies to lover rapport. This book is set to be published in May and I would highly recommend picking it up as your next beach read.

I've read a lot of Virginia's Heath's books, and I enjoy them. They are fun and interesting, but sometimes the plot gets slow or lost entirely in the middle, and that was true for this one. It is hard for me to read any book about a governess and not think about Sound of Music, and while it's slightly similar, especially with the military plot, it definitely stands on its own.

Harry and Georgie were interesting, but I hoped for more of their love story beyond them finding each other attractive. We see how Georgie's initial impression of Harry was wrong, but I feel like Harry just thinks she's hot, which cool, but not really plot moving or interesting.

The ending was satisfying for me, but I found it kind of abrupt, and I wanted to know how they actually resolved some of their main conflict issues. I felt like that was missing, but otherwise I enjoyed reading. Although I never want to read the euphemism "wedding vegetables" again.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When Harry Kincaid’s flighty older sister decides to join her husband on an Egyptian expedition, Harry, a former naval captain, is left in the lurch, minding her three unruly children and giant, mad dog. But Harry has a busy career at the Admiralty that requires all his attention, and he has no clue how to manage the little rascals or when his sister is coming back. In desperation, he goes to Miss Prentice’s School for Young Ladies prepared to pay whatever it takes to hire an emergency governess quick sharp to ensure everything in his formerly ordered house is run shipshape again.
Thanks to her miserable, strict upbringing, fledgling governess Georgie Rowe does not subscribe to the ethos that children should be seen and not heard. She believes childhood should be everything hers wasn’t—filled with laughter, adventure, and discovery. Thankfully, the three Pendleton children she has been tasked with looking after are already delightfully bohemian and instantly embrace her unconventional educational approach. Their staid, stickler-for-the-rules uncle, however, is another matter entirely.
Georgie and Harry continue to butt heads over their differences, but with time it seems that in this case, their attraction is undeniable—and all is indeed fair in love and war.

This is pretty in line with what I have read from Virginia Heath. A nice story, with a great supporting cast, that drags in the middle.

Quick summary:
Think Sound of Music, but with not as many kids, no singing and no Nazis. Okay, maybe the only resemblance is that the governess in charge of taking care of the kids is super sunny and might break out with a song at any given moment, and the Uncle/guardian is an uptight navy man. Sunny meet grumpy.

My review:
I understand why Virginia Heath has a strong following. She can write really personable characters. However, for me, the pacing is off and it drags in the boring parts and speeds through the great parts.

I dont know if I'll pick up the next one, mainly because my TBR is huge.

Thank you #NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book is such a treasure! A new-to-me author; I was drawn in first by the title, and then the cover and description. Regency rom-com with a seemingly inflexible military leading man (Henry), and a governess (Georgina) with an adventurous spirit? Yes, please!

I loved the humor, chaos, and slow-burn romance. Henry's nieces and nephew and their dog provide most of the chaos; indeed, they are the reason Henry is forced to hire a governess, quite at the last minute, when his "flighty" older sister drops them on his doorstep and sails away with her husband on a several-weeks-long adventure.

Among my favorite scenes are those where Henry, the career naval man, misquotes famous military men and Georgina, having been raised by a loveless naval stepfather, smartly corrects him. Throughout the book, Henry and Georgina each struggle with their prejudices - his against chaos and flexibility, and hers against naval men.

I look forward to reading the rest of the books in the series.