I love reading new authors who reconfirm for me that the historical romance genre isn’t dead!

All’s Fair In Love and War is the delightful love story of an outspoken governess and a strait-laced naval captain stuck in a dead-end desk job in the Admiralty office. All of Georgie’s training at Ms. Prentice’s School for Girls may be for naught if she can’t keep her frank opinions about children and teaching to herself in job interviews. Harry might lose all hope for his dream promotion if he can’t find someone to discipline his nephew and nieces left temporarily under his care. Neither can decide if the other will be their destiny or doom as they spend more and more time together playing at parenting.

The author makes great fun with classic tropes like governess/employer and forced proximity from meet-cute to HEA, with lighthearted banter, sexual tension, and emotional obstacles that aren’t too serious but serve up a satisfying conclusion for the star-crossed lovers. I love the main characters, especially Harry, who is so tightly wound he can’t help but come undone when Georgie attempts to reign in the household havoc. I love Norbert and Cuthbert and that they’re just as responsible for making love come to pass as Harry’s family and household staff.

This is a perfect beach read for the summer as it’s light and predictable in that comforting way that regular hist-rom readers look for. It's also a great book for new readers to historical romance who are looking for something to satisfy that post-Bridgerton craving. I look forward to reading more novels by this author.

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this novel. All opinions are my own.

Genre: historical romance
England, 1820

Miss Georgina Rowe hasn’t had a lot of luck securing a position as a governess, despite her training pedigree, because she finds she can’t keep her opinions of raising children to herself during interviews. When Captain Henry Kincaid is suddenly left with his nieces and nephews while his flighty older sister and her husband run off on an expedition, he’s in need of a governess very quickly, and it looks like Miss Rowe is his only option. Unfortunately for Henry, Georgie is exactly the kind of woman who makes his head turn, and even if she’ll only temporarily be in his employ, he nearly lost his career over a woman once before.

I always enjoy Virginia Heath’s books, and this is no exception. This is a classic governess romance setup well-executed. It’s a nice twist that Henry is responsible for nieces and nephew rather than not knowing how to handle his own children, and that Georgie isn’t thrust into a stepmother role for the HEA. The nibling relationship also sets up a better “spoiled misbehaving children” plot - they aren’t acting out solely because they’re poorly disciplined, they’re acting out because they’ve always been able to twist Uncle Henry around their little fingers.

While the children are obviously the driving factor of Georgie’s necessity in the plot, the book remains well balanced with the central romance without sacrificing the believability of the relationships with the children. Henry, like most romance naval officers, is delightfully starchy, while Georgie has rougher personality edges from years of rebelling from barracks life as the ward of an officer herself. I always love a match like this, where the characters are so complementary that they initially appear opposite. It sets up tension without animosity, and makes the HEA that much more believable.

This is the first book in a new series by Heath!

If books are tropes, it’s tempting to say that this one is “grumpy v sunshine”; the label doesn’t quite fit, though as neither character is actually humorless or angry. What it very much is, is an “opposites attract” story.

Captain Harry Kincaid is all work, all the time; he has very specific career goals, set before him by his very-career-oriented grandfather when Harry was little more than a child. And by all that’s holy, Harry will not disappoint the man: come hell or high water, Harry Kincaid will one day be in charge of the Admiralty.

In the spring of 1820, all signs indicate he’s well on his way–then his sister drops off her three unruly and willful children, ages five through 10, and their large hound, on him for the summer, and his orderly household is thrown into disarray.

Georgina “Georgie” Rowe has a good education, some very definite ideas about teaching and raising children, is constitutionally incapable of holding her tongue, and is in dire need of employment.

It’s a match made in desperation.

Beware: domestic abuse; fatphobia; slut-shaming; explicit sex.

Despite having a couple of her books in the huge TBR, this is my introduction to the author’s writing; the story is the first in a series centered around four friends who attended Miss Prentice’s School for Young Ladies.

As the first chapter is entirely exposition, we learn that the eponymous founder of the school educates impoverished girls of good bloodlines, so that they may become governesses to the children of the aristocracy and other wealthy people. It’s not the life little girls are told to dream of, but it’s one with a measure of independence and security for girls who would otherwise be shunted around their wealthier relatives as unpaid companion-cum-maid of all work.

When the story properly starts in the second chapter, Georgie is 23-years-old, and despite being a good teacher, she has yet to secure a position a good year and a half after finishing her studies at the school. Some people test well, some people interview poorly; Georgie is incapable of exercising a bare minimum of diplomacy when disagreeing with prospective employers.

Things are getting very dire indeed for Georgie, when Harry desperately appeals to Miss Prentice for a governess willing to take on the three boisterous heathens who have taken over his house, disrupting his routine and engendering the kind of chaos he’s spend more than half his life trying to forget. And even then, the only reason Georgie gets the job is because Miss Prentice ensures she keeps mostly silent during the interview.

Things get off to a rough start when Harry expects both children and governess to follow a strictly regimented schedule, while Georgie plans to tailor her lessons to the children’s needs–and as none of the three have ever had a governess or any form of structured learning, that means mostly chaos. And so a three-way battle of wills ensues.

Allow me to sum up:

Georgie’s mother was very poor when she married an Army colonel, Georgie’s stepfather. It was not a good match; in fact, it was an abusive marriage, but needs must: when her mother dies a decade later, the child is safe, well-fed and, theoretically at least, well-looked after. By the time she turns 16, all of Georgie’s life ambitions can be summed up as escaping the suffocating life of a military dependent.

Being selected by Miss Prentice to attend her school is salvation and hope: she will stay in the same place for a few years, and when she leaves, she will have the means to make her own decisions about her life. She will keep far, far away from humorless, controlling and abusive military-type people, thank you very much, and she will do what’s best for the children in her charge, no matter what their parents or guardians say about how “sparing the rod spoils the child”. (You can see why she’s struggling to find a position.)

Of course, all of these lofty ideals are put to the test when her only opportunity of employment is with a seemingly dour naval captain, and her charges are three wily and spoiled heathens.

For all that Harry is the grandson of an Admiral, and himself a very organized soul, he grew up in a very different environment; his parents were flighty and his upbringing chaotic. And just as some people suffocate in strictly controlled environments, a life without any order can bring immense anxiety for those who need order. When his maternal grandfather took him in and guided him towards a career in the Navy, Harry thrived.

More than fifteen years later, Harry still lives “by the clock”, his every waking hour devoted to the work he does for the Admiralty. He’s exhausted, hasn’t gotten laid in over a year, and barely gets enough sleep to keep function; he’s so busy keeping the wheel going that he hasn’t asked himself whether he really enjoys the running. However, after a slight stumble a few years prior that cost him being appointed captain of his own ship, Harry is determined to stay the course: one day, so help him, Karry Kincaid will set the course for the entire Royal Navy.

Having three children and their dog wreaking havoc in his household for several months is not conductive to efficient performance at work, however; no matter what bribes he offers, the demons won’t behave for more than a few minutes if that long. So even though the pretty governess with the impressive references doesn’t really meet his expectations of transforming his nephew and nieces into well-behaved and quiet children in a matter of hours, he can’t afford to fire her until–and unless–he has an immediate replacement lined up.

Children aren’t generally easy to write, and I appreciated that the three kids at the center of the setup are more than plot moppets. There is nuance in their behavior and individuality in their dialogue; they each have a distinct personality, abilities and preferences, and not just according to their age or to gender expectations.

So while ten year old Felix is obsessed with insects and can draw better than many an adult, he struggles with math–all math. At nine, Marianne is obsessed with dance, has very pretty handwriting, and can do math in her head. Grace struggles to learn her letter (likely dyslexic), has an excess of energy that makes her clumsy and accident prone, is anxious and shy, and utterly terrified of storms. All three are very articulate, with vocabularies above her years, as a result of being read to by their parents every day for their entire lives.

And all three have learned that they can blackmail their loving uncle Harry into showering them with treats and gifts, simply by agreeing to tone down their antics. “Oh, you want us to behave for the governess? what’s in it for us?”

One of the best parts of this book is that there is no Mary Poppins magic; Georgie has to work at getting the children to obey her and to earn their respect, and that even after she has, there are setbacks and stumbles–because children are children, who need adults to take care of them.

Norbert the dog is just a delight, of course; an absolute disaster of a good boy.

The real conflict, of course, is that both Harry and Georgie are powerfully attracted to each other and that they each have childhood trauma to resolve. And then the Admiralty actually gives them an opportunity to work those out by sending the lot of them to Plymouth–coincidentally, where his sister and her family still live, in the house where so much of Harry’s traumatic memories took place.

I struggled with Georgie because, while there is some lip service to the precariousness of being a woman without family or fortune in the 1800s, relying on a good reputation to secure employment, and then being entirely dependent on the decency of the family, neither her nor her three closest friends actually behave or think in ways consistent with such fears–two of them have changed employment several times in the months they’ve been “out in the world”, and they just blithely go back to Miss Prentice’s house while in between positions. The fact that it’s a school full of other young girls, with physically limited space, let alone other resources like money, is hand-waved.

Harry’s characterization was better; his need for order was innate, reinforced first by his chaotic early years, and later by his grandfather and the Navy. The late Admiral didn’t hesitate to intervene when, in his mid-twenties, Harry fell head over heels for a girl, putting the old man’s ambitions for Harry’s career at risk. Like his early childhood, the incident left a mark on Harry’s personality; however, he’s neither humorless nor unbending; he loves his family dearly, even as they exhaust him, and is willing to go to a great deal of trouble and expense to do his best by his nephew and nieces.

First in London and later in Devon, there are a number of uncomfortable realizations for Harry, as their acquaintance grows into friendship and then love.

I struggled to get into the story, for a variety of reasons; the rhythm of the dialogue feels very much 21st Century. Georgie’s internal dialogue got on my nerves from the start–at one point, she thinks about “her outspoken flapping jaws” and there’s oft-repeated “inner St Joan of Arc” line; Harry’s Navy captain’s uniform is referred to as “regimentals”; one character says “malarkey” (firs recorded use in the 1920s), and several others go on about Harry going on “shore leave”–a term not in use for about sixty years more–as a euphemism for him finally getting laid after a couple of years of work-induced celibacy.

(Ironically, his staff being privy to this level of intimate detail about his life is one of the things that rings true about the whole thing for me.)

The story has heart, but I found the writing voice just a tad too frothy, and the beats of the story too predictable, so I caught myself skimming some while reading. The one thing I really didn’t care for was making Harry’s first love not just an ambitious social climber, but also the promiscuous butt of all the gossip.

All’s Fair in Love and War gets 7.25 out of 10

Another excellent book, and the start of a great new series, from Virginia Heath! 4.5-stars from me, for this one, All’s Fair in Love and War.

I enjoyed the Merriwell Sisters, and now Miss Prentice’s Protegees is starting out very strong. I’ve read some books about governess schools before but this one was unique in how Miss Prentice finds girls who have nowhere else to go, trains them up and finds good placements. Miss Rowe, Georgie, ends up losing a lot of opportunities because she believes children should not be disciplined but encouraged, and parents don’t like that idea. She winds up in an emergency placement situation when a military man is left with his sister’s children as she goes off gallivanting around the world and he needs help with the terrors and their monster dog… (they’re really not that bad, just unruly and don’t want to do lessons, and the “fun” uncle actually has to work)

It’s such a fun story of complete opposites attract, basically a nanny and single dad (since he has the guardianship of his 3 nieces and nephews and she has to take care of them), forced proximity and travel romance as they have to take off across the country to his new military ship posting. I enjoyed it and read it very quickly. I definitely recommend it to all regency romance fans, especially if you enjoyed her Merriwell Sisters series - it’s even better than those!

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press (St. Martin's Griffin), and this is my honest feedback.

I enjoyed All's Fair in Love and War. A wonderful slow burn rom com, I enjoyed the chemistry between Georgie and Harry. And I loved that he was such a pushover for his nieces and nephews (I can relate). This may have been my first Virginia Heath book but it will not be my last. I'm definitely looking forward to the next book in the series.


Thank you to NetGalley and SMP for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I think Never Fall For Your Fiance may have just been a fluke cause I've tried to read three other books now by Virginia Heath and haven't been able to get into them; I may try again one day, but for now, it's a DNF.

This delightful Regency romantic romp is the first story in a new series. The story is witty and entertaining. Georgia is a governess who has yet to find her footing. Henry is an overworked naval officer whose sister just left her three precocious children in his care while she and her husband travel to Egypt. Georgie became the children’s governess, and from there the story becomes a slow-burn romcom, with all sorts of distractions on the side. The characters are well developed and likeable. The well-written story is full of humor, wit, sassy banter, romance, and the changes love brings. The audiobook was a treat. Eva Feller and Shane East did a splendid narration. I look forward to the next book in the series.
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

My Sound of Music loving heart simply swooned over this sweet, heartwarming story! On paper, Georgie and Henry shouldn’t work being quite opposite in their views of the world - he’s a bit starchy and carries two pocket watches while she believes learning is just as meaningful outside of the classroom and that children should be free to express themselves - but at their cores, they were two souls adrift looking for a place to anchor and call home and to heal the hurt of their pasts. While they were both established as individuals, I enjoyed seeing Georgie and Henry’s minds expand and their compassion grow as they got to know each other better. Henry’s grand gesture and groveling was quite excellent.

Heath’s storytelling was not only heartwarming, but incredibly witty and vivacious. The entire cast of characters was positively delightful and the scenes with Georgie and the children (and Norbert!) were my favorites. I thoroughly enjoyed the moments where the children took advantage of Henry and made him “twitchy.”

This story was such a delight and brimming with humor and heart, and I am so excited to continue the series with the other governesses, especially Lottie!

All's Fair in Love and War is such a fun sweet lil story. I thoroughly enjoyed the dynamic between both Georgie and the children and Georgie and Harry. It was such a heartfelt story that encompassed many types of love.

This is the first in a series so there is a little set up of characters, friends of Georgia who I assume will be the main female characters of subsequent books, and that extra set up gives the story additional emotional depth. Seeing Georgie struggle to find her footing in the world and the found family she discovered at school really set the tone for her time at the Captain's house.

Lastly I have to commend Heath on such well written and age appropriate children. As a teacher and mom I often struggle with children who do not match their ages or development levels and it often takes me completely out of a story but all of the children really added to my enjoyment of the story and helped to move along the plot and set up the relationship between Harry and Georgie. I will definitely continue this series.

I think this was a solid start to a series however I wish there wasn’t so much inner monologue and a bit more dialogue. It was boring at most times but I did like the ending.

ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR - Virginia Heath

#1 in the Miss Prentice's Protegees historical romance series

SO CUTE! - 4 stars

Plot - 4 stars - When naval captain, Henry Kincaid, finds himself left in the lurch with his sister's three unruly children and her giant, mad dog, he has to hire an emergency governess to ensure that everything in his ordered house continues to run shipshape. In desperation, he goes to Miss Prentice’s School for Girls prepared to pay whatever it takes to get a governess quick sharp to bring order to the chaos. Fledgling governess Georgina Rowe believes childhood should be filled with laughter, adventure, and discovery, but she often has trouble keeping her mouth shut about perceived problems. Thankfully, the children she has been hired to look after are already delightfully bohemian and instantly embrace her unconventional educational ethos. Their staid, stickler-for-the-rules uncle, however, is another matter entirely.

Writing - 4 stars - Heath is a new-to-me author, and she caught my attention from the first and kept my interest throughout. She writes in an easy-to-read style, with great characters.

Characters - 4.5 stars - This is where the story shone for me. Georgie is headstrong and opinionated (not good qualities for a governess), but she actually is an excellent governess since she is able to adapt to the children's needs and personalities. It would have been a good idea for her to learn a little tact, but her lack is what made her entertaining. Harry is the typical hero--rich, handsome, and successful. He is a career Navy man, a little stodgy, and still trying to overcome his chaotic childhood. But underneath he is kind, adores his nieces and nephew, and apparently (to his own dismay) a dog-lover. He and Georgie seem like opposites, but they bring out the best in each other.

Title - 4 stars - I suppose this saying is appropriate (especially since Harry is often quoting famous people) since he is in the Navy and would be required to head off to war as needed. The love part of the phrase is obvious.

Cover - 3.5 stars - I'm not a fan of the current trend of cartoon-y covers, although this one has bright colors that draw the eye. And the scene represents an important part of the story.

Overall - 4 stars - This is a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable read. Heath is a new-to-me author, and she grabbed my attention from the first and kept me turning the pages throughout. I particularly liked the two main characters, and I felt that all of the secondary characters filled out the story very well, adding fun and interest. As we all expected, the HEA was inevitable, but the problems between Georgie and Harry made sense within the confines of their time period. It was fun to watch Georgie in action in her governess role, adapting to the children's needs and personalities. I also found it fascinating to get a brief look at how the British navy administration works through Harry's eyes. All in all, this was a quick and easy book to read and enjoy.

Georgina Rowe has been sent away by her stepfather to train to become a governess at Miss Prentice’s School for Girls located in Mayfair. Georgina doesn’t think that children should have a strict upbringing, but be allowed to enjoy life as they learn. After graduating, Georgina is the last one of the girls left as she has been rejected before.

Harry works for the Admiralty trying to ensure that ships get built. Arriving home one day, he finds his sister there with her three children and a large dog in tow. She has decided to follow her husband to Egypt for several months and is leaving the children and dog with Harry. The children are high-spirited as is the dog. Knowing he needs to do something fast, he heads to Miss Prentice’s School and seeing that Georgina is the only governess available, hires her to start immediately. Harry can’t help but be skeptical of her as she is short with bright red hair and freckles.

When she arrives, she meets Felix, 10, who likes cricket and insects. Next is Marianne, 9. who loves to dance and sing opera. Lastly, is Grace, 5, who is full of energy. To top it off, there is Norbert, a big, naughty dog.

Harry sets up a strict classroom with every acoutrement needed. He has also set up a schedule of how the children should be taught. Georgina is horrified and quickly allows the children to have a day outside discovering nature. When Harry returns, he finds the classroom in disorder and, in his opinion, nothing accomplished. Therefore, Georgina realizes she will have to follow his schedule.

As Harry and Georgina get to know one another better, she realizes the he is quite conflicted about being made captain of a huge ship that will head out to war. It is not something he wants to do. Besides, he finds himself falling in love with Georgina and doesn’t want to leave her. In addition, she is also attracted to him but refuses to be a military wife waiting for her husband to return. Is there any hope for them to become a couple?

I really loved this book. The children are typically mischievous and the dogs add so much fun to the mix. I was kept on edge as to how this scenario would turn out and it did, indeed, have a happy ending. Enjoy!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Ultimately I ended up liking this book, but it lacked the spark and hunor that Virginia Heath's books usually have. It took me a long time to get through this, as the first 3/4 or so seemed to drag along with no real romantic chemistry between Georgie and Henry. They certainly were attracted to each other physically from the start, but the fundamental antagonism between them (even for an enemies to lovers plot) seemed to take too long to transition into something more. Henry often came off as misogynistic, with his constant rehashing of being dumped by his former fiancee and labeling all women he was attracted to as evil "sirens." Georgie, on the other hand, felt very immature (or perhaps appropriately her age since she was only 23), and her temper tantrums grew tiring. Overall, much of the story just felt repetitive without real progress in the plot or characters.

In the last 1/4, the pieces started coming together more and it improved significantly - hence the 3 star rating. The ending was well done, which also bumped up the rating. Georgie's classmates at Miss P's academy seem like promising future protagonists, so I'll definitely check out the next book and hope that it's a return to Heath's usual writing style.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for providing an ARC for review!

Virginia Heath is so good at writing historical romance that is entirely accessible for readers, and I love this series starter. If you also enjoyed her Merriwell sisters series, you won't be disappointed with this one! Governess Georgina with her takes on education and individuality, and reluctant guardian and curmudgeon Henry are excellent characters, and their banter is great. The humor in this book makes it feel really fresh, and the rambunctious children and the over-the-top antics of the giant dog had me giggling. The conflicts between them are authentic to their characters, their backstory, and their lives and the time. It's a slow burn on the romance front and while it is open door it's relatively limited. Georgie's fellow governesses are interesting and charming, and I look forward to what I assume will be their stories in future books!

All’s fair in love and war
By Virginia Heath
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Georgie is a spinster governess who can’t seem to get past the interview process due to her inability to hold her tongue. Captain Henry “Harry” Kincade is desperate find someone (anyone!!) to look after his two nieces and nephew. Georgie fits the bill and miraculously moves in with them. The only problem is that the Captain values order and structure and Georgie believes that learning requires curiosity and flexibility. Their two ideals clash but their intense chemistry draws them together time and time again.

I loved this story. The characters were brilliantly written, flawed and emotional with real challenges. I loved seeing the two of them grow as people and also together. Harry’s absolute inability to be dishonest with Georgie was so incredibly refreshing in a world full of people pretending. I adored the children too. They felt like real kids. Of course the ten year old boy knows best and takes pride in refusing to listen to their teacher. Of course the youngest has so much energy she doesn’t know how to sit still. All of the characters had a distinct personality like that without being cliché.

I can’t wait to read more from Miss Prentice’s protégés soon!

A former naval captain, Henry Kincaid, is suddenly left in charge of his sister's three unruly children and their giant dog when she leaves for Egypt. Desperate for help, he hires Georgina Rowe, a governess who believes in joyful, adventurous learning rather than strict discipline. Georgie, raised in a strict environment, is determined to give the children the happy childhood she never had. The children quickly embrace her methods, but Harry, valuing order and discipline, initially disapproves. Despite their differences, Harry and Georgie gradually respect and understand each other, leading to unexpected romantic feelings. Their journey is filled with humor, tenderness, and intimacy, transforming their lives and bringing joy to their chaotic household.

Free-spirited governess Georgie Rowe clashes with strict naval captain Harry Kincaid over the care of his unruly niece and nephews. Despite their differences, Georgie's joyful approach to education and Harry's need for order create unexpected sparks, leading to a delightful romance.

I was not expecting this story to be so giddy and precious 🥹 Harry is a brute of a navy captain and yet the most cinnamon-y cinnamon roll there ever was? And George’s cheeky governess ways brought bunches of joy. While the setting is firmly planted in regency England, so many elements read like a contemporary romance and I looked forward to picking this up every chance I got. Harry’s nieces and nephew bring the funniest charm and the author couldn’t have picked a better name for Norbert the goofy dog. But the part that truly got me giggly? Harry’s ill fitting dress breeches (need I say more?) Well there was also the moment when the kids snickered at their uncle ogling Georgie while she wasn’t looking 🤭

I read the book but I’ve seen great reviews of the audiobook!

Thank you @smpromance @netgalley for the eARC 💚💛I can’t wait for the next in the series!

Perfect for you if you like:
Family centric relationships
Funny kids and dogs
Smart governess + rugged navy captain
Slow burn

Similar to:
The Belle of Belgrave Square by Mimi Matthews (closed-door)
An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn
The Ladies Rewrite the Rules by Suzanne Allain (closed-door)

⛔️chapters 20 & 30-32 contain explicit romance scenes (open door)
⚠️language, previous child maltreatment, previous cheating

4.5 stars really!

I’ve wanted to read this author for a bit now, and when the publisher sent me a widget to read an advance copy I immediately grabbed it! It took me a little longer to read than it should have, but that is by no fault of the story itself. I just had too many things going on and not enough reading time. Not to mention being tired from said things.

I don’t read a ton of historical romance, but have been picking up a few here and there as they grab my attention. For one thing of course is enjoying Bridgerton, another is that these are rom-coms as well and I really do like a rom-com more than a series romance almost every single time. I think that I just need more fun in my life and don’t want to read too serious of stories most of the time.

The characters were really enjoyable in this too. I loved Georgie’s fun teaching methods as I feel like some of them were similar to how I liked to teach back when I was in the classroom. Henry’s issues with not falling in love made sense from what he’d experienced, and I like the way the break up at the end happened. Georgie was much smarter than I might have been in that situation, realizing what his asking her to “ask him” would end up becoming in the end. And his nephew and nieces were adorable! I loved all of their little quirks and they made such a fun story.

As this is going to be a series, I think following the other governesses from the school that Georgie went to, I will be very excited to see how their stories go, especially Lottie who was close friends with Georgie.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a copy of this book.
All opinions are my own.

Solid 3.5 ***

I love a new series from an author I already enjoy and this book did not disappoint. A charming introduction to the ladies that make up Miss Prentice's Protegees. I am already looking forward to the next character, hoping it is Lottie, and fleshing out of the side characters introduced.

Georgie Rowe, our intrepid heroine, was sent to a prestigious school for governesses by her vile step-father who has in their brief time with him made Georgie and her mother miserable. Now that her mother has died, Georgie is shipped off quickly. The "real" story begins several years later, as she is the last of her friends to find a governess position. In walks handsome Captain Harry Kincaid, who's household has been thrown into chaos after his sister ceremoniously drops her three rambunctious children and their equally charming dog as she hightails it to Egypt. Harry, overcoming a "wild" childhood and a "wrong girl, wrong time" situation has been focused on rebuilding his naval career and due to his past mistakes laser focused on order and time management. (Harry's use of two watches is adorably nerdy.) Georgie does not necessarily subscribe to a traditional way of learning but is of course exactly what Harry and the children need.
Surprise, they fall in love! I love a slow burn, however this is a long wait. Their romance is cute, not very spicy, as they both overcome shadows from their past. I love Ms. Heath's word choice and phrasing. When you read the phrase "strangle his wedding vegetables" in regards to a too tight pair of pants you know you are in for a good laugh. There is miscommunication but the forced proximity and opposites attract vibes make up for it.

A great beach read with a balance of humor and romance.

The first in the Miss Prentice's Protegees series, All's Fair in Love and War is a delightful, slow-burn. We meet Georgie, a student of Miss Prentice, learning the skills necessary to become of beloved governess. Her sharp tongue hasn't helped her secure a lasting position until Harry appears with an URGENT request for a governess in his household. He's a stickler for order, and doesn't appreciate chaos in his life and lives by the rules of the Royal Navy, even in his house.

Harry finds himself caring for his three nieces and nephew for the summer. The best course of action in his prescriptive life is to bring on a governess to manage the meanly tasks of children. These two-opposites find what their hearts been missing after challenging upbringings.

Grumpy x Sunshine and fun loving dog.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin