Dear Lady Truelove . . .
My twin brother and I need a new mother, though Papa insists he’ll never marry again. Must be nice, brainy, and fond of cats . . .
Lady Truelove may be London’s most famous advice columnist, but James St. Clair, the Earl of Kenyon, knows his wild young sons need a tutor, not a new mother. They need a man tough enough to make his hellions tow the line, and James is determined to find one.
Miss Amanda Leighton, former schoolteacher and governess, knows she has all the qualifications to be a tutor. And while female tutors are unheard of, Amanda isn’t about to lose the chance at her dream job because of pesky details like that. If Lord Kenyon insists on hiring a man, then she has only one option . . .
Jamie isn’t sure what to make of his new employee, until he realizes the shocking truth—beneath the ill-fitting suits, his boys’ tutor is a woman. An unconventional, outspoken, thoroughly intriguing woman. Despite Amanda’s deception, he can’t dismiss her when his boys are learning so much. Yet Jamie, too, is learning surprising lessons—about desire, seduction, and passionate second chances . . .
About the Book
Governess Gone Rogueby Laura Lee GuhrkeSeriesDear Lady Truelove Series (All Novels Are Standalone)
GenreAdult
Historical Romance
PublisherAvon Books
Publication DateJanuary 29, 2019
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Review
I am a total sucker for a story about a woman disguised as a woman. I don't know why I love them, I just do. So when I saw the latest in the Dear Lady Truelove series was a woman disguised as a man/mistaken identities trope, you'd better believe I jumped on it. And I'm so glad I did, because this is my favorite book of the series so far!I really enjoyed Amanda. I love an unconventional woman in historical romances, and she's got that double pronged attack of being both well-educated and a woman who is "fallen" and thus ostracized by society. Which, okay, how totally unfair is that, that she is totally besmirched and the guy involved has no repercussions whatsoever? I also really like her spirit, and that when she overhears two gentlemen discussion that a woman couldn't possibly prepare Jamie's sons for Cambridge she's basically like "Oh yeah? I so could if I was only given half a chance." And so the seeds are sown.
I love the dynamic between Jamie and Amanda, both while he thinks she's "Mr. Seton" (or Adam) and then once he finds out she's actually Amanda. Either way, she continually pushes his boundaries and makes him question himself and his relationship with his sons. James St. Clair is a deeply flawed character, but despite his neglect of his sons I found myself liking him very much. He's walled himself off because of his pain and basically decided his life ended when his wife died, and it's sad both for his sake and for the sake of his sons.
Also, those boys. As a mother of two young boys (ages 2 and 4) I totally understand the impetus to act out and the idea that bad attention is better than no attention - those poor, sweet, mischievous, evil little boys, haha. Owen and Colin are hands down my favorite part of this entire book, and I love the relationship that develops between them and Amanda probably even more than the romantic storyline.
This is the third book in the Dead Lady Truelove series, and can be read as a standalone with no spoilers and really nothing at all to do with the first two books in the series. Rex, one of the leads from the second book, The Trouble With True Love, makes some brief appearances as a side character, and if you really want to know about the history of Lady Truelove than by all means read the first two books in the series (they're pretty great and definitely worth the read!) but you don't NEED TO in order to get the full impact and enjoyment of this book.
Excerpt
Chapter 1
London,
1893
“And
she’s off.”
Ten-year-old
Owen St. Clair moved to stand alongside his brother,
propped his elbows on the windowsill, and
rested his chin in his hands as he watched their now-former nanny, a stern, black-clad widow named Mrs. Hornsby, step
into the hansom cab at the curb below. “We’re
to blame, you know.”
“Stuff.”
Colin, older than his brother by exactly eighteen
minutes, shook his head, a decisive move
that sent
the unruly strands of his carrot-red hair into
further disarray. “It’s not our fault the Hornsby doesn’t like frogs.”
“Well, we
did put it in her hatbox.” Owen sighed as the cab
containing Mrs. Hornsby turned at the corner and vanished from view. “Three
nannies in six months. I think that’s torn it,
Colin. Papa said one more nanny and he’d send us to Harrow.”
At the
ghastly prospect of being sent off to school, the twins turned, sliding down to
sit on the floor of the library, their backs to the wall beneath the window as
they contemplated what could well be their immediate future.
“We can’t
let Papa send us away,” Colin said at last.
“He’d be
lost without us. And what would happen to Oscar?”
Both boys
looked up at the gray tabby cat that was sitting on the arm of a nearby chair,
a cat they’d rescued from a tree in the park two years earlier. Oscar was
twitching his tail and blinking his green eyes sleepily,
seeming unaware of the dire future that lay ahead for his two human friends.
“He’ll be
lonely,” Owen said. “Papa’s away all the time, and the servants think he’s a
nuisance because
he doesn’t chase mice. They don’t like him. They
might forget to feed him. They might give him away.”
“We’ve
got to do something to stop it.”
“Maybe we
could take him with us? It’s probably against the rules to have a cat at
Harrow, but-”
“I’m not
talking about Oscar.” Colin turned to his brother. “I’m talking about us and
being sent away.
Oscar has nothing to worry about if we can convince
Papa to let us stay here.”
There was
silence for a moment as both boys considered the problem.
“Maybe,”
Owen said at last, “we could find our new nanny ourselves before Papa knows
what’s happened. Someone we like. Someone fun. If we do that, it’s a fate . . .
fate—what’s the word?”
“Fait-accompli,”
Colin supplied in carefully enunciated, very British French.
“That’s
it.” Owen’s nod was decisive. “And if we’ve already found someone, Papa can’t
be too angry about Nanny Hornsby leaving, can he?”
“Maybe
not, but the thing is . . .” Colin paused, his freckled face scrunching up with
distaste, as if he’d
just eaten a persimmon. “We don’t really want another
nanny, do we?”
“No, but
what other choice have we got?”
“Maybe we
should find what we really want.”
“You mean
. . .” Owen stared at his brother, his expression one of both excitement and
doubt. “You don’t mean a new mum?”
“Why not?
We’ve been talking about it for ages.”
“I know,
but—”
“Another
nanny would be tiresome. School would be worse.”
“That’s
true, but—”
“Papa’s
sure to marry again sometime,” Colin interrupted.
“What if
he picks someone who doesn’t like us?”
“We’d be
off to Harrow like a shot. But still—”
“If we
find Papa someone who likes us, she could convince him to let us give school a
miss altogether.”
“Possibly,”
Owen said, his voice making it clear he wasn’t optimistic about such a plan’s
chances of success. “But Papa won’t ever marry again. He’s said so a thousands
of times.”
“We’ll
have to find him a girl who’s smashing enough to make him change his mind.
Someone pretty, of course.”
“Someone
nice. Someone who won’t put pomade in our hair and lecture us when our trousers
get torn.”
Colin
nodded. “She’ll have to be brainy, too, like Mama was. And fond of cats.”
Oscar
meowed, as if giving his endorsement of this plan.
“There’s
just one problem,” Owen pointed out.
“How do
we find her?”
“That is
the sticky wicket.”
Both boys
fell silent again, thinking hard.
“We could
put an ad in Auntie Clara’s paper,” Owen said after a moment. “Men are always
advertising for wives in the papers.”
“Gentlemen
don’t, and Papa’s a gentleman. Wait—I know!” Colin jumped to his feet and
crossed the library to the writing desk. As his brother watched, he opened the
center drawer, retrieved a sheet of notepaper, and closed the drawer again.
“What are
you doing?” Owen asked curiously, standing up and moving toward the desk as his
brother
reached for the pen that was reposing in a silver
holder on the inkstand.
“Who are
you writing to?”
“Who does
everyone write to when they want to solve a problem?” Colin countered as he
inked the nib
of the pen. “I’m writing to Lady Truelove.”
Those who
wanted to be polite would have deemed Amanda Leighton a woman of the world.
Those not so inclined to civility would have called her something else,
something much less romantic.
Either
way, facts were facts, and though by the age of twenty-eight Amanda had lived
in two different
countries, earned a university education, found a
profession, taken a lover, and lost her reputation, she had not gained the one
experience society deemed worthwhile for those of her sex. Amanda had never
managed to acquire a husband. But then, she’d never really been in search of
one. Her mother had died when she was a young girl, and she’d been raised by
her father, a university professor who had scorned the traditional,
marriage-minded, downright silly scope of a girl’s learning, and who had
personally given Amanda a first-class education worthy of any boy. More
important, he’d taught her to take charge of her own destiny, not by the use of
feminine wiles, but by the employment of her intelligence.
About Laura Lee Guhrke
LAURA LEE GUHRKE spent seven years in advertising, had a successful catering business, and managed a construction company before she decided writing novels was more fun. A New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Laura has penned over twenty historical romances. Her books have received many award nominations, and she is the recipient of romance fiction’s highest honor: the Romance Writers of America RITA Award. She lives in the Northwest with her husband (or, as she calls him, her very own romance hero), along with two diva cats and a Golden Retriever happy to be their slave. Laura loves hearing from readers, and you can contact her via her website: www.lauraleeguhrke.com.
Just requested this from the library! Hooray!!
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