Happy Publication Day to All’s Fair in Love and War by Virginia Heath!
From the Blurb:
A new Regency romp of a series, about governess who believes in cultivating joy in her charges, clashes with the children’s uncle who hired her, only to find herself falling in love.When the flighty older sister of former naval captain, Henry Kincaid, decides on a whim to accompany her explorer husband on an expedition to Egypt, he finds himself unwittingly left in the lurch with her three unruly children and her giant, mad dog. With no clue how to manage the little rascals, a busy career at the Admiralty that requires all of his attention, and no idea when his sister is coming back, Harry 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.
Thanks to her miserable, strict upbringing, fledgling governess Georgina Rowe does not subscribe to the ethos that children should be seen and not heard. She believes childhood should be everything that 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 ethos. Their staid, stickler-for-the-rules uncle, however, is another matter entirely…
Georgina and Henry continue to butt heads over their differences, but over time it seems that in this case, their attraction is undeniable, and all is indeed fair in love and war.
Publication Date: May 28, 2024
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
ISBN 9781250896070, 125089607X
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My thoughts:
I’m a big fan of Virginia Heath and her Regency romcoms, including The Merriwell Sisters trilogy, and I always look forward to her new releases. All’s Fair in Love and War was definitely worth the wait! I had to put all my chores on hold as I just couldn’t put the book down.
The plot appeared quite straightforward (a young bachelor in a desperate need for someone to help him cope with his three incredibly unruly (but secretly adorable!) nephews and nieces meets a charmingly outspoken, feisty young governess, sparks fly, and after lots of banter and a reasonable amount of time they realise their first impressions weren’t exactly right and this wonderful attraction isn’t something to fear and resist, but quite the opposite. Sounds simple, and yet, the story and the characters felt refreshingly original, entertaining, and relatable.
If you are a parent/grandparent/uncle/aunt or a childcarerer, you will recognise the familiar dilemma and precarious balance of stimulating children’s creativity and curiosity and ensuring they have a safe routine. Georgie, our female protagonist, is a wonderful teacher, committed to learning what her little charges are interested in and bringing the best in them. She clearly loves her job and isn’t afraid of any challenge. Captain Harry Kincaid seems to be her opposite (of course, we see pretty soon how deceptive this strict facade is). Harry’s desire to lead an orderly life stems from his difficult childhood and is a sign of being a responsible and loving person. You can’t help falling in love with these two main characters and rooting for them. Strangely enough, for once, I could easily envisage the protagonists making different choices and never becoming a couple. Their lives would have been full of Miss Prentice’s four D (duty, decorum, diligence, and discretion) and maybe they would have even been content, but happy? They obviously needed each other for that!
You can probably tell I had such a great time with the book! If you are looking for a happy, joyful, entertaining read, don’t miss this first instalment in Virginia Heath’s new series Miss Prentice’s proteges. Looking forward to reading the next book!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy. All opinions are my own and were not influenced in any way.
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