All’s Fair in Love and War by Virginia Heath
Series: Miss Prentice’s Protegees #1
Release Date: May 23, 2024
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Genre: New Adult Historical Romance
Pages: 384
Format Read: e-arc and paperback
Summary: 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…
Review:
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Spice: .5/5
Review: This story follows a young woman who helps the captain with three of his niece/nephews. I have read Virginia Heath’s books in the past and very much enjoyed them but sadly this one kind of missed its spark compared to the others. It was still a great read as the storyline was still good and I loved how kids were involved in this book. It made it so much cuter. The pacing was fast in the beginning but it did get slow towards the middle. I liked the setting and the historical accuracy of the book. This story is told from both Harry and Georgina.
Georgina is a governess who is now taking care of three young children for Harry. She was a sweetheart with mixed feelings but there wasn’t much development. Then there is Harry who I liked in the beginning but began to not like him in the end. There are quite a few side chapters but I loved the children who just made this book. They were so fun and dramatic that I just loved it. My least favorite thing about this book was the romance. For some reason, I just couldn’t feel the chemistry and it felt like there wasn’t enough screen time for the two.
The ending was ok but I just didn’t get because I just wanted a historical romance and we didn’t get the romance. It wasn’t a bad book per se because the story was good and the kids made this book but if the romance was wonderful it could have gotten more stars. I recommend reading Heath’s The Merrill Sisters because those were really great.
*this arc was sent to me by the publisher to give an honest review in return*
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