The Governess Game

When Alexandra Mountbatten agrees to governess two unruly wards for London's most notorious rake, she expects chaos — she does not expect to fall for the insufferable man paying her wages.

Set in Regency England, *The Governess Game* is Tessa Dare at her sparkling best: sharp wit, genuine heart, and a heroine who refuses to be anything less than extraordinary. Alexandra is a passionate amateur astronomer with ambitions that have no business belonging to a woman of her era — and she knows it, and doesn't care one bit. Chase Reynaud, her rakish employer, has built his entire reputation on charm and carelessness. He has no intention of letting a governess with bright eyes and sharper opinions dismantle it.

Yet that is precisely what happens.

The tension between them crackles from their very first exchange. Dare writes their friction with the kind of layered, intelligent banter that feels effortless — every barbed comment hiding something neither character is ready to admit. Beneath the humor, though, lies genuine emotional depth. These are two people who have learned to protect themselves, slowly, reluctantly, choosing each other instead.

The result is a historical romance that earns its emotional payoff completely — funny when it needs to be, tender when it counts, and never once manipulative about either. Readers consistently describe it as