Brought to you by OBS reviewer Daniele

*Beware of potential spoilers*

Synopsis:

A secretary for the renowned Evensong Agency, Eliza Lawrence may have a pretty face, but she’s much prouder of her mind and her morals. When she’s pressed into temporary governess duty as a favor to her boss, she doesn’t expect to bend one bit for the rakish Nicholas Raeburn. Not even when he opens the door to her half-dressed…

Despite his bad reputation, Nicholas is a man of honor. To Nick’s way of thinking, he doesn’t need any help raising his daughter, Domenica. If only he weren’t so drawn to the meddlesome woman’s sparkling wit and uncommon beauty…

But when an act of misplaced chivalry goes seriously awry, resulting in mayhem and almost murder, Eliza becomes the only woman he can depend upon. Nick will do anything to protect his family, but who will protect him from falling in love with his reluctant governess?

Review:

Eliza considers herself a modern woman who downplays her beauty, has no desire to be married, and enjoys her career as secretary at the Evensong (employment) Agency.  She reluctantly agrees to act as a temporary governess for her boss’s new brother-in-law until the Agency can find a permanent placement.  She arrives at Nicholas Raeburn’s recent London residence to find an unorthodox household.  Nicholas is an artist, with bohemian habits and ideals, and his young daughter Domenica “Sunny” is relatively unsupervised.  Eliza’s propriety and Nick’s free spirit immediately clash, and they both cannot wait for Eliza to leave.  Unfortunately, the entire household comes down with the flu, and Eliza finds herself the caretaker of all.  To make matters worse, Nick’s actions the first night Eliza is in residence, in which he attempts to help one of his models after she was beaten by her boyfriend, have backfired and the press has camped out at his door.  The dangers increase when the boyfriend escapes from jail and Sunny’s paternity is challenged.

The Reluctant Governess is full of likable characters and an antagonist that is effortlessly despised.  Of course, Eliza and Nick do not care for each other in the beginning, and their push and pull drives the story along without it becoming trite.  Eliza is more passionate than she lets on, and Nick is really an honorable man, one who eventually realizes that he has sowed enough wild oats.  Though Sunny does not appear enough for my liking, it is easy to see why Nick and Eliza come to greatly love her.  Nick’s “friend” Daniel is truly nasty, and his arrival marks the moment when the book becomes really exciting.  My only criticism is that the novel does not feel true to the Edwardian period at times, but more modern.

I enjoyed this traditional historical romance and would recommend it to fans of the genre and those who enjoyed the other installments of The Ladies Unlaced series.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*