Book Review: The Governess Game by Tessa Dare

The Governess Game by Tessa Dare
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have qualms about this one. Chase's character wasn't entirely believable; on the one hand, he was supposed to be a heartless rake, unwilling to commit to a woman, not only because of his rakishness, but also because of his painful past. On the other hand, however, he was charming, caring, and downright wonderful with Alex and the girls, which totally undermined the other part of his character.

Now, I've read novels that only have one or two sexy scenes, but I found that the marketing with this one built up how much steam there would be "between the sheets", and it rather fell short for me. Not only that, but Chase, himself, spends so much time boasting about his prowess in bed, that I expected those scenes to be far better than they were.

Alex was a delight. She was spunky, unique, and entirely charming. I loved her backstory, and that we got to see more of her friends from Book 1 (including the wonderful Ash). I only wished that she fit better with Chase.

Lastly (for characters), the girls were adorable, and though they might have taken up a bit too much of the plot, I enjoyed the interplay between them and Alex.

I mentioned that the steam level just wasn't "as advertised" for me, but what bothered me most, I think, was that the story seemed to drag. I enjoyed the fist 1/3 of the book, and then the second 1/3 seemed to recycle the same excuses/reasons for them not to be together when they were very clearly already together. I kept waiting for something more to happen, but that seemed to wait until the very last two chapters, and by then I felt like it was too late.

I loved the first book in this series, and enjoyed Alex's parts of this book, so I fully intend to read the next in the series, with the hope that it's another enjoyable one. This book, however, just didn't quite hit the mark for me.

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