Review: Good Book
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 12, 2013
I really liked this book.  The plot is completely unoriginal....arrogant, overbearing Lord falls for outspoken, unconventional governess.  But, this is one of my favorite regency plots, and so, I enjoyed it very much.  I have to say that Georgeanne is definitely one of the most, if not THE most, outspoken governess heroines I've ever encountered.  But then, she has red hair so that probably explains it.  LOL  In any event, Georgeanne, although very well born, is left destitute after the death of her father, a baronet.  As a result, she is forced to seek employment.  When Georgeanne presents herself as a possible governess to Lord Raynor's niece she has already had two other jobs in less than 4 months, and comes with no references.  Luckily, Lord Raynor is just as desperate to find a governess for his niece, as Georgeanne is to find a job she can keep.  At first Raynor, whose first name is Anthony, dismisses Georgeanne, but she manages to convince him to give her a trial period of one month.  From there the plot moves at a nice, quick pace to the conclusion.  There is a cast of interesting characters including, Marissa, Raynor's 5 year old niece, Lady Ashbury, Raynor's elderly aunt, Lord William Townsend, Raynor's best friend, and Lady Olivia Cosgrove, the witch who wants to ensnare Raynor for herself.  BTW, Raynor is a Viscount.  This plot is pretty straightforward, there are no villains (unless you count Lady Olivia), and no mystery or intrigue.  As you would expect with this type of plot, there are a lot of arguments between Raynor and Georgie.  Invariably she is yelling at him about one thing or another and slamming out of the room.  Frankly, her behavior is a bit over the top, even for this type of plot.  For his part, Raynor spends a lot of time being arrogant, withdrawn, reserved and brooding around Georgie, partially because he is trying to fight against his attraction or her and partially because he is jealous of her relationship with his friend Will, Lord Townsend (oh how I loved Will!)  Will forms something of a love triangle with Raynor and Georgie. He's such a wonderful character that he really needs his own story, hence the need for a sequel.  Lady Ashbury, that astute lady, quickly realizes how perfect Raynor and Georgie are for each other, and subtly plays matchmaker for the two.  And, before too long, Raynor and Georgie get their HEA (I should say Marissa also gets her HEA as her greatest wish was to keep Georgie with them!)  My main complaint about this book, is that I would have liked to have seen more pleasant interactions between Georgie and Raynor.  It seemed that they spent the majority of their time alone fighting, bickering, and/or kissing (well to be fair, there were only two or three stolen kisses).  More quiet, pleasant time together with Marissa would have been nice.  They did spend a good deal of time together, but you are told about a lot of that time rather than reading it for yourself.  From reading other reviews I see there are quite a few complaints about the writing and/or the lack of editing in this book.  I have to say that I found the book to be quite well written.  As for the editing problems, I didn't see any.  That's not to say that there weren't any, but if there were I didn't notice them, and they didn't impede my enjoyment of the book.  ***SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER***  Will falls in love with Georgie and makes her an honorable offer of marriage.  My heart nearly broke when she rejected his suit.  I really loved Will.  Truth be told I liked him better than I did Raynor (that's not to say that I did not like Raynor, because I did).  I think it takes away from the story some when the author includes a secondary character that rivals the readers' affections for the main characters, especially in a romance.  In any event, Georgie refuses Will, and I just cannot be happy until Ms. Bennett writes Will's story!  Hence, my request, no DEMAND, for a sequel!  LOL I really hated the fact that Raynor offered to make Georgie his mistress, especially since that dishonorable offer was made after Will had offered her marriage (making it clear that she was an acceptable parti for a peer).  It just made him come across as very much the cad.  Furthermore, at the end of the book when he asks Georgie to marry him, he didn't apologize for his contemptible offer and she never made mention of it (although it did cross her mind) before she accepted him.  I have to be fair and say that it is made very clear to the reader that Raynor was torn up about his offer to make Georgie his mistress, and immediately regretted it, but I felt that she should have been privy to more of his angst about that issue BEFORE she agreed to marry him.  And my last complaint is that after Georgie sneaks out and leaves Raynor I really would have loved to have read about his reaction when he realized she had left. ***END OF SPOILER***  In conclusion, I liked this book very much.  It is the second Margaret Bennett book that I've read.  The first Bennett book I read was "The Poor Relation" another book that I enjoyed very much.  I liked the "Impossible Governess".  It is a worthwhile read.  If I could, I would have given it 3 1/2 stars, but Amazon doesn't allow that.  So, I gave it 4 stars because I think it's closer to being a 4 star read than a 3.