All's Fair in Love and War: A Novel

Virginia Heath

May 2024 · Miss Prentice's Protegees Book 1 · Sold by St. Martin's Griffin

About this ebook

In the first installment of a Regency romp of a series, a 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 Harry Kincaid’s flighty older sister decides to join her husband on an Egyptian expedition, Harry, a former naval captain, is left in the lurch, minding her three unruly children and giant, mad dog. But Harry has a busy career at the Admiralty that requires all his attention, and he has no clue how to manage the little rascals or when his sister is coming back. In desperation, he goes to Miss Prentice’s School for Young Ladies prepared to pay whatever it takes to hire an emergency governess quick sharp to ensure everything in his formerly ordered house is run shipshape again.

Thanks to her miserable, strict upbringing, fledgling governess Georgie Rowe does not subscribe to the ethos that children should be seen and not heard. She believes childhood should be everything 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 approach. Their staid, stickler-for-the-rules uncle, however, is another matter entirely.

Georgie and Harry continue to butt heads over their differences, but with time it seems that in this case, their attraction is undeniable—and all is indeed fair in love and war.

Ratings and reviews

Such a delightful romance! Georgie is a true breath of fresh air! A bit stubborn, not conventionally beautiful, headstrong to a fault, yet devoted to her career and the young humans she takes care of. I really enjoyed reading her back-and-forth banter with Harry, a stick-in-the-mud who really needs to learn to loosen up, and she's just the one to teach him. The children in this story are wonderfully written, with complex personalities and behaviors that are realistic and not always picture perfect. I adored Georgie's blunt, no-nonsense approach when calling them out on their unacceptable behavior, getting them to think about their actions without demeaning them. Harry is a swoony work in progress. His personal growth as he examines just exactly what he really wants in a career was beautifully written, and I loved the resolution that he came up with in the end. His witty and heartfelt interactions with the children and their governess was always on point and so much fun to read. My only complaint about this book is that it could really benefit from an editor and proofreader. One expects children to lack proper grammar and syntax in their speech; however, one expects better of a highly trained governess. Harry and Georgie get a truly splendid HEA and I'm really looking forward to reading more in this promising series. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

4 1/2 stars. I enjoyed Georgie's more modern approaches to education as well as her willingness to speak her mind. She was strong, although she did try to have some self-control around her employer. Harry had his life mapped out until his sister left him her three children to care for while she was travelling. This up-ended his home life so he hired Georgie. His very linear, strict, rule-bound life went against everything that Georgie believed. I found Harry's inner teddy bear so adorable.

Charming and fun, I truly enjoyed this romance. While it is very much its own story, this book did have me experiencing some very "Sound of Music" vibes. I really liked Georgie's spunkiness and Harry's stuffiness, and together I thought that they balanced each other out beautifully. I'm very eager to read more of this new series.

About the author

When Virginia Heath was a little girl, it took her ages to fall asleep, so she made up stories in her head to help pass the time while she was staring at the ceiling. As she got older, the stories became more complicated, sometimes taking weeks to get to the happy ending. Then one day, she decided to embrace the insomnia and start writing them down. Now her Regency rom-coms (including the Wild Warriners and Merriwell Sisters series) are published in many languages across the globe. Thirty books and three Romantic Novel of the Year Award nominations later, it still takes her forever to fall asleep.