Reviewer: Tracy The Highlander and the Governess by Michelle Willingham
Series: Untamed Highlanders #1
Publisher: Harlequin Historical
Publication Date: September 17, 2019
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Point-of-View: Third
Genres: Historical Romance
Pages: 288
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Series Rating:
A ruined lady turned governess
Can she tame the Highlander?
Part of Untamed Highlanders. When Frances Goodson is summoned to Scotland to give etiquette lessons, she’s not expecting to tutor a handsome laird! The scandal of her past means going home is not an option, so she must help wild, scarred Lachlan MacKinloch win a wealthy London heiress. She’s determined to fulfill her task and not get distracted by the passion she sees in the powerful laird’s eyes…
Frances Goodson arrives in Scotland and is impressed by the grandeur of the castle where she’s been hired to be a governess. She’s been told nothing about her charges, but she can’t wait to get started.
When she finally is admitted to the home, she finds out that the Laird’s mother had hired a governess behind her son’s back because she thought he needed help with his manners and etiquette. He’s to hopefully get engaged to a London lady soon, and the mother wants nothing to get in the way of that happening.
The Laird, Lachlan McKinloch, wants nothing to do with the governess or her etiquette lessons. He orders her out of the house at once. She talks him into letting her stay one day but then he insists she must leave. One day turns to two and then soon she’s there for a month.
Frances is running from a scandal and poverty. She was from a good family but they turned their backs on her when scandal hit. Frances will do anything to stay away from London, even stay in Scotland and work for no wages.
Frances is able to get the Laird to work on etiquette like the proper fork to use, dancing, and the biggie: the need to always have a chaperone. Of course they don’t always, and next thing you know the two are falling in love. Unfortunately the London hopeful has 20,000 pounds as a dowry so Lachlan can’t marry Frances as he needs the money the marriage will bring to save his people, who are starving. His father wasn’t good with money before he died and made the arrangements with his best friend for their kids to marry.
I really liked this book up until the point where Frances and Lachlan return to London, then it just turned into a disaster. I knew that Lachlan didn’t want to marry the other girl, but he knew that he was going to, no matter what. That didn’t stop him from sleeping with Frances right after he asked the other woman to marry him! My God, Lachlan, have some honor! Frances wasn’t much better but letting him when her brain was saying “no, this isn’t right.” Smart brain. It all works out in the end but not before some serious issues that I really didn’t think made up for Lachlan’s behavior.
Overall it was a decent story, but not one I loved. You’ll probably have to read it for yourself and see what you think about Lachlan’s actions as well as some of the secondary characters. If you do, please let me know your thoughts, I’d love to hear them.
Rating: 3 out of 5
I can understand your reservations with the story, Tracy, after the travel to London. I don’t think I’ll be reading this…I read so so many Highland romances in the eighties and nineties that I burned out. It’s the rare romance set there that I’ll now read. (I was happy to make an exception for Lord Ian Mackenzie!)