Seducing the Governess by Margo Maguire

Title/Author: Seducing the Governess by Margo Maguire
Publisher/Date published: Avon, February 22nd 2011
How I got this book: received it from the publisher throught NetGalley
Why I read this book: historical romance = guilty pleasure

Goodreads summary: "A Proper Governess Should Never...
Assist a handsome stranger, alone on an unfamiliar road... unless the rake happens to be her new employer.
Take a position in a crumbling manor... especially if the household staff has been replaced by unruly former soldiers.
Allow her young charge entrÉe to her heart... for once done, it will be impossible to maintain proper distance.
Permit her charge's uncle a breathtaking kiss under a star-lit sky... henceforth she will most certainly lose composure whenever he is near.
And above all, she should never, ever fall completely, irreversibly in love with her employer... for nothing good can possibly come of it."

Mercy hasn't had the most amazing homelife and after both her adoptive parents have passed away, she is left with not other option than to find a way to make a living for herself. She accepts a post as a governess and on the way to her new job is nearly run down by several men on horses. After the group has passed, a lone rider follows, who falls from his horse. Mercy escorts the man to the manor, he turns out to be her new employer.
Her charge is an emotionally traumatized little girl and Mercy has to employ every trick she can think of to pull her out of her shell. Meanwhile, she's growing more and more attracted to Nash.
Nash needs to marry a girl with a huge dower in order to fix up his property, but he doesn't seem to be able to focus on this task when Mercy is around.
Meanwhile unbeknownst to Mercy, her birth family is trying to track her down, how will this all play out?

This book had two distinct parts in it, the part before and after Mercy and Nash consumated marriage before the marriage (trying very hard to keep things tastful). Before, there was tension, tension, TENSION.
And after... well... let's just say that it kind of fell flat to me.

I mean, there were heated glances and stolen kisses under moonlit skyes and angst on Mercy's side that she should leave, because this can't be going anywhere. And Nash is trying to find himself a wealthy wife and doesn't really need a distraction in the form of an attractive woman in his household.

And then there's after and the tension is MIA. Even when Mercy discovers Nash has been courting the wealthy lady next door, there is no tension. **SLIGHT SPOILER**I was hoping she'd leave and he'd have to chase after her or something, but this did not happen.**

And the whole thing with falling of a horse and the earl being physically marred by a fire felt a bit too Jane Eyre for me and though I LOVE Jane Eyre, it felt to much like a deja vu. And the fact that Mercy seemed to be the only one not completely horrified by his scars bothered me a bit, especially since she 'didn't even notice' them, which is weird if they're so gruesome to other people. I mean, I can see not really seeing them anymore once you know someone longer and love them, but not right from the moment you meet them.

There was a lot of promise in the story, but it somehow didn't reach its full potential for me.

My rating: 2 stars