All’s Fair in Love and War by Virginia Heath
Miss Prentice’s Protégées series #1. Historical romance.
Thanks to a flighty older sister, navy captain Henry Kincaid is stuck with three unruly children and a giant dog. Henry has a career at the Admiralty! He can’t spend all day with his nieces and nephew and he certainly can’t expect his housekeeping staff to watch out for them. In desperation, he goes to Miss Prentice’s School for Girls, prepared to pay whatever it takes to hire a governess to bring order to the chaos that is his home with the children in it.
Thanks to a military, strict upbringing, fledgling governess Georgina Rowe believes childhood and learning should be filled with laughter, adventures, and creativity. Fortunately, the three Pendleton children aren’t used to structured formality so embrace the unconventional education. Unfortunately, their uncle has rules, schedules and expectations the children should be meeting. It’s going to take Georgie some of her own creativity to make the household work.

A fun commingling of opposite opinions and life adjustments. Henry loves the children but his job pressure doesn’t have room for child care. Then and now, it’s a familiar refrain! While Georgie doesn’t really know what she’s doing in her first teaching job, she manages to wrangle the children into learning. The children and the dog add a lot of humor to the story in their antics. Georgie knowing military quotes draws Henry in while the children lighten his moods with their love and joy. It doesn’t take much for Georgie and Henry to skip past the formality of their positions.
Entertaining.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.

Thank you to #prhaudio, #NetGalley , and #smpromance for this #giftedaudiobook / #giftedcopy in exchange for my unbiased review!

This is the first book in a series called Miss Prentice's Protegees, and I, for one, am looking forward to the next book already! It was captivating enough to listen in one day, as I followed along in the book! It is humorous, witty, and fun! I love Regency Romances! And who doesn't love British narrators??? The narrators were fabulous! Pick this book up to be transported to England in the 1800s.

This was a great historical and very enjoyable time. This follows Georgina otherwise known as Georgie who after growing up in a horrible household enter a school for governesses. She is hired by Henry after his sister leaves him with her 3 children and he is in a hard place. He is in the navy and this follows the tension between them. I love all the kids and it makes for a fun adventure. It also had some depth with Henry struggling with his position in the navy and learning who he is. Overall a charming historical.

Thanks to Netgalley and Griffen publishing for this ARC.

Thank you to Uplit Reads and SMP Romance for my complimentary copy of All’s Fair in Love and War. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was an adorable regency romance. It had a little bit of all my favorite tropes.

Enemies to Lovers
Close Proximity
Fake Engagement
Slow Burn
Grumpy/Sunshine

The preschool teacher in me absolutely loved the way Virginia highlighted different learning situations. Being chained to desk and forced to do paper and pencil work is not always the best way. Being outside and making learning fun is sometimes best. Even though stick in the mud uncles don’t think it’s the best way.

Another great book from Virginia Heath! This book is filled with great characters even beyond the MCs, Harry & Georgie, and the children. I love endearing characters especially when they interact with children. Children who have personalities of their own and are written as intelligent small people that have a significant impact on the story and aren't shunted off to the side. There are many issues at hand in this story that are intertwined and yet the author untangled the lot and the characters grew at the perfect pace. I loved it!

Thank you to St Martins Press, St Martins Griffin, and NetGalley for sharing yet another wonderful story. All opinions are my own.

A cute and easy read.
Engaging characters
Intriguing plot.
Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

All's Fair in Love and War is an easy read. It took a bit for it to draw me in, but once it pulled me in I didn't put it down! Georgie, trained to be a governess, has a hard time keeping her tongue in check and has failed to secure a job. When Captain Kincaid's older sister leaves her 3 wild children with him, he is left in a lurch and must secure a governess straightaway. Thus the love/hate relationship between Georgie and Henry begins, they butt heads but can't deny their feelings, thus All's Fair in Love and War!

The orphaned governess and the strict former captain. He is instantly drawn to her and wants to find any reason to get rid of her when she isn't working up to his standards. But she works around the kids and their limitations not through them. So he doesn't quite get it. He just knows when he falls he fails at work and he is really drawn to her.
This was such a fun book. The children were delightful and I loved how the uncle was a huge part of their life and became even bigger at the end. There was also a rambunctious dog that was not helping get work done.
The ending was so sweet. It took awhile and a lot of uncovered truths to get there. But they both were attracted to each other.
Loved how she tried to give the excuse as just wanting a try cause she would never marry and then walking away. They can never just walk away.

While there were some parts of this story that I really enjoyed - the set-up for the opposites attract romance was good - other parts were just not my cup of tea. The pacing felt a little off, with the first half or so being very slow, and then a lot happening in the last part. Some of the sexual humor and content felt a little crass for my tastes. The children were endearing and I did like the FMC. The constant use of idioms was funny at first... but then just felt overplayed.

For a historical rom-com, it was okay, but not my favorite.

⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Historical Romance
Age Level: Adult
Content: heavy makeout, 1 open-door

*I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher; the review is my own.*

I'm really struggling with how to rate this book because I really enjoyed it and would probably have loved it without chapter 31 and a little bit elsewhere. So 3.5-4 stars it is.

Both Georgie (23) and Harry (30) were likable characters, even if they were idiots sometimes. Georgie was exactly the governess the Pendleton children needed; she was strict but reasonable and sought to truly teach them in the ways that were best for them. I liked her inner St. Joan of Arc, as well. She was also exactly what Harry needed. Despite being such a stickler for timeliness and order, he was also the biggest pushover for his nieces and nephew and didn't even realize it. He and Georgie were quite a match, and watching them come to that realization was entertaining. The Pendleton children--Felix, Marianne, and Grace--were adorable terrors and were written quite perfectly.

The story was very cute, exactly what I expected of a regency rom-com about a feisty governess and a rigid naval officer who is unexpectedly given responsibility for his sister's children. It was fun and easy to enjoy. If you like The Sound of Music, you might like this book. The stories are somewhat similar, though they're different enough that this book doesn't feel like a rewrite. Just know that it does contain some mature content. Frankly, it felt very out of place to me and was an unwelcome surprise, as the rest of the book is very PG. (See Notes for more info.) That content is the only thing keeping me from recommending this book.

Note: Maybe a couple of mild swear words, but a few uses of a crude term for male anatomy. A couple instances of sensuality and a whole chapter (31) of sex that can be skipped without missing anything important. The very beginning of chapter 32 rehashes it a little bit, too.

This book is just so much fun. I absolutely loved it!! It has some very Mary Poppins x Sound of Music vibes that I adore, and the naval officer aspect is well done.

I love that he seems so strict and prickly, but he's really just a big softy and a bit of a pushover with his loved ones. I love that he has such a close relationship with his nieces and nephew! He absolutely adored and spoils them, and they are all obsessed with him as well. It's just very sweet, and we need more positive and loving male role models like that in books. Just beautiful to see.

The Jane Austen undertones absolutely SENT me. Move aside Marriane (Sense and Sensibility), there's a new captain out there saving people in the rain, and saving his nephew no less.

The governess is feisty and opinionated and takes a much more Charlotte Mason and positive reinforcement led approach to learning that is just beautiful. I love that she does suits her learning style so well to the children, and I loved watching her relationship with the MMC develop and grow. He is the sweetest and must be protected 🥺 I don't make the rules 🤷🏻‍♀️

This is governess of nieces and nephew x their bachelor admiral uncle. This is dog owning and doting. She is sunshine, and he brings the cinnamon rolls. I just love them.

Content: language, explicit s*x

Thank you St. Martin's Press Romance and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book. This review is voluntarily written and the thoughts and opinions contained in this review are my own.

I read "All's Fair in Love and War" by Virgina Heath on NetGalley. This book was promoted as being the first in a series, and I will definitely be reading the other ones! I'm assuming the others will probably be based off of Georgie's friends who were at the same school, learning to be governesses. Georgie steps in during an emergency to become the governess of Harry's young nephew & nieces. They have an immediate attraction, but life is never that easy. I really enjoyed this book.

I really loved Virginia Heath's Merriwell Sisters series so was really excited when I saw she had a new series coming out! This was the perfect kind of slow burn romance, tons of tension but not a lot of painful angst. Georgie is a bit of rebel and free thinker which I loved and Harry is a bit uptight and needs order and strict time management. They both have trauma in their pasts that keep them from giving in to each and is what motivates them. Georgie is brought in to be governess for Harry's nieces and nephews and I loved how Harry and Georgie interacted with the kids, the best moment is when they are interrupted by one of the kids before things can get too far between them! The secondary characters were all so loveable and I can't wait for the next book! Also the dogs truly steal the show!

I found this a difficult book to get into, as the FMC was not particularly likeable. However, the starchy MMC was wonderful as were the children and dog. I did like the progression of friendship between the couple, and as they became closer, the story certainly improved for me. It wasn't a perfect story, but an entertaining read. I think a lot of readers will really like the FMC and love this book.

Georgina Rowe was a trained governess who was having a hard time finding her first family. Enter Captain Harry Kincaid, a man desperate to find a governess who could manage his sister's hellion kids after she left them with him while on a trip abroad with her husband. Initially Harry had stringent rules for how the children were to be taught and as he was paying her top dollar for her duties, Georgie tried to comply. Of course, the best laid plans often go awry and Georgie had to change her plan to better suit the needs of how the children were wanting to learn. There a long period of time where Georgie and Harry tried to fight the attraction that was building between them and I wish the author written their accepting and acting on their attraction sooner than she did but the ending of the story was fire. The ending more than made up for the lagging start to it. I was overjoyed with the ending and wish much of the interplay between Georgie and Harry had taken place earlier. I also love the cast of supporting characters- sister Flora, the nieces, Grace, Marianne, nephew Felix, Ada and Tom and lets not forget Norbert and Cuthbert- the interaction between them was excellent.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

Harry finds himself in charge of caring for his two nieces and nephews while trying to balance his naval career. Harry quickly realized he needed help and sought out a governess at Miss Prentice’s School for Girls. Georgie is an eccentric governess wanting children to have freedom in learning. Harry and Georgie are polar opposites, but the children flourish under Georgie’s direction. Will Harry warm up to the sweet and unconventional governess?

I absolutely love this book! It was such a fun read there were so many times I laughed out loud while reading. Those who like Martha Waters will love this book.

I have enjoyed a couple of Virginia Heath’s previous books and this one was no exception. Overall, I enjoyed the storyline and characters. What I did struggle with was the pacing of the book and some of the characters’ inner monologues. Both the female and male main characters had some rather repetitive inner thoughts, particularly the FMC. As for the pacing, there were parts that were slow, which made it difficult to stay engaged. The book was nearly 400 pages long, so I feel that if some of the inner dialogue was cut out and some of the less necessary to the plot bits of the story, this would have been an even more enjoyable reading experience. That being said, I did enjoy reading the book. The children and some of the side characters were quite entertaining. The story picked up upon the change in location. There was a significant amount of character development with regards to the MMC - that was probably my favorite aspect of the story. The realization he comes to at the end was very eye opening. The banter between the characters was fun. I really like the egg metaphors dispersed throughout. I may even use some of those myself. I will definitely read another book by this author. In fact, I look forward to getting more of Miss Prentice’s Protégées is subsequent books.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffey for a digital arc. The opinions expressed are honest and my own.

I have mixed feelings about this one. I wanted to love it more than I actually did. Some thoughts...

The Good: the humor! Multiple funny moments, one of which actually made me laugh out loud.
- The banter between the leads once they started to like each other eas delightful
- The dogs! Love a book with heavily featured dogs.
- The hero's sister. She's only in the book for a minute but I loved her.

The not as good: the main couple doesn't actually spend a lot of time together for the first half of the book.
- The kids were believable, but I just wasn't thrilled with them.
- The hero's ex for multiple reasons, actually.
- The third act break-up, which was essentially the hero being an idiot.

Parts of it were great, and parts of it weren't. I definitely really enjoyed her last book and will most likely give this series another shot.

I received an ARC. All opinions are my own.

3.5 stars

All’s Fair in Love and War was a charming read filled with great banter, humorous mishaps (including a naughty dog) and lots of wholesome family moments.

Henry is a naval captain who has unexpectedly been left in charge of his sister’s three children for an indeterminable amount of time. Georgina is the governess who takes the job. While Henry is a rule follower who lives by orderliness and routine, Georgina is a believer in teaching children via adventures and discovery. The two clash immediately upon Georgina’s start of employment and a fun opposites attract romance ensues.

Historical romance
He falls first
Governess/protector
Found family

This was a delightful start to a new regency romance series from Virginia Heath, and I look forward to the follow up!

Georgie and Harry are an adorable couple with a fantastic slow burn where you get to literally watch them start to understand one another, then that understanding turns to respect, and finally, fall in love. I loved everything about this novel and if you want a more updated take on regency romances, you can never go wrong with Virginia Heath!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.