What do you think?
Rate this book
The Ungrateful Governess
The Earl of Rutherford was handsome, rich and as adept at giving pleasure as he was avid in pursuing it. No wonder, then, that when he marked Miss Jessica Moore as the latest in his endless string of conquests, the irresistible earl expected a swift and most satisfying triumph. How could a mere governess, no matter how lovely and spirited, stand up to the attractiveness of his person and power of his purse?
He soon found out...as this young lady with too much pride to surrender to her rising passion set out to teach the earl a lesson in manners...even as he used every means at his considerable command to teach her a lesson in love.
He soon found out...as this young lady with too much pride to surrender to her rising passion set out to teach the earl a lesson in manners...even as he used every means at his considerable command to teach her a lesson in love.
128 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 4, 1988
354 people are currently reading
619 people want to read
About the author
Mary Balogh
200 books6,357 followersMary Jenkins was born in 1944 in Swansea, Wales, UK. After graduating from university, moved to Saskatchewan, Canada, to teach high school English, on a two-year teaching contract in 1967. She married her Canadian husband, Robert Balogh, and had three children, Jacqueline, Christopher and Sian. When she's not writing, she enjoys reading, music and knitting. She also enjoys watching tennis and curling.
Mary Balogh started writing in the evenings as a hobby. Her first book, a Regency love story, was published in 1985 as A Masked Deception under her married name. In 1988, she retired from teaching after 20 years to pursue her dream to write full-time. She has written more than seventy novels and almost thirty novellas since then, including the New York Times bestselling 'Slightly' sextet and 'Simply' quartet. She has won numerous awards, including Bestselling Historical of the Year from the Borders Group, and her novel Simply Magic was a finalist in the Quill Awards. She has won seven Waldenbooks Awards and two B. Dalton Awards for her bestselling novels, as well as a Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award.
Mary Balogh started writing in the evenings as a hobby. Her first book, a Regency love story, was published in 1985 as A Masked Deception under her married name. In 1988, she retired from teaching after 20 years to pursue her dream to write full-time. She has written more than seventy novels and almost thirty novellas since then, including the New York Times bestselling 'Slightly' sextet and 'Simply' quartet. She has won numerous awards, including Bestselling Historical of the Year from the Borders Group, and her novel Simply Magic was a finalist in the Quill Awards. She has won seven Waldenbooks Awards and two B. Dalton Awards for her bestselling novels, as well as a Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
July 22, 2018
3.5 stars.
Enjoyable but there was one off page incident that marred the romance, in my opinion: the H got roaring drunk, went to a party and might have had black out sex with a widow. The weird thing is that he had never been attracted to the widow, he couldn't remember if he had sex with her because he woke up with no memory. He also felt dirty and nauseous when he couldn't recall what had happened because he had always been a bit grossed out by the woman. The author justified this incident by suggesting that the H was depressed and angry because the heroine had rejected him ( for the 3rd time ) but I really wished it had been cleared up. I wanted to know to if he'd really had sex with the gross widow or if he had just fallen asleep and blacked out the memory.
Anyway, the story itself ( aside from the above ) was enjoyable because:
1. The H was besotted with the heroine from the time they met, when she was dressed as a dull and dowdy governess but he saw through the disguise ( because he's a connoisseur of beauty ).
2. There's some drama because the heroine's employers fire her from her job because she had defied their instructions and interacted with the H ( a guest in their home ). It was actually quite innocent because the heroine was looking for a book to read at night and the H found her there in the library. Her employers were pissed off because they'd invited the H ( an Earl and the heir/only son of a duke ) to their home to try and get him to propose to their ugly and spoilt daughter. The H wasn't interested in the ugly daughter but kept watching the heroine ( she's the daughter's former governess turned companion ). The employers had noticed this and forced the heroine to wear some extra dowdy dresses and to fix her hair in an unbecoming hairstyle, so that their ugly daughter would ( hopefully ) look more attractive. That didn't work because it's dumb to expect an ugly person ( with a spoilt and horrid personality ) to suddenly look pretty even if she's standing next to King Kong. And I'm in a hurry so I can't be bothered to be politically correct right now; I guess I'll probably be guilty of some newfangled thing called ugly shaming but I'm getting kinda tired of keeping track of all the new "do's and don'ts" stuff we are expected to be bothered about these days...
3. The best part of the story takes place after the H's awesome grandmother ( the dowager duchess ) takes the heroine under her wing and introduces to the Ton. The H's all angry and jealous because the heroine had rejected his offers to be his mistress and he thinks she's just part of his grandmother's new little game to have fun at the expense of the Ton. The heroine has the hots for the H but she's angry at him because he thinks she's only good enough to be his mistress. The H is a bit of a snob because he's the heir to his father ( a rich duke ) and he's been spoilt by all his relatives since he's the only son in the family. His relatives all love the heroine and this aggravates him because he thinks she's a fortune hunter. He doesn't find out, until after midway in the story, that she's the granddaughter of a rich marquess who's friends with his grandmother.
4. The heroine did annoy me a lot towards the end with her TSTL moments, when she can't see that the H is really totally obsessed and besotted with her. She's too caught up feeling sorry for herself and that almost derails the MC's romance. But, it turns out that she's just a sad and insecure little girl inside the body of a beautiful adult woman and all she really wants is for someone to love her:
The part about the H and the "maybe he did/maybe he didn't have sex" with the widow did bother me but it didn't affect my rating for the story because he did beat himself about it afterwards. He's also not the type ( as said very clearly in the story ) to get that drunk and stupid again, since he hardly ever drinks that much alcohol. I also felt that he was truly in love with the heroine and wouldn't cheat on her. This "incident" with the widow took place before the MC's were in a relationship so technically it doesn't count as cheating, in my humble opinion. I don't think this H has the makings of a cheater so I just rolled and eyes and wished that the author had clarified whether it had or had not happened. The H's grandmother was the best character in the story because she was a funny, loud, imperious and adventurous old lady who was determined to marry her only grandson to the heroine.
Enjoyable but there was one off page incident that marred the romance, in my opinion: the H got roaring drunk, went to a party and might have had black out sex with a widow. The weird thing is that he had never been attracted to the widow, he couldn't remember if he had sex with her because he woke up with no memory. He also felt dirty and nauseous when he couldn't recall what had happened because he had always been a bit grossed out by the woman. The author justified this incident by suggesting that the H was depressed and angry because the heroine had rejected him ( for the 3rd time ) but I really wished it had been cleared up. I wanted to know to if he'd really had sex with the gross widow or if he had just fallen asleep and blacked out the memory.
Anyway, the story itself ( aside from the above ) was enjoyable because:
1. The H was besotted with the heroine from the time they met, when she was dressed as a dull and dowdy governess but he saw through the disguise ( because he's a connoisseur of beauty ).
2. There's some drama because the heroine's employers fire her from her job because she had defied their instructions and interacted with the H ( a guest in their home ). It was actually quite innocent because the heroine was looking for a book to read at night and the H found her there in the library. Her employers were pissed off because they'd invited the H ( an Earl and the heir/only son of a duke ) to their home to try and get him to propose to their ugly and spoilt daughter. The H wasn't interested in the ugly daughter but kept watching the heroine ( she's the daughter's former governess turned companion ). The employers had noticed this and forced the heroine to wear some extra dowdy dresses and to fix her hair in an unbecoming hairstyle, so that their ugly daughter would ( hopefully ) look more attractive. That didn't work because it's dumb to expect an ugly person ( with a spoilt and horrid personality ) to suddenly look pretty even if she's standing next to King Kong. And I'm in a hurry so I can't be bothered to be politically correct right now; I guess I'll probably be guilty of some newfangled thing called ugly shaming but I'm getting kinda tired of keeping track of all the new "do's and don'ts" stuff we are expected to be bothered about these days...
3. The best part of the story takes place after the H's awesome grandmother ( the dowager duchess ) takes the heroine under her wing and introduces to the Ton. The H's all angry and jealous because the heroine had rejected his offers to be his mistress and he thinks she's just part of his grandmother's new little game to have fun at the expense of the Ton. The heroine has the hots for the H but she's angry at him because he thinks she's only good enough to be his mistress. The H is a bit of a snob because he's the heir to his father ( a rich duke ) and he's been spoilt by all his relatives since he's the only son in the family. His relatives all love the heroine and this aggravates him because he thinks she's a fortune hunter. He doesn't find out, until after midway in the story, that she's the granddaughter of a rich marquess who's friends with his grandmother.
4. The heroine did annoy me a lot towards the end with her TSTL moments, when she can't see that the H is really totally obsessed and besotted with her. She's too caught up feeling sorry for herself and that almost derails the MC's romance. But, it turns out that she's just a sad and insecure little girl inside the body of a beautiful adult woman and all she really wants is for someone to love her:
The part about the H and the "maybe he did/maybe he didn't have sex" with the widow did bother me but it didn't affect my rating for the story because he did beat himself about it afterwards. He's also not the type ( as said very clearly in the story ) to get that drunk and stupid again, since he hardly ever drinks that much alcohol. I also felt that he was truly in love with the heroine and wouldn't cheat on her. This "incident" with the widow took place before the MC's were in a relationship so technically it doesn't count as cheating, in my humble opinion. I don't think this H has the makings of a cheater so I just rolled and eyes and wished that the author had clarified whether it had or had not happened. The H's grandmother was the best character in the story because she was a funny, loud, imperious and adventurous old lady who was determined to marry her only grandson to the heroine.
January 20, 2020
Okay, my Mary Balogh kick is over now.
Thank heavens these two found each other. It spared some other poor hero and heroine in Romanceland of getting stuck with them.
The hero is a diseased ridden, arrogant, hypocritical cad. If he’s not actually disease ridden it is a miracle of Regency romance fiction. His inner monologuing about all the women he's had sex with and will have sex with, primarily of the lower class like maids and governesses so he doesn't have awkward social encounters later, was not endearing.
The heroine is an idiot. It’s one thing to be independent, but it’s another thing to force yourself into a position where you can be dismissed, raped, belittled at any moment when you actually have other options.
PLOT:
While visiting a potential bride’s house he meets the heroine then makes her an offer she can refuse after she’s fired.
Despite a rather intimate moment between the, she refuses his offer to be mistress so he sends her to his grandmother for a job whereupon it turns out she’s the long lost granddaughter of her dearest friend. Of course.
The H is furious when he sees the heroine at a ball, the little upstart and deceiver.
It is no insult, you know, for such as you to be offered the position of mistress to the Earl of Rutherford. There are many females above the rank of servant who would jump at the chance.”
“In that case,” Jessica said, “I am glad I resisted, my lord. I think it most unfair to jump a queue, don’t you?”
His eyes narrowed. “You are impertinent,” he said. “And you have no business in this ballroom. And even less speaking with my mother and my sisters. In fact, I find myself not at all in the mood for dancing. I have a great deal to say to you, Jess, and a ballroom is not quite the place to say it. Come with me. We will find somewhere more private.”
XXXXXXXXXX
You may still become my mistress and retain this taste for pretty clothes that you have clearly acquired. That is more the life to which you belong, Jess.”
Cad, bounder etc. It’s okay for him as a manwhore to be there, but her servile status puts her beyond the pale. This attitude goes on and on and ooonnnnnnnn and is probably more accurate than most about real Regency rakes.
The shoe drops and he finds out about her real background and essentially plots with her grandfather to get her hand in marriage. In all fairness, he offered for her hand before he knew she was a Marquess’s granddaughter, but the offer is more a threat and based on lust and the h will have none of it.
“I would have been very careful, of course, not to compromise your granddaughter had I realized who she was. But she has never been willing to tell me. One is not always so careful of the honor of a governess.”
She’s barely better. Her best moments are when she one-ups the hero and gets his goat, but at heart she’s an arrogant idiot too.
He runs away. She runs away and back to the faceless, grinding life of a governess. And they both make a stab at being noble.
Jessica felt far more pain in looking around her this time than she had when leaving the Barries’ home. She had been happy here. She had been treated well. She had felt loved. Once outside this building and she would be completely on her own again, all he
dreams and hopes of the previous weeks finally dead. She would be a governess for the rest of her life, if she were fortunate.
The only redemption is the writing and the HEA of another couple. Barely.
I would love to have seen this in the hands of Barbara Metzger as her whimsical and tongue in cheek approach would have softened the edges of the manwhore hero and upped the banter.
Thank heavens these two found each other. It spared some other poor hero and heroine in Romanceland of getting stuck with them.
The hero is a diseased ridden, arrogant, hypocritical cad. If he’s not actually disease ridden it is a miracle of Regency romance fiction. His inner monologuing about all the women he's had sex with and will have sex with, primarily of the lower class like maids and governesses so he doesn't have awkward social encounters later, was not endearing.
The heroine is an idiot. It’s one thing to be independent, but it’s another thing to force yourself into a position where you can be dismissed, raped, belittled at any moment when you actually have other options.
PLOT:
While visiting a potential bride’s house he meets the heroine then makes her an offer she can refuse after she’s fired.
Despite a rather intimate moment between the, she refuses his offer to be mistress so he sends her to his grandmother for a job whereupon it turns out she’s the long lost granddaughter of her dearest friend. Of course.
The H is furious when he sees the heroine at a ball, the little upstart and deceiver.
It is no insult, you know, for such as you to be offered the position of mistress to the Earl of Rutherford. There are many females above the rank of servant who would jump at the chance.”
“In that case,” Jessica said, “I am glad I resisted, my lord. I think it most unfair to jump a queue, don’t you?”
His eyes narrowed. “You are impertinent,” he said. “And you have no business in this ballroom. And even less speaking with my mother and my sisters. In fact, I find myself not at all in the mood for dancing. I have a great deal to say to you, Jess, and a ballroom is not quite the place to say it. Come with me. We will find somewhere more private.”
XXXXXXXXXX
You may still become my mistress and retain this taste for pretty clothes that you have clearly acquired. That is more the life to which you belong, Jess.”
Cad, bounder etc. It’s okay for him as a manwhore to be there, but her servile status puts her beyond the pale. This attitude goes on and on and ooonnnnnnnn and is probably more accurate than most about real Regency rakes.
The shoe drops and he finds out about her real background and essentially plots with her grandfather to get her hand in marriage. In all fairness, he offered for her hand before he knew she was a Marquess’s granddaughter, but the offer is more a threat and based on lust and the h will have none of it.
“I would have been very careful, of course, not to compromise your granddaughter had I realized who she was. But she has never been willing to tell me. One is not always so careful of the honor of a governess.”
She’s barely better. Her best moments are when she one-ups the hero and gets his goat, but at heart she’s an arrogant idiot too.
He runs away. She runs away and back to the faceless, grinding life of a governess. And they both make a stab at being noble.
Jessica felt far more pain in looking around her this time than she had when leaving the Barries’ home. She had been happy here. She had been treated well. She had felt loved. Once outside this building and she would be completely on her own again, all he
dreams and hopes of the previous weeks finally dead. She would be a governess for the rest of her life, if she were fortunate.
The only redemption is the writing and the HEA of another couple. Barely.
I would love to have seen this in the hands of Barbara Metzger as her whimsical and tongue in cheek approach would have softened the edges of the manwhore hero and upped the banter.
July 30, 2016
I picked this book up due to its high reviews and ratings from my Goodreads friends, but I cannot find myself liking this book's hero. Upon careful examination of this book, nothing in his motives and thinking really changed. How can he suddenly - one day - changed his "obsession" to love? That is nonsensical, and that is NOT love.
I find myself liking Jess for her attitude throughout the book, save for her last capitulation. I know this is a romance, and as I have read and enjoyed many by Balogh, I know her style. This couple, however, does not really work. Why? Because it is huge a suspension of disbelief for a young governess to have "fallen in love at first sight" with a lord who set out to seduce her - to offer to pay her to sleep with him not once, twice, but actually FOUR times, and furthermore acts like the biggest snob I've ever read in a hero (of the 200 books I've read within the past year) about how Jess should be honored and happy that he's even giving her this offer, else have her starve on the streets.
As a modern woman who seeks love in its noble and endearing manner in romance novels, this is not the love I want for my heroine, for any woman. And of course, once the hero learns that Jess is actually the granddaughter of a marquess, everything is good and she must marry him. Even knowing how 19th century society is depicted, that is beyond the stretch of gentlemanly behavior.
Perhaps, the final straw that broke the camel's back for me is that throughout this book, the hero never acted as if he really loved the heroine. His love is entirely selfish - to get her in his bed - and he has never once done anything out of consideration for her and her happiness. It was only until the end that he realizes his behavior, but he never received any retribution for his insults. He never suffered the agony and misery such as what he inflicted on the heroine, and for that I cannot forgive this character and have no basis to believe in his so-called "love." It isn't love...it is merely self-agenda wrapped in a smoldering gaze and handsome figure.
I am truly very saddened and disappointed by this book, for I wanted to like it. Balogh did not fully redeem this hero in my view.
I find myself liking Jess for her attitude throughout the book, save for her last capitulation. I know this is a romance, and as I have read and enjoyed many by Balogh, I know her style. This couple, however, does not really work. Why? Because it is huge a suspension of disbelief for a young governess to have "fallen in love at first sight" with a lord who set out to seduce her - to offer to pay her to sleep with him not once, twice, but actually FOUR times, and furthermore acts like the biggest snob I've ever read in a hero (of the 200 books I've read within the past year) about how Jess should be honored and happy that he's even giving her this offer, else have her starve on the streets.
As a modern woman who seeks love in its noble and endearing manner in romance novels, this is not the love I want for my heroine, for any woman. And of course, once the hero learns that Jess is actually the granddaughter of a marquess, everything is good and she must marry him. Even knowing how 19th century society is depicted, that is beyond the stretch of gentlemanly behavior.
Perhaps, the final straw that broke the camel's back for me is that throughout this book, the hero never acted as if he really loved the heroine. His love is entirely selfish - to get her in his bed - and he has never once done anything out of consideration for her and her happiness. It was only until the end that he realizes his behavior, but he never received any retribution for his insults. He never suffered the agony and misery such as what he inflicted on the heroine, and for that I cannot forgive this character and have no basis to believe in his so-called "love." It isn't love...it is merely self-agenda wrapped in a smoldering gaze and handsome figure.
I am truly very saddened and disappointed by this book, for I wanted to like it. Balogh did not fully redeem this hero in my view.
June 29, 2022
3.5ish.
This was one of Ms Balogh's earliest works. I realised the hero in her earlier works is quite reprehensible. This book opens with Charles wanting to debauch Jess, a governess in his host's household. He stumbled upon her in the library at night. Since the readers are privy to his thoughts, we see that he kept thinking about the help he has debauched or wants to debauch. However, he prided on being a gentleman and never stoop to rape.
Jess's characterisation is a bit all over the place. I don't buy her reason for wanting to keep Charles at arm's length. She's fallen in love with Charles since she first laid her eyes upon him but refused to accept his offer of carte-blanche (twice) because she wanted to have the freedom to choose. She's very obstinate, and some of her actions border on TSTL.
However, there is something magical about Ms Balogh's writing that kept me reading. Charles' redemption arc towards the end was neatly done. He has always been very confident and saw himself through Jess's eyes ( his high-handed ways), making me believe in their HEA. It was still an enjoyable read even with these issues. She is definitely one of the best in this genre.
This was one of Ms Balogh's earliest works. I realised the hero in her earlier works is quite reprehensible. This book opens with Charles wanting to debauch Jess, a governess in his host's household. He stumbled upon her in the library at night. Since the readers are privy to his thoughts, we see that he kept thinking about the help he has debauched or wants to debauch. However, he prided on being a gentleman and never stoop to rape.
Jess's characterisation is a bit all over the place. I don't buy her reason for wanting to keep Charles at arm's length. She's fallen in love with Charles since she first laid her eyes upon him but refused to accept his offer of carte-blanche (twice) because she wanted to have the freedom to choose. She's very obstinate, and some of her actions border on TSTL.
However, there is something magical about Ms Balogh's writing that kept me reading. Charles' redemption arc towards the end was neatly done. He has always been very confident and saw himself through Jess's eyes ( his high-handed ways), making me believe in their HEA. It was still an enjoyable read even with these issues. She is definitely one of the best in this genre.
April 20, 2009
Late one night, Charles, Earl of Rutherford, a guest at a country estate, finds the family’s “gray governess” Jessica Moore, in the library. Spoiled and indulgent, Charles has figured out a system of what type of servants makes the best shags: the quiet repressed types like Jessica. Jessica rebuffs Charles’s advances but is caught being alone with Charles and is fired without a reference. Jessica takes the stage to London and sees Charles again at the stagecoach inn. Over dinner, Charles points out Jessica’s dire situation: without a reference and with no relatives to turn to, she will probably not be able to get a job as a scullery maid much less a governess and will probably have to turn to a life of prostitution. He then offers her the position of being his mistress. Desperate, Jessica accepts but cannot go thru with it at the very last minute.
Feeling responsible that Jessica got canned and not being able to get Jessica to become his mistress, Charles tells Jessica to see his grandmother in London for job placement. The Grandma recognizes Jessica as the granddaughter of her dear friend, a Marchioness, and schemes to get Charles to marry her. Charles, now obsessed, makes Jessica two more propositions. Of marriage. Which Jessica also rejects.
I didn’t like Charles at first. I find heroes that prey on the hired help gross, even if that sort of thing did happen all the time. But Balogh makes sure to point out that at least Charles isn’t the type to force his attentions if they are unwilling. I began to realize that Charles isn’t a character filtered through modern sensibilities as so many heroes in romances are. He is a snob, spoiled, indulged, pampered, and licentious. Yet he is a gentleman. He is what he is.
The great failure of this book is that Balogh matched a character that conducted himself by the value of his times with a heroine that did not. Jessica, by birth, inclination, and looks, should be a lady attending parties and making a society marriage. The fact that Jessica is so willful and stupid that she prefers the precarious life of an abused governess and possibly even a mistress rather than live a luxurious lifestyle with the Marquess, her grandfather, or enter a respectable offer of marriage with a nobleman is incomprehensible to me. I think it will be to most readers. Jessica is also written inconsistently which just adds to the impression that she is an idiot and dare I write that acronym — TSTL. She would agree to get married to a man of her grandfather’s choosing but when he chooses Charles, she refuses. She is described as being happier than she has since before being a governess, then later in the novel, she runs away to become a governess again citing that she has been unhappy. Trying to figure Jessica out might end with the reader ready for the asylum instead of her.
There is a secondary romance involving Charles’s sister that takes up maybe 8% of the novel. Charles’s sister is almost as big an idiot as Jessica but that secondary romance is actually more satisfying than the one that took up most of this book. I have no idea why Charles pursued Jessica other than for her looks and he did come across as more obsessed than anything else.
Grade: C-
Genre: Traditional Regency
Stand alone book.
Sensuality: PG
Feeling responsible that Jessica got canned and not being able to get Jessica to become his mistress, Charles tells Jessica to see his grandmother in London for job placement. The Grandma recognizes Jessica as the granddaughter of her dear friend, a Marchioness, and schemes to get Charles to marry her. Charles, now obsessed, makes Jessica two more propositions. Of marriage. Which Jessica also rejects.
I didn’t like Charles at first. I find heroes that prey on the hired help gross, even if that sort of thing did happen all the time. But Balogh makes sure to point out that at least Charles isn’t the type to force his attentions if they are unwilling. I began to realize that Charles isn’t a character filtered through modern sensibilities as so many heroes in romances are. He is a snob, spoiled, indulged, pampered, and licentious. Yet he is a gentleman. He is what he is.
The great failure of this book is that Balogh matched a character that conducted himself by the value of his times with a heroine that did not. Jessica, by birth, inclination, and looks, should be a lady attending parties and making a society marriage. The fact that Jessica is so willful and stupid that she prefers the precarious life of an abused governess and possibly even a mistress rather than live a luxurious lifestyle with the Marquess, her grandfather, or enter a respectable offer of marriage with a nobleman is incomprehensible to me. I think it will be to most readers. Jessica is also written inconsistently which just adds to the impression that she is an idiot and dare I write that acronym — TSTL. She would agree to get married to a man of her grandfather’s choosing but when he chooses Charles, she refuses. She is described as being happier than she has since before being a governess, then later in the novel, she runs away to become a governess again citing that she has been unhappy. Trying to figure Jessica out might end with the reader ready for the asylum instead of her.
There is a secondary romance involving Charles’s sister that takes up maybe 8% of the novel. Charles’s sister is almost as big an idiot as Jessica but that secondary romance is actually more satisfying than the one that took up most of this book. I have no idea why Charles pursued Jessica other than for her looks and he did come across as more obsessed than anything else.
Grade: C-
Genre: Traditional Regency
Stand alone book.
Sensuality: PG
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 20, 2017
When I first read this book years ago, I gave it a 5 star rating and a one-line review: "A tiny perfect gem of a book." On re-reading, having read several hundred historical romances in the meantime, I have to reduce my rating to 3 stars, mainly because the heroine is rather annoying - near the end, she decides she has to run far far away from her family and the man she loves, who has been urging her to marry him (and is an unbelievably fine catch in many ways), simply because he is not giving her the "freedom" to accept him! Running away is the dumbest thing she could do and my opinion of her fell quite badly, especially since she falls into his arms almost immediately when he finds her.
June 17, 2019
This is the first Mary Balogh book I've actually hated. There have been a couple I disliked, but this one was by far the worst of all I've read up to this point. On top of pissing me off with the hero, it was just plain boring.
The opening chapter sets the (bad) tone for the novel to come. The titular governess is up in the middle of the night selecting a book from the library. The Earl of Rutherford, a visitor to the family for whom she serves as governess, finds her there. The Earl prides himself on his ability to pick out stealthily sexy women in service to have sex with, rather than the overtly lusty and up-for-it women, because he thinks the sex is better with the former. As such, the little gray governess caught his eye, and he's been waiting for an opportunity. He exhorts her to be his bedfellow and she declines, all offense, but then, in her head, you learn that she wishes she could say yes because he's so hot. Even though she turned him down, she gets fired for the whole thing.
My problems with this are probably obvious, but let's do this.
1. The "hero" - Charles, the Earl, sucks. He's absolutely awful. He, and others, pride him on his kind treatment of women because, if they reject him, he doesn't hold it against them or consider ravishment against their will. What a prince! Yet he specifically prides himself on searching for lovers from within the ranks of the servants, which makes consent a much trickier proposition. He puts them into an uncomfortable situation where, if they say no, he might get them fired, so a yes may not actually be a yes in such a circumstance.
Add to that the fact that he specifically seeks out the women who seem uninterested in a dalliance, and I find the whole thing so much worse. If a servant gave him the eye or approached him, that seems like one thing, but he's actively seeking women who do not want this sort of relationship because he enjoys unleashing repressed passion. GAH. I hate this guy so much.
Inevitably, he has a realization at the end that he's been a shit to Jess throughout, but that realization encompasses only his treatment of her and no reflection on how he has treated women all his life. Even this realization feels forced and entirely unbelievable.
2. The heroine - Jess is thoroughly dull. She's like wallpaper paste. I really couldn't tell you anything about her personality, because she's so flat and uninteresting. Yet, somehow, all of the characters comment on how spirited and unique and fascinating she is, which just frustrated me to be honest.
3. The romance - There isn't one??? Like, yes, obviously they end up together, but they have no chemistry or connection or romantic feelings? All they had was a mutual physical attraction, and, truthfully, I didn't even really believe in that. He's so completely in love with her supposedly that he'll set aside his scruples or whatever but I do not see it at all.
The sassy grandmother's the only redeeming element, but she's trying to put this insipid, toxic couple together, so even that doesn't merit an additional star. I love Mary Balogh's style and I typically love her characters, but this book left everything to be desired.
The opening chapter sets the (bad) tone for the novel to come. The titular governess is up in the middle of the night selecting a book from the library. The Earl of Rutherford, a visitor to the family for whom she serves as governess, finds her there. The Earl prides himself on his ability to pick out stealthily sexy women in service to have sex with, rather than the overtly lusty and up-for-it women, because he thinks the sex is better with the former. As such, the little gray governess caught his eye, and he's been waiting for an opportunity. He exhorts her to be his bedfellow and she declines, all offense, but then, in her head, you learn that she wishes she could say yes because he's so hot. Even though she turned him down, she gets fired for the whole thing.
My problems with this are probably obvious, but let's do this.
1. The "hero" - Charles, the Earl, sucks. He's absolutely awful. He, and others, pride him on his kind treatment of women because, if they reject him, he doesn't hold it against them or consider ravishment against their will. What a prince! Yet he specifically prides himself on searching for lovers from within the ranks of the servants, which makes consent a much trickier proposition. He puts them into an uncomfortable situation where, if they say no, he might get them fired, so a yes may not actually be a yes in such a circumstance.
Add to that the fact that he specifically seeks out the women who seem uninterested in a dalliance, and I find the whole thing so much worse. If a servant gave him the eye or approached him, that seems like one thing, but he's actively seeking women who do not want this sort of relationship because he enjoys unleashing repressed passion. GAH. I hate this guy so much.
Inevitably, he has a realization at the end that he's been a shit to Jess throughout, but that realization encompasses only his treatment of her and no reflection on how he has treated women all his life. Even this realization feels forced and entirely unbelievable.
2. The heroine - Jess is thoroughly dull. She's like wallpaper paste. I really couldn't tell you anything about her personality, because she's so flat and uninteresting. Yet, somehow, all of the characters comment on how spirited and unique and fascinating she is, which just frustrated me to be honest.
3. The romance - There isn't one??? Like, yes, obviously they end up together, but they have no chemistry or connection or romantic feelings? All they had was a mutual physical attraction, and, truthfully, I didn't even really believe in that. He's so completely in love with her supposedly that he'll set aside his scruples or whatever but I do not see it at all.
The sassy grandmother's the only redeeming element, but she's trying to put this insipid, toxic couple together, so even that doesn't merit an additional star. I love Mary Balogh's style and I typically love her characters, but this book left everything to be desired.
March 26, 2012
The story started out good when the heroine almost became the hero's mistress, but turned into the same old same old after she couldn't go through with it and the hero enlisted his grandmother to help her find employment. Suddenly she(gasp)really was a lady all along because her grandfather is a marquess. I was hoping for something more I guess. I'm tired of the same boring predictable plot lines.
August 28, 2015
The moment I started this book, I realized that I had read it before, and completely forgotten the plot. Thus I read this book with a grim foreboding.
And yet, it was not terrible. Rutherford (the earl) first meets Jess (the governess) when he is ordered by his grandmother to check out a potential wife but because the potential wife was such an unattractive terror, he is soon checking out Jess, who's head to toe dressed in gray drabness. Except when she goes to the library in the middle of the night, barefoot, dressed only in her nightie and a shawl, hair loose and rippling down her back. Well, the earl just cannot take it and propositions the girl.
(Right at this point, I'm disliking the earl already, but Mary Balogh has always put in sexual tension right at the start of the book, so it's no surprise.)
She says no (even though deep in her heart, she wanted to. Again, a trope often used by Mary Balogh) but is dismissed by her employer for trying to entice a potential suitor. They meet up again at an inn two days later, and again, the earl propositions Jess. She says yes, and they are in his room. Clothing has all come off. Things are heating up. It's inevitable, what's about to occur, the losing of her maidenly virtue that she's kept intact for 24 years due to being a clergyman's daughter. Then...she says no. I mean, this is literally at the point where the bread is about to be put in the oven, and the oven door is wide open. It is that close to the sticking point.
Fine. He summons his every nerve and takes it as a man (at which point you like him slightly more). Then, he offers to take her to someone (his grandmother) who can find a better position for her, better than his mistress.
So, she accepts this proposition and turns up at his grandmother's house and is recognized as the dowager duchess' former bosom bow's granddaughter, lo and behold, the granddaughter of a marquess. On the mother's side, of course, being an impoverished parson's daughter on the other side. The dowager decides to take her in, seeing interest in her bachelor grandson's eyes. Soon, she is being introduced to everyone in the small Season.
The earl is not pleased and thinks that Jess is overstepping herself. He propositions her again to be his mistress and warns her not to be involved in any deception or scheme. She refuses him. Again. But by this time, you get that she's a marquess's granddaughter, and so such an action is reasonable. [OR IS IT?? Note that she had taken all her clothes off and had verbally agreed to be his mistress before reneging at the inn.]
He decides, fine, everyone approves of her, he'll have her, by marriage or whatever it takes. He proposes, with a veneer of arrogance. She refuses.
By this time, the earl is super obsessed and then decides to find out about Jess. He then tracks down her grandfather the marquess and brings him to the family gathering to which Jess is also invited. He then proposes to Jess again. Formally. She refuses. Of course. Insulting him and saying how she needs a man to be in love with her.
At which time, the book should have ended. Finis. But no, the characters have established themselves in a weird cycle of irrational actions, and so they continued. He decides that although he's never declared himself in love with her (even though she has already stated this is what she requires) and although he loved her soooooooooo much, he could not force himself on her and would take himself off so that she could live happily ever after without seeing him. She, on the other hand, decides to run off, because she was in love with him and could not marry him and not have him love her. That would make sense (not marrying him) but not the running off part.
Luckily the only sane person in the book, the Dowager steps in and tells the earl that she was running off because he had told Jess that she would be ruined and wouldn't be able to marry in polite society (did he do that??) So then the earl goes after Jess, who has already made her way north to find a job as a governess and be a lowly servant once again even though she hated that job. He finds her in an inn and they talk and he confesses his love for her. She then asks him to make love to her. Because this time was out of her free will.
WTH????? To say that she was TSTL is to insult people who have died. She was not only TSTL but TST be tortured and ground into powder. So, she refused him the first two times out of moral reasons, refused him a third time because she had sort of risen in the world by then. Refused his proposal the fourth time because he was arrogant. Refused his fifth proposal because she loved him. Then on the sixth time, rather than waiting for marriage (which was, well, her moral upbringing and the reasons 1st and 2nd), she decides to shebang him? WTH???
And this guy, rather than turning less arrogant and becoming a man of sense, decides to be led by her ridiculous reasonings?
As for the side romance of the earl's sister Hope and Sir Godfrey. Well, that was beyond irritating as well. Hope put herself down every chance she got by saying, "Oh, no one wants to spend time with ME." Seriously. This was in every scene she appeared.
Ah, that's why I had forgotten I had read this book twice before. But now I'm writing this review so I won't accidentally read it a fourth time.
And yet, it was not terrible. Rutherford (the earl) first meets Jess (the governess) when he is ordered by his grandmother to check out a potential wife but because the potential wife was such an unattractive terror, he is soon checking out Jess, who's head to toe dressed in gray drabness. Except when she goes to the library in the middle of the night, barefoot, dressed only in her nightie and a shawl, hair loose and rippling down her back. Well, the earl just cannot take it and propositions the girl.
(Right at this point, I'm disliking the earl already, but Mary Balogh has always put in sexual tension right at the start of the book, so it's no surprise.)
She says no (even though deep in her heart, she wanted to. Again, a trope often used by Mary Balogh) but is dismissed by her employer for trying to entice a potential suitor. They meet up again at an inn two days later, and again, the earl propositions Jess. She says yes, and they are in his room. Clothing has all come off. Things are heating up. It's inevitable, what's about to occur, the losing of her maidenly virtue that she's kept intact for 24 years due to being a clergyman's daughter. Then...she says no. I mean, this is literally at the point where the bread is about to be put in the oven, and the oven door is wide open. It is that close to the sticking point.
Fine. He summons his every nerve and takes it as a man (at which point you like him slightly more). Then, he offers to take her to someone (his grandmother) who can find a better position for her, better than his mistress.
So, she accepts this proposition and turns up at his grandmother's house and is recognized as the dowager duchess' former bosom bow's granddaughter, lo and behold, the granddaughter of a marquess. On the mother's side, of course, being an impoverished parson's daughter on the other side. The dowager decides to take her in, seeing interest in her bachelor grandson's eyes. Soon, she is being introduced to everyone in the small Season.
The earl is not pleased and thinks that Jess is overstepping herself. He propositions her again to be his mistress and warns her not to be involved in any deception or scheme. She refuses him. Again. But by this time, you get that she's a marquess's granddaughter, and so such an action is reasonable. [OR IS IT?? Note that she had taken all her clothes off and had verbally agreed to be his mistress before reneging at the inn.]
He decides, fine, everyone approves of her, he'll have her, by marriage or whatever it takes. He proposes, with a veneer of arrogance. She refuses.
By this time, the earl is super obsessed and then decides to find out about Jess. He then tracks down her grandfather the marquess and brings him to the family gathering to which Jess is also invited. He then proposes to Jess again. Formally. She refuses. Of course. Insulting him and saying how she needs a man to be in love with her.
At which time, the book should have ended. Finis. But no, the characters have established themselves in a weird cycle of irrational actions, and so they continued. He decides that although he's never declared himself in love with her (even though she has already stated this is what she requires) and although he loved her soooooooooo much, he could not force himself on her and would take himself off so that she could live happily ever after without seeing him. She, on the other hand, decides to run off, because she was in love with him and could not marry him and not have him love her. That would make sense (not marrying him) but not the running off part.
Luckily the only sane person in the book, the Dowager steps in and tells the earl that she was running off because he had told Jess that she would be ruined and wouldn't be able to marry in polite society (did he do that??) So then the earl goes after Jess, who has already made her way north to find a job as a governess and be a lowly servant once again even though she hated that job. He finds her in an inn and they talk and he confesses his love for her. She then asks him to make love to her. Because this time was out of her free will.
WTH????? To say that she was TSTL is to insult people who have died. She was not only TSTL but TST be tortured and ground into powder. So, she refused him the first two times out of moral reasons, refused him a third time because she had sort of risen in the world by then. Refused his proposal the fourth time because he was arrogant. Refused his fifth proposal because she loved him. Then on the sixth time, rather than waiting for marriage (which was, well, her moral upbringing and the reasons 1st and 2nd), she decides to shebang him? WTH???
And this guy, rather than turning less arrogant and becoming a man of sense, decides to be led by her ridiculous reasonings?
As for the side romance of the earl's sister Hope and Sir Godfrey. Well, that was beyond irritating as well. Hope put herself down every chance she got by saying, "Oh, no one wants to spend time with ME." Seriously. This was in every scene she appeared.
Ah, that's why I had forgotten I had read this book twice before. But now I'm writing this review so I won't accidentally read it a fourth time.
November 9, 2018
Lovely heroine and a hero who is a real rake. He is snobbish, womanizer, and conceited and he thinks she is “just a governess” and so should be glad to be his mistress.
She is strongly attracted to him but very firm in her morals and resists him bravely. She chooses poverty over him and it drives him insane.
Things are not exactly what them seem to be and, in the end he eats his humble pie and grows up.
Mary Balogh, even in this earlier work, does not disappoint.
She is strongly attracted to him but very firm in her morals and resists him bravely. She chooses poverty over him and it drives him insane.
Things are not exactly what them seem to be and, in the end he eats his humble pie and grows up.
Mary Balogh, even in this earlier work, does not disappoint.
December 16, 2019
She's incredibly stupid. It really, really annoys me when the plot of a book hinges on the heroine being as dumb as humanly possible and still breathe on her own.
May 14, 2019
Wow, this is so eighties. So offensively eighties. Since when is a woman demanding basic respect mean she's being foolish? Since when is repeatedly attempting to manipulate a woman in sleeping with you romantic?
Just to get this out of the way: I generally don't enjoy romances where the hero asks the heroine to be his mistress. There's a certain lack of respect that goes with it, and author rarely have the hero learn better. So already I was going into with general trepidation--but it's Mary Balogh, one of my favorite romance authors, so I sucked it up.
I admired Jessica's willingness to overlook her attraction to Rutherford because of how he treated her. It's very rare in romance that an author acknowledges that attraction does not equal love and neither equals respect. Rutherford is disrespectful and cruel at every turn, and his obsessive lust for her is overblown and unfathomable. He kicks off the book by saying he doesn't like sex with women who go after him (already a horrible thing to say); he prefers women who hide themselves under unflattering clothes. Then he continues to monologue a bunch of other things that made me uncomfortable and gave off the impression he didn't have much respect for women in general.
Anyway, the summary is misleading for the next part--Jessica does agree to be his mistress but can't sleep with him last minute.
So he sends her to his grandmother, where we learn Jessica's grandfather is a marquess she is out of contact with. This seems to come out of nowhere--I can't remember her ever considering going to him. She's willing to be a mistress if need be, but she won't go to her grandfather so she can take a place in society? That's not sensible, but more than that, it's not even thrown around as a potential solution. But since the whole story is about Jessica wanting respect, I assume it's not a solution because her grandfather doesn't really respect her. So she agrees to go into society with the dowager duchess, Rutherford's grandmother, who tries to shove her at Rutherford. And this is where the story really falls apart.
I gave Rutherford the benefit of the doubt for most of the beginning. He wasn't absolutely terrible--at least when he was away from the heroine. I assumed the story would be about him learning that attraction doesn't mean much in the long run. But he really doesn't learn anything. He's constantly cruel and condescending, not even bothering to try and unearth Jessica's family. He just assumes she's a liar and she's manipulating his grandmother (not that I would ever buy the dowager could be so used; she's not senile by a long shot). Again, he goes around being nasty, potentially ruining her reputation, and not even bothering to do any actual research. He just decides he's right, she's a manipulative liar, and that's that. His treatment of her is appalling. Even if the author ever mended his behavior later, I couldn't support him after that. There is NOTHING romantic about constantly insulting someone, and I feel sorry for anyone who thinks so. Constant, unerring condescension, mingled with possessive lust, isn't equal to romance.
When he does finally realize she's telling the truth, he goes to seek out her grandfather. He asks for permission to court her--even though she's already turned him down flat--and brings him to his family's Christmas party where she is. She's ruined because someone can say she was with Rutherford, therefore she has to marry him. That's it. That's all there is to the situation in either Rutherford's or her grandfather's eyes. So he proposes again. Again, arrogant to the core in the proposal, without any consideration for what she wants or who she is.
And then the absolute statement that took him to irredeemable: he tells her he's likely to hit her if she ever speaks to him like that ever again. It was a genuinely shocking moment that made me jerk out of the book entirely. And there was no going back. You never have an excuse to strike your partner, and if this is what counted as romance in the eighties, I'm glad I wasn't born then. It's so incredibly disturbing that these two will end up together. (This is already after he thinks he'd like to spank her so she can't give him polite dismissals. Again, striking someone. Spanking's all fine and good when it's mutually agreed upon, not when it's being used as a punishment for a woman who would have zero power in any situation she finds herself in with him).
So she tells him to fuck off basically and says she wants a man who will only be complete with all of her, emphasis on ALL, because up until this point Rutherford has only shown interest in her body. She's asking for love now, which she hasn't at any point in this novel but who cares at this point. We're near the end, they are unfortunately going to end up together, I don't care I just wanna finish it.
Reviewers and the narrative both say Rutherford is besotted with her. The narrative even has Rutherford wonder how she didn't understand that HE was the man who couldn't be complete without her--to which I say, who the fuck thought like this???? He literally never cares about anything but her looks and his desire to fuck her. Who reads this as romantic?
Then all of a sudden the reason Jessica is really refusing him is because she doesn't want to marry a man that doesn't love her the way she loves him--but I can't remember anything in her point of view that would make me think she loves him. The ending to this book is so out of place and abrupt you get the impression the author really believes she's been setting up this romance. If you find it romantic--well, I pity you. Contempt is not respectful, and all relationships need respect to survive.
So Jessica does the trope-y thing and runs off, just so Rutherford can swoop in and declare he loves her so goddamn much and to try to make things slightly less upsetting by admitting he wanted her to marry him so much that he basically lied to her about how bad the situation with her reputation was so he could marry. This is even more upsetting, to be honest, because who the fuck does that? How is he an honorable person, lying and manipulating to achieve his own ends without a modicum of consideration for her?
Then Jessica declares she's loved him since the minute she set eyes on him, and who the fuck cares anymore. I'm totally done. Luckily all we have is very awkward sex and this blessedly short story is over. My anger is not. I cannot fathom that this counts as romance, and it makes me extremely weary of reading Balogh's older books. Even the title is off putting--what does Jessica have to be ungrateful about. The word 'ungrateful' has negative connotations, and I can't see what's she ungrateful about--unless it's the arrogant proposals of an earl in line for a dukedom or the frankly disrespectful, and after the first one, heartless requests to be said earl's mistress. This book is one of the worst romances I've ever read--there's nothing truly likable in it.
Just to get this out of the way: I generally don't enjoy romances where the hero asks the heroine to be his mistress. There's a certain lack of respect that goes with it, and author rarely have the hero learn better. So already I was going into with general trepidation--but it's Mary Balogh, one of my favorite romance authors, so I sucked it up.
I admired Jessica's willingness to overlook her attraction to Rutherford because of how he treated her. It's very rare in romance that an author acknowledges that attraction does not equal love and neither equals respect. Rutherford is disrespectful and cruel at every turn, and his obsessive lust for her is overblown and unfathomable. He kicks off the book by saying he doesn't like sex with women who go after him (already a horrible thing to say); he prefers women who hide themselves under unflattering clothes. Then he continues to monologue a bunch of other things that made me uncomfortable and gave off the impression he didn't have much respect for women in general.
Anyway, the summary is misleading for the next part--Jessica does agree to be his mistress but can't sleep with him last minute.
So he sends her to his grandmother, where we learn Jessica's grandfather is a marquess she is out of contact with. This seems to come out of nowhere--I can't remember her ever considering going to him. She's willing to be a mistress if need be, but she won't go to her grandfather so she can take a place in society? That's not sensible, but more than that, it's not even thrown around as a potential solution. But since the whole story is about Jessica wanting respect, I assume it's not a solution because her grandfather doesn't really respect her. So she agrees to go into society with the dowager duchess, Rutherford's grandmother, who tries to shove her at Rutherford. And this is where the story really falls apart.
I gave Rutherford the benefit of the doubt for most of the beginning. He wasn't absolutely terrible--at least when he was away from the heroine. I assumed the story would be about him learning that attraction doesn't mean much in the long run. But he really doesn't learn anything. He's constantly cruel and condescending, not even bothering to try and unearth Jessica's family. He just assumes she's a liar and she's manipulating his grandmother (not that I would ever buy the dowager could be so used; she's not senile by a long shot). Again, he goes around being nasty, potentially ruining her reputation, and not even bothering to do any actual research. He just decides he's right, she's a manipulative liar, and that's that. His treatment of her is appalling. Even if the author ever mended his behavior later, I couldn't support him after that. There is NOTHING romantic about constantly insulting someone, and I feel sorry for anyone who thinks so. Constant, unerring condescension, mingled with possessive lust, isn't equal to romance.
When he does finally realize she's telling the truth, he goes to seek out her grandfather. He asks for permission to court her--even though she's already turned him down flat--and brings him to his family's Christmas party where she is. She's ruined because someone can say she was with Rutherford, therefore she has to marry him. That's it. That's all there is to the situation in either Rutherford's or her grandfather's eyes. So he proposes again. Again, arrogant to the core in the proposal, without any consideration for what she wants or who she is.
And then the absolute statement that took him to irredeemable: he tells her he's likely to hit her if she ever speaks to him like that ever again. It was a genuinely shocking moment that made me jerk out of the book entirely. And there was no going back. You never have an excuse to strike your partner, and if this is what counted as romance in the eighties, I'm glad I wasn't born then. It's so incredibly disturbing that these two will end up together. (This is already after he thinks he'd like to spank her so she can't give him polite dismissals. Again, striking someone. Spanking's all fine and good when it's mutually agreed upon, not when it's being used as a punishment for a woman who would have zero power in any situation she finds herself in with him).
So she tells him to fuck off basically and says she wants a man who will only be complete with all of her, emphasis on ALL, because up until this point Rutherford has only shown interest in her body. She's asking for love now, which she hasn't at any point in this novel but who cares at this point. We're near the end, they are unfortunately going to end up together, I don't care I just wanna finish it.
Reviewers and the narrative both say Rutherford is besotted with her. The narrative even has Rutherford wonder how she didn't understand that HE was the man who couldn't be complete without her--to which I say, who the fuck thought like this???? He literally never cares about anything but her looks and his desire to fuck her. Who reads this as romantic?
Then all of a sudden the reason Jessica is really refusing him is because she doesn't want to marry a man that doesn't love her the way she loves him--but I can't remember anything in her point of view that would make me think she loves him. The ending to this book is so out of place and abrupt you get the impression the author really believes she's been setting up this romance. If you find it romantic--well, I pity you. Contempt is not respectful, and all relationships need respect to survive.
So Jessica does the trope-y thing and runs off, just so Rutherford can swoop in and declare he loves her so goddamn much and to try to make things slightly less upsetting by admitting he wanted her to marry him so much that he basically lied to her about how bad the situation with her reputation was so he could marry. This is even more upsetting, to be honest, because who the fuck does that? How is he an honorable person, lying and manipulating to achieve his own ends without a modicum of consideration for her?
Then Jessica declares she's loved him since the minute she set eyes on him, and who the fuck cares anymore. I'm totally done. Luckily all we have is very awkward sex and this blessedly short story is over. My anger is not. I cannot fathom that this counts as romance, and it makes me extremely weary of reading Balogh's older books. Even the title is off putting--what does Jessica have to be ungrateful about. The word 'ungrateful' has negative connotations, and I can't see what's she ungrateful about--unless it's the arrogant proposals of an earl in line for a dukedom or the frankly disrespectful, and after the first one, heartless requests to be said earl's mistress. This book is one of the worst romances I've ever read--there's nothing truly likable in it.
June 8, 2011
Early Balogh -- raw Regency sex -- scrumptious hero -- spirited heroine -- they just don't come any better than this! A deeply sensual spin on the classic theme of a wronged woman who triumphs over male arrogance and class distinctions.
February 11, 2022
The ending was only a different ends for what started the tension between H/h. The whole book was just circling around the same thing, over and over again.
But still, Ms Balogh still can make me finished the book. Most of the times, I would just abandoned the book haha.
But still, Ms Balogh still can make me finished the book. Most of the times, I would just abandoned the book haha.
January 29, 2008
Another one of Balogh's traditional regencies. No matter how much I enjoy her european historicals I approach these little books with an even greater expectation. This one was no different.
When the Earl of Rutherford tries to seduce Jessica Moore in her employer's library one night, she is blamed and loses her job. Rutherford offers her a position as his mistress, but instead Jessica enlists the aid of his own grandmother and sets out to teach him a lesson.
Jessica Moore, a young ladies governess, is dismissed after having been caught, barefoot and in her nightgown, with the Earl of Rutherford in the library, even if she has just refused his advances.
When he meets her on the road feels partially responsible for her predicament but at the same time sees it as the perfect opportunity for her to become his lover. Although at first she agrees Jess finds she cannot go through with it and Rutherford ends up sending her to his grandmother so she can find her a new position.
It is with evident surprise that he sees how his grandmother introduces her to society as a dear friend's granddaughter. At first he believes it to be a lie and still wants her to be his mistress and after knowing better to be his wife.
What I liked in this one was that it had a real feel. For instance Jessice first accepts to be Rutherford's mistress because she knows the situation she will face in London will be even darker. And when she cannot go through with it there's still some basic goodness in him to send her to his grandmother instead of just abandoning her. This is another story where a compromised young lady refuses to marry because there's no love involved, however and on the contrary of many other stories that does work here (no one else knows...). Jessica feels Rutherford would only use her and so they are constantly at odds. Their love is never expressed because they are always too busy fighting. The tension between the two grows and as the book reaches it's climax without them ever having confessed their feelings to each other there's material for a big misunderstanding to occur, fortunately it's not overly done.
What leads to this is that Rutherford changes his atitude throughout the book but never mentions it and Jessica is a bit too inflexible not allowing such confidences and that was what stopped me from grading it higher.
I also enjoyed the secondary characters. The grandmother was indeed a great lady and Hope and Godfrey were nicely done. I'm glad they had their happy ending even if Hope seemed a bit too naive.
Grade: A-
When the Earl of Rutherford tries to seduce Jessica Moore in her employer's library one night, she is blamed and loses her job. Rutherford offers her a position as his mistress, but instead Jessica enlists the aid of his own grandmother and sets out to teach him a lesson.
Jessica Moore, a young ladies governess, is dismissed after having been caught, barefoot and in her nightgown, with the Earl of Rutherford in the library, even if she has just refused his advances.
When he meets her on the road feels partially responsible for her predicament but at the same time sees it as the perfect opportunity for her to become his lover. Although at first she agrees Jess finds she cannot go through with it and Rutherford ends up sending her to his grandmother so she can find her a new position.
It is with evident surprise that he sees how his grandmother introduces her to society as a dear friend's granddaughter. At first he believes it to be a lie and still wants her to be his mistress and after knowing better to be his wife.
What I liked in this one was that it had a real feel. For instance Jessice first accepts to be Rutherford's mistress because she knows the situation she will face in London will be even darker. And when she cannot go through with it there's still some basic goodness in him to send her to his grandmother instead of just abandoning her. This is another story where a compromised young lady refuses to marry because there's no love involved, however and on the contrary of many other stories that does work here (no one else knows...). Jessica feels Rutherford would only use her and so they are constantly at odds. Their love is never expressed because they are always too busy fighting. The tension between the two grows and as the book reaches it's climax without them ever having confessed their feelings to each other there's material for a big misunderstanding to occur, fortunately it's not overly done.
What leads to this is that Rutherford changes his atitude throughout the book but never mentions it and Jessica is a bit too inflexible not allowing such confidences and that was what stopped me from grading it higher.
I also enjoyed the secondary characters. The grandmother was indeed a great lady and Hope and Godfrey were nicely done. I'm glad they had their happy ending even if Hope seemed a bit too naive.
Grade: A-
August 10, 2014
I really enjoyed this story. The hero was exceptional in that despite being stereotypically arrogant and self-centered, he had a conscience and wanted to do the right thing. His character evolved and grew over the course of the story which made him even more appealing. Mary Balogh is such a gifted writer, that I become immersed in the personalities and situations she creates and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
My only qualm is that the governess seemed to be stuck in time. A desire to maintain one's independence is generally admirable, but not when it becomes apparent that one's options won't lead to independence but selling herself or working in the poorhouse. And that's after much better options are presented to her. One reviewer described her as being willing to cut off her nose to spite her face. That's an apt description. I actually felt sorry for the way she treated the hero and her own grandfather by the last pages.
Despite that, I loved this story. The supporting characters are wonderful. Mary Balogh is a masterful writer.
My only qualm is that the governess seemed to be stuck in time. A desire to maintain one's independence is generally admirable, but not when it becomes apparent that one's options won't lead to independence but selling herself or working in the poorhouse. And that's after much better options are presented to her. One reviewer described her as being willing to cut off her nose to spite her face. That's an apt description. I actually felt sorry for the way she treated the hero and her own grandfather by the last pages.
Despite that, I loved this story. The supporting characters are wonderful. Mary Balogh is a masterful writer.
August 13, 2019
Plodding
I love Mary Balogh's books and always look forward to the next in her series. However she has grown by leaps and bounds as a writer and story teller from the time she wrote this book "The Ungrateful Governess". If I had not seen her name on this book I would not have believed she was responsible for this very plodding and formulaic novel.
I love Mary Balogh's books and always look forward to the next in her series. However she has grown by leaps and bounds as a writer and story teller from the time she wrote this book "The Ungrateful Governess". If I had not seen her name on this book I would not have believed she was responsible for this very plodding and formulaic novel.
May 8, 2019
Despite an excellent premise, I just couldn’t get over how horrible and self-righteous Rutherford was. The writing overall wasn’t bad but definitely not at the same level as some of Balogh’s later books.
May 3, 2023
2.5 ⭐️
I wont put a summary since its been done before. This was not one of Mary Balogh’s better books. It started of okay but devolved into a bumbling mess. Largely due to the two idiotic main characters.
For life of me, i cannot understand their reasoning, mainly the heroine in this instance. She contemplates actually becoming the Hero’s mistress instead of contacting her grandfather because they had a fight two years previously.
She would rather go back to being in service than marry the Hero, even if she loves him, because he made it seem she didnt have a choice! 🤦🏻♀️ ay yay yay! As if you have better choices as a servant, especially in those days!
No. Not one of MB’s better ones.
I wont put a summary since its been done before. This was not one of Mary Balogh’s better books. It started of okay but devolved into a bumbling mess. Largely due to the two idiotic main characters.
For life of me, i cannot understand their reasoning, mainly the heroine in this instance. She contemplates actually becoming the Hero’s mistress instead of contacting her grandfather because they had a fight two years previously.
She would rather go back to being in service than marry the Hero, even if she loves him, because he made it seem she didnt have a choice! 🤦🏻♀️ ay yay yay! As if you have better choices as a servant, especially in those days!
No. Not one of MB’s better ones.
July 7, 2019
It pains me to give a Mary Balogh book a 3 star rating. I know this is one of her early books and I am happy they're bringing out her back catalog regardless.
Anyway, Jessica is a governess when the Earl of Rutherford visits the house where she currently lives. After a fairly innocent incident in the library, Jess is fired without a reference. When Charles (Rutherford) finds out, he sends her to his grandmother for employment. However, his grandmother recognizes Jess from her resemblance to her own grandmother and takes her under her wing. Charles is appalled, not realizing Jess's background.
Jess is very modern or confused - I was never sure which, but it ultimately became annoying with her always sending the wrong signals. Charles treads a dangerous line between being a charming rake and a man who forces women (he doesn't, but he is manipulative). I was especially appalled by the attitude of his grandmother towards him; she seems to seem him as a spoiled brat but also a typical man of the era who's saved by his charm.
I liked the secondary romance much better and I wish there had been a bit more focus on it because I was disappointed by the primary story. Oh well, even a poor Balogh story is still an interesting read.
Anyway, Jessica is a governess when the Earl of Rutherford visits the house where she currently lives. After a fairly innocent incident in the library, Jess is fired without a reference. When Charles (Rutherford) finds out, he sends her to his grandmother for employment. However, his grandmother recognizes Jess from her resemblance to her own grandmother and takes her under her wing. Charles is appalled, not realizing Jess's background.
Jess is very modern or confused - I was never sure which, but it ultimately became annoying with her always sending the wrong signals. Charles treads a dangerous line between being a charming rake and a man who forces women (he doesn't, but he is manipulative). I was especially appalled by the attitude of his grandmother towards him; she seems to seem him as a spoiled brat but also a typical man of the era who's saved by his charm.
I liked the secondary romance much better and I wish there had been a bit more focus on it because I was disappointed by the primary story. Oh well, even a poor Balogh story is still an interesting read.
July 21, 2019
I absolutely love Mary Balogh, but I couldn’t get beyond 60% of this book.
The reason was lack of character development. Jess was never developed enough to my liking so that I could understand why Rutherford fell in love with her. She was not logical or intelligent. Her decisions weren’t based on any consistent rationale, yet she claimed to be guided by her values. All I ever heard her say is, “No.”
And as for Hope, her constant disparagement of herself was sickening.
Oh well, there are many other MB books to read.
The reason was lack of character development. Jess was never developed enough to my liking so that I could understand why Rutherford fell in love with her. She was not logical or intelligent. Her decisions weren’t based on any consistent rationale, yet she claimed to be guided by her values. All I ever heard her say is, “No.”
And as for Hope, her constant disparagement of herself was sickening.
Oh well, there are many other MB books to read.
October 13, 2019
I have found the one Balogh book I disliked. We see from Charles’ pov at first and I didn’t like him, but slowly changed my mind in seeing his interactions with her. The opposite for Jessica. I stalled 3/4 of the way and forced myself to finish but by the end of it I greatly disliked her. She has this pride coupled with a martyr complex that is annoying, and her choices just make me want to shake her. 2.5
June 10, 2019
Longtime reader of Mary Balogh
I have read more than 10 books by this author and loved them all until this one. to me the story became pages and pages of what the characters were thinking, an enticing beginning seemed to drag about halfway through the story. I won't stop reading this author,but there are many other books of hers that appealed to me more.
I have read more than 10 books by this author and loved them all until this one. to me the story became pages and pages of what the characters were thinking, an enticing beginning seemed to drag about halfway through the story. I won't stop reading this author,but there are many other books of hers that appealed to me more.
June 15, 2019
The secondary characters were better. And as far as romance, it was lust at first sight and hard to pinpoint if there was anything else. Especially given the main male's habit of telling the main female that she should be grateful for whatever he was throwing her way at that moment due to her station (offers for sex, or mistress or marriage).
March 25, 2018
I never thought I would give a Mary Balogh a 2-star rating but this book was so bad. Never has there been a more unlikeable hero and a more stubborn heroine.
January 26, 2020
Pride and prejudice
Ironically, it was my reading of dissertation-length disparaging review on Goodreads that made me purchase this book.
I can't believe that I overlooked this one having read many of MB's works.
This novel is not for a woman of this decade's sensibilities. It refers to issues of class and gender in a power dynamic that many present day women would find off-putting. But I loved it. I prefer MB's earlier writings to her most recent ones. She acheives such a great balance of dialogue and description in her early writings, without the hordes of characters to memorize. The characters are reflective and the dialogue is witty and charming. There isn't an obsession with explicit sex scenes, which i find to be verbal porn, and often skip over anyway. I prefer subtleties.
But yes, the hero has a derogatory concept of women especially those of lower classes, and yes, the heroine is flattered that the hero could restrain himself enough to not rape, and yes these sentiments are unheard of today (actually they are not if you've ever worked in criminal court, judges are still heard to say the same and so have our legislators, but we continue to advance the belief that we are enlightened in our conception of gender relations). Yet, while others are dismayed by these expressions, i proudly admit that I prefer period novels to reflect the period, not modern day notions. I have very little doubt that 30 years from now we too will appear to be unenlightened ogres by present day standards.
So if predatory, brooding heros are offensive, i wouldn't suggest you read this. But if you're a fan of the 1970's to early 1990's romance novel that borders on non-con, then you may appreciate this one.
Ironically, it was my reading of dissertation-length disparaging review on Goodreads that made me purchase this book.
I can't believe that I overlooked this one having read many of MB's works.
This novel is not for a woman of this decade's sensibilities. It refers to issues of class and gender in a power dynamic that many present day women would find off-putting. But I loved it. I prefer MB's earlier writings to her most recent ones. She acheives such a great balance of dialogue and description in her early writings, without the hordes of characters to memorize. The characters are reflective and the dialogue is witty and charming. There isn't an obsession with explicit sex scenes, which i find to be verbal porn, and often skip over anyway. I prefer subtleties.
But yes, the hero has a derogatory concept of women especially those of lower classes, and yes, the heroine is flattered that the hero could restrain himself enough to not rape, and yes these sentiments are unheard of today (actually they are not if you've ever worked in criminal court, judges are still heard to say the same and so have our legislators, but we continue to advance the belief that we are enlightened in our conception of gender relations). Yet, while others are dismayed by these expressions, i proudly admit that I prefer period novels to reflect the period, not modern day notions. I have very little doubt that 30 years from now we too will appear to be unenlightened ogres by present day standards.
So if predatory, brooding heros are offensive, i wouldn't suggest you read this. But if you're a fan of the 1970's to early 1990's romance novel that borders on non-con, then you may appreciate this one.
June 1, 2019
Jess and Charles find Love
While this reprinted romance from thirty years ago is more reliant on the tried-and-true romance novel pattern [boy meets girl, assumptions are made that hinder a love match, the couple fights their mutual attraction, the assumptions are replaced by truths, and happy ending follows], it is still a novel written by the incomparable Mary Balogh.
More simple than her later works this novel may be, but the author’s gift for writing believable characters is clear. Both Jess and Charles, the Earl of Rutherford, are winningly drawn, plagued by their pride and nearly overwhelmed by the passion through which they are trying to navigate. Another reason this reprinted story deserves close to five stars is the secondary love story between the awkward spinster sister of the hero and her patient suitor, the Earl’s best friend.
I am so glad these Signet novels are being published again. This author was great thirty years ago; now she is without equal.
If someone reading this review is unfamiliar with Balogh’s more recent work, I’d recommend The Survivor’s Club books as being some of her best books!
While this reprinted romance from thirty years ago is more reliant on the tried-and-true romance novel pattern [boy meets girl, assumptions are made that hinder a love match, the couple fights their mutual attraction, the assumptions are replaced by truths, and happy ending follows], it is still a novel written by the incomparable Mary Balogh.
More simple than her later works this novel may be, but the author’s gift for writing believable characters is clear. Both Jess and Charles, the Earl of Rutherford, are winningly drawn, plagued by their pride and nearly overwhelmed by the passion through which they are trying to navigate. Another reason this reprinted story deserves close to five stars is the secondary love story between the awkward spinster sister of the hero and her patient suitor, the Earl’s best friend.
I am so glad these Signet novels are being published again. This author was great thirty years ago; now she is without equal.
If someone reading this review is unfamiliar with Balogh’s more recent work, I’d recommend The Survivor’s Club books as being some of her best books!
March 5, 2020
Come diceva quel tale? "Jane Austen è morta, Georgette Heyer è morta, e anche Mary Balogh non se la passa tanto bene...". Irritata dall'ultima produzione di una scrittrice che ho molto apprezzato, e i cui romanzi ho frequentemente etichettato come 'rileggibili', sono andata a pescare questo titolo del 1988, accessibile ora anche come e-book. Ora, non so se la versione originale sia stata integrata dall'autrice con le scene di sesso 'de rigueur' in questi ultimi decenni, ma il fatto è che i personaggi sono incoerenti e agiscono in modo puerile, e la storia, da qualunque parte la si guardi, non sta in piedi. Ho odiato soprattutto il finale, quando l'eroina, dopo avere rifiutato oltre il lecito le avances e le proposte di matrimonio del protagonista, gli si offre inopinatamente incontrandolo nella locanda che costituisce la prima tappa della sua fuga. Perché? Perché voleva essere le a decidere dove, come, quando...?
May 11, 2019
Can a governess who is turned out from her post without a reference find happiness with the earl who inadvertently caused this disaster? Turns out, the governess does have something to hide, but it has nothing to do with sexual politics. As usual, Mary Balogh presents intriguing characters and social challenges in the setting of the Regency period. The earl's sister Hope and her hopeful suitor are just two of the delightful characters who populate this world. Throw in some kindly (and wealthy!) grandparents on both sides, a whole classroom of small nieces and nephews, a Christmas house party, at least one ball, and some very uncomfortable trips by stagecoach and you have an engrossing romance.
August 13, 2019
Lovely story
Mary Balogh is one of my favorite authors. I pre-order her books, and have read almost everything she has written. Her heroines are true to the historical period of time in which the book is set. There are engaging and interesting other characters, many who get their own story, and, of course, a hero that the reader falls for as well as the heroine.
This story is about a young woman, of a socially good family, who works as a governess. Her grandfather is titled and wealthy, but our heroine works. One of the house guests becomes very attracted to her, and the issues of class, wealth, social status, and love arise. The love scenes are written beautifully. Of course, there is a happy ending!
Mary Balogh is one of my favorite authors. I pre-order her books, and have read almost everything she has written. Her heroines are true to the historical period of time in which the book is set. There are engaging and interesting other characters, many who get their own story, and, of course, a hero that the reader falls for as well as the heroine.
This story is about a young woman, of a socially good family, who works as a governess. Her grandfather is titled and wealthy, but our heroine works. One of the house guests becomes very attracted to her, and the issues of class, wealth, social status, and love arise. The love scenes are written beautifully. Of course, there is a happy ending!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews