Some romance tropes are universal across subgenres, like enemies to lovers. Governess romance books, however, are pretty exclusive to historical romance. In this blog post, I’ve rounded up what a governess was, what to expect from the trope, and nine governess historical romances to fill your to-be-read.
What is the meaning of “governess”?
Governess is a pretty archaic term referring to an old style of education. The governess was basically a private tutor hired to teach a family’s daughters about everything ranging from embroidery to mathematics. Governesses were usually women of the upper classes who had no family to support them. While governesses have existed as a tradition for centuries, they became a fixture of the rising merchant class in the Victorian age.
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What is the governess romance trope?
Governess romances typically share a few key features:
A governess heroine. She is usually plucky, smart, and good with children.
Children. The governess wouldn’t be hired without there being children to care for! They often are mischievous and neglected, benefitting from the earnest love and attention provided by the new governess.
An unattached father figure. The hero isn’t always the biological father of the children in the governess’s care, but he is often their legal guardian - and at a complete loss as to how to give the children the love they need. Until the governess shows him how…
Now, not all governess romances follow these tropes (as you’ll see below), but this is usually the expectation against which the stories are written. As we as a society have grown to understand the power dynamics between employee and employer better, this trope has become problematic and newer versions are more nuanced.
So, without further ado, here are some of the best historical romances featuring governesses:
Governess Falls In Love With Employer
In these historical romances, the governess and her employer find themselves attracted to each other (and, of course, find a way to end up together!)
Her Perfect Earl by Bethany Brooks
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.16
The governess: Esmeralda Fortune, a scholar undercover as a governess to get private access to an obscure document kept under lock and key.
Synopsis:
Esmerelda Fortune would never have accepted the position of governess to the Earl of Ashforth's infamous brood of five children were it not for the lure of the Corinna--the ancient manuscript in the widower's possession, which Esmie desperately needs to complete her studies. Besides, her employer will only need her for the three months until his wedding.
The Highlander by Kerrigan Byrne
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.11
The governess: Philomena Lockhart, a haunted woman running from a secret in her past
Synopsis:
They call him the Demon Highlander. The fearsome Lieutenant Colonel Liam MacKenzie is known for his superhuman strength, towering presence, and fiery passion in the heat of battle. As Laird to the MacKenzie clan, the undefeated Marquess has vanquished his foes with all rage and wrath of his barbaric Highland ancestors. But when an English governess arrives to care for his children, the master of war finds himself up against his greatest opponent... in the game of love.
Defying all expectations, Miss Philomena is no plain-faced spinster but a ravishing beauty with voluptuous curves and haughty full lips that rattle the Laird to his core. Unintimidated by her master’s raw masculinity and savage ways, the headstrong lass manages to tame not only his wild children but the beast in his soul. With each passing day, Liam grows fonder of Miss Mena—and more suspicious. What secret is she hiding behind those emerald eyes? What darkness brought her to his keep? And how can he conquer this magnificent woman’s heart... without surrendering his own?
Longing by Mary Balogh
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.88
The governess: Sian Jones, a local Welsh woman with a classic education who doesn’t want to fall in love with an Englishman
Synopsis:
Sian Jones had been to Britain's finest schools, but manners and French lessons did not erase the stigma of being a lord's illegitimate daughter. Perhaps she would have been content among Welsh ironworkers, her mother's people, had not Alexander, Marquess of Craille, arrived to run the mine he inherited.
When the widowed Alexander came to live with his small daughter in turreted Glanrhyd Castle, the Welsh poverty shocked him. But a greater jolt came from meeting Sian and the kiss he took before she could draw away. He asked her to be his daughter's governess. But neither pretended that was all he wanted. Even if Sian fought the desire between them, she could not stop the love that was drawing them together... or the passions that ignited beyond denial....
The Secret Pearl by Mary Balogh
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.89
The governess: Fleur, who takes the position from a stranger after a humiliating night
Synopsis:
He first spies her in the shadows outside a London theatre, a ravishing creature forced to barter her body to survive.
To the woman known simply as Fleur, the well-dressed gentleman with the mesmerizing eyes is an unlikely savior. And when she takes the stranger to her bed, she never expects to see him again. But then Fleur accepts a position as governess to a young girl…and is stunned to discover that her midnight lover is a powerful nobleman. As two wary hearts ignite—and the threat of scandal hovers over them—one question remains: will she be mistress or wife?
The Soldier by Grace Burrowes
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.87
The governess: Emmie, a local woman who strikes a bargain to act as governess for her cousin Winnie when a new landowner accepts Winnie as his legal ward
Synopsis:
This Regency era battle of wits, wills, and the sexes features a wily duke determined to see the succession of his line secured. The duke can't force his sons to marry, but he can make their lives miserable until they do. Resisting his pressure, each gentleman holds out for true love.
The second book in the series features Devlin St. Just, the duke's oldest, but illegitimate, son. He arrives at his new estate weary in body and spirit only to find the previous owner's bastard daughter and her beautiful cousin are his responsibility and making his life almost unbearably complicated.
Governess Falls in Love With Someone Else
In these historical romances, the heroine is a governess, but her love interest isn’t the man who employs her.
Devil’s Bride by Stephanie Laurens
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.08
The governess: Honoria Wetherby, a stubbornly independent woman who prefers the life of a governess to marriage
Synopsis:
When Devil, the most infamous member of the Cynster family, is caught in a compromising position with plucky governess Honoria Wetherby, he astonishes the entire town by offering his hand in marriage. No one dreamed this scandalous rake would ever take a bride. And as society mamas swooned at the loss of England′s most eligible bachelor, Devil′s infamous Cynster cousins began to place wagers on the wedding date.
But Honoria wasn′t about to bend society′s demands and marry a man "just" because they′d been found together virtually unchaperoned. No, she craved adventure, and while solving the murder of a young Cynster cousin fit the bill for a while, she decided that once the crime was solved she′d go off to see the world. But the scalding heat of her unsated desire for Devil soon had Honoria craving a very different sort of excitement. Could her passion for Devil cause her to embrace the enchanting peril of a lifelong adventure of the heart?
The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.85
The governess: Serena Barton, who is determined to get compensation for losing her position as governess because of the Duke of Clermont’s actions
Synopsis:
Three months ago, governess Serena Barton was let go from her position. Unable to find new work, she’s demanding compensation from the man who got her sacked: a petty, selfish, swinish duke. But it’s not the duke she fears. It’s his merciless man of business—the man known as the Wolf of Clermont. The formidable former pugilist has a black reputation for handling all the duke’s dirty business, and when the duke turns her case over to him, she doesn’t stand a chance. But she can’t stop trying—not with her entire future at stake.
Hugo Marshall is a man of ruthless ambition—a characteristic that has served him well, elevating the coal miner’s son to the right hand man of a duke. When his employer orders him to get rid of the pestering governess by fair means or foul, it’s just another day at the office. Unfortunately, fair means don’t work on Serena, and as he comes to know her, he discovers that he can’t bear to use foul ones. But everything he has worked for depends upon seeing her gone. He’ll have to choose between the life that he needs, and the woman he is coming to love…
The Lost Letter by Mimi Matthews
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.04
The governess: Sylvia Stafford, a down-on-her-luck woman determined to make the most of her new life
The synopsis:
Society beauty Sylvia Stafford is far too pragmatic to pine. When the tragic death of her gamester father leaves her destitute and alone, she finds work as a governess in a merchant's household in Cheapside. Isolated from the fashionable acquaintance of her youth, she resigns herself to lonely spinsterhood until a mysterious visitor convinces her to temporarily return to her former life--and her former love.
Colonel Sebastian Conrad is no longer the dashing cavalry officer Sylvia once fell in love with. Badly scarred during the Sepoy Rebellion, he has withdrawn to his estate in rural Hertfordshire where he lives in near complete seclusion. Brooding and tormented, he cares nothing for the earldom he has inherited--and even less for the faithless beauty who rejected him three years before.
A week together in the remote Victorian countryside is the last thing either of them ever wanted. But when fate intervenes to reunite them, will a beastly earl and an impoverished beauty finally find their happily-ever-after? Or are some fairy-tale endings simply not meant to be?
The Governess Without Guilt by Katherine Grant (that’s me!)
Coming July 15, 2022!
The governess: Sophia Preston, a fiercely independent daughter of the infamous Lord Preston who is determined to earn her own income and carve her own destiny
The synopsis:
One bored governess, one handsome doctor, and unlimited unchaperoned nighttime activities. What could possibly go wrong?
Sophia Preston wants adventure, excitement, and self-determination. She hired herself out as a governess to gain independence, and now she has it at Robin Abbey: every day, she gets to mind the Cosgrove children, eat the Cosgrove’s food, and live by Cosgrove’s rules.
When John Anderson arrives as accoucheur ahead of Lady Widlake’s next baby, Sophia immediately sees the potential for excitement. Who wouldn’t want to seduce the handsome young doctor who is guaranteed to move on once Lady Widlake’s baby is born?
John doesn’t mind flirting with the intriguing governess - as long as they aren’t caught. He has goals, and they don’t include ruining his reputation. Still, he must admit that Miss Preston is everything he ever wanted in a woman: smart, beautiful, unlike anyone else he has ever met…
When counterfeit bank notes surface in town, the authorities suspect someone at Robin Abbey is the criminal. Suddenly, both Sophia and John are put under the microscope. They have no choice but to band together to find the true culprit. The only question is: will they find true love, too?