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Octavius and the Perfect Governess

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Blurb

A governess in jeopardy . . . and the marquis’s son who goes undercover as a housemaid to protect her.

Lord Octavius Pryor leads a carefree and untroubled life, until the night he visits Vauxhall Gardens in the guise of a woman.

At Vauxhall, Octavius discovers that being a female is very different from being a man. Annoyingly different, unpleasantly different, and—when he encounters the lecherous Baron Rumpole—dangerously different.

Determined to teach the baron a lesson, Octavius infiltrates Rumpole’s household, where he meets the woman of his dreams: Miss Toogood, governess to the baron’s daughters.

Suddenly Octavius has three pressing tasks. 1) To teach the baron to keep his yardstick in his breeches. 2) To keep Miss Toogood safe. 3) To convince her to marry him.

A word of caution: This novel is a bodice ripper, and I mean that quite literally. Bodices are ripped in this book—and not in a playful or sexy way. However, I promise you that all rippers of bodices receive their just desserts.

Q & A with the author

How would you describe this series?It's Regency England with passion, danger, adventure, humor, romance—and a dash of magic. The stories are emotional, but not sweet. There’s s*x, and my heroes do swear at times!Hang on. Did you say magic?I did. But don't worry—the books are first and foremost historical romances. Only a few characters have magic, and it’s a deep, dark secret, and no one else knows.But … do magic and Regency England go together?Definitely! Many years ago I read Sorcery and Cecelia (or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot) by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer, and totally loved it and ever since then I’ve thought that Regency England and magic go very well together.How would you describe your writing?Several reviewers have likened my writing to Georgette Heyer, which is the hugest compliment ever. I adore Georgette Heyer! She’s why I write historical romance, and I reread her books over and over. (If you’ve not read The Grand Sophy, please do so!) I’ve also had readers compare my writing to Courtney Milan and Mary Balogh, which are also massive compliments.Who would like this series?This series will appeal to readers who enjoy the historical backdrop and humor of Georgette Heyer, the sensual ‘noir’ feel of Anna Campbell, the emotion of Mary Balogh or Courtney Milan, and the magic of Patricia Rice and Mary Robinette Kowal. Quite a broad range, really!What order should I read the series in?Each book, whether a novel or novella, can be read as a standalone, but many readers prefer to read them in order. And although the series is set in Regency England, a quartet of medieval novellas form the prequel.The ideal reading order would be:The Fey Quartet (series prequel)Maythorn’s WishHazel’s PromiseIvy’s ChoiceLarkspur’s QuestThe Baleful Godmother: Original SeriesUnmasking Miss ApplebyResisting Miss MerryweatherTrusting Miss TrenthamClaiming Mister KempRuining Miss WrothamDiscovering Miss DalrympleThe Baleful Godmother: Garland Cousins SeriesPrimrose and the Dreadful DukeViolet and the Bow Street Runner (coming soon)The Baleful Godmother: Pryor Cousins SeriesOctavius and the Perfect GovernessHappy reading!

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Chapter 1-1
Chapter One Octavius Pryor should have won the race. It wasn’t difficult. The empty ballroom at his grandfather-the-duke’s house was eighty yards long, he’d lined one hundred and twenty chairs up in a row across the polished wooden floorboards, and making his way from one side of the room to the other without touching the floor was easy. His cousin Nonus Pryor—Ned—also had one hundred and twenty chairs to scramble over, but Ned was as clumsy as an ox and Octavius knew he could make it across the ballroom first, which was exactly what he was doing—until his foot went right through the seat of one of the delicate giltwood chairs. He was going too fast to catch his balance. Both he and the chair crashed to the floor. And that was him out of the race. His cousin Dex—Decimus Pryor—hooted loudly. Octavius ignored the hooting and sat up. The good news was that he didn’t appear to have broken anything except the chair. The bad news was that Ned, who’d been at least twenty chairs behind him, was now almost guaranteed to win. Ned slowed to a swagger—as best as a man could swagger while clambering along a row of giltwood chairs. Octavius gritted his teeth and watched his cousin navigate the last few dozen chairs. Ned glanced back at Octavius, smirked, and then slowly reached out and touched the wall with one fingertip. Dex hooted again. Octavius bent his attention to extracting his leg from the chair. Fortunately, he hadn’t ruined his stockings. He climbed to his feet and watched warily as Ned stepped down from the final chair and sauntered towards him. “Well?” Dex said. “What’s Otto’s forfeit to be?” Ned’s smirk widened. “His forfeit is that he goes to Vauxhall Gardens tomorrow night . . . as a woman.” There was a moment’s silence. The game they had of creating embarrassing forfeits for each other was long-established, but this forfeit was unprecedented. Dex gave a loud whoop. “Excellent!” he said, his face alight with glee. “I can’t wait to see this.”

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