Review: When She Was a Governess (The Duke's Legacy #3) by Tess Thompson

                                                                    

Print Length: 287 pages

Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing (May 19, 2026)

From Goodreads.com:  She must leave the child she loves.

He must marry or lose everything.
Their marriage of convenience is about to become so much more.

Lady Sophia Ashford has spent years working as a governess, concealing her true identity as a duke’s daughter after her family’s devastating fall from grace. For two and a half years, she has raised Lord Henry Montrose’s orphaned niece—loving little Amelia as fiercely as any mother.

But everything has changed. Her family’s name has been cleared, their fortune restored, and her brothers now insist she come to London for a proper Season and an advantageous match. Sophia knows she must obey… even though leaving Amelia will break her heart.

Lord Henry Montrose faces his own impossible deadline. His late uncle’s will demands he marry before his thirtieth birthday or forfeit the estate that has become his sanctuary. For six years he has kept his heart locked behind grief and guilt, determined never to risk that kind of devastation again. But without Sophia, Amelia will lose the only steady, maternal love she’s ever known—and Henry knows he is painfully unprepared to fill that void.

When Henry makes a startling proposal—a marriage of convenience to solve both their dilemmas—Sophia agrees. She will be Amelia’s mother. Henry will keep Montrose Manor. A sensible arrangement between two wounded people who understand the rules.

No love.
No risk.
No heartbreak.

But as winter melts into spring and the three of them grow into an unexpected family, everything shifts. Stolen glances become lingering touches. Polite distance deepens into intimate confession. The fortress around Henry’s battered heart begins to crack… and Sophia discovers feelings she never expected to claim.

Just as they dare to believe in happiness, Henry’s vindictive mother returns—determined to destroy their marriage and reclaim Amelia. With poisonous rumors spreading through London society, Sophia and Henry must fight not only for their reputations, but for the love that has blossomed between them.

In a Regency world where duty demands everything, can two wounded souls choose love instead?

                                                         *******************

My Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

This was a cute, clean historical romance that worked surprisingly well as a standalone despite being the third book in a series. One thing I really appreciated was the way the author wove prior events and characters into the story without making it feel like I was missing huge pieces of information. I understood enough about the Ashford siblings and their history to follow along comfortably, though I will admit there was a fair amount of repetition both when revisiting those past events and within the current storyline itself.

That said, there were definitely a few areas where this book didn’t quite meet my expectations.

The biggest issue for me was the romance between Henry and Sophia, because the insta-love happened way too fast for me to fully buy into it. They go from employer and employee, (who from what we’re shown, barely seem to interact outside of conversations regarding his ward and we don't even really see those conversations), to agreeing to a practical marriage of convenience, to suddenly being deeply in love after essentially one meaningful dinner conversation. And all of this unfolds within the span of days. I would have much rather seen their feelings develop gradually while they were pretending to be in love for the sake of convincing her brothers and the household staff. The setup had so much potential for slow-burn tension and forced proximity, but instead it skipped straight to emotional declarations before I ever felt invested in them as a couple.

I also felt like the villain storyline never lived up to its potential. Early on, it seemed as though there was going to be a genuine threat involving Henry’s ward and the possibility of someone trying to gain custody, which could have added real stakes to the story. Instead, that aspect is brushed aside fairly quickly, and the later attempts to damage Henry and Sophia’s reputation feel oddly half-hearted. By the time everything wrapped up, the resolution felt so anti-climactic that I genuinely questioned why the conflict had been included in the first place.

Then there were the technical inconsistencies, which unfortunately, happened often enough that they repeatedly pulled me out of the story.

For example, right near the beginning, Henry refers to Sophia as “Miss Ashford”, only to immediately go back to calling her “Miss Ford,” the false name she had been working for him under. I thought maybe she had already told him the truth, except… she hadn’t. Which made the entire exchange not only incredibly confusing, but also unintentionally highlighted just how rushed their relationship was supposed to be.

Later on, after Henry goes to visit with his cousin Charlotte and she puts the idea of marriage to Sophia in his head, Henry is at home, sitting in his chambers as his valet helps him to undress for the evening. Nothing uncommon there right? So Henry sits down so that his valet can begin the process of removing his boots. He gets one boot off and reaches for the second. Except Henry chooses that moment to get up and move to the window, looking out over the grounds as he explains who Sophia really is. The truth bomb is dropped, and then suddenly the valet’s hands are stilling on the second boot and Henry is back in his chair. Or at least I’m assuming this is the case as at no point in time did the valet move to the window to finish what he had been doing. But then, just when I think I have it figured out, Henry is turning from the window, which means he couldn’t have been in the chair, so how did his valet get the second boot off? Honestly, I spent far too much time trying to mentally choreograph where everyone was standing (or sitting) instead of focusing on the actual conversation.

Another inconsistency that stood out involved Henry discussing the terms of his uncle’s will. He claims his uncle probably assumed the marriage clause would never come into play because Henry would marry the woman he previously loved. Except… his uncle attended that woman’s funeral with Henry. Meaning he would have known perfectly well that marriage was no longer possible.

And finally, there’s the lady’s maid timeline, which completely fell apart under even the slightest scrutiny. A woman described as being in her “late thirties” later claims she was twenty-two when Sophia’s mother was pregnant with Sophia. Unless everyone in this book has discovered the secret to time travel, the math simply does not work.

There were a few other moments that pulled me out of the story, but those were the ones that stood out the most. Still, despite all of my complaints, I did enjoy this enough that I’d be interested in going back and reading the earlier books in the series to get a fuller picture of the Ashford siblings and their history. And overall, this certainly wouldn’t stop me from picking up another book from this author in the future.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.