Title:
The Colonel’s Ungovernable Governess: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary
Author:
Regina Jeffers
Genre:
Regency romance; pastiche literature; variation; vagary; British historical fiction; romance adaptations; classic historical fiction; women authors drama
Book Blurb:
Rather than be forced to marry a man not of her choice, Miss Jocelyn Romfield runs away. She believes spending her life as a governess would be superior to a loveless marriage.
An arrangement has been made by his father for Colonel Edward Fitzwilliam to marry a woman related to his Aunt Catherine’s last husband, Sir Lewis de Bourgh. Yet, how is the colonel expected to court his future bride, who has proven to be elusive during each of his attempts to take her acquaintance, when the governess of his brother’s stepchildren fills his arms so perfectly?
Jocelyn has no idea the man she has purposely avoided is the same one who fills her heart with love.
Excerpt:
“I do not wish the twins to grow up thinking themselves due privileges simply because of their position in society. You do know where they are at this moment, do you not?” he added so he might appear to have been searching for the children.
“Lady Victoria is with Lady Annabelle. Lady Annabelle is supposedly assisting her sister with Victoria’s needlework, but I planned to check in on them in another quarter hour to assure myself all is as it should be. I found no reason to deny Lady Annabelle’s request for her sister to join her after so long a separation. As to Lord Vincent, the boy wished to work on his research for the Jennings family tree. I promised to show him something of how one might look when finished. In reference to overseeing their work on the pen for the ducklings, I shall see to it, Colonel,” she responded smartly. “Is there anything else, sir?”
“Yes, I would like to speak to you privately if you do not mind., in the study in five minutes.” As he walked away, Edward had no idea why he had asked her to meet with him privately. The woman was too much of a temptation. Whenever he was in her presence, he wished to touch her.
He had barely reached his desk when she knocked on the open door. “Mrs. Turner says these are your favorites. They are fresh from the oven.”
Edward eyed the raisin-laced biscuits. “It was good of Mrs. Turner to consider my favorites. You may set them on the desk.” He did not dare leave the security of having a space between them.
She set the plate on the desk and lifted the lid on a small bowl of sugar on the tray and began sprinkling it across the warm soft biscuits. It clung to the dough quickly, and she licked the sugar from her fingers. It was all he could do not to catch her hand and suck her fingertips clean. Like it or not, a small groan escaped his lips.
“I knew you would approve,” she said as she circled the desk to hold the plate with one of the biscuits sitting upon it, which she lifted to his lips. “Taste them while they are still hot.”
Angry at himself for desiring her, he caught her wrist. “What game do you play, Miss Lambert?” he hissed.
“No game, Colonel. I simply meant to see you treated with a bit of happiness. You have taken on so much, what with the children and all. I know you must be terribly worried for your brother.”
“I am accustomed to duty,” he declared as he snatched the plate from her fingers and set it on the desk. “Duty to my family and my country is all I have ever known.”
“Duty to everyone but yourself,” she said softly. “So very sad. Everyone deserves a moment or two of happiness.” She shoved her shoulders back in a motion that often mimicked his response. It made him very sad, for he never wanted anyone for whom he cared to know the “despair” he often experienced. “I should go.”
“No,” he responded. “I have not yet tasted the biscuits. Do you mind offering them again?”
She looked at him oddly, but reached for the plate and lifted the biscuit to his lips. He was confident she knew what was to come. She did not look away from his steady gaze. When the biscuit touched his lips, he only took a nibble. Though it was a tempting morsel of pastry, the sweet biscuit was not what he desired.
As if his hand had a mind of its own, he took the plate and returned it to the desk. “If you do not wish this, Miss Lambert, you should step away now.” When she did not move, he gently drew her into his embrace, providing her the opportunity to change her mind. “This is more to my taste,” he murmured as his lips covered hers. Heaven surrounded him. Her warmth. The scent of rose water. The feel of her along his front. He had just parted her lips with his tongue and was prepared to deepen his kiss, when she suddenly pulled back, shoving against his shoulder.
Although his body screamed otherwise, he permitted her to do so without reaching for her again. Though, he desired her more than his next breath, he would not force himself on her.
She looked at him warily. “We should not become involved,” she rasped.
“You objected to my kiss after all,” he said in clipped tones, he could not hide.
“No, I wished for kiss. The kiss was a necessary part of this ‘dance’ we are performing. Your kiss was more than pleasant—it would be odd if I did not desire it.”
“In many ways, you are the most remarkable governess God ever created, though we both know you were never meant to be a governess. I do not know whether I should encourage you to remain with the twins or send you packing. You are nothing of the nature of any governess I have ever encountered. Should I dismiss you or encourage you? You are truly a conundrum, Miss Lambert.”
She raised her chin in hauteur. “As are you, sir,” she retorted.
“Should you not already be married?” he continued, ignoring her response. “By your own words, you are nearing your majority. Was there no one on the Continent who thought to tame you?” he demanded.
“I could ask the same of you. Mrs. Darcy says you are two years senior to your cousin, making you somewhere around two and thirty. And as to those on the Continent, who says I never had a ‘love’?” she said in a huff of apparent frustration, which went a long way in calming his own temperament, while wondering what man would dare to walk away from her. “Did you mean your ‘should you not already be married’ as a proposal, Colonel?”
“If I choose to propose to you, you would have no doubt regarding my intention,” he quipped.
“I thought perhaps you might believe since I accepted a kiss from you that I expected you to propose. I do not. Not now. Not ever.” With that, she stormed from the room, calling over her shoulder, “Please do not choke on the biscuits, Colonel. You are to escort the children to the fair today!”
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
Available to Read on Kindle Unlimited
BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-colonel-s-ungovernable-governess-a-pride-and-prejudice-vagary-by-regina-jeffers
What’s your favorite way to combat stress?
Though I walk at least 5000 steps daily and eat healthy to control my Type 2 diabetes, I love to garden when I am stressed out. I do my best scene developments while I am pulling weeds. Right now, I am working on a large pollinator garden containing American beauty berries, purple pugester butterfly bushes, purple coneflowers, sage, ornamental onion, lavender, gauria, mounding verbena, and much more. Everything is in shades of purple.
Why is your featured book a stress busting read?
Reading any book has been credited by experts with lowering one’s heart rate and easing the tension in one’s muscles. Specifically, The Colonel’s Ungovernable Governess is a charming historical romance set in Regency England. As an Austen-inspired vagary, most readers are already somewhat familiar with the characters. It is a “What if?” tale, where the reader recognizes the pastiche story from which it was adapted, while being taken on a journey based around the idea of “What happens if I change this in the original story?” Reading an adaptation is like sitting down with old friends and learning what they have been up to, of late. Who does not simply adore spending time in a familiar place and with familiar people? Assuredly, me, and hopefully, you as well.
Giveaway –
One lucky reader will win a $20 Amazon gift card
Open internationally.
Runs May 1 – 31, 2024
Drawing will be held on June 3, 2024.
Author Biography:
With nearly 70 books to her credit, Regina Jeffers is an award-winning author of historical cozy mysteries, Austenesque sequels and retellings, as well as Regency era-based romantic suspense and historical romances. A teacher for thirty-nine years, Jeffers often serves as a consultant for Language Arts and Media Literacy programs. With multiple degrees, Regina has been a Time Warner Star Teacher, Columbus (OH) Teacher of the Year, and a Martha Holden Jennings Scholar, as well as a Smithsonian presenter. Her stories have been acknowledged by the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense, the Frank Yerby Award for Fiction, the coveted Derby Award for Fiction, the International Digital Awards, and the Chanticleer International Book Award, and many other literary programs.
Social Media Links:
Every Woman Dreams (Blog) https://reginajeffers.wordpress.com
Always Austen (Group Blog) https://alwaysausten.com/
Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/Regina-Jeffers/e/B008G0UI0I/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1479079637&sr=8-1
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/jeffers0306/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/darcy4ever/
You Tube Interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzgjdUigkkU