A Governess Should Never… Lure a Spy

(The Governess Chronicles – Book 4)

Emily Windsor

Genre: Regency Romance

Release Date: Thursday, 11^th April 2024

Heat Level: Sensual. Moderate. Open door but romantic.

Notes: This book is written in British English spelling.

A Dangerous Spy. An even more Dangerous Governess.

“So tell me, Miss Jones, why should I employ you as governess?”

A question to rouse fear within the breast of any prospective governess, unless…she wasn’t a governess at all.

Yet Amelia must secure this position by whatever means necessary as this gentleman, dubbed The Scandalous Hugh Cadwalader by fashionable society, is not all he seems. Behind the elegant finery and azure eyes is a dangerous warrior of a man, a tenacious spy for the Crown.

One who might just have turned traitor…

“Just one more question, if I may…”

With her perfect references and perfect demureness, Miss Jones appears…perfect.

Feminine guidance and distraction are required for his inquisitive ward while Hugh Cadwalader hunts a traitor in the alleys of London’s Rookery.

But can such perfection be all it seems? And was that a glimpse of golden fire within those amber eyes?

The Dangerous Spy and… The More Dangerous Governess.

One should never judge a governess by her perfectly forged references or a spy by his unblemished Hessian boots, for behind both facades lay passion untamed, subterfuge unbound and a quest for justice.

A battle of wits with only one winner… Love.

With theatres of glister and glamour, nights of shadow and menace, hairpins of poison, and…being pressed to a desk by a shirtless masculine chest, the vocation of governess has never been so perilous – to the heart.

The Scandalous Hugh Cadwalader first features in Book 2 of this series, A Governess Should Never... Deny a Duke. This is his story.

Contains sensual scenes.

Purchase Links:

Available in e-book and paperback.

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Get The Governess Chronicles Series

A Governess Should Never… Tempt A Prizefighter – Book 1

A Governess Should Never… Deny A Duke – Book 2

A Gentleman Will Never… Forget A Lady – Book 3

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08XB6NZ2B

Excerpt:

No. 14 Hanover Square, Mayfair, London. May 1817

“So tell me, Miss Jones, why should I employ you as governess?”

Curse it.

And Amelia lowered her gaze to the mahogany desk in order to portray thoughtful repose.

What a devious question.

Especially as there were countless reasons why the gentleman should, in fact, not employ her as governess.

She’d never educated a young lady in her entire twenty-four years of life, knew naught concerning the history of art, cared less about the proper use of semicolons, was quite hopeless at all musical endeavours and hadn’t the faintest idea what…tatting was.

Yet how arduous could it be to keep a fifteen-year-old girl occupied?

Just give her a book to read, surely?

So, with a surreptitious intake of breath, Amelia clasped her hands in what she judged to be a suitably demure fashion and raised her lashes to the gentleman who prodded her so.

A Mr Hugh Cadwalader.

His lustrous blue gaze caused that intake of breath to hitch somewhat, so she pursed her lips in a prim manner and sniffed. Governesses always sniffed. But as to his question… “I am well-versed, Mr Cadwalader, in all subjects that a young lady might have need of during her Season.”

Such as how to evade a marriage-obsessed mama at a ball, the varied usages for a yard length of silk sash and the extrication of oneself from the clutches of a lascivious duke with merely a dance card pencil.

“I see.”

Amelia thought that reply most enigmatic. “You have my references?”

“Yes,” he drawled, gathering the papers before him. “My man of affairs has attempted to verify these references, yet it seems your past employers are either not of the living or not currently residing within these isles.” With agile slender fingers, he leafed through them. “Lord Fowler is pursuing parakeets in the Amazonia, Lady Bassett is sifting through sand dunes in the former Mesopotamia, Lady Clifford is scouring Constantinople for the Ark and Lady Padgett is scouring Paris for her errant husband.”

Amelia held his gaze. “How unfortunate.” And tilted her head. “But if you find me acceptable on all other counts, might I suggest a period of probation until my references can be verified?”

That should give her enough time to search this townhouse, question the servants, note Mr Cadwalader’s movements and read any of his pertinent correspondence, all in order to write a comprehensive report for her superior at the Foreign Office.

For Amelia’s talents lay not in punctuation or musical endeavours but in subterfuge for the Crown…

About the Author

Regency Romance with Warmth, Wit & Well-tied Cravats.

Emily grew up in the north of England on a diet of historical romance and strong tea.

Unfortunately, you couldn’t study Regency slang, so she did the next best thing and gained a degree in Classics and History instead. This ‘led’ to an eight-year stint in engineering.

Having left city life, she now lives in a dilapidated farmhouse where her days are spent writing, fixing the leaky roof, battling the endless vegetation and finding pictures of well-tied cravats.

More about me can be found at:

https://www.amazon.com/author/emilywindsor

https://books2read.com/emily-windsor

https://facebook.com/AuthorEmilyWindsor

https://www.instagram.com/emilywindsorwritesregency/

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/emily-windsor

https://www.goodreads.com/EmilyWindsor

https://uk.pinterest.com/EmilyWindsorBks/

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/gehNKr

Guest Post:

Hatchard’s Bookshop

The Scandalous Hugh Cadwalader, hero of ‘A Governess Should Never… Lure a Spy’ attempts to trail his enigmatic governess on an exhaustive gallivant around London and one of the famed shops he is led past is…

Hatchard’s, which still exists today.

The oldest bookshop in the United Kingdom, Hatchard’s was founded in 1797 at No. 173 Piccadilly by John Hatchard, a publisher and anti-slavery campaigner. The iconic shop moved a few doors down (next to the prestigious department store Fortnum & Mason!) in 1801 and has been there ever since.

Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III, was one of their first customers and it became the fashionable place to shop with the Duke of Wellington and Lord Byron frequenting it, no doubt to buy a book or ten! It now holds three Royal warrants, denoting that the business supplies to the royal family. But which genre of books…? 😁

Arranged over five floors, the wooden bay windows, beautiful old central staircase with carpeted treads, creaking floorboards beneath and snippets of memorabilia on the wall makes this a must visit for all Regency fans and bibliophiles!

So if you enjoy a romantic tale set in Regency London with a dangerous spy and a more dangerous governess, check out ‘A Governess Should Never… Lure a Spy.’

Miss Amelia Jones needed this governess job more than anything, but not in the typical way you would think. Miss Jones was no ordinary governess she wasn’t a governess but a spy for the crown. She was hired to spy on Mr. Hugh Cadwalader, whom the home office had suspicions he was a traitor. So, after strategically getting rid of two governesses who were scheduled to interview and making a bargain with the third, to provide lesson plans in exchange for her salary, Miss Amelia began her post as governess for Hugh’s daughter Phoebe. Her pupil Miss Phoebe who was 15 years old was a sad and lost young girl who had lost both of her parents, and it was her father’s death that led Hugh into a private investigation. Claimed as a suicide, he knew better, no, he knew his good friend was murdered and he would leave no stone unturned until he found the truth. It’s not long before Amelia and Hugh begin falling in love through a series of tantalizing events. But will their blossoming love last the truth when their true identities and secrets are revealed?

Emily Windsor is an amazing storyteller. She takes you back in time to Regency England and weaves the reader along the streets of London where the smells, sounds, sights, and even the tastes come alive. Her novel is so historically accurate you truly feel like you are there. Also, her characters have such depth and are fully well-rounded that you know them intimately and want them to survive all obstacles and for Hug and Amelia to fall in love and sweet Phoebe to know what truly happened to her parents and find the young woman she’s truly meant to be. Truly one of the best historical romances of the year!

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