Bambbles Rambles

I loved this. Best 99 cents spent ever.

The Story
The Governess Affair is about two non-noble (yay!) people. Serena was a governess cast out because of her unchaste behavior. Hugo is the duke's "man" who is trying to solve all his money problems so that Hugo can get some money all his own. They run into each other when Serena refuses to leave the front of the Duke's house until he owns up to his behavior. Oh yeah, he raped her and got her with child. Serena is confused and doesn't think it was forced because she didn't scream. Happy story, right?

Well Hugo is charged with getting rid of her and he slowly learns the facts to what happens. As that happens he also learns what a joy Serena is and they fall in love. 

This is a novella at about 250ish pages (says my nook) but never once did I feel rushed or think that I was getting cheated. This story was brilliant in the way that it handled what was going on. This book is to set up Milan's new series as we can see through the epilogue. I thought it did well on it's own. 

I am torn on if I wish we saw more of them. An additional 50 pages may have been good to flesh out the ending with Hugo especially, but overall, unlike a lot of reviewers, I didn't mind the length that it was.

The Characters
Let's look at Serena. She was never defined by the fact that she was raped. She took it as something that happened to her, and she needed to move on for the sake of her child. And I loved it. Her character was super well-rounded and strong.

Hugo was smart, witty and ambitious. He was also super well-rounded. He knew what was happening between them and tried to come to terms with that while keeping his main goal (being the richest coal miners son in all of England) in sight. 

The Romance
More love here. You see, it is be very hard to deal with the rape aspect in romance novels. You want it to be serious enough but have the woman be able to move past it enough to be with the man she loves. I think Milan does excellent here. The sexy times scene is probably one of my favorites ever. I don't want to say any more because I want you to go spend 99 cents and read this!

The Execution
For a novella and for a full length novel, I adored this. There were some things that maybe could have been fleshed out more for a full length novel, but I really didn't mind. I bought their romance in the time it occurred in because of how they communicated with each other. There is one letter writing scene that I just adored. 

The Overview
I don't know what more that I can say except add me to the mass of people who adored this book. I need a new word besides adored but it's true. It will be an excellent 99 cents spent if you buy this. Milan's writing is brilliant and she give it her all even though this is a novella. I can't wait for the series this sets up :)

Originally published on GR in May 2012. I think the eBook is free right now on Kindle. Go get it! It's enjoyable.