There's a new governess at Fairmont House, and she's going to be nothing but trouble.
Emily Laurence is a liar. She is not polite, she's not polished, and she has never taught a child in her life. This position was meant to be her sister's - brilliant, kind Amy, who isn't perpetually angry, dangerously reckless, and who does (inexplicably) like children.
But Amy is unwell and needs a doctor, their father is gone and their mother is useless, so here Emily is, pretending to be something she's not.
If she can get away with her deception for long enough to earn a few months' wages and slip some expensive trinkets into her pockets along the way, perhaps they'll be all right.
That is, as long as she doesn't get involved with the Edwards family's dramas. Emily refuses to care about her charges - Grace, who talks too much and loves too hard, and Aster, who is frankly terrifying but might just be the wittiest sixteen-year-old Emily has ever met - or the servants, who insist on acting as if they're each other's family. And she certainly hasn't noticed her employer, the brooding, taciturn Captain Edwards, no matter how good he might look without a shirt on . . .
As Fairmont House draws her in, Emily's lies start to come undone. Can she fix her mistakes before it's too late?
I don't always compare the covers, but I do feel the US one is nicer in this case - that bright bluegreen on the UK one doesn't go at all, in my opinion! But then the cover isn't the most important part of the book anyway.
When I reviewed Gwen & Art are Not in Love by the same author, I commented that it seemed unstuck in history and I had to consider it a complete fantasy for it to make sense. Trouble has the same kind of feeling, but it's far more anchored in history, which makes it difficult. I don't know everything about history and certainly not about Regency England, but I'm relatively sure that Aster's story wouldn't have ended anything like as happily as it does here, among other things.
Lex has a great writing style and I was drawn into the story. As with most romcoms, the plot itself was fairly predictable, but the joy in this story was in watching the characters interact with each other. I would love to see this one televised, I think it could be really charming and lovely.
A great read, if you can turn off the analytical side of your brain!
Trouble published on the 20th July, 2023 in the UK (top image) and will publish on the 5th March, 2024 in the US (lower image). I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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