Look Before You Leap - Review

Look Before You Leap (Miss Prentice's Protegees, # 2)

By: Virginia Heath

Publication: June 24, 2025 by St. Martin's Griffin

320 pages

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction

Source: Personal Kindle Library

( Goodreads | Amazon )

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Goodreads description--The second hilarious and heartwarming novel in the Miss Pretence’s Protégées Regency romp of a series

Nine years ago, Lord Guy Harrowby, Viscount of Wennington, was publicly humiliated when a reckless romantic gesture went very wrong. Despite that, his mother held tight to the promise he made her then: that she would have a house full of grandchildren by his thirtieth birthday. Still single, embittered, and swiftly approaching that milestone birthday, there’s not a grandchild in sight. His heart now lies with his land and work is his life. In desperation, his mother decides that if he refuses to venture back into society to find her future daughter-in-law, the only solution is to bring society to him via a weeklong houseparty so that she can find one for him. The first Guy knows about her plan is when her hand-picked gaggle of debutantes arrive at his estate, all competing to be his wife.

After failing miserably as a governess, Lottie Travers isn’t proving to be any better at being a lady’s companion. As the only girl in an all-male household growing up, she’s developed several bad habits she can’t shake and keep getting her dismissed. Even after years of Miss Prentice’s teachings, Lottie still climbs a tree better than she embroiders, and still cannot seem to curb the desire to gallop astride a horse in breeches whenever an opportunity arises. But with the family farm in trouble, and her father now in dire need of her wages to keep it afloat, she’s determined to conquer her wildness once and for all and concentrate on her career.

Even with his home full of eligible women, there is only one that catches Guy’s eye, as much as he tries to deny it. And succeeding in her new role is easier said than done for Lottie when the Wennington Estate is filled with horses and she can’t help but feel a spark around the grumpy Lord. By the end of the week, will the two of them remain stuck in their ways, or will they learn that they may just be the perfect match?

Lottie has been failing. She finds it so hard to tame herself. More than her manners, she finds it impossible not to sneak away and gallop on the back of a horse. The specific horse doesn't seem to matter. She just has to get away. Horseback riding is one of the ways she lets off steam and deals with anxiety. She's been let go from another position as a governess. She goes for a gallop in Hyde Park (Rotten Row), and she has an accident with Lord Guy Harrowby. After that, she gets hired as a companion to Guy's aunt, who is as spunky as Lottie--maybe more. And she needs to keep her job this time. Her father's farm is failing, and even though he wouldn't accept it if he knew the money was coming from her, Lottie sends every spare penny home to her family. 

Guy is jaded. He had his heart broken years ago, and he's hated London and society ever since. Yet he's promised his mother that he will give her grandchildren by his 30th birthday. Despite not having any prospects. He finally relents and allows his mother to plan a small birthday party for him, but she turns that into a house party full of ladies who are driving him crazy. Even more, the crazy woman who almost ran him over in London is among the guests as his aunt's companion. 

Favorite quotes:

-But then pride always came before a fall, and once fallen, pride was the only thing you had left to cling to that might get you through it.

-They instantly bunched up inside him and then seemed to sigh in unison as they immediately relaxed as if they had been waiting his entire life for this moment. For this woman. Even the muscles in his jaw gave way, and he felt it hanging in bemused wonderment. [...] but she was stunning!

-"He is adamant there is nothing else to be done for my...condition. Beyond reducing my motherly anxieties over you, of course. He is convinced my malaise is aggravated by stress." "I thought Dr. Arden said that it was your overindulgence of cheese that set it off?" "That is what I told him to tell you, dear, because I didn't want you upset."

Look Before You Leap is my 5th book by Virginia Heath, and I have complained about this in just about every book. Just because you write historical fiction romance, doesn't mean that the main characters have to have sex before marriage. Of course, this happened. Life doesn't change that much. But would it be too much to ask that one of her couples abstain until marriage in keeping with the cultural expectations of the period? 

Look Before You Leap was a fast, fun book. It didn't take me long to read it at all. I have it marked as started and finished on the same day on Goodreads. I can't remember if that's accurate or if I just forgot to mark that I'd started reading it when I actually did. Either way, it was a fast read, which improved my enjoyment. I rooted for Guy and Lottie. They were both easy to like, even when I wanted them to behave differently at times. Look Before You Leap gets 4 Stars. Have you read Look Before You Leap? What did you think? Let me know!