Pride Comes Before the Fall - Review

Pride Comes Before a Fall (Miss Prentice's Protegees, # 3)

By: Virginia Heath

Publication: July 28, 2026 by St. Martin's Griffin

336 pages

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--In the third installment of this witty Regency romcom series, a headstrong chaperone is torn between following her rigid principles or her heart

Despite his many responsibilities, there is nothing Leopold Sloane, the 11th Duke of Debden, takes more seriously than the safety of those he loves. When one of his sisters is injured at a protest rally, he drags his family to Bath for the summer to keep his reckless and rebellious siblings out of harm’s way. The only flaw in his plan is his overwhelming but inexplicable attraction to the new chaperone he has hired to watch out for them. An outspoken conundrum of a woman who soon causes him more trouble than both his sisters combined...but who calls to his soul regardless.

From the moment Portia Kendall read her first revolutionary pamphlet beneath her bedcovers at Miss Prentice’s School for Girls, she realized that her true calling was to make the world a fairer place for the masses downtrodden by the aristocracy. A calling that led her to Equitas, a radical newspaper that champions reform. But as Portia discovers, writing doesn’t pay the bills. To make a living, she must push aside her principles and serve the very people she criticizes weekly in her column. A temporary position as a chaperone in the home of a pompous duke seems like the perfect way to earn enough to follow her heart. Unfortunately, the duke who hires her seems to be more dashing and noble than pompous and soon begins to call to her heart too—as much as she tries to deny it. But dare she risk her principles for love or will her pride always come before a fall?

What's funny is that I keep avoiding the books in this series even though I know I want to read them because I keep predicting wrongly. Because Portia is so forward-thinking, I could only assume that her character would be super annoying to me. I don't really like female characters in books or in real life that are domineering and dogmatic. Overly forceful in their views. And for some reason, I really pictured Portia as being a feminist in today's terms and not as much in the historically accurate way. Either way, I was pleasantly impressed with this book and Portia.

I won't say that Portia isn't concerned with gender differences, but her attention seems to be focused on the differences between the commoner and the aristocracy. She has been writing for a newspaper that writes what is considered sedition for many years. But now she has risen in rank and relocated to Bath. Unfortunately, she didn't realize that the position doesn't come with any income. So she still needs to provide for herself. She ends up applying for the position of being a companion for a duke's sisters who are determined to thwart their brother. She didn't realize that the duke is also a magistrate.

Leo is just trying to protect his family. After his sister is injured on his watch, he has taken that responsibility to a new level. But his "protection" has come in the form of control. But his sisters are determined to do what they want. And they are not happy with being sent to Bath during the Season. He hires Portia because she is fiery and spunky. And that seems to be what his sisters need to keep them in line. But he finds himself drawn to her as well.

I enjoyed Portia and Leo's relationship. I don't want to spoil too much, so I can't describe all of the pieces that I liked the most. They had a few moments of intensity that closed-door readers might not appreciate, but I did appreciate that for the most part they went about things in the "proper" way. Spice is something hard to quantify because all readers have different tolerances and preferences. For me, I thought there was less descriptive scenes than other books I've read by Virginia Heath, which I appreciate.

Favorite quotes:

-"I want equality and change to come from enlightenment and not down the threatening barrel of a gun."

-"That is the unique curse of us dukes. To always be underestimated simply because we were born with a silver spoon in our mouths and always be judged solely on our impressive title and even more impressive ducal exteriors."

-Nothing killed a wholly futile, totally inappropriate romantic moment quite like guilt.

-"I've honestly never met anyone like you before. You call to my soul, Portia."

-"Oh for goodness' sake! People change, Portia, and what they want changes too. It is perfectly acceptable for a grown woman of four-and-twenty to reevaluate what she thought she wanted as a child of sixteen!"

-"Women who use their privilege as a platform and the finances at their disposal as a weapon and, while I agree that it might be slow, as change so often is, in the end they really make a difference."

I absolutely loved that Portia had to learn that not all aristocrats are evil or the enemy. Shades of grey can be found in all levels of society. There are morally great people at all levels. And there are morally bankrupt people at all levels. Even still today. The title isn't the enemy. Evil is the enemy.

Pride Comes Before the Fall was better than I expected. I liked Portia better than I expected. I had no idea who her MMC was going to be, but I really think Leo was the perfect pairing for her. Pride Comes Before the Fall gets 4 Stars. Have you read Pride Comes Before the Fall? If so, what did you think? Let me know!

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 )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

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!

All's Fair in Love and War - Review

All's Fair in Love and War (Miss Prentice's Protegees, # 1)

By: Virginia Heath

Expected Publication: May 28, 2024 by St. Martin's Griffin

384 pages

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--A new Regency romp of a series, about governess who believes in cultivating joy in her charges, clashes with the children's uncle who hired her, only to find herself falling in love.

When the flighty older sister of former naval captain, Henry Kincaid, decides on a whim to accompany her explorer husband on an expedition to Egypt, he finds himself unwittingly left in the lurch with her three unruly children and her giant, mad dog. With no clue how to manage the little rascals, a busy career at the Admiralty that requires all of his attention, and no idea when his sister is coming back, Harry has to hire an emergency governess to ensure that everything in his ordered house continues to run shipshape. In desperation, he goes to Miss Prentice’s School for Girls prepared to pay whatever it takes to get a governess quick sharp to bring order to the chaos.

Thanks to her miserable, strict upbringing, fledgling governess Georgina Rowe does not subscribe to the ethos that children should be seen and not heard. She believes childhood should be everything that hers wasn’t, filled with laughter, adventure, and discovery. Thankfully, the three Pendleton children she has been tasked with looking after are already delightfully bohemian and instantly embrace her unconventional educational ethos. Their staid, stickler-for-the-rules uncle, however, is another matter entirely…

Georgina's parents died when she was young. Her father died first in a carriage accident, and her mother died several years later from smallpox. Before her mother died, she remarried a Colonel. Georgina's stepfather took care of her until she was sixteen and sent to Miss Prentice's school to learn how to be a governess. Georgina has chaffed against rules and regulations and has a difficult time biting her tongue. She might have been practiced at doing so, having lived most of her formidable years with the Colonel. But she can't seem to keep quiet during interviews and thus far hasn't landed a job yet despite thirty-three interviews. She's desperate. 

Harry grew up in a chaotic house. His parents loved him, but his grandfather was an Admiral in the navy and took Harry under his wing. The rules and structure of the navy seemed to suit Harry well. And he followed his grandfather's path from then on. His sister, Flora followed after their parents, and she now lives a much more free lifestyle. So free that Flora and her husband leave on a trip to Egypt without their children without even discussing the particulars of it with Harry. Doesn't seem too odd until you factor in that they plan to leave their children under Harry's care. Given Harry's background managing men in the navy, I find it odd that the children could manipulate him so easily, but I suppose emotions often blind us. And I'm 100% sure my own children emotionally manipulate me as well. 

Harry freaks out because he has no time to watch his nieces and nephew, and he doesn't know what to do with them. So he goes to Miss Prentice to find a temporary governess. Being desperate himself, he takes Georgie on without a second thought. Only Georgie isn't really following what he expects a governess to do. The description makes it seem that these two are constantly bickering over the way the children are taught, but truthfully, that takes very little of the plot of this book. Harry is drawn to Georgie physically from early on. He knows he must maintain his distance. Georgie doesn't even like Harry at first. So this isn't an instalove story. Her feelings soften and change over time.

I do have to say that this is the fourth book I've read by Virginia Heath. I found it to be completely predictable given the other books I've read by her. It seems she might have a pattern. But I would have preferred some unpredictability. Surprise me dagnabit! However, 'twas not to be. 

The predictability played a big role in my enjoyment of this book. It was exactly as I was expecting. And sometimes a book meeting your expectations is a wonderful thing. In this case, I was left wanting (not in a good way). Harry and Georgie were likable. I found a few things in their characters to be odd, considering the backgrounds of both. But humans aren't robots and just because we expect a certain outcome doesn't mean we always get it. So maybe those things could be explained away. I will say that Virginia Heath is good at getting me to feel invested in the characters, so I do want to keep reading her future books to see how the secondary characters' stories play out. But at this point, I expect those to be a little predictable, too. All's Fair in Love and War gets 3.5 Stars. Have you read All's Fair in Love and War? What did you think? Let me know!