Never Gamble Your Heart by Lindsay Lovise is a fun historical romance with cozy mystery vibes (4.5/5 stars)

Never Gamble Your Heart by Lindsay Lovise is a fun historical romance with cozy mystery vibes.

Frankie, a brilliant mathematician, found herself in the employ of The Dove–a spymaster who runs Perdita’s governess school–after her younger sister ran away with her closest friend. Said closest friend was the most recent in a streak of “troublemaking” ladies who were entrapped in marriage with men who don’t deserve them. To figure who is creating these entrapment scenarios, she takes the position of governess for Cecilia–the niece of Jasper–an infamous yet handsome rake who runs a gambling den.

I had a lot of fun with the first book in this series, Never Blow a Kiss, but I loved this one even more! Though we got some callbacks to the main couple from the first book, and there are slight spoilers about that plot, you could probably read this one as a complete standalone.

The audiobook narrators, Ella Lynch and Rupert Channing, did such a phenomenal job! Ella especially got the “frankness” of Frankie perfectly, and Rupert absolutely sounded like someone who wants to be known as a rake.

The banter between our leads was fabulous. I definitely bought their chemistry, though I appreciated that their steamier scenes didn’t happen until 75% into the book. I really saw myself in our main character, Frankie, who was definitely coded as being neurodivergent and/or somewhere on the autism spectrum. Cecilia was a gem and I wish there was more of her in the book.

We got a bit of a hint of the main couple for the next book in the series, and I’m pretty excited because it seems to be grumpy/sunshine!

CW: abduction, firearms, murder

I received a complimentary audio review copy from Hachette Audio, Forever, and NetGalley. All opinions contained herein are my own.

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The Secret Society of Governess Spies includes:

• Never Blow a Kiss
• Never Gamble Your Heart