Anthony Elliot, Earl of Greyley, inherits his ramshackle cousin's five wild children who proceed to terrorize him and his household until he is Out of Options—except, of course, the alluring red-headed, child-whispering governess Anna Thraxton. Anthony doesn't like Anna because she has Opinions and also Good Boobs. Anna doesn't like Anthony because he's Autocratic and also Too Tall. Their squabbling results in kissing, groping, sex, feelings, etc.

1. I mean, I finished it.

2. Anthony is """engaged""" for 97% of the book. The first few chapters make mention of a girl he wants to marry eventually, but then around the 30% mark, it's handily dropped into the text that no, he's actually already talked to her father and they have an understanding but nothing has been announced because they're in mourning but now that his Anna-induced boners are making him restless, Anthony would like to move up the wedding OK?

It's pretty gross.

2.5 (There is kind of an interesting side-plot about Anna secretly meeting with the fiancée: first, it's allegedly to make sure Charlotte isn't a gold digging monster; second, once she discovers Charlotte is delicate and timid, to help the girl grow a spine in order to have more fulfilling dealings with Anthony in her future marriage. Not super well developed, but then nothing really was.)

3. Anthony really isn't that romantic of a hero. I mean, there's a scene in which Anna—who has been spending time with another of Anthony's cousins—tells Anthony that she's going riding with Anthony's cousin. Anthony gets a jealousy boner right there on the stairs and says he doesn't like it. Anna retorts that Rupert has never offered her any insult, while Anthony has.

Anthony's reaction to this is LITERALLY: "Anna don't. You are so beautiful."

(ANNA PROCEEDS TO DISMISS THIS LIKE IT'S A PERFECTLY LOGICAL LEAP IN CONVERSATION. Y'KNOW, GOING FROM "HEY YOU HAVE INSULTED ME AND MY HONOR YOU FUCKING LUMP" TO "NO, I'M NOT [BEAUTIFUL]. I'M TOO TALL, MY NOSE IS HUGE, AND I HAVE LARGE FEET." IT'S RIDICULOUSSSSSS.)

4. That said, there is a slightly decent thread of romance running through this (if you ignore all the terrible trappings like nipple-tweaking outside the nursery and jealousy boners on the stairs and A LONGSTANDING ENGAGEMENT and whatnot); it's almost the story of a man rediscovering joy and warmth after forcing himself to be a cold dictator of a messy, scandalous family. It's not great and it's barely good, but after coming off the unbending that was Governess Gone Rogue, I was hoping this would provide another angle.

It really didn't, but I'm looking for reasons to justify my reading this. So.

5. OH YEAH I forgot to mention that there are POV changes ALL OVER THE PLACE. Just jumping from head to head in order to confuse the HELL OUT OF READERS.

*happy sigh* It's been a long time since I've read Karen Hawkins, and I don't know how I ever missed reading this book. What a delightful read!

Usually the "I love you, no I hate you" romances drive me up a wall, but the dialogue and timing are so pitch perfect in this one that I found myself loving it. Anthony Elliot, Earl of Greyley, is pretty much at the end of his tether as this book opens. He has taken on the 5 orphaned children of a deceased cousin and they are wreaking havoc on his home. It doesn't help that Anthony is the one responsible member of a pretty feckless family, a position that has him saddled with relatives who don't exactly add many positives to his domestic situation.

In desperation, Anthony hires Anna Thraxton, a onetime member of the ton fallen on hard times. Forced to make a living as a governess, Anna is now exiled from the social class she once enjoyed. Hawkins could have done a lot more to drive this point home, but since most of the book takes place at Anthony's country home, the class lines don't get drawn quite so starkly as they could have. Even so, Anna is keenly aware of her new status and determined not to give in to any flirtations. She simply has too much to lose and she knows it.

For his part, Anthony is determined to cement his respectability by marrying a suitable and docile woman. Anna is not docile, and in fact Anthony convinces himself that her outspoken ways are not to his liking. Until, of course, they are.

Anna wins over the children and she and Anthony end up winning each other's hearts in a story that is full of touches of good humor and warmth. And that perfect timing I alluded to keeps it from becoming sappy. I needed a good historical, and even if it's a bit wallpapery, this one delivers.

6.5

Sometimes in romance, a book with many characters can get lost and a bit overwhelming. However, I really enjoyed such a large "cast" in this book. There are 5 quirky kids, an evil grandma and a meddling jolly grandpa. The plot, the earl falling for the governess, has been used many times, however, the details make this work for me. Frist, the governess had equal footing, as someone who once moved in the earl's social circle then became impoverished and had to go to work. She still had her grandfather with her, meaning that while the responsibility for earning an income fell to her shoulders, she was not so totally alone in the world as to have no moral support. I really liked that she brought her own self worth and self esteem to the table. What made this book extra delicious was how the characters stayed true to themselves. No one had to compromise his or her own moral code to have the happily-ever-after. I really enjoyed this book. While there is a series, this one can be read as a stand-alone.

Rounding up from 4.5. The supporting cast of characters in this story, and the secondary love story, really made it

This book is the first book in the Talisman series and I love it.
Anna is a strong heroine with a kind heart. Her family has had hard times financially for the past year. She doesn't whine about those circumstamces, instead she looks for a solution and finds one: she becomes a governess. And a good one at that.
I love how she doesn't back down from an argument, even though Anthony is used to getting his way. It's great to see how she handles him so that sometimes he only realises afterwards what just happened.

Anthony wasn't immediatly one of my favorite heroes. He's been responsible for his family from the young age of 17. And he wants to prove that being born an Elliot doesn't mean you can't be respectable. As a result he's very bossy and sometimes I would've liked to wring his neck. In the end however, when Anna managed to soften him up, I liked him better.

Phineas, Anna's grandfather, is a great character. I love that old man. Just like his granddaughter he has a big heart and wants to help people. The way how he tries to bring those two together is just great.

And last but not least, the children. They stole my heart. They haven't had a very happy childhood and all they had was eachother. So when they have to go to Anthony they're afraif of being sepparated. Especially when their grandmother starts telling them all those nasty stories about him.
It was great to see the evolution in the children and to read about their play in the end.

Good god save me from heroes who want to make the heroine their mistress even knowing it will destroy any and all hopes for the heroine's future. Hate, hate these jerks and the spineless twits who love them.

Rating 6 of 7

I notice all the sexual tension between Anna and Anthony in Sara's book so I'm dead glad I get to see both happy in the end
An god I laughed a lot with this one

I laughed so hard I cried at one point... First time I've done that with a book~

this would be a strong 4 star book if it weren’t for that fucking CHIMPANZEE of a man. if anthony had died of a mysterious illness on page 1 everything would’ve been sunshine and rainbows, the birds would be singing and world peace would’ve been achieved.
i thought the main focus of this book would be the children, anthony working hard to become a better guardian to them and him finally finding a purpose in life other than becoming a rich tyrant. it was not. the whole point of the book was, apparently, accosting a governess and try to make her your mistress cause you are too prideful to break your engagement, which results on you taking advantage of a SEVENTEEN (17) YEAR OLD’S naiveté and a poor woman who’s just trying to have enough money for her grandpa and the pretty dresses she loves.
i hope this man rots in the deepest parts of hell and nothing ever goes right for him ever again. i hope in 3 years (which i believe is the time these two would last in a relationship after this book ends) he ends up all alone, with no house, no horses, no riches, no family and not a single fucking amount of dignity; the only thing to keep him company, that stupid pride he loves so much.

DEATH. death to this mongrel.

An Affair to Remember, Karen Hawkins - I found this book to be nicely written and quite funny in places. Children are at the center of the story, as a governess and a titled nobleman, recently bequeathed five unruly ones, battle over how to raise them. I found the story to be at its best when the dilemma over how to raise the children dominated the plot. The children are wily and it's great fun to be a spectator to their antics and the ways in which they outsmart the adults in the household.

Initially, the governess storyline interested me because it starts off by depicting the loneliness, poverty and social isolation at the heart of that life. Romance novels that romanticize the life of the governess are not accurately portraying the realities of such an existence. Anna Thraxton is a recently impoverished member of the gentry, thrown onto hard times, and with only an aging grandfather, she must turn to paid employment as a governess to sustain them. She's nearly sexually assaulted at her first job and then shunned from society, but her reputation for competence with unruly children keeps her afloat. Anthony, the Earl of Greyley, is desperate for effective childcare and hires Anna, despite his claims that he has never liked her because he finds her "too opinionated." I wanted to be drawn into their supposed animus, but Anthony's lusting after Anna becomes a bit annoying once she is living under his roof. Soon he is waylaying her in the library and stairwells and ignoring what I thought were some pretty decent arguments for why she wants to respect the employer/employee relationship. Perhaps I'm too much a product of our modern age of sexual harassment awareness! I wanted Anthony to respect Anna's professionalism, since it is her very livelihood and survival at stake. I wanted also for Anthony to think a bit more deeply about the insult of offering continuously to keep Anna as his mistress, especially given her recent fall from respectable society. I was grateful she at least had her grandfather with her, and even though he's not very effective, he does at least keep Anthony somewhat in line. Of course, this being a romance, Anna and Anthony fall in love and so the novel quickly takes the easy way out and elides the serious issues of what it means when an employer sets out to seduce his children's governess. Still, this is one novel that makes good use of children, and there are some genuinely funny moments and an overall appreciation for what drives them to act out. I often find children a little distracting in romance writing, but here they were crucial and nicely represented characters in their own right.

if nanny mcphee was hot