Rules of Surrender

Book excerpt: The Rules of Employment for The Distinguished Academy of Governesses: Always remember your station. Be sure to maintain a disciplined schoolroom. And never, ever become too familiar with the master of the house . . . Lady Charlotte Dalrumple is known as England’s most proper governess, a woman who has never taken a misstep socially—or romantically. On the surface, she seems perfectly suited to accept the challenge of reforming Lord Wynter Ruskin, sadly uncivilized by his travels abroad. But Wynter has no desire to be taught manners. He glimpsed an uninhibited beauty hiding beneath Charlotte’s prim exterior, and he’d much rather spend his days—and nights—instructing her in the pleasures of the body and the passions of the heart. But before they can love, both must also master the Rules of Surrender.