Rating: 
Summary: How can he possibly be attracted to the governess???
Review: The earl of Kerrich was careful to employ only an unattractive, strict governess who wouldn't try to entrap him into marriage. When his grandfather seems to see her differently, Devon finds himself looking at her with a critical eye. Is she REALLY as old as she pretends to be? Is her astonishing figure the result of tight corsets? Could he really be attracted to such an odd character? No, his grandfather must be getting senile. Miss Pamela Lockhart of the Distinguished Academy of Governesses has no wish to attract a man. She saw what loving a man with a roving eye was like with her own mother and father's disastrous marriage. Although society frowned on single women at the time, she is determined to make her own in life rather than become the chattel of some faithless man. But she has sadly underestimated the effect that being with an attractive man could have on her resolution, especially when that man shows himself to be a loving father for a penniless orphan. It would be enough to turn any woman's head, and Pamela has not succeeded in completely eradicating her natural woman's desire to have a husband and family. Perhaps it is time to move on to a new position. And now, ironically, the earl of Kerrich finds himself fighting an uphill battle to win the hand of the governess he chose specifically for her unattractive qualities. How can he get through her ironclad defenses? One of Christina Dodd's best! I heartily recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good romance with a healthy dose of humor thrown in!
Rating: 
Summary: This book sizzzzzzles!
Review: The second book in the Distinguished Academy of Governess series, we meet Pamela Lockhart- another proprietor of the governess school. When she gets robbed at knife point of her hard earned money as a governess, she is desperate to make ends meet for her school. Enter Devon Mathewes, self absorbed Earl of Kerrich, desperate to repair his reputation as a rake. Or else, the Queen of England (who happens to be his good friend) may divulge his long kept embarrassing secret from his youth! All he wants is a well-behaved orphan boy with a dour middle-aged governess that won't try to seduce him. What he ends up with is a precocious little orphan girl named Beth with huge hopes and Miss Pamela- an infamous beauty with a past that has scarred her adult life. She's not too thrilled with his plans but she really had no other options. In order to get the job, however, Miss Pamela dones a disguise to fool Kerrich and everyone else in the household. Unfortunately, the disguise doesn't last very long and Miss Lockhart's situations changes... rather drastically. Amongst the unknown charade, Kerrich also tries to solve the mystery of the counterfeit money in his bank... all at the same time keep it a secret and appease his all-knowing grandfather. What can I say? The things that go on behind closed doors for Devon and Pamela is... sizzling HOT! The attraction between these two is amazing. Why, Devon was even attracted to her when he thought she was just a plain and ugly governess! Christina Dodd continues to bring us entertaining historical novels with original characters and new plots. In tradition to her other great books (such as "That Scandalous Evening" and "Runaway Princess"), Rules of Engagement is funny, heart warming and utterly wonderful. Kudos Ms. Dodd! I can't wait to read the third in the series!
Rating:
Summary: Very Engaging!
Review: The second in the Governess series is extremely engaging. When you begin this book, you will absolutely despise this rake and the Earl of Kerrich. He is self serving, totally CONCEITED, and quite heartless. His demands for a governess are enough to set your teeth on edge especially when you find out for whom the governess will have for a pupil. Out of hand, they would like to tell him where to take his businss but Pamela Lockhart, overhearing his fees, and having just been robbed on her way home and losing their months payments knows that without the exorbitant fees he would pay, they would be ruined. In an old spinster disguise, the very beautiful, and extremely correct Pamela sets out to find him an orphan, and gain him the respectability Queen Victoria is demanding of him. In spite of her obnoxious disguise, Devon, Earl of Kerrich, finds there is something about this governess that attracts him! Funny, funny dialog and situations. Again, you will find yourself laughing at the dialog deftly put to good use by this author. There is also the mystery of who is leading counterfiting scheme against the Earl's bank. All and all a very engaging read! Definitely a must read for all of the Dodd fans and beyond!
Rating:
Summary: This book was SOOO enjoyable!
Review: this book was a treat! this is a story of a conceited, over-confident, gorgeous down to his toes, glad-to-be-a-rake rake who goes through some life and personality changes when he meets an ugly, old governess who doesn't treat him like he's God's gift to women. she has her own personality flaws and through each other they are able to work through their more painful flaws and become better people, while keeping some of their more quirky character flaws. TRUE LOVE. makes us better people and we feel loved even though we're imperfect. i've only read 2 christina dodd stories so far. this one and "my favorite bride" which i hated. so i am glad i didn't quit w/my first choice. because of this book, i think i might read something more from dodd. though, a warning for those of mild temperaments, the loves scenes, especially the one involving a desk (which i think might be the most titilating passage i've ever read), are so hot, this book could burn down a whole metropolitan library. so read in a well-ventilated area. i don't give this book five stars because i think Dodd should have paid a little more attention to Kerrich's point of view. she only gave us little snippets of how his mind & heart were changing. perhaps she was trying to be subtle, more of a classical writing style, i don't know. i think the story would have been more moving if she had penned a few more words of Kerrich's mind. But all in all, really really enjoyable.
Rating: 
Summary: Could have been better
Review: This book was quite dreadful; I couldn't even finish it, but kept reading to page 250 because I kept waiting for something good to happen, something believable, for the story to get better. First, the heroine totally jumps out of character, without prior warning, for her first sexual encounter with the hero. Talk about Jekyll and Hyde. It was like the author couldn't think of a better, more believable way to get them together, so she changed Pamela's behavior and personality so much that she was no longer plausible. A female character who has such high standards and such a loathing for the hero's behavior (he also reminds her quite a lot of her father who was a an unscrupulous "rake") doesn't just throw off her clothing along with her scruples to get hot and heavy with the man at the drop of a hat...I'm sorry. And her reason for having this encounter was unbelievable, too. There was very little, if any, internal thought and development for the character's reason for doing this. Maybe the author was in a hurry to move the plot along and get the story completed, but... Then Pamela, who seems so certainly against having a physical relationship with the hero, falls into bed with him at every chance he gets to seduce her! Hello, brainless female?? Okay, then there is one of my biggest pet peeves among some authors: every opportunity exists to write the story so that the characters can get happily married in a reasonably timely manner, but the doesn't get them married by the end of the book (I know because I peeked to the back, just to check, before I threw the book aside) when she could have arranged it to work out that way. The heroine must get pregnant first, after being dumb enough to continue sleeping with the hero time after time after time, without his offering any sign of commitment. I don't like endings that are not tied down properly when the author has the ability and the talent to do so. For me, when the author does it makes a more complete and happy ending. Ms. Dodd is a very good writer, however, and her dialogue is quite witty and creative, but her story and character development is lacking in this novel. She needs to make characters who don't seem to have split or multiple personalities, and then the story will be more enjoyable because people can relate to and believe the characters and their actions.
Rating:
Summary: Pleasant, but leave logic at the door
Review: This is a variation on the "ugly duckling blooms into lovely swan" theme. Except that the swan has always been a swan and is deliberately making herself unattractive to assure the vainglorious Lord Kerrich that she's an aging, unattractive spinster long past hoping for romance in order to secure a position as governess. Dodd's books are diverting, but not riveting like the Regency Masters: Mary Balogh, Mary Jo Putney or Jo Beverly. She doesn't have enough emotional depth for her characters to have searing encounters. In fact, they're barely believable encounters. When Pamela seduces Kerrich as a form of vengeance against horny men, I actually had to go back and reread the book to that point to see if I'd missed some important exposition of her character. Her character wasn't developed as resentful and reckless enough for her motives for seducing the man to seem creditable. Ms. Dodd does have a nice ability to create likeable characters. Lord Reynard and Beth are charming. Again, however, I found them saying and doing things which seemed more like plot devices than insight into the complexities of human nature. I suppose I am so critical of her work because she is wittier and more inventive than most writers are of this genre and shows real promise. I would encourage her to refine her skills by adding depth to her characters and by adding a bit more reality to her scenarios.
Rating:
Summary: Dodd's Best
Review: This is by far Christina Dodd's best so far. Devon, Lord Kerrich is being blackmailed by Queen Victoria. She will reveal a ecret from his past unless he becomes respectable, so to win her favor, Devon adopts an orphan and applies for a governess. His requirements for the position are an unattractive female who is on the shelf and who will not try to get in his bed. Pamela Lockheart needs the position so she disguises her beauty, takes the job, and adopts an intelligent and delightful orphan. Pamela and Devon are such a perfect pair. They are both used to being fawned over because of their looks and not character. It was such a pleasure to read about how these two fell in love with each other. I recommend this book highly. Happy Reading!
Rating:
Summary: Delicious and funny romance
Review: This is my second Christina Dodd novel and I liked it much more than "A scandalous evening" where I couldn't like the characters. Here the heroes are much more likeable.
Devon, Lord Kerrich is adorable and very cute. His vanity is so overwhelming that it was only funny. He displays it in such a ridiculous way that you can't be really angry with him. He is like a nasty child, not to be taken seriously. Consequently he is thoroughly fooled by just everyone, including his cunning grandfather who treats the conceited Lord as if he was still in his nappies. The destitute governess Pamela who had been until then the soul of chastity and primness is forced to work for Lord Kerrich in disguise because he does not want a young and beautiful employee for fear that she will storm naked in his bedchamber within a week (!!!). He tries to prove to the queen that he has become a respectable citizen (which he was all the time, he is in fact a very nice and romantic man, vanity aside) by adopting a boy from an orphanage. Pamela shall choose the boy and educate him, yet Kerrich doesn't want to really adopt a child. After he is in favour of the queen again, he plans to send the boy back to the orphanage But with the arrival of Pamela everything doesn't go exactly as he planned. First of all Pamela doesn't bring a boy from the orphanage. And although the governess seems to be plain and old the notorious womaniser (at least that is the way Devon sees himself) feels (much to his dismay) greatly attracted to her. But he would not be Lord Kerrich if he admitted that . Instead of it he accuses the bewildered Pamela to pursue him (while it is exactly the other way round!). The characters are hilarious and the dialogues are witty and entertaining. I especially loved Beth, the "boy" from the orphanage. She is such a great character and wraps the top-lofty Lord Kerrich around her finger in not time. If you like romances that make you laugh, this is a good one. And the sex is hot, too, although not quite believable for Pamela's character is much too stalwart and conventional for that. First she is the governess from hell and then she acts like a brazen harlot. Where did that come from? How was she able to deny that side of her character for 28 years? But who wants realism in a romance novel?
Rating: 
Summary: An acceptable afternoon's diversion
Review: This is the first novel by Christina Dodd I've read, and although I found it to be an okay read, she didn't match the wit, grace or style of my favorite authors. The humorous moments between Kerrich and Pamela seem contrived and forced, but I admit I cracked a smile a few times. In the beginning, I liked Pamela, and thought she was the spunky character whose story I would enjoy reading. Unfortunately, at some rather abrupt moment, Dodd gives her characteristics that are so far removed from what we've been told to that point, that it's hard not to be jerked out of the novel and wonder what in the heck just happened. I'll also agree with another reviewer in saying that I didn't like Kerrich. He was too cold in the beginning for his sudden reversal of heart to seem anything but preposterous. This had the makings of a wonderful story, but Dodd falls flat in the character department. I gave it three stars because it isn't the worst romance I've read, and I will probably give Dodd another chance in the hopes that her writing will mature.
Rating:
Summary: A delite from beginning to end!
Review: This second installment in the governess series was a delite. I read it in one day. The characters were rich and well rounded. Devon and Pamela were well matched. I enjoyed Devon's grandfather and the orphan Beth was a refreshing voice of reason to the battling Devon and Pamela. Devon and Pamela's shared past added depth to the story. The only thing that didn't fit quite right was the suspense element regarding Devon's cousin. It seemed to be thrown in. It really wasn't needed. In fact I barely gave it notice. I was so involved with the other characters. I am looking forward to Dodd's next installment "Rules of Attraction" and she said in the author's note that there will be a fourth installment too. I can't wait.
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