A Governess for the Damaged Duke: A Historical Regency Romance Novel

by Sally Forbes

Scars run deeper than skin, but some secrets leave wounds that refuse to heal…

Miss Liliana Wakefield rides into storm‑lashed Thornvale Abbey armed with wit, steel independence, and a vow never to bow to the aristocracy that ruined her family. Her mission is reach the Duke’s silent, shattered niece.

She expects a cruel, distant guardian. Instead she finds him, Thaddeus the “Beast of Thornvale,” a man walled behind fire‑ravaged scars and a grief that’s eating him alive. He believes he deserves emptiness; she looks straight at him and doesn’t flinch. A spark. A threat. A promise.

As Liliana coaxes fragile words from the child, the Abbey itself seems to tighten, a house of locked rooms, stifled memories, and footsteps that don’t belong. The girl’s splintered recollections point not to ghosts… but to someone still here.

To save the child, and themselves, Liliana must risk the vulnerability she swore off, and Thaddeus must decide he is more than the monster he fears. Love might heal them… or the truth may tear Thornvale apart.

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184 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 27, 2025

Reviews

[Nan · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this was considerably better than the last book I read by this author. The premise was much better, and the characters more likable. The folklore angle was quite engaging, and the approach to helping the governess’s charge through her past trauma was plausible. There were some of the same issues, however. Again, a lot of inner dialogue where a few actual words may have cleared up misunderstandings. Class concerns by characters in one paragraph that were largely disregarded a few paragraphs later. Shifting viewpoints to even minor characters whenever it suited. Otherwise intelligent characters leaving doors wide open for important conversations, and valuable evidence left unprotected. A weirdly powerless duke. Dukes are the regency equivalence of billionaires and CEOs, second only to princes in power. Our damaged Duke didn’t even have the wherewithal to remove an unwanted house guest who, even before the murderous tendencies were plain, was known for harassing female staff members. He also didn’t seem to think that he would have power to enforce a perfectly legal and binding guardianship. So while much more engaging than the previous title I read by the author, I think this will need to be my last. Additionally, the book was rife with mistakes. I understand that kindle unlimited is a different publishing approach and model, but errors were significant—the wrong name in a paragraph which muddied meaning, endings left off words, an occasional garbled sentence that seemed to either be missing words or have too many. I certainly don’t expect perfection in the self-publishing world, but a second set of eyes before releasing a book would not go amiss.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a 4 star book until about 65 percent of the way through. The main characters were three dimensional (except for the villain), the air of mystery was nice. But then right at 65%, they begin a decent into a string of the most stupid decisions ever.
Let's name some shall we?
They kiss without closing the damn door
They leave proof of a crime out in the open where it can be taken by the villain
The main of course thinks he's too ugly to be loved so he runs away
The other main thinks he's ashamed of her being a governess and they don't talk
Then THEN, she leaves. The villain convinces her that the possible scorn of the ton is worse than leaving them alone with an actual murder who is known for setting estates on fire.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

a love well earned

Lilliana goes toThoronvale to be a governeness for Elowen Thaddeus
Niece. Both had been in a fire Thaddeus had been scared and has withdrawn and Elowen has been tramatrized and does not talk.
Lilliana has been hired to try and bring her out of her shell. She is slowly making progress when two cousins arrive aunt Constance and
And her son Felix. Constance wants tintakebElowen back to London
And Thaddeus objects. Elowen starts drawing disturbing drawing of the fire with a man and a ring like Felix. She them says his name.
Meanwhile Felix sees Thaddeus and Lilliana kiss and threatens Lilliana. She leaves to not cause Thaddeus ant problems. In the cauch she is riding in is pushed off the road. Thaddeus finds out and goes to save her. The hey know Felix did it and the sand police to find him in the meantime he rescues Lilliana and cases for her.
Her then asked her to marry him. All end well

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liliana is hired by the duke to try and bring his niece out of her trauma endured three years ago from a fire in which her parents died. As Liliana makes continuing progress in drawing her charge out everyone is hampered by the visit of an aunt and her son. Situations start occurring and the realization of what truly happened surrounding the fire become obvious and danger ensues for Liliana. The Duke handles it all and they find their hea

[Anastasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel! Sally Forbes has a fantastic way of keeping things mixed up, but also still hitting on our favorite tropes.

this is a story of a governess who is firm in who she is, and does not let people intimidate her. she becomes the governess to a girl who is haunted by past trauma. with sweet love and patience Liliana begins to breakdown the walls of the little girl as well as the duke himself.

[Carolyn R Swickard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beauty and the Beast retelling

A lot of trauma to work through by the main characters. Thaddeus is scarred by fire and damaged emotionally; Elowyn is consumed by loss and fear, and Lilianna just comes with all the emotional baggage of someone on the lower end of English class society who is in constant fear of social ruin. Throw in a truly dastardly villain and you have a lot to work through. Good read.

[Cecelia Gardon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book! The characters are phenomenal and the plot was unique and fascinating. There was a lot of intriguing in suspense and hoping things would turn out right before you got to the happy ending.

The prequel link was broken, but the extended epilogue was not

All all the great read

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Right

Chapter 8 " ...convinced of the power of right."
Trough three near death experiences, our heroine remains hopeful that good will conquer evil.
By staying her course of rightness, she overcomes her obstacles.

[Lori Meehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Lilliana and Thaddeus made a great couple even when they denied their attraction. Elowen was a sweet addition to this story. Lots of love and suspense.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

New to me author

But, oh my goodness! So many typos! And there are two chapter 17’s….

Otherwise, the story itself, was very good.

[NelleRenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the storyline. The one thing I didn’t like was that names, titles and relationships were sometimes mixed up - a cousin was a sister, daughter of a duke was daughter of a baron, etc. I felt that the author did a good job with the little girl who was experiencing trauma and even PTSD. The MMC and the FMC developed their relationship slowly. There were secondary characters who were helpful and then there were the villains who you wanted to erase from the pages of the book.