When She Was a Governess by Tess Thompson

Lady Sophia Ashford has spent years working as a governess, concealing her true identity as a duke’s daughter after her family’s devastating fall from grace. For two and a half years, she has raised Lord Henry Montrose’s orphaned niece—loving little Amelia as fiercely as any mother.

But everything has changed. Her family’s name has been cleared, their fortune restored, and her brothers now insist she come to London for a proper Season and an advantageous match. Sophia knows she must obey… even though leaving Amelia will break her heart.

Lord Henry Montrose faces his own impossible deadline. His late uncle’s will demands he marry before his thirtieth birthday or forfeit the estate that has become his sanctuary. For six years he has kept his heart locked behind grief and guilt, determined never to risk that kind of devastation again. But without Sophia, Amelia will lose the only steady, maternal love she’s ever known—and Henry knows he is painfully unprepared to fill that void.