Scottish barrister Sinclair McBride is a widower with two small and unruly children in RULES FOR A POROPER GOVERNESS. So wild and uncontrolled are they, the children go through a governess a week, sending the women fleeing in tears or in disgust due to their childish antics and naughty behavior. Sinclair allows his offspring to run wild because he buries himself in his work to try to forget the loss of his beloved wife seven years ago.

Robert Frasier, known to the world as Bertie, meets Sinclair when she is sent by her vile father to pickpocket Sinclair in revenge for Sinclair's work in getting a disreputable friend of Bertie's father arrested for murder. Bertie steals a kiss from Sinclair as well as his gold pocket watch. Bertie become obsessed with the handsome barrister, following him and his children around London, until she ends up rescuing his children from a dangerous situation and precipitates their latest governess quitting. Sinclair is astonished to discover his headstrong children will pay attention to Bertie, so he hires her to be their nanny (if you ignore how unlikely it would be for a respected lawyer to hire an uneducated thief from the East End stews, I promise you'll end up enjoying the rest of the book greatly).

Originally agreeing to stay with the children in the nursery for one night, Bertie ends up extending her stay in Sinclair's grand Mayfair house indefinitely. Sinclair's eccentric family welcomes Bertie with surprisingly open arms, allowing longtime Ashley readers to see many of our favorite Mackenzie and McBride characters from past books again. Bertie's open, honest personality and her sheer enjoyment of life endear her to Sinclair's children and servants, and make her a joy to read about.

Sinclair is receiving threatening letters from an unknown menace, and Bertie teams up with Sinclair to offer her unconventional take on the sinister plot. The mystery is light, but serves to keep the story moving easily forward. When you're ready for me to move on, I know you'll tell me, Sinclair tells his dead wife's memory, just before Bertie bumps into him to steal his watch. As Bertie and Sinclair work together and Bertie teaches Sinclair how to feel joy in life again, will Sinclair's heart finally move on to new love? Ashley's latest in the Mackenzies series is sure to delight her fans, giving us a braw Scot whose burgeoning heart finds love and light again in an unexpected place.