Dominica

by Kate Harper

Sir Felix Maxwell never imagined that he would have to take charge of a high-spirited young woman who is to be thrust into the madness of a London Season. He is stunned to discover than his old friend Peter Mandeville left his only child in his care in the hope that he will teach her something about her heritage, an aspect of life that his strong willed daughter has yet to experience. Felix has spent his entire life avoiding the convoluted world that constitutes Society and is appalled by the burden that has been thrust upon him, especially when his new ward refuses to play by the rules.
For Dominica Mandeville there are no rules. Beautiful and independent, she has spent her life following in the wake of battle in the company of her soldier father and her Portuguese mother. After a life of adventure, the knowledge that she has been given into the care of a perfect stranger chaffs unbearably. The loss of her beloved parents hurts but the loss of her freedom is the cruelest cut of all. Will she ever learn to be a demure debutante? Or will her impetuosity lead to scandals that even the capable Felix is unable to save her from?

Genres: Historical, Regency

232 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 30, 2015

About the author

Like most writers I've always read and I've always got something going on in my head, story-wise. Mostly dialogue - at least, I hope that's dialogue and not something more serious - which inevitably makes demands on me.

I can recall lying under my bed when I was nine with a candle, a piece of scrap paper and a pencil, rewriting a disappointing ending to a book that had been pretty good up until those final pages. I'd 'borrowed' a highly unsuitable romance from an elderly lady and had gobbled it down in a day. I took away three things from that first sojourn into making up my own, far more satisfactory world. 1/ the hero really needs to end up with the heroine, no matter how irritating she is cause that is what romance is all about. Happy endings, even if they're unexpected. 2/ I liked storytelling so much that maybe it was something I could do on a regular basis. My people could behave as they were supposed to. And... 3/ burning a candle under a pile of highly combustible bedding is a really stupid thing to do. Or so my mother pointed out. I'm lucky I'm not toast.

Writing is a wonderful escape and nothing says run away with me better than romance. So that's what I pursue... historical (particularly Regency... oh man, Regency. Where the men wore breeches and the women appreciated the fact), suspense and contemporary. You can always check them out on Amazon or at www.kate-harper.com. On a more personal note, I live with my partner (no breeches), my kids and a hoard of animals that shed fur into my coffee on a regular basis. We live in a particularly beautiful part of Victoria, in Australia and feel pretty lucky to do so.

Reviews

[Lyuda · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘Damned females!’ he muttered. ‘How the hell did I get saddled with this particular campaign?’

The best part of this guardian-ward story is its protagonists: vibrant, unconventional, competent, and capable 19 year-old Dominica Mandeville and her reluctant guardian, Sir Felix Maxwell, a man who had little interest in rules himself, confirmed bachelor who managed to navigate around the excesses of romance for four and thirty years.

What can be more fun than pairing them together? Yes, there is an unavoidable age-gap which weighted heavily on Felix but didn’t bother me because of how mature Dominica was portrayed. What made me lower the rating is that the story advanced mostly through seemingly endless author’s interference by telling and not showing progression of their relationship. I wanted to see that progression through the protagonists' own actions and words. What could’ve been such a fun and engaging read turned into just an average story with uneven and at times boring plot.

[Evelyn Erb Bognar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the premise of this romance but it moved very slow (the two love interests were not showing attraction towards each other until 50% through the book). The main character was a strong likable female but I found myself getting bored as the two main characters finally started to notice their feelings towards each other.

[ann_zack_cee_am_ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish there were more romantic development between Felix and Dominica. I literally could make do without OW interference between Felix and his occasional lover widow Miss Anne because this occupies for about half of the book. Their HEA seems so rushed too. The story should have been longer.

[Frances Wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dominica

This is a lovely funny romantic story i throughly enjoyed it also it has a lovely epilogue which this author does very well.

[Laura Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written romance with great leading main couple and well done secondary characters.The age difference is 15 years but considering her life experiences and the historical time the story took place it wasn't a drawback.

[debmar50 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good

I like all of Kate Harper books. I hesitated buying this because it sounded like so many others but I was looking for a book I could reasonably afford. It was $.99. And liked it very much. It's gets expensive when you want to read a whole series of books and they are $3.99 each. Not that they aren't worth it but I can't pay that much especially when one or two of them are not so worth it.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I liked Dominica and that she was a strong female. I like my heros to be moral, so I was disappointed, but I know that is how realities of life were at that time. It was clean, but pretty steamy on the kissing and anticipating what was next.

[Tena Rees · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun

I liked both Dominica and Sir Felix. They were attracted to each other as friends first. Their attraction seemed natural despite the age difference.