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Kindle Price: | $2.99 Save $10.00 (77%) |
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A Certain Want of Reason (Wayward Regency Romance Book 1) Kindle Edition
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateOctober 8, 2017
- File size2128 KB
Product details
- ASIN : B076B6RZYQ
- Publication date : October 8, 2017
- Language : English
- File size : 2128 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 280 pages
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Kate Dolan writes award-winning historical fiction and romance under her own name and contemporary mysteries and children's books under the name K.D. Hays. A professional writer since 1992, Kate has written everything from legal analysis to a weekly newspaper column on religion.
Historical Novels Review praises her "humor and unusual characters that crackle off the page," Midwest Book Review finds her tales "riveting," and historians admire her research and reconstruction of places and manners of bygone eras. Drawing on local color for inspiration, she sets many of her stories in Maryland.
Regency England also provides the setting for a number of her books, including the four book "Love & Lunacy" series and a collection of Christmas novellas.
Her most unusual book was created in partnership with her eleven-year-old daughter. "Toto's Tale" tells the "real" story of the Wizard of Oz from Toto's point of view.
Although Kate earned a law degree and passed the bar (as her husband says, "the only bar she ever passed without entering,") she has actually spent more time working with preschool children than with lawyers. Of the two groups, she prefers children because "if they have something bad to say, they'll say it to your face."
She loves to explore the past by visiting historic sites and engaging in living history demonstrations and experiments. She also tries to spend as much time as possible riding roller coasters and waterslides with her kids, which can be just as educational. For example, last summer they learned exactly what not to put in your pocket when you riding El Toro at Six Flags.
When not writing and riding coasters, Kate enjoys coaching jump rope, practicing karate and taking long walks with her two dogs. She shares her office with Downy, a mini-rex rabbit who likes to gnaw on reference books. Learn more at www.katedolan.com or follow her on Facebook.
Customer reviews
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Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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On the one hand, the lack of judgment about her siblings' (and others) "peculiarities" is relieving, plus it's necessary for the fluffy tone of the book. (Nothing wrong with wanting a lighter book!) On the other hand, it feels a bit like the stresses of the situation are glossed over rather a lot. And the way they're dealt with at the end is also half satisfying and half deus ex machina, and a dose of... Hm. Of "blood will tell." If a fluffy treatment of mental illness will make you throw the book (or e-reader!) across the room, definitely spare your e-reader!
The exceedingly tidy ending, wherein some obstacles are revealed as never having been obstacles at all, or much more minor ones (in one case, for want of communication), is in keeping with the book's light tone -- but is /exceedingly/ tidy. (Another bit of tidiness: The hero is engaged to be married to someone who, from the initial outer appearances, is just not compatible. Fair enough. But when we get some time in that woman's head... Well, word-count probably dictated a less-than-nuanced character.)
The copy-editing is good, though I spotted one missing comma, one missing period (punctuation, not pregnancy!), and at least 2 or 3 instances of using UK punctuation (periods and commas placed outside the quotation mark)s, but with the US priority of double-quotes vs. single-quotes.
The book's best part is probably the banter. There's a lot of it. It's generally fun. It's sometimes excellent indeed. The heroine is mostly un-bowed by her circumstances, and quick-witted without being anachronistically sassy. (At least, not so much so that I'd notice, anyway; I only dabble in the genre, so I might be missing nuances.) If you're looking for mostly sympathetic characters, and don't mind the overall-shallow treatment of mental illness (and Bedlam itself!), it's probably worth book-sampling.
As a romantic foil, Lord Edmund Rutherford also has issues with insanity, but in his case he feigns madness in an effort to get out of his impending marriage with the beautiful but coldly manipulative Jeanne, for as Dolan slyly notes, “If only Jeanne had not grown up to be … herself.” The dueling madness of Edmund and Geoffrey makes for some very funny scenes as Dolan deftly juggles the plots elements and punctuates the shenanigans with much droll and clever commentary. Oh, there are so many pleasures in A Certain Want of Reason, from Mr. Groves’ role-playing with delusional acres at the Shady View asylum to Lady Rutherford’s wickedly disarming pragmatism.
I laughed many times reading A Certain Want of Reason. If you want a witty, entertaining carriage to deliver you to another time, pick up Kate Dolan’s terrific novel. She takes the reader through many madcap situations with rare sense of style and charm.
Overall, the ending had an obvious out to a happy ending and had resolved the conflicts rather quickly but it wasn't terrible. Amusing and light, a nice amous bouche to cleanse the palette.
Top reviews from other countries

Uncomplicated, not great literature, but still an okay read.

But... I did not like the way either her siblings nor Edmund's fiancee were portrayed. They all seemed to be lacking colour, like the author just needed to add some complications but didn't want to spend time developing them. I ended up skipping parts in between. Meh.


But I know, I know - you don't read these things just for the plot - and indeed there are some very attractive things about the rest of the book. I liked the heroine's uncomplaining sense of responsibility for her two siblings, and there could have been an terrific book written about her (?autistic?) sister's effect on social gatherings. The initial stages of developing the H/h acquaintance were also nicely drawn. I've some quibbles though about whether, socially, it would be quite as acceptable as the author suggests for the heroine to disguise herself as a nun and climb out of windows in order to stay, unchaperoned, at an inn. Just a smidgim on doubt on that one.
It's just that the hero's jaw-dropping stupidity (oh, alright - read it and find out what the chump does) overwhelms anything else.