The Accidental Mistress by Kate Harper

Bad, clichéd short story
1 star

Devereux, Marquis of Roxburghe has his eyes set on the lovely Alice Gaskell. But he’s not ready to settle down so he plans to steal her away and make her his mistress instead.

The lady’s cousin, Sophie Hartwell, is appalled at the plans and realises she must save Alice from making a huge mistake. So when Dev comes to take Alice away it’s really Sophie taking her place.

Dev is furious once the ruse is revealed but realises that his plans needn’t change even if it’s the wrong girl he’s ended up with. But he doesn’t count on Sophie’s spirit and charm changing something inside him that makes him realise maybe he got the right girl after all.


I bought this at the same time as the disappointing His Wayward Ward by the same author. Had I not, I would definitely not have downloaded this one but I had so I felt I should at least give it a go. Unfortunately, I wish that I hadn’t bothered.

Within the first few paragraphs I had taken a huge dislike to our ‘hero’, Devereux. I normally like a dissolute rake that is redeemed by the love of the heroine but in this case it was his character and morals that were flawed and not just his behaviour. At one point he choked Sophie and bruised her but, don’t worry, he was sorry – he has a temper and it would never happen again!! Shocking that such a leading man could be in a romance novel.

Sophie was a fair enough character but she lacked any excitement or strength and you felt it was only lust that the two characters felt for each other. I also couldn’t forgive her for putting up with Dev’s behaviour towards her.

The plot was staid and clichéd but nothing truly offensive. There was also nothing particularly sexy about the story despite it being billed as a risqué Regency romance.

Overall this isn’t worth buying and I can’t recommend it even if it was free. Sorry.

His Wayward Ward by Kate Harper

Disappointing and not recommended
2 stars

Eliza has already got her perfect man and the pair have plans to marry. Now all she must do is convince her newly appointed guardian, the wicked rake Lord Julius Carlton, to give his consent.

One meeting between Carlton and Eliza and sparks fly. But will this rake realise where his heart lies before he loses Eliza forever and will Eliza realise that the perfect man might be in the last place she expected to find him?


I was quite looking forward to this story. Billed as a risqué Regency romance and at only 89p what could go wrong? Quite a lot, as it turns out.

I have read and enjoyed a number of stories where wards and guardians get together and never before have I read one where I felt slightly uncomfortable by the relationship between the two. Eliza is 18 but young with it. She’s naive, hot tempered and brattish. In contrast, Carlton is 32 and a disillusioned rake. There was just something off about their interactions in my opinion. Perhaps it was because he continually referred to her as a child or girl that, to be truthful, gave me the creeps.

As well as that, there were a large number of typesetting errors which is just sloppy and irritating when you’re trying to get into a story.

The story itself was very short but you know something’s not going quite right when you feel a little bored and unenthusiastic about the story even with such limited pages. The writing wasn’t terrible (hence the 2 stars rather than just 1) but it seriously lacked any emotion or depth which made it doubly hard to feel anything for the characters.

My last complaint has to be about the term 'risqué' romance because it wasn’t in the least sexy or sensual. Perhaps that harks back to the lack of emotion in the text but I still think it’s terribly misleading and makes the story even more of a disappointment.

Overall, even at only 89p I really can’t recommend this story and would suggest you avoid.