"Mansfield Lark" by Katie Oliver

Now that bad boy rock star Dominic Heath has been outed as Rupert Locksley, son of an aristocrat and heir to a country estate, his life has changed quite a bit.  And when his mother calls him, pleading with him to help save the family home, he has to return to the life he left long ago and the father who is threatening to disinherit him.

But Dominic’s return is going to be more difficult than he thought.  The house is in desperate need of repairs and he realizes that the only way he’ll be able to save it is to invite a camera crew to follow him around for a new reality show.  And when Dominic’s new status as heir of Mansfield House attracts the attention of socialite Bibi Matchington-Alcester, a woman determined to increase her status at any cost, Dominic may wind up way in over his head, especially if his girlfriend Gemma has anything to say about it.

Mansfield Lark is the third book in Katie Oliver’s Dating Mr. Darcy series.  Once again we get to visit many of the characters we met in the first two books but this time focusing on rock star Dominic and Gemma, the woman who finally managed to tame him.  

As you’ll probably guess from my reviews this past week, I really love this series.  I think it’s very unique in the way that there is a multitude of characters that appear throughout the series but each book focuses on a different few as the main characters.  It was nice in this one to also see a few story lines from the past two books furthered, even when they weren't part of the major plot.

In the first book, Dominic wasn’t really a character I cared much about (bad boy rocker? Maybe that was the point.)  But I loved him in this book, seeing the struggle he had between his old and new life, who others wanted him to be and who he wanted to be.  The introduction of Bibi was great because who doesn’t love a drama queen?  She is definitely the one you will love to hate.

As I’ve also mentioned previously, this is a series but each book stands alone.  I do think that you should start at the beginning however, because there are so many characters and their stories develop throughout all of the books.  You can read just this one as a fun story but it’s much better if you are completely up to date on everyone and how they got to where they are.  


Fun, flirty, modern day Jane Austen, juicy, right amount of romance and drama, good beach read - these are all ways I have described this wonderful series from Katie Oliver.  It has everything you look for from chick lit novels and more.  And thrillingly, this isn’t the end of the series.  I have read online that there are at least two more books to come.  I just hope we don’t have to wait too long for them!

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