
















Jennifer Gardner: tall, sleek and yet with an inherent innocence. She's attractive but
she doesn't know she is. She has no idea how to use her feminine charms to her
advantage. In a room full of people, she tends to hang back in the shadows and go
unnoticed. She does not carry herself with a great deal of confidence, but people
enjoy her company because she is refreshing and straightforward.
Strengths: Strong faith, extreme loyalty to family, determination and perseverance
Weaknesses: Timid, fearful, and unsure of herself.
Quirks: Unlike most people whose stomachs sour when they are nervous,
Dominique becomes ravenously hungry under stress. You'll find her eating at all
hours of the day and night, consuming everything in sight and never gaining a
pound. Can't stand her!
Inspiration for the character:
I wanted to create a character who isn't like the typical heroine I read about in many
romance novels. You know the type: brave, strong, defiant, and bold. Dominique is
none of those things. In fact, she is quite timid, easily frightened, and insecure. In
many ways, she is like me. I wondered what would happen if I placed her in a very
harrowing situation-a life and death situation in which she would have to risk not only
her life but her brothers as well. And to top it all off, she'd have to do something that
went against her loyalty to her country and her Christian principles.
Dominique Celine Dawson
Brief Physical Description:
Dominique is average in height, petite and thin. She wears
her long chestnut hair pinned up in regency style around
her face with ringlets of curls dangling about her neck. Her
eyes are brown with sparkling flecks of yellow that set the
hero's heart aflame!
I always pictured Dominique looking very similar to
Admiral Chase Randal
Physical Description: Chase is an
imposing man. Tall and large
boned, he fills out his admiral
uniform quite nicely. His eyes, the
color of dark chocolate, are
constantly perusing everyone
around him, assessing them and
the situation as if he were out at
sea facing an enemy. He wears
his dark, reddish-brown hair tied behind him in a queue, and when he enters a room,
he seems to fill it with his masculine presence.
Whenever I think of Chase Randal, a picture of Russell Crowe in his role as Captain
Jack Aubrey in the movie Master and Commander comes to mind. A gruff,
commanding leader of men who feels more comfortable on board a ship than at
home. But beneath the rough exterior lies the heart of a true gentleman yearning to
be loved like everyone else.
Strengths: Courageous, Decisive, loyal, Intelligent, confident
Weaknesses: Moody, grouchy, bitter and weak in his faith.
Quirks: Chase has insomnia. He wanders the halls of his London Townhouse all
hours of the night, plagued by nightmares of his dead wife.
Inspiration for the character: I simply love male characters who appear all
tough on the outside, almost frightening in their gruffness, yet on the inside they are
wounded little boys who desperately need help. I believe we have many of these
sorts of men in our society today. They put on a façade of independence, of "you
can't hurt me", but inside, their hearts have been deeply damaged. Chase is a man
with a broken heart. He has turned his back on God and prefers to run away to the
sea and forget about his past, his life, and his son. That is, until Dominique shows up
on his doorstep and turns his world upside down!
Background for the story:
Dominique's only brother is being held hostage by Napoleon's men who have
threatened to kill him if she does not spy on Britain for them. Being half-British and
the daughter of a British admiral, Dominique has no trouble procuring a position as
governess in the London town home of a British Admiral who sits on the Admiralty
board. All she has to do is steal valuable naval documents and pass them onto the
French, and her brother will be saved. If she gets caught, however, not only will her
brother die, but she will face the gallows. Simple, eh? But what Dominique didn't
count on was falling in love with the Admiral and his son.
The Falcon and the Sparrow
A look at the Characters
Copyright 2007 by MaryLu Tyndall.
All rights reserved.