Just to throw my .02 in there:
I use dropcaps almost all the time. The app I use does an admirable job following the css. I hate the idea of coding for the lowest common denominator and using hacks to make sure some ancient device can still function. Devices are not that expensive... and... I don't need to worry about selling the books I clean up.
I have css for the entire first paragraph, not just the first letter. That solves most of these issues regarding line height/float/spacing, etc.
Code:
CSS:
p.first {
text-indent: 0;
font-size: 1em;
clear: both;
}
p.first::first-letter {
font-family: serif;
font-size: 2em;
font-weight: bold;
float: left;
margin: -.1em .1em;
}
p.first::first-line {
font-variant: small-caps;
font-size: 1.15em;
}
HTML:
<h3>Chapter 42 <span>This is the subtitle</span></h3>
<p class="first">This is the first paragraph in the chapter.</p>
<p>This is a normal paragraph that is much longer so I can make the point of the indent and other stuff being different.</p>
<p>This is a normal paragraph.</p>
<p>This is a normal paragraph.</p>
Of course you may need to adjust this for particular circumstances (and we all know Jon isn't going to approve of
something) but this is just an example template I start with....