Rating: 
Summary: The Heir
Review: I really liked this book. I have read A LOT of romance novels and have both enjoyed and hated a lot of them. This book falls into that "enjoyed" catagory. Catherine Coulter is a good author and I have enjoyed most of her books. She is the kind of writer that loves that "big misunderstanding" between the hero and heroine. When I first started reading Romance, I hated that. But I have since gotten used to it (you really don't have much choice since most Romance writers do this, except for Julie Garwood and Gaelen Foley).
"The Heir" was a fun book to read. I enjoyed the chemistry between Justin and Arabella and loved that both of them were strong characters. I also loved their verbal banter. The following dialogue is one of my favorite scenes in the book:
"He strode into the huge bedchamber while she was singing a high G at the top of her lungs in her bathtub. "If I weren't looking at you, I would believe that I had a screeching magpie in my bedchamber. Goodness, Arabella, did you not have voice lessons?"
I mean, how cute is that?
I am glad that Ms. Coulter made Arabella and Justin second cousins rather than first. I don't think I could ever enjoy a romance with two first cousins...yuck!!!!
Anyway, this was a fun and enjoyable read and one of the better novels by Catherine Coulter.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing story
Review: I usually like Coulter's romances, but her books are either great or terrible. I have to say that this is the worst one I have ever read. The story line was completely obvious, with no suspense or mystery. The book had very little action but mostly lifeless, stilted dialogue. Very little romance at all, the main characters are uncompelling and its hard to see where the attraction is; the main love scene is a brutal rape. If you are a fan of Coulter I advise you to avoid this novel.
Rating:
Summary: I was disappointed in the characters
Review: One of the things that I do not care for in Ms. Coulter's books is the way the men treat the women. I enjoyed her books for a number of years, but I have reached a point where I simply do not want to read anymore about men treating the women they are supposed to love as children - even taking on the responsibility for "discipling" them. I still enjoy Ms. Coulter's modern romance and romance/mysteries, but I am through with the historicals.
Rating: 
Summary: AND HERE I THOUGHT I HAD READ IT ALL.....
Review: Please, pretty please, stay away from this one! Trust what I, and other faithful reviewers, have to say about it: it is just terrible, no lesser word can describe it. I'll admit I am not Coulter's greatest fan, but I have always enjoyed her books, until this one.Justin, our so-called 'Hero' is a chauvinist and the most arrogant man to have walked the earth. Although Arabella has not much charm either, I felt compelled to take her side by the horrendous way she gets to be treated. Specially on their wedding night when Justin, who believes to be the owner of the truth at every conceivable level, decides to rape (even though he never actually sees it under that light) his virginal bride. Of course, poor man!, he thought he had been cuckolded! THAT IS STILL NO EXCUSE FOR HIS BEVAHIOR. After that scene, I almost threw the book out the window. Anyhow, unless you are drawn to this type of monstrous stories, do not even try to grab this one with a ten foot pole. The characters did not come alive to me, and their passion, romance, call it what you may, left much to be desired. Very disappointing and frustrating. A 1 STAR RATING DOES NOT DO IT JUSTICE, A 0 WOULD BE BETTER!
Rating:
Summary: AND HERE I THOUGHT I HAD READ IT ALL.....
Review: Please, pretty please, stay away from this one! Trust what I, and other faithful reviewers, have to say about it: it is just terrible, no lesser word can describe it. I'll admit I am not Coulter's greatest fan, but I have always enjoyed her books, until this one. Justin, our so-called 'Hero' is a chauvinist and the most arrogant man to have walked the earth. Although Arabella has not much charm either, I felt compelled to take her side by the horrendous way she gets to be treated. Specially on their wedding night when Justin, who believes to be the owner of the truth at every conceivable level, decides to rape (even though he never actually sees it under that light) his virginal bride. Of course, poor man!, he thought he had been cuckolded! THAT IS STILL NO EXCUSE FOR HIS BEVAHIOR. After that scene, I almost threw the book out the window. Anyhow, unless you are drawn to this type of monstrous stories, do not even try to grab this one with a ten foot pole. The characters did not come alive to me, and their passion, romance, call it what you may, left much to be desired. Very disappointing and frustrating. A 1 STAR RATING DOES NOT DO IT JUSTICE, A 0 WOULD BE BETTER!
Rating:
Summary: The Secondary Characters Are More Interesting...
Review: Sometimes Coulter wins and sometimes she misses. The H/H were not intersting to me. I was not rooting for them to be together. The heroine begins by being an a#% and then it becomes the hero's turn. The fact that the heroine idolized her jerk of a father made me hate her. And of course he comes out smelling like a rose in the end. I don't care what he did for his youngest daughter, but the way he treated his eldest daughter was unforgivable and made him a monster. That being said, I was more interested in Elspeth and Gervaise (It's really bad when you feel sorry for the villian) than the H/H. The fact that it got me to "rant" gave the book 2 stars.
Rating:
Summary: The Secondary Characters Are More Interesting...
Review: The best part of this book was the secondary romance between the heroine's mother and the physician. There were some memorable characters - the mysterious French count, the spotty viscount (Lord Greybourne), the Talgarths, and of course, Elspeth who gradually moves from almost unbelievable naivete to a genuine love with a decent man. What I hated were the hero and heroine. If you like Catherine Coulter in general, you will not like this review. I am not writing for the Coulter fans out there, but for readers who read other Regency historicals and who are trying out Coulter as a new-to-them author. I used to love Coulter back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Her sensibilities are more in tune with that period, and she herself admits it in more than one review. What I don't understand is the profusion of re-releases of older works. [I do understand that they bring in a lot of money to publisher and author, but not why these re-releases are so popular]. I am not fond of ultra-alpha heroes who taunt and then rape their wives, or of conversation that consists largely of "damns". Re-reading THE HEIR again, Coulter sounds like Amanda Quick to me without the humor and wit, and with far more swearing from everyone. I gave this one star not because the hero and heroine are so unlikeable, but because the story is more of a marriage that is basically a rape and founded solely on mercenary considerations plus mistrust and hostility on the part of the husband. We have a hero who jumps to conclusions, perhaps with some justification, but who does not change his mind about his fiancee's infidelity (Arabella was not even his wife when the supposed infidelity occurred). He continues to accuse her of adultery even after discovering that she is a virgin. When she charges him with rape, he does not answer that it is impossible for a husband to rape his wife (a legal reality back then) but that he did not rape her. He used cream. Yeah, right. And he continues in this train of thought for the whole book, more or less. Only the proof that someone else was with the French count is what changes his mind. Nothing that Arabella or her mother can say will do it. Arabella herself is hard to like. She has a real attitude problem at the outset. She is blindly devoted to her father, a man who was abusive (physically and emotionally) to his young wife. She is completely unaware of the fact that her mother's marriage to him was a misery. Until the hero points out the examples of her father's infidelity, Arabella will not change her mind. In fact, she mentally calls her mother a trollop and an adulterous wife after learning that her widowed mother plans to marry within months of the late Earl's death. I can understand Arabella's love for a father who indulged her, I can understand her pain and shock that her mother would remarry so hastily, and I can even understand her suspicions that her mother has been unfaithful. What I cannot understand is her general attitude. Yes, Arabella does stand up to the hero, her husband the new Earl. Yes, she is the only person for him, obnoxious that he is, the only person who can challenge him and keep him on his toes. If there had not been Justin's attitude through the novel and other clunkers, this book might have rated 3 stars. Rated: 0.9
Recommendation: Avoid, unless you are turned on by a hero who almost puts Othello to shame, and by constant fighting between hero and heroine.
Rating:
Summary: Not a romantic romance...
Review: The best part of this book was the secondary romance between the heroine's mother and the physician. There were some memorable characters - the mysterious French count, the spotty viscount (Lord Greybourne), the Talgarths, and of course, Elspeth who gradually moves from almost unbelievable naivete to a genuine love with a decent man. What I hated were the hero and heroine. If you like Catherine Coulter in general, you will not like this review. I am not writing for the Coulter fans out there, but for readers who read other Regency historicals and who are trying out Coulter as a new-to-them author. I used to love Coulter back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Her sensibilities are more in tune with that period, and she herself admits it in more than one review. What I don't understand is the profusion of re-releases of older works. [I do understand that they bring in a lot of money to publisher and author, but not why these re-releases are so popular]. I am not fond of ultra-alpha heroes who taunt and then rape their wives, or of conversation that consists largely of "damns". Re-reading THE HEIR again, Coulter sounds like Amanda Quick to me without the humor and wit, and with far more swearing from everyone. I gave this one star not because the hero and heroine are so unlikeable, but because the story is more of a marriage that is basically a rape and founded solely on mercenary considerations plus mistrust and hostility on the part of the husband. We have a hero who jumps to conclusions, perhaps with some justification, but who does not change his mind about his fiancee's infidelity (Arabella was not even his wife when the supposed infidelity occurred). He continues to accuse her of adultery even after discovering that she is a virgin. When she charges him with rape, he does not answer that it is impossible for a husband to rape his wife (a legal reality back then) but that he did not rape her. He used cream. Yeah, right. And he continues in this train of thought for the whole book, more or less. Only the proof that someone else was with the French count is what changes his mind. Nothing that Arabella or her mother can say will do it. Arabella herself is hard to like. She has a real attitude problem at the outset. She is blindly devoted to her father, a man who was abusive (physically and emotionally) to his young wife. She is completely unaware of the fact that her mother's marriage to him was a misery. Until the hero points out the examples of her father's infidelity, Arabella will not change her mind. In fact, she mentally calls her mother a trollop and an adulterous wife after learning that her widowed mother plans to marry within months of the late Earl's death. I can understand Arabella's love for a father who indulged her, I can understand her pain and shock that her mother would remarry so hastily, and I can even understand her suspicions that her mother has been unfaithful. What I cannot understand is her general attitude. Yes, Arabella does stand up to the hero, her husband the new Earl. Yes, she is the only person for him, obnoxious that he is, the only person who can challenge him and keep him on his toes. If there had not been Justin's attitude through the novel and other clunkers, this book might have rated 3 stars. Rated: 0.9
Recommendation: Avoid, unless you are turned on by a hero who almost puts Othello to shame, and by constant fighting between hero and heroine.
Rating:
Summary: Five stars - The Heir
Review: The Heir is not as bad as other readers may think. (I admit that I didn't want to read this book at first because of too many negative comments left by other readers so I kept it on my bookshelf for a long time until I ran out of book to read) Amazingly I found that it was no less fantastic than other books by Ms Coulter. Trust me this book is a very good read.
Rating:
Summary: I didn't particularly like it
Review: The story was OK. I found the the characters rather unexciting. I think there was actually more passion between Arabella's mom and the doctor. It needed more heat!
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