Customer Reviews

The Duke (Coulter Historical Romance)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is one of my favorite books, romance or not. Catherine Coulter is also one of my favorite authors. :) She pulls you into a different world with her writing, a world of manners and lechery, heroism and duels, treachery and hatred. This particular book deals with Scotland. I enjoyed reading this particular book because Coulter included many details about Scotland that I enjoyed learning. I also love Brandy, and think that Ian sounds really, really hot. :)

I didn't read the orginal the Generous Earl, but the Duke is one of my favorite all-time books. I just recently re-read it again (about 5th time). It was the first Coulter book I read, now I have almost all. I would love to see a sequel.

I wasn't sure how to rate this book, frankly. Basically it's the love story of an English Duke, who lost his first wife to the guillotine, and his distant Scottish cousin who has never been to England. While I can concede it had some interesting parts, which I quite liked. and if it had been consistently good, I would have given it 4 stars. But there were negatives that made me want to give it 2 stars. Since it was my first Coulter, and I had heard so many raves about her work, it was doubly disappointing. What follows below are my specific disappointments in the story line.

While Coulter is good at "witty dialog," there was simply too much of it. I found myself skipping over some passages (it was particularly laborious at the beginning and I almost put it down then). There were too many adjectives and I kept wanting to edit them out. The characters were overdone and at times acted inconsistently (the fiance Felicity was too simpering and snippy to be real; Brandy was too sweet, too kind, and too unselfish, particularly at 18; Giles would not have been so wise and sincere and still dress like a gay dandy (yes, I know he was a master of deception, but still); and the Duke...the Duke was too stiff to be real for a young man of strong passions, even one who'd assumed great responsibility).

I got tired of the waring between the family members (enough already with the cousins and bastards). It seemed odd that a high bred Duke would pick up the Scottish slang. And when the Duke came back for the wedding, I couldn't see Brandy running into his arms without at least finding out why he returned. That wasn't believable given where she left it with him. On page 308, Ian speaks of Percy's attempted rape as if he'd always been aware of it and yet there is no indication he had ever been made aware of it (maybe I missed a passage?). And if he had been told of it, he would not be so blasé about it. Then there was the ending. The ending dragged. It read more like an epilogue.

Hence the 3 star rating. I didn't have trouble putting it down to run errands.

Quite good, even by Coulter's standards. Never having read the original (The Generous Earl), I can't comment on any improvements, but the characters are hilarious, and the story is vastly amusing. Worth reading, if only to meet the Robertsons and witness their insane escapades. It's not terribly heavy, as romance novels go, a nice light read. I finished it in two days.

I am a huge fan of Catherine Coulter, as well as most Scottish romances. Put those two together and you have a great book. This book is witty and keeps you interested.

The story was good. Really well written and all. I was really impressed, but why is it that in most of the Catherine Coulter books, the female heroines gets kidnapped and stuck in a rotten old cottage

typical cathrine romance book. good but the same plot over and over in each book

At first the Scottish dialect annoyed me. However, once I was involved in the plot, I couldn't put it down. I was up until 4 a.m. reading it.

Enjoyed this novel by Catherine Coulter and was delighted it was much better than the last novel by CC that I had read.

Though the book in itself was wonderful, the plot was very similar to other books written by Coulter.

Brandy is an admirable young woman, portrayed with compassion and strenghth of character. The people match the setting - colorful, yet strong