Customer Reviews

Fifth Daughter

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

In 1795 England, the gypsy informed Lord Strathmore that his wife will soon give birth to a son. He is pleased that he will have a male progeny after siring four daughters. However, complications occur and Strathmore must decide between the life of his beloved spouse and that of his yet unborn heir. Anguished, he chooses the baby, but the prophesy was slightly off as the newborn is female. Strathmore blamed his fifth daughter Maresa for the death of his wife and had nothing to do with her over the years.

Maresa ran wild, never quite learning how to become a lady. Only her neighbor and friend Percy Bronwell kept the scandals to a minimum, but he joined the navy when he realized she failed to return his love. Without his influence, Maresa's latest debacle leads to exile to Italy where she promptly screws up with another unwanted betrothal. Percy offers Maresa a marriage of convenience, which she accepts. However, when Percy's life is endangered, Maresa risks her life for the man she now knows that she loves with all her heart.

THE FIFTH DAUGHTER is a character-driven Regency romance starring two enticing lead protagonists. Though the story line remains inside sub-genre boundaries, readers will relish the tale because Maresa is a refreshing individual while Percy is the type of hunk the audience wants in their lives. Elaine Coffman furnishes an engaging historical romance that makes for a pleasant experience for readers.

Harriet Klausner

don't bother with this book unless you have trouble sleeping.
no romance no plot no character development. no good!!

I was so looking forward to reading this book and in fact, when I bought it I was reading another that I finished with hasty anticipation of The Fifth Daughter. I was misled by this book. First, Elaine Coffman wrote The Italian, which I loved, so I expected much more when I read this. Second, on the back of this book it says it is a stunning love story and on the binding it advertises itself as a historical romance. Where is the romance? And unless I've missed something, how is this a stunning love story? Throughout the entire book, Percy appeared only a handful of times and then he was nothing but a doormat for Maresa. She was nothing but a spoiled brat who treated him horribly. I'm not sure why he even bothered with her because she had not one redeeming quality about her. She was immature and selfish. I could have done without the history lesson and maybe a little more romance. Napoleon and his escapades were constantly crammed down my throat and I began to wonder if this was his story and a story about the war and that of Percy and Maresa's romance was nothing but a subplot. I did read the entire book and agree with the reviewer that said the writing was choppy. The dialogue was bad. And the much anticipated love scene amounted to a couple sentences. As much as I enjoyed The Italian, this book wasn't worth the paper it was printed on.

I've enjoyed several books by Ms. Coffman was looking forward to a new story by her. I was VERY disappointed with the flat characters and the flat story telling of this book. Maresa is a very hard character to like because of her exceedingly negative and childish personality. Percy is passive and wimpy and you just want to give him a big kick on his butt for letting Maresa run all over him!! And I was overly disappointed with Ms. Coffman's writing! It was almost as if somebody else wrote it and put her name on the cover, because the story did not flow, nor were any of the descriptions and feeling like her other books. Maybe because the publisher is Mira, and it doesn't have the high standards as Avon or Batam, but this was by far the worst book written by her.

I have never read Ms. Coffman's books before and thought I would give this a shot - I wish someone had shot me instead! I read the first 50 or so pages, skipped a few hundred, read another page, and then gave up. The dialogue was terrible, the plot uninteresting, and the characters could not have been more boring and bland. I am a voracious romance reader and this book is one of the worst examples of the genre I have read in a very long time.

The book could have been edited down by about a hundred pages, but I found it a quick read. While I wouldn't highly recommend it, neither would I say it was awful.

This is the first and last book I will read by Ms. Coffman. What can I say, the writing was choppy (there was no flow whatsoever), the characters were underdeveloped and I kept waiting for Maresa to exlaim "Fiddle-de-dee" (Note: in no way, shape or form did this book compare with Gone with the Wind, though!) And not to spoil the ending for those who want to read the book regardless of this review, IT IS VERY ANTI-CLIMATIC and not worth wading through the endless pages of the book to find out, of course, that the hero and heroine end up together.

Unfortunately I'd have to agree with "A Snorer." This is the first time I've read one of Elaine Coffman's novels and it will be the last. Don't bother with this one.

I've read this author's books throughout the years, and have truly enjoyed her writing. This book comes as a big disappointment. The characters are unlikable, shallow, and uninteresting. The romance between the two title characters remains a mystery, as the heronine is (from start to finish) self-centered, vain, and unlikable. Also, the unresolved conflict between Maresa and her father was frustrating -- as I felt that this was the only really engaging relationship in the book.

Coffman is one of those "uneven" authors - her books are either terrific and engaging or disappointing. This book falls in the latter category. The characters are shallow and the story is difficult to care about.

I used to buy all her books, then I became more selective. I wish I had passed on this one.