The Nightingale Legacy (Legacy Series) [Paperback]

Catherine Coulter (Author)

Book Description

Series: Legacy Series | Publication Date: September 1, 1995

An exhilarating Regency romance from the #1 New York Times bestselling author.

The second novel in Catherine Coulter's acclaimed Legacy trilogy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The second novel in Coulter's Legacy trilogy is a delightful Regency romance brimming with drama, sex and colorful characters. It's 1814, and the young, long-haired, brooding Lord Chilton, Frederick North Nightingale, who briefly appeared in The Wyndham Legacy, is on his way from his Cornish castle, Mount Hawke, to London when he stops at an inn for the night. There, he meets the smart, beautiful and feisty 19-year-old Caroline Derwent-Jones, who has just escaped Roland Ffalkes, her lecherous, inheritance-seeking guardian, and is en route to the Cornish home of her aunt, Eleanor Penrose. North protects Caroline from Ffalkes, who shows up unexpectedly, but she departs before the nobleman can tell her that her aunt, whom he knew, has been murdered. North and Caroline soon meet again, though, and before long he accepts her proposal of marriage-much to the horror of his three misogynist male servants, appalled that the union will break the long-standing tradition of no women living at Mount Hawke. Coulter complicates her story line with a couple of weak plot twists involving a search for local treasure and the murder of several other women (the killer's identity and motive, when finally revealed, strain plausibility), but her witty dialogue and bawdy, eccentric characters add up to an engaging, fan-pleasing story nonetheless. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club selection.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

At age 19, orphan Catherine Dewent-Jones eagerly anticipates taking control of her own financial affairs. Ffalkes, her greedy and unscrupulous legal guardian, attempts to arrange a marriage for her with his weakling son, Owen. Catherine flees and soon meets Lord Chilton. She is immediately attracted to the handsome but grim and brooding lord. She and Chilton eventually marry to protect her from the devious Ffalkes. After a series of murders, Catherine receives death threats, and the novel lumbers along to its foregone conclusion. While this novel is billed as a sequel to The Wyndham Legacy (Putnam, 1994), the main characters from that story don't make an appearance until late in the book. However, the popularity of Coulter's previous novels makes this a necessary purchase for public libraries with romance readers. [See Prepub Best Sellers, p. 55; Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 8/94.]-Margaret Hanes, Sterling Heights P.L., Mich.
--Margaret Hanes, Sterling Heights P.L., Mich.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Jove; First Paperback Printing edition (September 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0515116246
• ISBN-13: 978-0515116243
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #101,037 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Romance > Authors, A-Z > ( C ) > Coulter, Catherine R.
  • #37 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Romance > Regency

More About the Author

Catherine Coulter is the author of the New York Times-bestselling FBI thrillers The Cove, The Maze, The Target, The Edge, Riptide, Hemlock Bay, Eleventh House, Blindside, Blowout, Point Blank, Double Take and TailSpin. She lives in northern California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It Doesn't Get Any Better, July 3, 2001

By 

J. R. Frost (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Nightingale Legacy (Legacy Series) (Paperback)

I have read every one of Coulter's books and more romance than I could ever care to count, and this ranks up there as one of my all time favorites of any romance and most fiction books. North fascinated me from the time that he was introduced in Wyndham. I waited impatiently for his story, and I was not disappointed. He is the epitome of the brooding, tortured romantic hero, much in the spirit of Rochester and Heathcliff, but without the violent Gothic tendencies. His brooding is partly by choice, partly hereditary and he does his best to turn it into something silly so that the melancholy does not consume him the way it did his father and grandfather. Caroline is a heroine who, though sometimes a little goofy, is determined and strong and will do whatever it takes to get what she wants. In this case, she wants North, and who can blame her? The secondary characters are typical of Coulter's creations in that they are wonderfully fun and witty. Some of the great moments o!f the book occur during the interactions between North's misogynistic household and Caroline's pregnant charges. The story is basically about a man struggling desperately not to become like those who came before him, a plot that is by no means uncommon, but in Coulter's capable hands, the characters jump out and take on a life of their own, making this story, and specifically its hero, insurpassable. If only we all had a man like North in our life. The world would definitely be a happier place for me.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars sex with substance, March 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Nightingale Legacy (Legacy Series) (Paperback)

I started reading romance novels when I was about 11 and now I'm 16. Catherine Coulter is one of my favorite novelists and Nightengale Legacy is one of my favorite books. I like a book with substance not just sex and this book has got both. Including North Nightengale! An excellent read!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At last!! Two people who share a pure love!, February 27, 2004

By 

D. Garcia (Cypress, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Nightingale Legacy (Legacy Series) (Paperback)

THis was a great love story. There was never any pretensions between the two characters. The mysteries surrounding them never came between their love and Caroline was bright, spunky, optimistic and full of life. She was exactly what NOrth needed. USually romance books can be so irritating because of all the "oh let me hide my love because I dont want to be hurt" drama. However here we have two normal people who gradually come to care about one another and there is no hoopla just honest sentiment. It's a great read and you dont need to have read THe Wyndham Legacy in order to understand this one since it can stand on its own. Have fun!