The Penwyth Curse [Hardcover]

Catherine Coulter (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Jove Books; Book Club edition (2003)
• ISBN-10: 0739430564
• ISBN-13: 978-0739430569
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,505,040 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars She has written better, January 2, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Penwyth Curse (The Song Novels Series) (Audio Cassette)

If you love Catherine Coulter books, forget that this one is even on the market, it simply is not in the same category as her previous novels.

Bishop is commanded by the king to end the curse of Penwyth and marry the already 4 times widowed Merryn. Merryn resides in Pennwyth with a cast of elderly characters who do not want to see the curse ended as this will mean they have been conquered by someone they aren't going to like real well.

Splice in flashbacks in the form of visions as Bishop attempts to tame Merryn at the same time that he comes to terms with his own status as a wizard, the tale jumps around and frankly would have been hard to follow if I had really cared about these characters.

As usual, Coulter flashes back to previous characters, which is always fun. However, they have no real contribution to this tedious tome.

When all comes together and the bad guys get theirs, you come to the conclusion that CC had reached the quota for the number of pages she needed to write and tied it all together in an implausible ending even for writers of this genre. It was like she had to tie it all together and boom that is it - we can get married. (Hey I am not giving anything away here, you know from page one they are getting married, you just don't know how it will all come together.)

Hopefully the next will be much better. I wish I had skipped this one.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Plot Sounded Good !, February 19, 2003

By 

M. Rondeau (West Springfield, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Penwyth Curse (Song Series) (Mass Market Paperback)

I am an avid reader of historical romances and have been very fortunate in my selections to find books that appeal to my sense of romance and emotions. I myself rely heavily on reviews and authors track records, and even if a book does get slammed, if it is from an author whose excellence has been proven in the past, I try to still give it an unbiased read.

Set in the 13th century, this tells the story of Merryn, a young woman who is forced to marry four times and is widowed and still a maiden when Sir Bishop of Lythe arrives at castle Penwyth. (This plot line sounded real interesting to me!) Penwyth bears the brunt of an ancient curse, which declares that no man will ever take Penwyth, or it's heiress, by force. All four husbands died within hours of storming the castle and seizing Merryn. Is the curse real or is their foul play at work? Bishop is wise enough to take precautions and figures he'll be safe if he woos the lady first. He starts to settle into life at the castle, then he starts having dreams featuring an unknown wizard and witch and this is where I feel the novel itself starts falling apart - at least for me.

The dream-story/real time story - eventually overpowers the romance between Merryn and Bishop and at one point - I wasn't sure who the story was about as I believe there was an editing mistake that spoke of Bishop but the story seemed to be related to the dream couple. It was very convoluted and difficult to follow. The jumping around from past to present left me dizzy. Bottom line, I couldn't find myself getting emotionally involved with either couple and although there were a few quite humorous moments in the dialogs, I didn't find it to be an enjoyable and relaxing read - it was too much work to figure out who was who and where!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars By all the saints' purple boils..., December 30, 2004

By 

B. Spangler (Fishers, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Penwyth Curse (The Song Novels Series) (Audio CD)

...mayhap I have picked the wrong Coulter novel with which to begin. Even still, I cannot say it has been totally without mirth. I have found some of the dialogue laugh-out-loud funny (audio book version.) Talking back in response to the ludicrous dialogue affords some diversion, though mayhap most for drivers around me.

Must everything be redder than red, blacker than black, whiter than white, higher than high, etc? Did I really hear that the earth moved during a vigorous amatory adventure? In subject matter, this dialogue is clearly intended for adult audiences. In construction, it rivals "See Spot run". By all the saints' pimply noses, mayhap the most fun is to be derived from the creative and deliberately non-repetitive invocations of said saints. I could wish though that someone close to the author would favor us by building an auto-correct into her word processor to over-ride "mayhap" and "hard".

Oh, aye, I'll finish it (it really is a long, boring drive home and it is futile to wish the time back) but I'm glad this was a library freebie. By all the saints' split ends, I'd have been madder than mad had I purchased it.