The Rebel Bride [Hardcover]

Catherine Coulter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2002

Historical RomanceLarge Print EditionWhen Julien St. Clair, Earl of March, sees Katherine Brandon for the first time, she is dressed like a boy and engaged in a mock duel with her brother. And since its her turn to die, she falls dramatically at Juliens feet. Suddenly, the earl finds himself bewitched by this unusual young lady and decides that he wants her. From the glittering ballrooms of 1814 London, to Paris and Switzerland, the earl and his unwilling bride play a dangerous game of passion until Julien discovers Katherines terrifying secret.*Explicit

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Catherine Coulter lives in Northern California with her husband Anton and her cat Gilly, who's as old as her marriage.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Severn House Publishers (July 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0727858491
• ISBN-13: 978-0727858498
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,300,725 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

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Certainly Not Ms. Coulter's Best, July 11, 2003

By 

Vixenne Victorienne "Kymberlyn Reed" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Rebel Bride (Coulter Historical Romance) (Paperback)

I first read 'The Rebel Bride' in its original Signet imprint. Several years later, I picked it up in this new edition. Either way, this book was totally disappointing. Apparently in the 80's the idea of the hero raping the leading lady was considered cutting edge (I didn't think so then and certainly don't think so now), because it seemed a standard trope for many authors. And not only was the character Kate raped in brutalized in childhood, but Julien, the man who supposedly 'loves' her, thinks that her reticence in the bedroom is merely a case of nerves and sets out to forcibly change her mind.

Now, I realize that the characters of Kate and Julien are loosely based upon Taming of the Shrew, but where that play was strictly comedy (I don't even take the Shakespearean Katherine's end soliquy seriously--and neither does she), this Katherine is not only a royal pushover, she seems bent on forgiving everything. And Julien, you are no Petruccio!

In the beginning, Kate shows a bit of gumption, and she's quite appealing, especially dressed in men's clothes and engaging in a mock duel with her brother. She speaks her mind freely and one could see why Julien would be interested in her. As the story progresses, she turns into that simpering little waif that can drive most readers to distraction. She does, however, show a little spirit when she takes down a scandalous former love interest who was trying to get her hands upon the oh so virile Julien.

And Julien...Ms. Coulter has created some wonderful and warm male leads, and Julien St. Clair simply isn't one of them. A narcissistic rake who needs to have his ears boxed in, he's a completely clueless cad who doesn't think beyond his own needs.

I guess the only saving grace to this entire mess of a book was that Ms. Coulter dealt with the subject of child abuse long before it was fashionable. Kate's father was evil incarnate and it would have been nice to have him get his just deserts.

One last word on the rape scenes--now I happen to like erotic romance quite a lot, and I have no problem with the idea of sexual power play as long as its consensual. What happened to Kate in this book might have worked better had it been written in that style.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Deserves a ZERO in my opinion, May 27, 2001

By 

mys_reader "mys_reader" (Fort Worth, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rebel Bride (Coulter Historical Romance) (Paperback)

I read this book, because I had read "The Scottish Bride" and found it to be a decent enough read. If THIS book is an example of Catherine Coulter, (and my friends say it is) then it is the LAST one of hers I will ever read.

The "hero" sees the heroine, wants her, and forces her to marry him against her will. He stalks her for months before succeeding in dragging her to the altar. Then he is angry because she doesn't want to sleep with him, in spite of the fact that she had TOLD him over and over again that she does not want him.

So he decides that the only way to "help" her with her fear of intimacy is - get this - to disguise himself, kidnap and rape her. Yeah, that's a wonderful way to overcome a woman's fear of sex!!!!

So, when he is "helping her", he discovers that she is not a virgin, and becomes so enraged at this "betrayal" (there are rules, you see, and a woman must ALWAYS be a virgin. The hero can have sex with half the population, both before and after the marriage, but a woman has to be pure, or SHE is a slut) that he brutalizes her into a catatonic state.

After he has dragged her home, (still plotting revenge against the woman who HE has forced to marry him and raped) he discovers that the reason she was not a virgin was because she was raped as a child. He then runs around saying "How terrible!What kind of man rapes a child?" Yes, it is SOOOO much more honorable to rape a woman.

THIS is a hero? THIS is a good man? THIS is what a woman should want?

This is a sociopath, who should be locked away from society.

I find it especially ironic that in "The Scottish Bride" Ms. Coulter's villain was a man who tried to force a woman to marry him by raping her. The hero is a gentle man, who saves her. How does she reconcile this with her other heroes, who apparently see no problem with using force to get the women they want.

It is a pity that the ratings don't have "negative" stars.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars "Hero" crossed the line, March 7, 2002

By 

clc "eeyo65" (ILLINOIS, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rebel Bride (Coulter Historical Romance) (Paperback)

I have enjoyed Coulter's books very much. But I, too, am not keeping this one. Our "hero" does cross the line with the out-and-out... scene which was not necessary to the story. After that, he does not redeem himself (could anyone??) nor deserve her forgiveness and love. Her "transgressions" that he perceived are nowhere near that serious; this goes beyond the typical "misunderstanding" angle usually involved in a good story.
Probably [this] occurred more often than we'd like to believe in that time period, but that doesn't mean I want to read about it or that I will like the character(s).
I am now starting the "Bride" Trilogy with "The Sherbrooke Bride"...I am happy to say so far, so good!