Customer Reviews

Rosehaven (Song Novels, The)

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

This review is written and ready to go online. As I prepare to enter it, I am amazed at the tremendous criticism of this book I see already posted. It is apparent my views differ greatly from some other reviewers. I tend to read a book within the context the author has created. If I don't like that author's writing style, I don't read their books again. Coulter is a writer that is on the rougher side of romance. Many would tame that by stating that her writing is politically incorrect. However, when I pick up a Coulter book, I know it is probably not going to be warm and fuzzy and it will probably contain an overly aggressive hero. And since I believe overly aggressive heroes are common then and now, I submerge myself into this different type of romance. I am not making a political statement with this review. I really enjoyed this book and am not ashamed to admit it. I liked the hero and the heroine and don't believe this writing or me to be sick. I think it was very entertaining. Now for my review in it's original form:

I have only recently discovered Catherine Coulter. While I know her writing style can cause great controversy, I have found most of the four Coulter books I have read to date to be quite entertaining. I am somewhat bothered by the hero's ruthlessness in some of her books but I am also one that accepts such ruthless behavior as part of the story and can accept a tarnished man as a hero. Rosehaven is my favorite Coulter book to date. It has a delightful underlying subtle humor and both of the lead characters were well written. I especially liked the heroine, Hastings and how easily she spoke her mind without hatefulness. Usually I don't relish the presence of too many secondary characters but they were so interwoven into the overall story and lives of the hero and heroine that I found them quite interesting. Overall, I had a great time reading this book and put it down only with great reluctance. I eagerly watched for the next time I could continue reading it.

Severin is the hero, a medieval knight who has performed well in the Christian Crusades and is recognized as an accomplished, courageous, and talented man. The Earl of Oxborough has chosen Severin to wed his only daughter, Hastings, claim all of the family's vast estates and riches, and continue the family line. When he first appears at Oxborough Castle, he seems an unfeeling, dominating man who definitely believes he is in charge. He does not hide his disdainful attitude towards his bride-to-be. He is wedding her to obtain lands, title, and riches and in turn will provide heirs and excellent management of the estates. At this point, I was not too crazy about Severin. He seemed totally without feelings as was well noted by Hastings as she told Severin that he had the feelings of a toad.

Hastings is a vivacious and fun heroine forced into an unwanted marriage to this most insensitive man. She attempts to talk her dying father out of the forced wedding but he refuses and insists they marry immediately before he dies. And then there is yet another reason for the urgency - the villain is coming to attack the castle and steal Hastings away and thus obtain her family's lands. Through it all, Hastings keeps her chin up and is quite charming.

One of the greatest criticisms of this book is the abusive hero. Yes, he is an aggressive husband who is definitely tarnished in that he forces the marriage bed. He also humiliates Hastings as he disciplines her for her violent behavior. Although I did not like his choice of discipline, I have to admit that Hastings's continual temper tantrums and many attempts to physically hurt Severin were tiring. She would lose all control and I am amazed a medieval hero would tolerate it as well as he did. Overall I found Severin to be quite a pleasant guy. It was very amusing to watch his love for her grow and grow although he didn't realize it was happening. And that is what I liked best about Rosehaven. Through many trials and tribulations, we get to see the love develop between Severin and Hastings little by little throughout the book. It is not a love that comes together suddenly at the end. We are given pages and pages to savor the growth of this relationship and their romance is the primary storyline. We actually get to see them happy together prior to the end of the book. There are quite a few sensual scenes that rate about a 3.75 out of 5.0 (see More About Me for rating guidelines). Although these scenes are not explicit, they are definitely sensual. There is a lot of great chemistry between these two.

Overall, I loved this book! I have not been this enthusiastic about a book in some time. My ability to accept some politically incorrect behavior as part of medieval times definitely plays into this high rating. I realize not everyone can accept the hero's negative behavior. But since I have read other Coulter books, I can compare him to a few of her other heroes. Compared to the heroes in The Devil's Embrace or Season of the Sun, this hero is tame. I am looking forward to yet another Coulter adventure. One thing I have discovered about her writing is that her books can vary tremendously.

THE STORY TAKES PLACE IN 1277 FOR GOD'S SAKE!! Men were pigs, women were possessions, unwanted sexual advances and physical violence were a daily occurrence! If this sort of thing makes you uncomfortable, read something more sugary and tame. I'd rather have a little bit of reality intrude on the fantasy! I thought this was a cracking good read! I thought that Severin, the male "lead" was hysterical (though the whole dressing in all grey thing I could have done without). He stomps around trying to intimidate and dominate in order to prove he's a man and the master of his newly acquired castle. He screams, he shouts, he throws things, he pouts - he's a big baby who wants his way ALL THE TIME (you know, a man!). I laughed out loud at him! Hastings I'm not sure exactly what I think of her. She handled him the best way she could and ultimate won in the end (as they always do). I thought she was sweet in her naivete but not sickly so. Nor was she a total doormat either. But I must admit that the whole sex-solves-everything solutions the women come up with was a bit nauseating - but hey it's a sex/romance novel - what else should be expected here!? The whole marten thing was kinda iffy - the only time I felt that the thing was useful was when there were kids involved but I usually don't go for the cutesy animal thing.

Bottom line I found it to be a fun book if you can handle the darker aspects of the time period and overlook some of the too-cute stuff. I really did laugh a lot reading it (whether this was what the author intended or not) and found it lots of fun!

After reading several reviews posted here, I have to ask if the people who "hated" the book, were offended by the story, and in general trashed the author, publisher and anyone else associated with the writing, actually took notice of the date in history when it took place..? I found it a refreshing smash of reality. Brutal in parts, certainly and at times offensive, but very readable. Relationships were of that nature, right or wrong, vastly different from what we would accept nowadays. I suggest if you want a flowery, la-la land romance, pick up a Harlequin and move along. The thing that did annoy me was the name of the book. It really meant nothing.( I have other thoughts on this story however, I wanted to address specifically what I've read about people saying they were offended.) Thankyou.

I HAVE to say, I disagree with the reviews I am seeing here about this book. I found it engaging and fun to read. I DO agree the title is a bit irrelevant, but the story, on the whole, is well done. I feel those negative comments are written by people who want to take modern characters, actions and attitudes, and put them in a castle and call THAT a historical novel. By the way, the author never proclaims rape as "right", but she does show that the hero in the story would have considered it so, as IN THOSE DAYS she would have been considered property. Catherine Coulter makes her stories as real and believable as she can, so if reality bothers you, don't read this. Otherwise, I think you'll find it a great read!

OK, first of all I wanna say I loved this book. Yes, this story had a very forceful hero & a quite unfaithful one in the beginning of the story before he realized he loved the heroine to death! So along the way he did & said some nasty things to her which the heroine DID NOT lie back & take it but fought back and quite nicely too. There were some scenes in this book which were so darned funny that had me laughing out loud like a crazy women alone in my room!

right, to the story. Our very handsome hero is a jaded & cruel fellow (a friend of Graelam from Fire Song...so what do u expect?) is in dire need of grouts (money) and agrees to marry our heroine cause she's a heiress. Our heroine is of course is not happy about it but has little choice because her dad is dying and the hero forces her plus the villian wants her for himself.

Our hero the pig marries her and has little regard for her and tells her to her face that her only reason in life is to see to his pleasures & give him an heir. So he treats her quite badly, forces her to sleep with him, verbally abuses her, etc.

But, what he doesn't expect is to love her, and believe me the journey was quite fascinating and wonderful. Trust me you will love this book, please read it & judge for yourselves.

He goes berserk if anything was to harm the heroine..insane & murderous and quite blind to everything else, that's how much he loves her.

Of course like all the ladies out there I was quite appalled at how the hero treated her in the beginning, with the forceful lovemaking and all, but pls bare in mind that it was the medieval times and women were treated like possessions than an actual human being.

Altogether a fascinating story written beautifully by Ms. Coulter!

I hated this book the first time I read it. Then I read it again and I just hated the carachters. I noticed how rich the plots and how well Coulter stirred my emotions. I hated Marjorie, I wanted to kick Sevreign, I wanted to commiserate with Hastings, and I wanted to love and laugh with the healer. Then I read the book again. It stirred my emotions again like never before. I actuall went outside to read it this time so I could yell at the characters and scream out my outrage at Marjories scheming without disturbing anyone else in the household. Then I read it again and I loved it. I cried and I laughed and I screamed while I read it this time. It is an amazing emotional book. Never a dull moment. And I absolutely loved how everything is worked out in the end. I am always one for happy endings.

Perhaps those that criticize this book do so not understanding the difference between the sexes during the medieval period and later regency times. I am not as fond of earlier period books but Rosehaven is to me an exception. I loved Severin and Hastings and found their romance very intriging and interesting - certainly not in any ways boring. For a couple that was thrown together in an arranged marriage - they both certainly came together in the end in such a loving and compelling manner - for that period of time it was a true love story. Catherine Coulter is one of the few authors that seems to have great loves stories both in modern times and in the past. She wins again for me with Rosehaven!!

...I loved this book!!! I listened to the unabridged audiobook and was on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Unfortunately, a lot of reviewers seem to be incensed over the violence in this book. The reason I wasn't angry was because it's HISTORICAL romance. Furthermore, it's FICTION. If your going to take this book verbatim and/or judge the behavior in 1277 by 2004 standards, you probably shouldn't bother with this book. I suggest you just enjoy the book for what it is...ENTERTAINMENT.

Catherine Coulter is my favorite author. The detail of the characters (as in all of her books) gave me a picture. Severeign was a man of power, a stubborn man, but he admits his guilts and mistakes. He wanted to give more to Hastings, but wanted her to initiate everything. You could not help but fall in love with her character. There are twists and turns, but everything falls into place. It was nice to see Graelam de Moreton in this book. You could learn more about him in the Song Quartet (excellent). Severeign reminded me of him. This was a delight to read.

THIS IS ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITE ROMANCE NOVELS. HASTING'S, I FELT HER PAIN. BUT AT TIMES HER HAUGHTINESS BROUGHT HER MORE TROUBLE THAN SHE COULD HANDLE. AS WAS THE CUSTOM IN THIS IN THE TIME PERIOD, SEVERN FELT HASTING SHOULD SUBMITT TO HIM, NO QUESTIONS ASKED. HER NOT HAVING A MOTHER AROUND REALLY MESSED HER UP WHEN IT CAME TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE MALE SPEICES THINKS. BUT NEVERTHELESS, HER HUSBAND DIDN'T MAKE IT ANY EASIER ON HER. HE TREATED HER LIKE ONE OF HIS SOLIDERS. THEN COME MARJORIE, SEVERN'S OLD GIRLFRIEND, WITH WHOM HE THOUGHT WAS THE MOST PRETTIEST THING IN THE WORLD. MARJORIE WAS A GRADE A B-T-H. I HATED (LITERALLY HATED) THIS PERSON. SEVERN ACT A TOTAL JERK WHEN SHE SHOULD UP. MARJORIE TOOK GREAT PLEASURE IN TELLING HASTING THE SHE GAVE SEVERN HER VIRGINITY WHEN THEY WERE YOUNGER. IF YOU LIKE TEAR-JERKERS THIS IS A GOOD ONE. ANY WOMEN CAN UNDERSTAND HASTING PAIN AND THE FEELING OF HELPLESSNESS.