Customer Reviews

The Sherbrooke Twins (Bride Series)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is mediocre at best. I have read many works of Coulter's, and this simply is not among her greater novels. The back plot detracted from the love story of James and Corrie, and I never got a sense for why Jason loved Judith. I admit, the ending was very nice and sad, but it was too obvious a set up for a sequel. I'll read the sequel, of course, because I think Jason will prove to be the more compelling twin now that his heart has been broken already. My only disappointment is that James and Jessie Wyndham are going to be involved, apparently, and I hated the Valentine Legacy with a passion. Ugh. I just don't like those Wyndhams. Especially the Duchess. I could have sworn I'd scream if I read the word "ditty" one more time. Hopefully they won't figure too much into the novel. I guess my biggest complaint is that I wish I could have seen more of the romance developing and a more coherent back story. It was easy enough to see there was something shady about a certain handful of characters that I won't name so as to not spoil the novel for others, but it just left me flat. This was no Sherbrooke Bride or Scottish Bride. It was nice to see Alex and Douglas still happy together--but I still believe they would have booted that old woman out of the house much sooner than that. This novel was a nice attempt and a decent way to kill some time on an airplane, but little more than that. I wanted more of the twins than what I had received.

Coulter's recent historical romances have been pretty half-hearted, when compared to her "classics," but this was a true low point.

This book, in short, has the flaws of her other work without any of the charms. These flaws include the strange, stilted dialogue which she seems to feel is endlessly witty (curses using animal parts, characters "hitting each other over the head" with zingers or suggestive asides, male characters insulting female characters' intelligence based on their "womens' parts," etc.) as well as the strange tendency towards sexual violence that Coulter has always been drawn to. Many of her erotic scenes over the years have been, effectively, rapes and the love scene in Sherbrooke Twins is no exception. While a little excess passion once in a while can be interesting, a lot starts looking kind of dark and unhealthy. Why does Coulter think her reader wants her heroes to turn every wedding night into a scary, sticky, sore, demeaning experience for her heroines? It's 2004-- it's okay for female characters, even regency females, to enjoy sex right off the bat now! They don't have to get through a gauntlet of pain and humiliation first. They don't have to get abused by hubby just so we can feel bad for them and then revel with them in hubby's guilty and sincere apology (and his generous peace offering of belated foreplay and tender lovin'). I just don't find that all that sexy time after time. In fact, I find it a little medieval and mysogynistic. Paging Dr. Freud!

You'll also find some overused Coulter phrases in this one, such as the infamous "fat as a stoat." Catherine, a stoat is a weasel. A weasel is a relatively thin animal. Why must you use this expression in every novel? Why the constant comparisons to animals in general? And I have to say, though cat racing is cute, and I love cats, why bring it up in every, single book-- even when there is no actual cat racing of any kind taking place?

Finally there is the problem that this book feels like both the Sherbrooke family annual Christmas letter "Dahling made a 1480 on her SAT's and Ryder got a big promotion at work!..." and an infomercial for the next book-- we're hardly interested in the characters of James and Corrie because they're fairly one-dimensional and we learn relatively little about them due to the fact that we're too busy wondering about Jason and worrying about our old friend Douglas. (And as it turns out, had Douglas ever had the opportunity to read any other Coulter regency, he could have figured out preeetty quickly who the "mole" in his household was-- to call the "twist" in this book unoriginal is no stretch.) That may, in fact, be the crux of the problem: the central crises in The Sherbrooke Twins have much more to do with the secondary characters than the primary ones. James and Corrie could have done with their own personal crisis to overcome, instead of an inherited one. We're a little more curious about Jason and his entirely-new dilemma than Corrie's/James' hand-me-down drama, and maybe I'm cynical but it seems like that's how Coulter meant it to be.

Because of the very leading ending, it seems pretty obvious that we'll be seeing the twins again soon. Maybe we'll actually get to know them (and Coriander) in the next novel, which will be less a sequel to this novel than a tardy conclusion, but I'm not going to rush to buy the book and find out.

I suspect that Coulter's next book will be simply spectacular. Indeed, when it comes out, I may even find myself glad to have read this book, as it seems mainly to consist in providing backstory for what comes next. In the meantime however, I am sadly disappointed. Coulter had the makings of a real winner here, but between bringing us up to date on the last generation of Sherbrookes and setting up one of the youngsters for a story of his own, the love story of James and Corrie as well as the developing relationship between Jason and Judith, is left with very little substance. I have to give Coulter credit, for the denoument of the mystery subplot takes one by complete surprise, and the interplay between Corrie and James, what there is of it, is charming and amusing. These together almost make the book worth a read. Almost that is. . . but not quite.

I am a long time fan of Ms Coulter's all the way back to her early medieval novels. One of my favorite novels is the Sherbrook Bride and I am not a fan of her FBI thrillers so I was excited to see her revisit the Sherbrooks. The first part of the novel I found myself totally getting confused as to the point of conversations and who was speaking. Ms Coulter has a talent for writing whitty conversations but this was over the top. An example of taking a good thing way too far. Every character seemed to have to throw a whitty remark into every sentence it quickly got confusing and annoying. The story is mildly interesting and has it's moments but obviously a set up for that $20+ hard cover novel about the second twin.

I genuinely enjoyed the story of Alexandra and Douglas Sherbrooke's stormy relationship, and how the finally settled into a decent couple. So it came as a complete shock to find that the qualities that drew me to them (their tempestuousness, spark and vigor) were completely devoid in this novel. Their children were equally as tepid; the only calling cards were their handsome good looks, which we were constantly reminded of. For every good Coulter book, there is an equally bad selection, and unfortunately this is one of the bad ones. On the plus side, it does set up the potential for a good Coulter book to come next.

I'm mad that Catherine Coulter actually put such a weak novel together.Don't waste your money buying it or waste your time borrowing it from anyone.

I couldn't believe how much I disliked this book. I gave it two stars just because Coulter is such a usually fine author. However, she missed the boat on this one. I read about 100 pages (or less) at the beginning and maybe about 30 pages at the end just to get my money's worth.

I was really looking forward to reading this book when I first learned it was coming out. Then after reading some of the reviews, I was nervous. Some of CC's book lately haven't really appealed to me and I was afraid that she would ruin a story about a family that I absolutely loved. However, this is not the case. I enjoyed the story and I loved learning about Alex and Douglas. There could have been more story between James and Corrie, but I still felt there was enough to see their connection. I have to say that my only gripe (if you can call it one) is that the title shouldn't have been "The Sherbrook Twins" since it was mainly James' story. At least, there better be a future book about Jason. CC wouldn't leave us hanging, would she? Anyway, you will not be sorry if you buy this book. My heart broke for Jason at the end, not only for his loss, but also for the coming separation of him and James. I hope we don't have to wait a year for the next book.

I thought it was pretty good - not as good as the original Sherbrooke Series. There were some really funny parts with the Cinnamon Bread that had me laughing out loud but I saw another reviewer say they thought this was a filler book for the next book which will probably be about Jason the younger twin. I think she is right.

I was left thinking that Catherine wasn't really into writing this book.

I agree with other reviewers too that poor James and Corrie's story could have been amazing but was just boring since they were basically part of a filler story. I would have much rather had the story without all the other junk put in there; At least with more of James and Corrie's thoughts. There was no thoughts from either of them for example James struggling with his new found attraction for Corrie or vice versa. It was like oh we need to get married - okay. I felt really cheated by that - and I know Catherine has it in her to write amazing books with great characters! I just felt that she made James and Corrie 2 dimensional and boring because she wanted to use the book to build up to Jason's story.

The sex was so glossed over too - first off there was no sexual tension - no even with the first kiss - for either twin and their beloveds in the books. And I know Catherine can write better love scenes. Once again I just think this was a book to fill people in on what was going on to start the next generation of Sherbrooke stories - and poor James and Corrie's characters were the sacrificial lambs -with a shabby love story - that could have been amazing!

Of course I will read the next one though - because I think it will be much better.

I also hope that Devlin gets his own story too!

Let me start by saying that it was a challenge to keep reading this book. The first half was just awful but the second half made for an easier read. The main characters made me feel as if I was reading a teen novel. The twins especially James came across as a nineteen year old and Connie well, she acted like a spoiled twelve year old tomboy who never matured into a woman mentally. James practically raised her, really raised her and taught her about her body. The girl dogged his heals thirteen years to the point where he found her pathetic and childish. The girl was obsessed with James. It seemed like they only got together because they were compromised and they were comfortable with each other. It was remarked upon on several different occasions they were like brother and sister and how weird it might be on there wedding night. The whole romance to me was incestuous. As for James and Jason at age twenty-five, living at home with there parents instead of having there own place and becoming independent men. What was that about? Maybe if they had moved away and came back five or more years later and saw the girl who'd become a woman it would have been different. I agree that this by far the worst Catherine Coulter book I've read.