Set in medieval England, this lively historical romance delivers the trademark wit that fans have come to know and love from the #1 New York ...
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Jan 04, 2012
Sherri
rated it: 
3 stars out of 5
Catherine Coulter has always been a favorite author of mine but it has been years since I picked up one of her romance novels. So when I received this I was pleasantly surprised. It has that fairy tale quality to it that makes it an enjoyable romance read.
Merry flees her home to avoid a forced marriage arranged by her mother. She is almost abducted in the woods but is rescued by a mysterious nobleman, , Garron of Kersey the new earl of Warham Castle. Merry and More...
Catherine Coulter has always been a favorite author of mine but it has been years since I picked up one of her romance novels. So when I received this I was pleasantly surprised. It has that fairy tale quality to it that makes it an enjoyable romance read.
Merry flees her home to avoid a forced marriage arranged by her mother. She is almost abducted in the woods but is rescued by a mysterious nobleman, , Garron of Kersey the new earl of Warham Castle. Merry and More...
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Oct 05, 2011
Melanie
rated it: 
It has been a LONG time since I have read a Catherine Coulter book, so I was very excited to find out that she has FINALY written (note: not REWRITTEN) a historical and I was so lucky to snag an Early Reviewers copy (from LibraryThing) of it! The book arrived and I just could not wait to start. The cover photo was great! Now all it needs is for the book to be as well, right?
To start, I must state that I respect the author and I loved her historical romance books (note: PAST tense). My More...
To start, I must state that I respect the author and I loved her historical romance books (note: PAST tense). My More...
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Sep 14, 2011
Elizabeth
rated it:
This book started out great but the entire end is a disaster. Arthur the poisoned is known to have stolen another's silver treasure but everyone's life is going to ruined if he is alive and regains his title. Now, why would he regain his title being that he is a known theif? He should be in prison.
Jason is still threatening to kill people that anger him and declaires that he is going to marry the Heiress in spite of the fact that he has confessed to murdering hundred of innocent More...
Jason is still threatening to kill people that anger him and declaires that he is going to marry the Heiress in spite of the fact that he has confessed to murdering hundred of innocent More...
Jun 15, 2011
The summer of romance novels continues - and I'm not sure I can get past page on one this one. I don't care if you're an NYT best-selling author - make your sentences stylistically and grammatically correct.
Opening line, second paragraph "Her mother, Abbess Helen of Meizerling Abbey, had swooped in before nightfall, surrounded by her own contingent of soldiers, imperious and arrogant, recent widow of the Earl of Valcourt, and taken charge." I've read the damn sentence mul More...
Opening line, second paragraph "Her mother, Abbess Helen of Meizerling Abbey, had swooped in before nightfall, surrounded by her own contingent of soldiers, imperious and arrogant, recent widow of the Earl of Valcourt, and taken charge." I've read the damn sentence mul More...
Apr 10, 2011
Robin
rated it:
This is the first time I've read Catherine Coulter, and the first few pages surprised me in their clumsy triteness for a woman so practiced in story telling. It is also not historical fiction in the sense that it is woven and rooted into the time with real dependence on the political/cultural realities and currents of the time. Even the social history, customs and terminology are no more than a deft touch here or there to make the novel feel of a different time without being much the wiser about
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Mar 05, 2011
Zbft
rated it:
I just finished the book (on tape) and all I can say is it's not one of her best - herowise. I like the plot, it kept me guessing though a time or two some turns made me raised my eyebrows. I guess because I am used to her well crafted plots that its odd to read a common turn in her writting. I can't really comment about historical acuracy since I am not an expert but the court drama and the power it weilds I think is one of the best part of the story.
The characters, now most of them are a More...
The characters, now most of them are a More...
Feb 20, 2011
Bookmom
rated it: 
Lord Garron, on the way to the family estate he now owns due to the death of his brother, stops to rescue a lad from kidnappers. During the fight the lad takes off. When Garron arrives at his holding, it's to find that the Black Demon had come looking for silver coins Garron's brother had stolen, killing or driving off most of the people and destroying everything. Only a dozen starving elderly remain.
Merry is kidnapped from her home just as she's trying to run away and is forced to dre More...
Merry is kidnapped from her home just as she's trying to run away and is forced to dre More...
Jan 31, 2011
AnEyeSpy
rated it:
*** "The Valcourt Heiress" by Catherine Coulter is the daughter of a witch in 1278, the time of King Edward of England. The romance is fun until magick (sic) drains the life. Brave Lord Garron rescues Merry, disguised as a lad, from kidnappers. He finds his late brother's people massacred and the castle vandalized in a search for silver coins. Experienced manager and apprentice healer, Merry convinces the keep that she is a learned orphan who can help fix the destruction. The couple ma
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Nov 29, 2010
Amy
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Oct 08, 2010
Jessica
rated it:
A young woman flees her home to avoid the forced marriage arranged by her wicked witch mother. In a nearby woods she is rescued from kidnappers by a brave young knight. After some days working together to restore the young knight's home, which was destroyed by the woman's betrothed, the woman and the knight start to fall in love. Before they can be married, however, the young woman is once again kidnapped--this time by the evil witch who is her mother. This is pretty much where the story fell ap
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May 08, 2011
Farin
rated it: 
I was sadly disappointed with The Valcourt Heiress. I went into it with high expectations; my mother is a huge fan of Catherine Coulter's FBI series, and I was excited that she'd turned her hand at a historical romance. The premise was right up my alley: Merry's father dies, and she suddenly finds herself an heiress at the mercy of her mother, an Abbess who also happens to be a powerful witch. When her mother announces that she's selling her to the cruel Jason of Brennan, Merry runs away.
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Mar 16, 2011
Emily
rated it:
Grrrr. When there are so many books to read, I get highly irritated when I spend time reading a bad one. I picked this up because I have enjoyed Catherine Coulter in the past. I have only read her historical romance novels, and I was in the mood for something light since I just finished The Woman in White. She usually has great characters with great chemistry and predictable but enjoyable plots. This book, excuse my bluntness, sucked. Big time. I kept waiting and waiting for the book to
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Jan 12, 2011
Heather
rated it:
When the father of Merry the Valcourt Heiress dies unexpectedly, her long-absent mother returns to sell her and her fortune to the unpleasant and malicious Jason of Brennan, a fact which Merry finds repugnant. Running away from both Jason and her mother, Merry, dressed as a stable boy, is kidnapped mid-flight by a vicious man and his band of thieves. After she's rescued by a mysterious nobleman, she again runs away, only this time she decides to hide in the nobleman's retinue and take her chance
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May 10, 2011
Shannon
rated it:
Ok, so I have no shame in admitting that I have been an avid reader of Catherine Coulter's formulaic historic romances (and her modern thrillers) since I was in junior high. I have always loved them for a quick escape from the world ... good books to disappear into for a couple of hours and come out the other side with some fun characters and stories to remember.
That being said, this book didn't quite fit the bill. Either this one in particular was just poorly done, OR my memory of the More...
That being said, this book didn't quite fit the bill. Either this one in particular was just poorly done, OR my memory of the More...
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Jul 12, 2011
Traci
rated it:
An o.k. story about Merry, an heiress to Valcourt, who is sold by her mother (for a promise of silver coins),to someone she does not want to marry.
Her father had recently died, was he poisoned by her mother, who is a witch? Her parents had separated when she was young, and her mother never visited.
She runs away after her father's funeral. Is kidnapped by men of her fiance's guard. But is rescued by Garron, who is on his way to his home castle, where his brother has just More...
Her father had recently died, was he poisoned by her mother, who is a witch? Her parents had separated when she was young, and her mother never visited.
She runs away after her father's funeral. Is kidnapped by men of her fiance's guard. But is rescued by Garron, who is on his way to his home castle, where his brother has just More...
Nov 21, 2010
Heather
rated it:
I felt this was an okay foray back into historical romance for Catherine Coulter. While it is a step above what she has been writing lately (I won't even go into her suspense novels of late), it lacked the charm that her early novels had. Merry was quick witted, but I didn't really like her enough to be waiting with baited breath for her HEA. Her hero was a strong man, and fair, but really - if you knew your people were in danger, would you really allow an unknown woman to keep something that bi
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Oct 04, 2010
Kate (Literary Explorations)
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Apr 30, 2011
Laurie
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Feb 14, 2011
Cass
rated it:
I read this book quickly only because I kept hoping it would get better. There was good material in there, somewhere, I feel sure. It never delivered, though. The dialogue, as others have noted, was distractingly unnatural. Stilted in the extreme, not to mention the bizarre accents she had her lower-class characters indiscriminately using. The characters were flat. The story did not hang together at all -- no one's motivations made any sense, there was no sense of cause-and-effect, actions didn'
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Sep 27, 2010
Melanie
rated it:
The Valcourt Heiress is historical fiction set in medieval England in the 1200's. It reminded me of an adult version of a fairy tale I would have read or seen on a movie as a child. The characters include an evil mother who is a witch, the beautiful and smart heroine, and the handsome hero who must help to save her. There were quite a few points in the story that made me laugh. The language they used and the names they would call each other when they were angry were amusing. It was an engagin
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Jun 21, 2011
Morphidae
rated it:
I found a lot lacking. The characterizations were flat. I never got a real sense of who Merry and Garron were and didn't care all that much about them. I didn't feel like they were ever in any real danger. Perhaps because the magic felt tacked on. There was no reason for there to be magic and the only person who had it was the main villain. And the villain only did it for the money? You didn't find out anything about the magic system, either. There were plot twists - and I use the term lightly -
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Sep 29, 2010
Mandi
rated it:
I won this book from firstreads and I was really excited because I thought I was getting a sweet, clean, historical romance. I didn't. I had never read any of Coulter's work before. I'm giving it three stars instead of two because I felt it was well written and the story was actually very interesting in and of itself. Through out the book I wondered if there were things that I didn't understand happening. When I hit chapter 29, I couldn't misunderstand. I skipped to the end to read the hap
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Nov 21, 2010
Valerie
rated it:
I almost put this book down a couple of times while reading it. Seemed like there was something missing at one point early on. I had to go back & literally re-read one section because it didn't make sense... It had to do with ppl playing chess, and next thing I know it says they dismounted their horses... I was like... "What the heck?!?" I went back & re-read a full page & a half to make sure that I hadn't skipped something. It still didn't make sense how it went from the chess playing
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May 14, 2011
Me Lin
rated it:
Things this book made me realize about Coulter’s historical fiction:
-I don’t like it and probably never will
-Coulter’s heroines seem more like spoiled, outspoken children than the bright, forward-thinking women that Coulter wants them to be
-I don’t find Coulter’s sense of humor funny…I don’t know why, but I just don’t. I feel like she tries to be witty and it falls flat.
-I find Coulter’s fixation with redheads rather stifling – I love red hair, I really do, but it seem More...
-I don’t like it and probably never will
-Coulter’s heroines seem more like spoiled, outspoken children than the bright, forward-thinking women that Coulter wants them to be
-I don’t find Coulter’s sense of humor funny…I don’t know why, but I just don’t. I feel like she tries to be witty and it falls flat.
-I find Coulter’s fixation with redheads rather stifling – I love red hair, I really do, but it seem More...
Oct 10, 2010
Carla
rated it:
I received this book free through a goodreads giveaway.
This is the first book that I've read by Catherine Coulter. I like Merry's character - it's fun to think that there were strong willed women in the medieval. Miggins was a really neat character, she's a cantankerous well meaning elder woman, she's a great character to imagine!
This story has a pretty good plot with a couple of nice twists as well as some romance - not much more that you can ask for in a book!
I'd like to rea More...
This is the first book that I've read by Catherine Coulter. I like Merry's character - it's fun to think that there were strong willed women in the medieval. Miggins was a really neat character, she's a cantankerous well meaning elder woman, she's a great character to imagine!
This story has a pretty good plot with a couple of nice twists as well as some romance - not much more that you can ask for in a book!
I'd like to rea More...
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Nov 01, 2010
Clare
rated it:
The Valcourt Heiress - Merry - is hiding from her wicked fiancee and plotting mother in the household of Sir Garron. Garron is a man's man, tough, smart and forced to take over his dead brother's property as he comes home to find his home wrecked and half the village killed, while a portion hides in the woods. Merry, who has been hiding all long, slips into the household as one of the villagers and seamlessly fits it. She becomes the chatelaine/housekeeper for the property, giving people hope an
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Nov 03, 2010
TJ
rated it:
Years ago, when Ms. Coulter wrote historical romance, I loved her, in fact she, along with Julie Garwood, are the reason I started reading Historical Romances at all. That is why I am so disappointed to report this one doesn't hold a candle to her earlier works. In fact, if her name were not on the cover, one would never believe this to be the same author who wrote all those wonderful Viking or Bride series. They entrance and intrigue, this.... well, bores. It's not that the basic story line
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May 01, 2011
Jacqueline
rated it: 
I've been reading Catherine Coulter's novels for a good number of years. I enjoy her Regency romances, her contemporary suspense novels and her Medieval romances. She writes with a knowledge of historical period but always maintains a sense of humor. Her characters in this novel are a bit different in that there is an evil witch and a surprise twist near the end. The main characters, Garron of Kersey and Merry, the heiress, are very sympathetic, well-developed characters.The novel is a fast-pace
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Jan 06, 2011
Mary
rated it:
This book was SO disappointing. I love Coulter's FBI series and have thoroughly enjoyed her smart, funny Regency books. But this seemed so poorly written that I couldn't wait to be finished! Jumping from one point of view to another multiple times ON ONE PAGE makes for a confusing read. And then the weird magic in the last third of the book? Ugh. I don't mind fantasy at all, but this magic didn't even make sense. Basically, this book was a waste of my time and really tarnished my view of Coulter
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Dec 18, 2010
Kimberly
rated it:
I received an advanced copy of The Valcourt Heiress through Goodreads' First Reads program.
This was the first book I've read by Coulter and I can't say I'm inclined to read any more. The Valcourt Heiress is okay and I liked it well enough, but I wasn't impressed with the writing. It really has more the feel of an outline than a fleshed out novel as far as the characters are concerned. If Coulter had done more character development and character interaction (mainly between Merry an More...
This was the first book I've read by Coulter and I can't say I'm inclined to read any more. The Valcourt Heiress is okay and I liked it well enough, but I wasn't impressed with the writing. It really has more the feel of an outline than a fleshed out novel as far as the characters are concerned. If Coulter had done more character development and character interaction (mainly between Merry an More...
