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Sherbrooke Brides #11
Prince of Ravenscar
The number-one New York Times-bestselling author returns with a brand-new Sherbrooke novel, featuring a cast of witty and outrageous characters and two wonderfully complex mysteries. In April 1831, her grace Corinne Monroe wants her widowed son, Lord Julian, to marry her best friend's daughter, Miss Sophie Wilkie. Julian last saw Sophie when she was twelve years old, silent, skinny, and always staring at him. However, his mother is nothing if not persuasive, and Julian reluctantly accompanies her to London to meet the young lady.
And he knows that whatever happens isn't going to be good.
Lord Devlin Monroe, Julian's nephew, is very fond of his intriguing reputation in society: he delights, he frightens, he brings on delicious shudders. He's enjoying an extraordinarily pleasant bachelor life until Miss Roxanne Radcliffe and her niece, Miss Sophie Wilkie, appear in London society, and he finds himself wondering how he could have enjoyed midnight alone.
Julian and Devlin must discover what really happened three years earlier when Julian's first wife, Lily, was found dead. If they don't find out the truth, their lives could be ruined. And there is another, even more perfidious, danger that lurks in the shadows, waiting.
And he knows that whatever happens isn't going to be good.
Lord Devlin Monroe, Julian's nephew, is very fond of his intriguing reputation in society: he delights, he frightens, he brings on delicious shudders. He's enjoying an extraordinarily pleasant bachelor life until Miss Roxanne Radcliffe and her niece, Miss Sophie Wilkie, appear in London society, and he finds himself wondering how he could have enjoyed midnight alone.
Julian and Devlin must discover what really happened three years earlier when Julian's first wife, Lily, was found dead. If they don't find out the truth, their lives could be ruined. And there is another, even more perfidious, danger that lurks in the shadows, waiting.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2011
327 people are currently reading
1567 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 210 reviews
July 31, 2012
I have enjoyed this authors written word for many-a-year, until I read ‘The Valcourt Heiress’. I was disappointed and disillusioned by her writing, never thinking to pick up any of her upcoming novels. And then LibraryThing.com has offered this one and I thought, why not?! I’ll give CC one more chance.
I was honestly afraid to pick it up. I didn’t want this book to be bad as the previous one. I wanted to WILL it to be good. It took me months to finally succumb and read it, that’s how afraid I was!
Let me be clear and reiterate one fact: I was a HUGE fan and I read almost ALL of her historical romances, ‘Sherbrooke Bride’ series being one of my favorites [for my reviews of these please click on the names of the books].
I enjoyed her writing; her prose and plotting; her fast pace and witty dialogue and most of all, the chemistry of her main and secondary players. She knew how to hook me from the first page to the last. Her character had depth and her plots were interesting and very entertaining. So what happened to THAT Catherine Coulter? The one that wrote those wonderfully witty stories that kept me reading way into the wee hours of the morning?! Why isn’t there ANYONE in her inner circle letting her know that the work she’s putting out there is lacking that main ingredient that we expect of her; imagination.
Or is she so jaded by her success that she doesn’t care what her audience, mainly her fans, think of her work. I am as much baffled by this latest inferior piece of work that I can only describe as train wreck, as I am disappointed. As a faithful fan I am deeply hurt by her lack of respect for my intelligence, taking me for granted as she and her ‘team’ are relying on me buying her work for no other reason but her well-earned reputation of a great story-teller that is decades old. It is not enough; not any more. I am older and wiser, and I will NOT be fooled again.
I’ll not bore you with synopsis as you can surmise the book from its blurb above (which is better than this book, trust me), but I will tell you why you should not spend your hard-earned money on it.
It is very hard for us reviewers out there to review a bad novel. We are human and our feelings get hurt by spending time reading work that lacks in prose, plot and characterization. We want to be entertained and wooed; we want to be engaged and touched; we want to escape the reality of our daily lives and that’s why we read romance. Yet when the book lets me down and my feelings of utter lack of respect on the part of the author [not going to even mention her ‘team’] literally makes me want to hurl every curs word I know at all of them, I find it hard to refrain, but I must. So, here is my review: this novel is not worth your time, money and attention. You deserve better. Especially from Catherine Coulter. She owes us an apology for wasting time, money and energy invested in reading this bland ‘salad of words’.
The characters are cardboard cut outs, cartoons if you will; the plot is inane and unnecessary; and the ‘witty dialogue’ a cornucopia of gibberish, a salad of words strewn around to fill the pages required for a hardcover novel.
There is no chemistry between ANY of the characters who I found bland and lackluster and boring at best. They were one-dimensional and unlikable, failing to pull me in, keep me interested. I was left not giving a fig about any of them!
Please, head my words, they are not lightly given: this book is so bad, it is not even funny!
Melanie
I was honestly afraid to pick it up. I didn’t want this book to be bad as the previous one. I wanted to WILL it to be good. It took me months to finally succumb and read it, that’s how afraid I was!
Let me be clear and reiterate one fact: I was a HUGE fan and I read almost ALL of her historical romances, ‘Sherbrooke Bride’ series being one of my favorites [for my reviews of these please click on the names of the books].
I enjoyed her writing; her prose and plotting; her fast pace and witty dialogue and most of all, the chemistry of her main and secondary players. She knew how to hook me from the first page to the last. Her character had depth and her plots were interesting and very entertaining. So what happened to THAT Catherine Coulter? The one that wrote those wonderfully witty stories that kept me reading way into the wee hours of the morning?! Why isn’t there ANYONE in her inner circle letting her know that the work she’s putting out there is lacking that main ingredient that we expect of her; imagination.
Or is she so jaded by her success that she doesn’t care what her audience, mainly her fans, think of her work. I am as much baffled by this latest inferior piece of work that I can only describe as train wreck, as I am disappointed. As a faithful fan I am deeply hurt by her lack of respect for my intelligence, taking me for granted as she and her ‘team’ are relying on me buying her work for no other reason but her well-earned reputation of a great story-teller that is decades old. It is not enough; not any more. I am older and wiser, and I will NOT be fooled again.
I’ll not bore you with synopsis as you can surmise the book from its blurb above (which is better than this book, trust me), but I will tell you why you should not spend your hard-earned money on it.
It is very hard for us reviewers out there to review a bad novel. We are human and our feelings get hurt by spending time reading work that lacks in prose, plot and characterization. We want to be entertained and wooed; we want to be engaged and touched; we want to escape the reality of our daily lives and that’s why we read romance. Yet when the book lets me down and my feelings of utter lack of respect on the part of the author [not going to even mention her ‘team’] literally makes me want to hurl every curs word I know at all of them, I find it hard to refrain, but I must. So, here is my review: this novel is not worth your time, money and attention. You deserve better. Especially from Catherine Coulter. She owes us an apology for wasting time, money and energy invested in reading this bland ‘salad of words’.
The characters are cardboard cut outs, cartoons if you will; the plot is inane and unnecessary; and the ‘witty dialogue’ a cornucopia of gibberish, a salad of words strewn around to fill the pages required for a hardcover novel.
There is no chemistry between ANY of the characters who I found bland and lackluster and boring at best. They were one-dimensional and unlikable, failing to pull me in, keep me interested. I was left not giving a fig about any of them!
Please, head my words, they are not lightly given: this book is so bad, it is not even funny!
Melanie
September 10, 2011
*This review is based on a advanced reader's copy of the book I won through Goodreads FirstReads Giveaways.*
Actual rating is probably 3.75 stars, but I'm bumping it up to four because any book that keeps me reading until 3:30am is doing something right.
Over the years I've read a lot of Catherine Coulter books--she was always one of my go-to authors, one who I'd read pretty much anything she wrote. But, I never any of her historicals--I was quite burned out on them for awhile. I've read almost all of the FBI series as well as a couple of other contemporaries.
So, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect with one of Ms. Coulter's historical.
But, I really enjoyed this book. It took me awhile to fully get into it, but once I did, I could not put it down. The setting, the characters we all so vibrantly written.
I'm putting some of this under spoiler tags, though I'm not sure how spoilery it is. I don't think it is, but just to be on the safe side...
There are dual romance storylines in this books,
The heat level is pretty low, there's no graphic sex scenes, so if you avoid those types of books, then you may want to give this one a go.
Also, the two main female characters, Sophie and Roxanne, were so awesomely badass that I just adored both of them.
The underlying mystery--what exactly happened to Julian's first wife--was pretty easy to figure out, and I had it nailed pretty early on.
There were also a few instances in the dialogue which were a bit too flowery or cringe-worthy for my personal tastes, but nothing that pulled me out of the story or kept me from wanting to continue.
All-in-all, I really enjoyed this book, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to read it. I'm thinking of heading to the library soon to see if I can find some of the older books in this series.
Actual rating is probably 3.75 stars, but I'm bumping it up to four because any book that keeps me reading until 3:30am is doing something right.
Over the years I've read a lot of Catherine Coulter books--she was always one of my go-to authors, one who I'd read pretty much anything she wrote. But, I never any of her historicals--I was quite burned out on them for awhile. I've read almost all of the FBI series as well as a couple of other contemporaries.
So, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect with one of Ms. Coulter's historical.
But, I really enjoyed this book. It took me awhile to fully get into it, but once I did, I could not put it down. The setting, the characters we all so vibrantly written.
I'm putting some of this under spoiler tags, though I'm not sure how spoilery it is. I don't think it is, but just to be on the safe side...
There are dual romance storylines in this books,
The heat level is pretty low, there's no graphic sex scenes, so if you avoid those types of books, then you may want to give this one a go.
Also, the two main female characters, Sophie and Roxanne, were so awesomely badass that I just adored both of them.
The underlying mystery--what exactly happened to Julian's first wife--was pretty easy to figure out, and I had it nailed pretty early on.
There were also a few instances in the dialogue which were a bit too flowery or cringe-worthy for my personal tastes, but nothing that pulled me out of the story or kept me from wanting to continue.
All-in-all, I really enjoyed this book, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to read it. I'm thinking of heading to the library soon to see if I can find some of the older books in this series.
October 19, 2014
Not being a big fan of this genre I wasn't sure what to think, but I have read other books by this author and thought I would give it a try. Sadly it wasn't for me. The mother drove me nuts, the way she babied her 30+ year old son was too much, even in the age the book was set in. The way the son basically went along with what she said just to shut her up annoyed me. This one just wasn't for me.
November 19, 2023
After reading the synopsis, I assumed that this was going to be from the point-of-view of Julian, and maybe occasionally Devlin, but that actually wasn’t the case. This story followed Sophie and Roxanne more, leaving Julian and Devlin as side characters for the majority of the book. I was originally a little nervous about starting this and wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy it, but seeing this story from the perspective of the women more than the men was actually a good surprise.
Julian was in his thirties and his mother was treating him like he was a teenager, pushing him to talk to the woman she wanted him to be with (when he was grieving his dead wife) and even had him followed because he was supposedly stubborn and she wanted to keep him safe. He was an adult. No wonder he was being stubborn. She really needed to back off and leave him alone.
While the plot didn’t really hold my attention, one of my favorite aspects was the banter between all of the characters. It was fun to follow and watch them interact with each other.
It was also a little strange how the author created a double wedding at the end with both of our couples getting married during the same ceremony. I think it would have worked better for me if one of the couples was seen getting married at the end of this one and then having the group discuss and planning the next upcoming wedding.
Julian was in his thirties and his mother was treating him like he was a teenager, pushing him to talk to the woman she wanted him to be with (when he was grieving his dead wife) and even had him followed because he was supposedly stubborn and she wanted to keep him safe. He was an adult. No wonder he was being stubborn. She really needed to back off and leave him alone.
While the plot didn’t really hold my attention, one of my favorite aspects was the banter between all of the characters. It was fun to follow and watch them interact with each other.
It was also a little strange how the author created a double wedding at the end with both of our couples getting married during the same ceremony. I think it would have worked better for me if one of the couples was seen getting married at the end of this one and then having the group discuss and planning the next upcoming wedding.
November 21, 2011
Since Catherine Coulter is such a popular author at the library, I thought it was time to read one of her books. At first, I was pleasantly surprised at the witty repartee and fun characters. However, it dragged on and on and on and on and became ridiculously farfetched. It was okay, but I had to force myself to finish it.
August 22, 2017
It has been years since I read the Sherbrooke brides books. I found this at my library and realized I actually missed one! I'm glad I picked it up. Catherine Coulter's crisp, witty dialogue is always a treat. I thoroughly enjoyed the two offbeat romances here and the mystery involved. And, racing cats! I totally forgot about the racing cats! LOL! Just the mention of them made me laugh. Yes, I liked this book. A great public library find.
January 24, 2021
This was a romantic reread from a while back. She can take a rake about town, who desires to not change, and turn his life upside down. I loved the story, and the slow burning romance between the two characters. I really enjoyed all the characters in the book. I’m so glad I found it in my stack of books. I always enjoy a romance with a bit of mystery by Catherine. I gave it five stars. A true delight.
July 5, 2021
Down-marking this to 2 stars, just for the tedium of getting through, skipping. Just didn't do it for me, not even with the odd ending (for this sort of book - a bit like *And Then There Were None*).
July 6, 2019
It was an ok read, just not as good as the other Bride series books, still worth having this book and the rest of the series in my paperback collection.
September 10, 2011
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE REVIEWS AT READING, EATING AND DREAMING I WAS BLAIR WALDORF
MY BOOK DESCRIPTION FOR THE PRINCE OF RAVENSCAR:
Having spent three years away from Ravenscar mourning the loss of his wife, Julian returns home. Most everyone has accepted that Lily has committed suicide, but her brother, Richard, still blames Julian. Julian doesn’t know what to believe. He knows he didn’t kill Lily, but he doesn’t really believe she killed herself either. It’s an unsolved mystery.
On top of that, Julian’s mother, Corrine, is ready for Julian to marry again. In fact, she has it all planned out, even the name of the future bride. But some people will stop at nothing to see Julian unhappy, even if that means kidnapping the suspected love of his life.
MY REVIEW:
I enjoy a wide array of literature, mainly young adult and adult romance novels. Historical romance isn’t a genre I could read daily, but every now and then I want to get lost and travel back in time. At times like this I crave a historical romance.
Catherine Coulter’s new novel, The Prince of Ravenscar, is exactly what I look for in a historical romance and then some. It’s romantic, suspenseful and entertaining. I was completely enthralled throughout this entire novel, and I found myself completely lost and absorbed in this far away world that was once upon a time.
One thing I feared after I read The Prince of Ravenscar’s book description was that this book was going to begin immediately following Lily’s death. I wasn’t sure how much romance this novel would contain. I thought Julian was still going to be in mourning over Lily, but that wasn’t the case. Fortunately, I found the romance I was hoping for but not really expecting.
Kidnappings, squabbles, girl fights, love and mystery make The Prince of Ravenscar an action-packed romance. Devlin, Julian, Sophie and Roxanne, the four main characters, keep this novel entertaining. Devlin keeps all the ladies entertained by pretending he is a vampire. Wearing hats, using umbrellas, staying out of the sunlight and paying a lot of attention to female’s necks, he has everyone buying in to his ridiculous and hilarious scheme. Sophie and Roxanne are clever, witty girls who are not afraid to stick up for themselves or throw a punch. The characters keep this novel interesting.
As far as the mystery and suspense goes…I was extremely surprised. (I am not an easy person to surprise). It’s there for you to see, but it’s not in your face obvious, which is exactly what I look for in a great mystery. (I hate it when the person turns out to be someone you have never been introduced to before. Where is the fun in that? Of course you surprised me because you never even told me about that person. This book isn’t like that. It also isn’t shouting out loud at you. It was whispered.)
I gave The Prince of Ravenscar by Catherine Coulter 4 STARS. I recommend this novel to adults and young adults looking for a suspenseful historical romance.
-XOXO
READING, EATING AND DREAMING
MY BOOK DESCRIPTION FOR THE PRINCE OF RAVENSCAR:
Having spent three years away from Ravenscar mourning the loss of his wife, Julian returns home. Most everyone has accepted that Lily has committed suicide, but her brother, Richard, still blames Julian. Julian doesn’t know what to believe. He knows he didn’t kill Lily, but he doesn’t really believe she killed herself either. It’s an unsolved mystery.
On top of that, Julian’s mother, Corrine, is ready for Julian to marry again. In fact, she has it all planned out, even the name of the future bride. But some people will stop at nothing to see Julian unhappy, even if that means kidnapping the suspected love of his life.
MY REVIEW:
I enjoy a wide array of literature, mainly young adult and adult romance novels. Historical romance isn’t a genre I could read daily, but every now and then I want to get lost and travel back in time. At times like this I crave a historical romance.
Catherine Coulter’s new novel, The Prince of Ravenscar, is exactly what I look for in a historical romance and then some. It’s romantic, suspenseful and entertaining. I was completely enthralled throughout this entire novel, and I found myself completely lost and absorbed in this far away world that was once upon a time.
One thing I feared after I read The Prince of Ravenscar’s book description was that this book was going to begin immediately following Lily’s death. I wasn’t sure how much romance this novel would contain. I thought Julian was still going to be in mourning over Lily, but that wasn’t the case. Fortunately, I found the romance I was hoping for but not really expecting.
Kidnappings, squabbles, girl fights, love and mystery make The Prince of Ravenscar an action-packed romance. Devlin, Julian, Sophie and Roxanne, the four main characters, keep this novel entertaining. Devlin keeps all the ladies entertained by pretending he is a vampire. Wearing hats, using umbrellas, staying out of the sunlight and paying a lot of attention to female’s necks, he has everyone buying in to his ridiculous and hilarious scheme. Sophie and Roxanne are clever, witty girls who are not afraid to stick up for themselves or throw a punch. The characters keep this novel interesting.
As far as the mystery and suspense goes…I was extremely surprised. (I am not an easy person to surprise). It’s there for you to see, but it’s not in your face obvious, which is exactly what I look for in a great mystery. (I hate it when the person turns out to be someone you have never been introduced to before. Where is the fun in that? Of course you surprised me because you never even told me about that person. This book isn’t like that. It also isn’t shouting out loud at you. It was whispered.)
I gave The Prince of Ravenscar by Catherine Coulter 4 STARS. I recommend this novel to adults and young adults looking for a suspenseful historical romance.
-XOXO
READING, EATING AND DREAMING
December 16, 2012
Yet another example of my book club misrepresenting a book. This was historical romance plain and simple. The cover promised two “wonderfully complex mysteries.” There’s barely one and it’s never even really investigated and it takes 100 pages to show up and another 100 pages for the next mystery (cough) to crop up. The only mystery here is why they felt the need to market this as anything other than a historical romance (which, I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of). I was a bit generous on the stars here because I was reading something out of my comfort zone.
It’s the 1830s and Corinne decides it’s time for her son, Julian, to get married again. Julian is the much younger second son of the duke who was in his 70s when he married the then-18 year old Corinne. He’s closer in age to his much loved nephew, the duke to be, Devlin. Julian had married his childhood friend but she was shot 6 months into their marriage (there’s your mystery, nothing will be made of it until the end mind you). His childhood friend, her brother, Richard, believes he is to blame. Julian has spent three years aboard as both a legit and illegal shipping merchant and is back. She wants to set him up with the daughter of her dear departed best friend. Sophie is twelve years younger than him and Julian isn’t interested. Still, he goes to London for the Season to meet Sophie and her spinster aunt, Roxanne who at twenty-seven is her chaperone.
The whole first hundred pages is Roxanne being more interested in Julian and vice versa while Sophie is with Devlin and the flies in the ointment are Devlin’s mother who runs around (literally) telling everyone Julian should never have been born and he’s an insult to her husband (his half brother) and Roxanne’s bitter widowed sister Leah. This part wasn’t really my cup of tea but it wasn’t too bad then they go to Ravenscar and suddenly without warning the love interests flip flop. The plot demands it (it reminds me of a Shakespearean comedy) but honestly, I liked it better the other way. Sophie/Devlin Julian/Roxanne made far more sense.
The rest of the novel is Richard and Leah, now lovers, doing bad things to Julian to get back at him for murdering his wife Lily. This goes on for 300 more pages. Maybe this wouldn’t have been so tedious if it was shorter. And while people are now making arguments that historical stories showing weak women are just sexist, I still have to wonder if women in the 1830’s would have been this bold. I lost track of how many times Roxanne and Sophie punch men. Roxanne actually beat a man unconscious and her father taught her how to kick a man in his balls. Honest, I just don’t see that in 1830 but who knows.
The endings of the three plot lines were predictable. The who is behind the attacks on Roxanne is two fold, one predictable and the other is out of thin air. Who killed Lily was so obvious I figured it out about ten minutes after they arrived in Ravenscar and who marries who is so treacle sweet my teeth ached. If you picked this up to get a mystery read, put it down and back away. Leave this to the fans of historical romances. They might like it.
It’s the 1830s and Corinne decides it’s time for her son, Julian, to get married again. Julian is the much younger second son of the duke who was in his 70s when he married the then-18 year old Corinne. He’s closer in age to his much loved nephew, the duke to be, Devlin. Julian had married his childhood friend but she was shot 6 months into their marriage (there’s your mystery, nothing will be made of it until the end mind you). His childhood friend, her brother, Richard, believes he is to blame. Julian has spent three years aboard as both a legit and illegal shipping merchant and is back. She wants to set him up with the daughter of her dear departed best friend. Sophie is twelve years younger than him and Julian isn’t interested. Still, he goes to London for the Season to meet Sophie and her spinster aunt, Roxanne who at twenty-seven is her chaperone.
The whole first hundred pages is Roxanne being more interested in Julian and vice versa while Sophie is with Devlin and the flies in the ointment are Devlin’s mother who runs around (literally) telling everyone Julian should never have been born and he’s an insult to her husband (his half brother) and Roxanne’s bitter widowed sister Leah. This part wasn’t really my cup of tea but it wasn’t too bad then they go to Ravenscar and suddenly without warning the love interests flip flop. The plot demands it (it reminds me of a Shakespearean comedy) but honestly, I liked it better the other way. Sophie/Devlin Julian/Roxanne made far more sense.
The rest of the novel is Richard and Leah, now lovers, doing bad things to Julian to get back at him for murdering his wife Lily. This goes on for 300 more pages. Maybe this wouldn’t have been so tedious if it was shorter. And while people are now making arguments that historical stories showing weak women are just sexist, I still have to wonder if women in the 1830’s would have been this bold. I lost track of how many times Roxanne and Sophie punch men. Roxanne actually beat a man unconscious and her father taught her how to kick a man in his balls. Honest, I just don’t see that in 1830 but who knows.
The endings of the three plot lines were predictable. The who is behind the attacks on Roxanne is two fold, one predictable and the other is out of thin air. Who killed Lily was so obvious I figured it out about ten minutes after they arrived in Ravenscar and who marries who is so treacle sweet my teeth ached. If you picked this up to get a mystery read, put it down and back away. Leave this to the fans of historical romances. They might like it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 16, 2011
AS part of the Sherbrooke series, you may think that you need to read the other books to understand what is going on in this one. I had not read any of the others and had no problem as this is written in what can be considered a “stand alone” type novel. And it is a good thing too because I didn’t know enough about this author or her books to invest in more of them.
Nicholas needs to remarry, or at least that is what his mother believes. Of course, he doesn’t think so and is going to balk at any attempt to marry him off. Especially when he finds out that his mother’s prospect, Sophie, the daughter of his mother’s best friend, is 12 years his junior.
Nicholas’s first wife, Lily, died under suspicious circumstances…was it murder at Nicholas’s hand or was it suicide? On the other hand, was a third party involved? What a mystery! This book seems to be more about the mystery surrounding Lily’s death, and her brother Richard’s insistence that Nicholas killed her, than the romance between Nicholas and Sophie.
An interesting secondary story involves Nicholas’ nephew Devlin and Sophie’s aunt Roxanne. Even though this book should have kept me interested, I had a hard time caring for these characters, although I am not sure if it was the characters themselves I didn’t like or the situations that the author forced on them. The characters were well drawn, at times funny and always witty with that English dry sense of humor, so I think my dissatisfaction lies in the plot itself.
Nicholas needs to remarry, or at least that is what his mother believes. Of course, he doesn’t think so and is going to balk at any attempt to marry him off. Especially when he finds out that his mother’s prospect, Sophie, the daughter of his mother’s best friend, is 12 years his junior.
Nicholas’s first wife, Lily, died under suspicious circumstances…was it murder at Nicholas’s hand or was it suicide? On the other hand, was a third party involved? What a mystery! This book seems to be more about the mystery surrounding Lily’s death, and her brother Richard’s insistence that Nicholas killed her, than the romance between Nicholas and Sophie.
An interesting secondary story involves Nicholas’ nephew Devlin and Sophie’s aunt Roxanne. Even though this book should have kept me interested, I had a hard time caring for these characters, although I am not sure if it was the characters themselves I didn’t like or the situations that the author forced on them. The characters were well drawn, at times funny and always witty with that English dry sense of humor, so I think my dissatisfaction lies in the plot itself.
October 22, 2011
Catherine Coulter has always been a favorite romance writer of mine so I was really excited about getting my hands on this book. It was an uncorrected proof copy, which might explain why I felt like the book was still rather unpolished.
The characters in this book are fun and larger than life, although I was confused in the beginning about who liked who, since there are two main couples featured in the book and they got pretty mixed up before everyone finally sorted themselves out. There is a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor, which is Ms. Coulter's specialty, especially with one of the characters pretending to be a vampire.
Although the characters are a lot of fun, I was not blown away by the plot. It was rather standard, with the hero swearing never to get involved with another woman after a tragic end with his first wife, and all the secrets behind it all. But of course this does not stop his family from pushing him to marry, or from him being smitten with the heroine.
There were also times during the book when I was not sure whose perspective I was reading from but that was probably due to the unpolished nature of the book.
Fans of Catherine Coulter will enjoy the book, especially with the history of the Sherbrooke family behind it, and the characters are a lot of fun. Although I was not impressed by the book, I was still entertained.
I received my copy of this book through the Goodreads Giveaway.
The characters in this book are fun and larger than life, although I was confused in the beginning about who liked who, since there are two main couples featured in the book and they got pretty mixed up before everyone finally sorted themselves out. There is a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor, which is Ms. Coulter's specialty, especially with one of the characters pretending to be a vampire.
Although the characters are a lot of fun, I was not blown away by the plot. It was rather standard, with the hero swearing never to get involved with another woman after a tragic end with his first wife, and all the secrets behind it all. But of course this does not stop his family from pushing him to marry, or from him being smitten with the heroine.
There were also times during the book when I was not sure whose perspective I was reading from but that was probably due to the unpolished nature of the book.
Fans of Catherine Coulter will enjoy the book, especially with the history of the Sherbrooke family behind it, and the characters are a lot of fun. Although I was not impressed by the book, I was still entertained.
I received my copy of this book through the Goodreads Giveaway.
May 18, 2013
Prince of Ravenscar by Catherine Coulter.
It was okay, a lot of silly dialog but I did like that the 2 main female characters were pretty strong women, especially for 1831.
I listened to this book and though the reader, Anne Flosnik, has a lovely speaking voice she doesn't do a good job with the characters' voices. One of the women sounded a male character throughout the book and very often it was difficult to tell when she switched characters speaking.
A pretty typical start to the story, 2 men - Lord Julian (the "Prince") and Earl Devlin are attending the London season. Also there are 2 young women being presented by Julian's mother who hopes that Julian will marry the young Sophie. Sophie's maidenly aunt (all of 27), Roxanne, is along as Sophie's chaperone. Some silly adventures happen along with some silly dialog but there is actually a plot that runs through the book that presents quite a twist at the end. That saved the book for me.
I can't say that I would seek out any of Coulter's other books but if I see another audio book and I was desperate for something to listen to I would pick it up at the library.
It was okay, a lot of silly dialog but I did like that the 2 main female characters were pretty strong women, especially for 1831.
I listened to this book and though the reader, Anne Flosnik, has a lovely speaking voice she doesn't do a good job with the characters' voices. One of the women sounded a male character throughout the book and very often it was difficult to tell when she switched characters speaking.
A pretty typical start to the story, 2 men - Lord Julian (the "Prince") and Earl Devlin are attending the London season. Also there are 2 young women being presented by Julian's mother who hopes that Julian will marry the young Sophie. Sophie's maidenly aunt (all of 27), Roxanne, is along as Sophie's chaperone. Some silly adventures happen along with some silly dialog but there is actually a plot that runs through the book that presents quite a twist at the end. That saved the book for me.
I can't say that I would seek out any of Coulter's other books but if I see another audio book and I was desperate for something to listen to I would pick it up at the library.
August 25, 2013
Walked past this book in the library.I am so glad I picked it up.I was surprised to find this a new tale in the Sherbrooke series. I had finished the series a couple of years back and was sad to have it end. I am so glad that I was wrong.
Ms. Coulter's characters are a riot. In this story the silliness continues and though we only see a small glimpse of the Sherbrooke's it is still a worthwhile read.
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Spoiler
Note to Self: Eng 1831-1832
Julian Monroe(32yo,widower,son1,half-uncle,ship capt and smuggler,ex-pal)& Cletus,Beatrice,Oliver, Hortense(his dogs 1yo's)+Sophie Wilkie(niece1,20yo),Devlin Monroe(nephew,27yo,7th earl,son2)+Roxanne Radcliffe(aunt1,heiress,27yo,sis,preg),Corinne Monroe(mom1,Dowager Duchess,widow),Constantine M. (Duke,dad,half bro)+Lorelei M.(duchess,mother2),Leah Cosgrove(widow,elder sis,aunt,29yo),Richard Langworth(older bro,ex-pal),Rupert L.(Baron,dad,60's),Victoria L.(younger sis,20yo),James Sherbrooke (twin bro,cousin)+Corrie(preg),Thomas Malcombe(Earl,shipping tycoon)+Meggie Sherbrooke(cousin)=4 boys,Jason Sherbrooke(twin bro,in America).
Ms. Coulter's characters are a riot. In this story the silliness continues and though we only see a small glimpse of the Sherbrooke's it is still a worthwhile read.
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Spoiler
Note to Self: Eng 1831-1832
Julian Monroe(32yo,widower,son1,half-uncle,ship capt and smuggler,ex-pal)& Cletus,Beatrice,Oliver, Hortense(his dogs 1yo's)+Sophie Wilkie(niece1,20yo),Devlin Monroe(nephew,27yo,7th earl,son2)+Roxanne Radcliffe(aunt1,heiress,27yo,sis,preg),Corinne Monroe(mom1,Dowager Duchess,widow),Constantine M. (Duke,dad,half bro)+Lorelei M.(duchess,mother2),Leah Cosgrove(widow,elder sis,aunt,29yo),Richard Langworth(older bro,ex-pal),Rupert L.(Baron,dad,60's),Victoria L.(younger sis,20yo),James Sherbrooke (twin bro,cousin)+Corrie(preg),Thomas Malcombe(Earl,shipping tycoon)+Meggie Sherbrooke(cousin)=4 boys,Jason Sherbrooke(twin bro,in America).
November 2, 2011
***1/2
This was a fun historical romance, although parts of it seemed a trifle far-fetched. I'm no historian, but is the freedom the characters (read: women) experienced typical for such a repressive time period?
I was glad to see Catherine Coulter revisit historicals. I enjoyed her contemporary FBI series, but I admit to getting a little bored with them.
Prince of Ravenscar has no real prince in the story, but it does have a duke, a duke's uncle, a heiress, her niece, and a couple of harpies disguised as relatives. We also get two separate romances going on simultaneously, which get equal page time. There's an unsolved murder, a kidnapping or two, and even a riddle to be solved. It's not your typical regency romance, but it is a fun light read.
Catherine Coulter has such a gift for writing characters, and she can write a scene that makes you laugh out loud.
This was a fun historical romance, although parts of it seemed a trifle far-fetched. I'm no historian, but is the freedom the characters (read: women) experienced typical for such a repressive time period?
I was glad to see Catherine Coulter revisit historicals. I enjoyed her contemporary FBI series, but I admit to getting a little bored with them.
Prince of Ravenscar has no real prince in the story, but it does have a duke, a duke's uncle, a heiress, her niece, and a couple of harpies disguised as relatives. We also get two separate romances going on simultaneously, which get equal page time. There's an unsolved murder, a kidnapping or two, and even a riddle to be solved. It's not your typical regency romance, but it is a fun light read.
Catherine Coulter has such a gift for writing characters, and she can write a scene that makes you laugh out loud.
September 10, 2011
I won this in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.
I blew through this book in less than 24 hrs. I enjoyed it!
It was interesting to read about some of the ins and outs of English society of this time period. The characters were interesting and meshed well together. The story line was sound and intriguing, and the development of the romance was quite enjoyable. The main characters seem like a fun group of people.
The point of view switched around quite a bit, many times in the middle of chapters (it may change several times in one chapter), which I didn't care for as much, but it was always clear as to who's mind you were supposed to be in.
Overall, it was a quick (for me), enjoyable read. Thank you for the opportunity to read this novel.
I blew through this book in less than 24 hrs. I enjoyed it!
It was interesting to read about some of the ins and outs of English society of this time period. The characters were interesting and meshed well together. The story line was sound and intriguing, and the development of the romance was quite enjoyable. The main characters seem like a fun group of people.
The point of view switched around quite a bit, many times in the middle of chapters (it may change several times in one chapter), which I didn't care for as much, but it was always clear as to who's mind you were supposed to be in.
Overall, it was a quick (for me), enjoyable read. Thank you for the opportunity to read this novel.
January 10, 2012
The jacket synopsis was probably the most well-crafted part of the book. What plot there was meandered through many rabbit trails to a sudden "Oh, look, the book just ended" happy place where all loose ends came together into a random big shiny bow. The characters said much but did little, and I didn't like any of them. I did appreciate the specific mention of celibacy-until-marriage, but it was rather undermined by A) equal mention of past "escapades" and B) enough innuendo to make action anticlimactic.
February 12, 2021
The Synopsis on Prince Of Ravenscar looks intriguing, love interest, danger, and a mystery murder. However, I couldn’t help but be bored, waiting for something to grab my attention. I did finish it, because it is my personal rule to finish what you start. If it wasn’t for my own dedication though, I would have put the book down and moved on. I’d like to go a bit deeper into detail why.
The love interests, as stated in the description, are of Julian and Sophia, and Devlin and Roxanne. I couldn’t help but be uncomfortable by the age difference between Julian and Sophia, or question the couples all together. I mean... Julian is the Uncle of Devlin, and Roxanne is the Aunt of Sophia... does this not raise some red flags? I felt like it was the southern joke come to life, I found it disturbing.
It was eccentric with pretty much everything, the exception being the mystery murder. The danger that lurks is really more of the cliché “Damsel in distress.” She did defend herself but still, it bored me greatly.
Now, about the good things I happened to have come across reading this book. No book is all bad after all. The mystery murder of this was intriguing I must admit. I did not expect the culprit to be who it was. I was actually thrilled to find it out, and the reason behind it. The creepy atmosphere that you get a taste of, that was good. I will give props to that.
Another great thing I’d like to bring up would be the flow of the story. The writing, the flow, the words written in sentences easy to comprehend. Catherine Coulter certainly has a talent for word flow and I would read another one of her books just for that. The story might have lacked depth but her writing was stunning. Perhaps I’ll give another one of her books a try.
The love interests, as stated in the description, are of Julian and Sophia, and Devlin and Roxanne. I couldn’t help but be uncomfortable by the age difference between Julian and Sophia, or question the couples all together. I mean... Julian is the Uncle of Devlin, and Roxanne is the Aunt of Sophia... does this not raise some red flags? I felt like it was the southern joke come to life, I found it disturbing.
It was eccentric with pretty much everything, the exception being the mystery murder. The danger that lurks is really more of the cliché “Damsel in distress.” She did defend herself but still, it bored me greatly.
Now, about the good things I happened to have come across reading this book. No book is all bad after all. The mystery murder of this was intriguing I must admit. I did not expect the culprit to be who it was. I was actually thrilled to find it out, and the reason behind it. The creepy atmosphere that you get a taste of, that was good. I will give props to that.
Another great thing I’d like to bring up would be the flow of the story. The writing, the flow, the words written in sentences easy to comprehend. Catherine Coulter certainly has a talent for word flow and I would read another one of her books just for that. The story might have lacked depth but her writing was stunning. Perhaps I’ll give another one of her books a try.
April 16, 2021
I was so disappointed with this book. I could not finish reading it. I feel it is not a fully honest review, because I did not read the entire book, but on the other hand, I am almost half-way (about 200 out a 500 pages book), and the fact that I very rarely abandon a book has to account for something I guess.
What a drag! The feud between the two Duchesses of Brabante (the dowager and the present duchess) was the most exciting thing that happened so far...
The short chapters apparently were an editor's strategy to make it look like the story is progressing when it is not going anywhere. Instead of interactions between the main characters, there is too much discussion about them with other characters, without narrating what in fact happened between them (that did not work for me, it was totally disengaging). My interest on what would happen to the characters decreased significantly after each chapter. Also, it seemed to me that the author tried to keep some sort of 'surprise' by not clearly pairing the couples from the beginning, and letting it go for too long. To the point I read, Julian's attention is equally divided between Roxanne and Sophie, as if he cannot decide to whom dedicate his feelings. Also they almost look like siamese-twins, because the author does not write a line about one of them without writing about the other as well. Neither one of them having captured my liking, I found that extremely annoying. That also made impossible for me to cheer for one or the other.
Spoiler
What a drag! The feud between the two Duchesses of Brabante (the dowager and the present duchess) was the most exciting thing that happened so far...
The short chapters apparently were an editor's strategy to make it look like the story is progressing when it is not going anywhere. Instead of interactions between the main characters, there is too much discussion about them with other characters, without narrating what in fact happened between them (that did not work for me, it was totally disengaging). My interest on what would happen to the characters decreased significantly after each chapter. Also, it seemed to me that the author tried to keep some sort of 'surprise' by not clearly pairing the couples from the beginning, and letting it go for too long. To the point I read, Julian's attention is equally divided between Roxanne and Sophie, as if he cannot decide to whom dedicate his feelings. Also they almost look like siamese-twins, because the author does not write a line about one of them without writing about the other as well. Neither one of them having captured my liking, I found that extremely annoying. That also made impossible for me to cheer for one or the other.
Spoiler
March 18, 2017
back of book says:
in april 1831 her grace corine monroe wants her widowed son lord julian to marry her best friends daughter sophie wilkie. julian last saw sophie when she was 12. silent,skinny and always staring at him........
lord devlin monroe is julians nephew and he is very fond of promoting is vampireness.
i would like to say that i own just about all of catherine coulter's books, including all the sherbrooks and the fbi series. having said that, this book drove me crazy. and not in a good way.......
1. a guy walks into a room takes one look at gal A. AND decides she's the one for him,
2. the guy's uncle walks into a room takes one look and decides gal b is for him.
then the first guy spends the ENTIRE book with gal B.
AND THE UNCLE spends the entire book with gal A.
so in someways it felt like the author and the characters were trying to talk themselves into the opposite females.
here we are on page 169, and the first guy is pouring his heart out to gal b. and i'm thinking isn't he supposed to be with the other lady? it was all very confusing....
there was very little romance in the book, and the mystery of who did the killing took up most of the book, with richard doing a lot of pointing the finger at the prince.
and if u pay attention you get hints of the real murderer....
and you also get tired of leah and her tirades, and richard's theatrics...... i really had to force myself to pay attention.
and this book takes place IN BETWEEN SHERBROOK TWINS AND LYONS GATE....... as the 2nd twin hasn't come home yet...
in april 1831 her grace corine monroe wants her widowed son lord julian to marry her best friends daughter sophie wilkie. julian last saw sophie when she was 12. silent,skinny and always staring at him........
lord devlin monroe is julians nephew and he is very fond of promoting is vampireness.
i would like to say that i own just about all of catherine coulter's books, including all the sherbrooks and the fbi series. having said that, this book drove me crazy. and not in a good way.......
1. a guy walks into a room takes one look at gal A. AND decides she's the one for him,
2. the guy's uncle walks into a room takes one look and decides gal b is for him.
then the first guy spends the ENTIRE book with gal B.
AND THE UNCLE spends the entire book with gal A.
so in someways it felt like the author and the characters were trying to talk themselves into the opposite females.
here we are on page 169, and the first guy is pouring his heart out to gal b. and i'm thinking isn't he supposed to be with the other lady? it was all very confusing....
there was very little romance in the book, and the mystery of who did the killing took up most of the book, with richard doing a lot of pointing the finger at the prince.
and if u pay attention you get hints of the real murderer....
and you also get tired of leah and her tirades, and richard's theatrics...... i really had to force myself to pay attention.
and this book takes place IN BETWEEN SHERBROOK TWINS AND LYONS GATE....... as the 2nd twin hasn't come home yet...
May 12, 2019
I have read several of Catherine Coulter books and have never been as disappointed with a book as I was with this one. I have read her entire FBI series, the FBI and the Brit series, and several of her romantic and medieval novels, and was never bored. This book, however, bored me to the point that I skimmed past several pages and didn't feel that I had missed anything. Even when the story did pick up a little towards the end, it was ridiculous and unbelievable. I'm glad I checked it out of the library and can return it rather than paying money so I own it.
August 22, 2023
Everybody was a ViRgIn until MaRrIaGe and you didn't even get to read any sex scenes. Come on Catherine. You know what we're here for. Nobody "reads romance for the plot." And if they do, at least make it a decent plot. Also, WHY do the main characters always narrowly avoid rape??? Like once, okay, that's believable for the time period maybe. But FOUR TIMES?!? You've got a find a different plot device.
June 14, 2017
I really like/loved the Sherbrook/bride series but this one ... this one I didn't finish. It started out ok but halfway the author seemed to change her mind as to who belonged with who and the coupes switched!! Didn't make sense and after reading reviews to make sure that would go for the rest of the book, I didn't bother to finish it.
August 31, 2017
I enjoy staying up late reading Catherine Coulter's books, especially her historical novels. The pace, the plot twists, the characters--all have the right amount of everything. In Prince of Ravenscar, I thought I picked the culprit, but was surprised in the end about not who did it, but why that person was the culprit.
February 15, 2018
I picked this up because I had read and enjoyed other books by Catherine Coulter. I didn't realize it was going to be a "match up" story that was totally unbelievable with characters that were flat and unlikable. This isn't my genre, but even if it were, it might only be one star. I've given it an extra star so that I'm not penalizing the book for being a genre I don't enjoy.
March 24, 2018
I liked this series but it should have ended with the previous book. This one had no ties to the family in the series and was just bad. The initial match up of the 4 main characters was best and there was no explanation at all for the switches and the couples who ended up together just didn't fit. I was disappointed in this book all the way around.
to-the-bookstore-probable-dnf
October 13, 2025DNF couldn’t get into it. The wording and phrasing of stuff wasn’t flowing together annoyingly and just couldn’t get into the story. Would I have liked it if I gave it a shot, maybe? Would I have given it more of a chance if I didn’t have another book waiting, mayyyybe?? Ah well why waste your time
June 29, 2017
An interesting plot, but not well defined. It was hard to get a handle on just what was going on and why until almost the end. I like the female characters, but the male ones were weak. This book is not near as good as her series in this same era with the Sherbrooke family.
December 23, 2017
This is the second time I've read this book. I really like the character development. Coulter does a great job of bringing her characters to life. The plot was kind of pedestrian, but again, the characters were fascinating, and the book was definitely worth a second read.
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