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Legacy #3
The Valentine Legacy
Dear Reader:
In the early 1820s, horse racing was a down and dirty sport. James Wyndham, who owns racing stables in both England and America, finds his racing nemesis in red-haired Jessie Warfield, renowned hoyden and champion jockey, who knows as many dirty racing tricks as James does. When either wins a race, the other's nose gets rubbed in the dirt.
Jessie has known James for six years, since she was fourteen years old. She often wants to kick him for the way he treats her, but more importantly, she adores him. She just doesn't know how to show it.
When chance throws Jessie out of a tree, landing her on top of James, she is pronounced Ruined. When she decided to run, she really goes for it, all the way to England, to James's cousins Marcus and Duchess Wyndham.
James arrives, laden with guilt, to find a Jessie who sounds like the old Jessie but isn't. Jessie has undergone a transformation worthy of Pygmalion.
Will James do the Right Thing and undo Jessie's Ruin? What about Jessie's nightmares that seem to call up something terrible from her childhood?
There's a treasure to be found on the Outer Banks, a mystery to be solved, a love story that will plant a smile on your mouth for a long time, and lots of laughter.
Let me know which of the three Legacy novels you like best.
Catherine Coulter (The Author)
In the early 1820s, horse racing was a down and dirty sport. James Wyndham, who owns racing stables in both England and America, finds his racing nemesis in red-haired Jessie Warfield, renowned hoyden and champion jockey, who knows as many dirty racing tricks as James does. When either wins a race, the other's nose gets rubbed in the dirt.
Jessie has known James for six years, since she was fourteen years old. She often wants to kick him for the way he treats her, but more importantly, she adores him. She just doesn't know how to show it.
When chance throws Jessie out of a tree, landing her on top of James, she is pronounced Ruined. When she decided to run, she really goes for it, all the way to England, to James's cousins Marcus and Duchess Wyndham.
James arrives, laden with guilt, to find a Jessie who sounds like the old Jessie but isn't. Jessie has undergone a transformation worthy of Pygmalion.
Will James do the Right Thing and undo Jessie's Ruin? What about Jessie's nightmares that seem to call up something terrible from her childhood?
There's a treasure to be found on the Outer Banks, a mystery to be solved, a love story that will plant a smile on your mouth for a long time, and lots of laughter.
Let me know which of the three Legacy novels you like best.
Catherine Coulter (The Author)
406 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 1995
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952 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
May 22, 2020
Clearly written in the 1990s, so I usually consider that when dialogue becomes an issue. However, in this third installment of what has been a wonderful series, I really couldn’t tolerate about half of the book because of the misogynistic male lead.
Misogyny colors the story line, the dialogue and eventually became impossible to ignore. Coulter is an excellent author and rarely misses.
If you suggest that maybe it was me— you would be absolutely correct!! Let’s just agree this book didn’t age well.
Here’s what I loved— the Baltimore setting prior to the Civil War. The great drawing room wit displayed by characters from earlier books and the supporting cast of London characters led by Badger and Maggie.
Don’t get me wrong— it wasn’t bad. By the time the story involved “treasure hunting (80 percent in),” I just had to close the book.
Misogyny colors the story line, the dialogue and eventually became impossible to ignore. Coulter is an excellent author and rarely misses.
If you suggest that maybe it was me— you would be absolutely correct!! Let’s just agree this book didn’t age well.
Here’s what I loved— the Baltimore setting prior to the Civil War. The great drawing room wit displayed by characters from earlier books and the supporting cast of London characters led by Badger and Maggie.
Don’t get me wrong— it wasn’t bad. By the time the story involved “treasure hunting (80 percent in),” I just had to close the book.
June 12, 2012
The Valentine Legacy was a delightful read. It was also my first Catherine Coulter novel and definitely will not be the last.
Wit and humour were both used wisely and timely to build chemistry between Jessie Warfield and her love, James Wyndham. There was an absence of emotional intensity and dramatics and even without this, Jessie and James were still appealing characters. Their heartfelt bickering and eventual passion was a fun journey involving plenty of comical moments and light trials and tribulations.
Since the gist of the story was the development of Jessie and James's relationship, the lack of a plot places much of the focus on them. There were moments that were tedious, overused and downright exasperating. Particularly, the "old-Jessie versus new-Jessie" comparisons. He may not realize it yet but he loves Jessie just as much as she loves him, a love that Jessie has nurtured from childhood into adulthood. Even though their antics were at times ridiculous, most times they were hilarious and this captured their chemistry well and showcased their suitability for each other.
The plot was a simple one involving a bad memory from Jessie's past, which is recovered during a bad fall where she hits her head and is knocked out. Ever since, her lovemaking with James triggers a memory which leads them to solve a mystery and to cure her nightmares. They do so with help from familiar characters who are just as charming as the main ones. Along with mad guys, there are enlightening moments where James finally realizes that he truly loves Jessie.
The ending left a great feeling. Everything fell into place steadily and satisfyingly like the end of an emotional roller-coaster ride.
Wit and humour were both used wisely and timely to build chemistry between Jessie Warfield and her love, James Wyndham. There was an absence of emotional intensity and dramatics and even without this, Jessie and James were still appealing characters. Their heartfelt bickering and eventual passion was a fun journey involving plenty of comical moments and light trials and tribulations.
Since the gist of the story was the development of Jessie and James's relationship, the lack of a plot places much of the focus on them. There were moments that were tedious, overused and downright exasperating. Particularly, the "old-Jessie versus new-Jessie" comparisons. He may not realize it yet but he loves Jessie just as much as she loves him, a love that Jessie has nurtured from childhood into adulthood. Even though their antics were at times ridiculous, most times they were hilarious and this captured their chemistry well and showcased their suitability for each other.
The plot was a simple one involving a bad memory from Jessie's past, which is recovered during a bad fall where she hits her head and is knocked out. Ever since, her lovemaking with James triggers a memory which leads them to solve a mystery and to cure her nightmares. They do so with help from familiar characters who are just as charming as the main ones. Along with mad guys, there are enlightening moments where James finally realizes that he truly loves Jessie.
The ending left a great feeling. Everything fell into place steadily and satisfyingly like the end of an emotional roller-coaster ride.
May 23, 2017
This book was so confusing and really odd...
March 27, 2012
My only problem with this book is it took James so long to tell Jessie that he loves her. I think his love for Jessie goes way back from the beginning where they were both competitors in the horse-racing business. This is the typical story where the girl likes the guy but the only way she knows how to show it is by being mean to him. Same goes with the guy.
They complement each other perfectly.
I just felt bad for Jessie in the beginning where everybody was putting her down. Like she's not worth a thing. I felt really bad for her, especially when her mother and her older sister were putting her off. I was pissed off every time they do that. And her older sister, Glenda is it, was impossible. Talk about staring at a guys crotch purposely, I mean have some decency please.
But a midst all that, it was really a cute story. Jessie was really lovable, she's the type of heroine that you would really root for her. And James was the type that you would want to conk in the head to make him realize that Jessie's the one for him. I love the parts where James is being sweet to Jessie assuring her that she's more that what people think of her. And I think those parts were the ones that James was falling in love with Jessie already.
Love, love the last chapter where James won the race and then suddenly Jessie went to labor. After that, James was with her throughout the process of giving birth. I remember those were the moments that James started calling her "love" and it was so romantic. And then finally James admitting that he loves Jessie very much. That did it for me!
So, over-all, not really a five-star type of story but was a really enjoyable read! Better than Nightingale Legacy! ♥
They complement each other perfectly.
I just felt bad for Jessie in the beginning where everybody was putting her down. Like she's not worth a thing. I felt really bad for her, especially when her mother and her older sister were putting her off. I was pissed off every time they do that. And her older sister, Glenda is it, was impossible. Talk about staring at a guys crotch purposely, I mean have some decency please.
But a midst all that, it was really a cute story. Jessie was really lovable, she's the type of heroine that you would really root for her. And James was the type that you would want to conk in the head to make him realize that Jessie's the one for him. I love the parts where James is being sweet to Jessie assuring her that she's more that what people think of her. And I think those parts were the ones that James was falling in love with Jessie already.
Love, love the last chapter where James won the race and then suddenly Jessie went to labor. After that, James was with her throughout the process of giving birth. I remember those were the moments that James started calling her "love" and it was so romantic. And then finally James admitting that he loves Jessie very much. That did it for me!
So, over-all, not really a five-star type of story but was a really enjoyable read! Better than Nightingale Legacy! ♥
February 27, 2023
This was not my kind of story, maybe i shouldn’t have read the legacy series back to back. There was a sameness to the stories, especially since the characters appear in each others books. I thoroughly enjoyed the first one but I’ll see how it holds up in re-read. The Valentine heroine was still a child at the end and they didn’t ring true as a couple. The “staff” were consistently funny and interesting across the series.
February 16, 2022
This was one of the weirdest books I've ever encountered. The characters seem one-dimensional, the dialogue is so very strange, and the mystery about Blackbeard's treasure seems just tacked on to round out pages.
Also I listened to it on Audible which I do NOT recommend. The woman reading the book read the male lead's dialogue with such a stuffy, passionless English accent that it was unbelievable that he would dirty himself to have relations with a woman much less fall in love with her. And the female lead? Don't even get me started. There is even a character whose main personality trait seems to be her fascination with staring at men's crotches. Are we sure these love scenes aren't written by a man???
Also I listened to it on Audible which I do NOT recommend. The woman reading the book read the male lead's dialogue with such a stuffy, passionless English accent that it was unbelievable that he would dirty himself to have relations with a woman much less fall in love with her. And the female lead? Don't even get me started. There is even a character whose main personality trait seems to be her fascination with staring at men's crotches. Are we sure these love scenes aren't written by a man???
February 26, 2019
Jessie Warfield knows she has no chance of catching James Wyndham. Not only is he an eligible bachelor while she is a horse-mad hoyden, he sees her as a little sister. Until the night she falls out of a tree onto him. And people see them and misinterpret what is going on. So Jessie flees to England where the characters of the previous books work to transform her into a Woman. And they succeed. When James finally shows up, he is confused... but drawn to her.
Catherine Coulter was one of the first romance authors who I read the whole back catalog of and I re-read them every couple of years. Some of the old tropes are... old but this book is still enjoyable.
Catherine Coulter was one of the first romance authors who I read the whole back catalog of and I re-read them every couple of years. Some of the old tropes are... old but this book is still enjoyable.
August 19, 2022
This book stood on its own so I didn’t know part of series. Liked the interaction between Jessie and James as teens. Totally understand Jessie and her love of horses and the issue of girls supposedly just on sidelines, not jockeys. Good humor of her learning about being sexy. Their time in England and Jessie learning to be a lady was cute because she has a personality that can’t completely change. Enjoyed the support of family and servants. The ending with the mystery seemed added and not necessary for story which apparently makes it part of the series.
December 13, 2024
I didn’t realize that this was the third in a historical mystery dynasty series until I read the epilogue. Catherine Coulter writes wonderful dialogue and really develops her characters. Part of the American 18th century historical background seemed a bit didactic, but didn’t detract from the plot. It’s fun having characters from previous books appear again in a novel, making them feel real rather than fictional.
August 5, 2017
Jessie has known James for six years, since she was fourteen years old. She often wants to kick him for the way he treats her, but more importantly, she adores him. She just doesn't know how to show it.
June 10, 2020
Clearing old books from my bookshelves and trying to give them a re-read, but some of these I just can’t do. Good storyline, good characters, but everything is just a bit over done. It gets tedious. Skimmed it and put it in the giveaway box.
January 6, 2022
What the heck happened to this book? It’s like the author had two book ideas and crammed them together. The first part is about a horse mad woman who changes and gets her man. The second part is about searching for Blackbeard’s treasure. Never mentioned in the first half.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 15, 2025
Spoilers**
Good story! Just not my preferred genre. Doesn't get interesting until chapter 9 at the earliest, but I didn't start to enjoy it until chapter 13. I really didn't like that they did all that work up for the treasure and did not even go through with taking it!
Good story! Just not my preferred genre. Doesn't get interesting until chapter 9 at the earliest, but I didn't start to enjoy it until chapter 13. I really didn't like that they did all that work up for the treasure and did not even go through with taking it!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 1, 2018
What a great trilogy and I am sure I will likely enjoy these series many more times. Such colorful character, good moving plot and just an all around wonderful!
March 8, 2019
This book was not a typical romance. So many twists n turns n different stories. A great read
Read
July 27, 2019While I didn't get a chance to read the first 2 books of the Legacy series, this one was a hoot! I felt like I was reading a comedy farce. It was so funny, and so sweet. Loved it.
August 9, 2019
Love the way she write about Duchess' and Earls she has away of keeping you reading.
June 16, 2021
Just kind of boring. Basically it's rehash of the previous two novels, but with the treasure and villain being even more pointless.
December 25, 2024
i just love this book so much! this was my very first catherine coulter book way back in 2021. overall, it was an okay book that clearly has the substance of what i am looking for in a historical romance novel.
January 21, 2025
Good
This is a goof romance story. Its full of fun and exciting excursions. There is references to characters in the previous two books but yet it stands on its own.
This is a goof romance story. Its full of fun and exciting excursions. There is references to characters in the previous two books but yet it stands on its own.
May 6, 2025
I liked the book most of the way through and then the author seemed to have added a twist just to lengthen the book and I lost interest.
May 28, 2025
I enjoyed reading.
November 28, 2025
2.5, love scenes were good, the rest I didn't care about
March 1, 2017
There's a lot going on in this novel - for me, it didn't all come together very well. I didn't enjoy the way the story was told, either, in the form of monologues rather than a narrative. The characters were all very verbose.
Setting: Maryland in the 1800's, with a brief trip to England.
Themes: Love and marriage. Horse racing. Ocean travel. Pirates and buried treasure. Terrible families. Unorthodox romantic pairings. Ugly duckling to swan transformation. Babies. Mysteries. Murder.
Setting: Maryland in the 1800's, with a brief trip to England.
Themes: Love and marriage. Horse racing. Ocean travel. Pirates and buried treasure. Terrible families. Unorthodox romantic pairings. Ugly duckling to swan transformation. Babies. Mysteries. Murder.
February 13, 2017
There really was not much chemistry between the main characters, Jessie and James, in this romance, so I felt sorry for them both that they felt so pressured to marry anyway. This story seemed more like a romantic tragedy than a romance, two dysfunctional families trapping their children into an unfortunate marriage where the best that can be said about it is that the young couple doesn't have to live with the in-laws on either side. So, as a romance this book failed miserably in my opinion, but as an illustration of how sexist standards put men and women both in unfair positions, this was a decent novel. The story is written as historical fiction, though I am not sure how historically accurate it is. The sexual standards and stereotypes are mostly tapping into the values of the time the story is set in, though James seemed a bit out of place as a result. Obviously a romance in which the women are not supposed to experience orgasms or any overt sexual desire would be a very poorly performing novel in the romance market, so James would have to teach his wife at least as much about typical romance novel style sex as possible, but it seemed like a very modern romance as a result, at least where sex scenes were concerned.
As a romance, this novel shows how unfair it is in societies that insist women are not allowed to know about sex until they are married. I appreciated the feminist angle that Jessie is a female jockey, and quite capable of participating in the pirate treasure adventure near the end of the book, even though I'd rather have seen her as more than just a damsel in distress needing rescue in this part of the novel. Overall, as a bit of light reading, this was an ok book, but not one of my favorites.
As a romance, this novel shows how unfair it is in societies that insist women are not allowed to know about sex until they are married. I appreciated the feminist angle that Jessie is a female jockey, and quite capable of participating in the pirate treasure adventure near the end of the book, even though I'd rather have seen her as more than just a damsel in distress needing rescue in this part of the novel. Overall, as a bit of light reading, this was an ok book, but not one of my favorites.
August 12, 2017
It has literally been decades since I read The Wyndham Legacy and The Nightingale Legacy. I did not realize they were 2/3 of a trilogy until I joined Goodreads in 2011.
I was really enjoying The Valentine Legacy until, about 3/4 of the way in, the author took a left turn and suddenly, the story was about Blackbeard's treasure and the lost Roanoke colony. Huh??? That being said, Catherine Coulter is still one of my favorite romance writers, and Jessie and James are a couple I will not soon forget.
I was really enjoying The Valentine Legacy until, about 3/4 of the way in, the author took a left turn and suddenly, the story was about Blackbeard's treasure and the lost Roanoke colony. Huh??? That being said, Catherine Coulter is still one of my favorite romance writers, and Jessie and James are a couple I will not soon forget.
December 19, 2022
I get the distinct impression that Coulter got two thirds of the way through this and then remembered, "Oh, yeah, the Legacy series -- there's supposed to be a treasure hunt in this!" The subplot comes out of nowhere and is not linked to the family the way the treasure hunts in the first two books were.
Another trope Coulter is much too fond of is lovers stroking each others' eyebrows. Is it something most lovers do at one point or another? Probably. Do some of her characters do it constantly and others only occasionally? Yes, which is realistic, but it's such a distinctive thing to do it stands out.
The heroine's transformation from tomboy to beauty hits too rapidly and too thoroughly for my taste. She goes from inept dowdy to graceful and graciously dressed and capable of doing perfectly mussed hairdos in about a month. Yeah, no, reality doesn't work that way.
Considering how rarely I read this many romances by one author in such a short time span, Coulter's actually doing pretty well. She seems to have shed some of her most obnoxious tendencies over the years. Not great literature or anything like, but few romances are.
Another trope Coulter is much too fond of is lovers stroking each others' eyebrows. Is it something most lovers do at one point or another? Probably. Do some of her characters do it constantly and others only occasionally? Yes, which is realistic, but it's such a distinctive thing to do it stands out.
The heroine's transformation from tomboy to beauty hits too rapidly and too thoroughly for my taste. She goes from inept dowdy to graceful and graciously dressed and capable of doing perfectly mussed hairdos in about a month. Yeah, no, reality doesn't work that way.
Considering how rarely I read this many romances by one author in such a short time span, Coulter's actually doing pretty well. She seems to have shed some of her most obnoxious tendencies over the years. Not great literature or anything like, but few romances are.
February 3, 2016
I loved this book almost as much as I loved the Nightingale Legacy. Catherine Coulter made Jessie Warfield and James Wyndham come to life. They started as childhood friends that got mired down with a reputation ruining accident and they were able to pull it all together into love.
While living with Marcus and Duchess Wyndham, they have totally transformed Jessie. There is a mystery that they work together to solve and it is so sweet when James allows himself to acknowledge how he feels about Jessie.
A beautiful story that really made me happy throughout. It was good to see Marcus and Duchess happy in London too.
This series is a wonderful trilogy. Very much worth reading.
While living with Marcus and Duchess Wyndham, they have totally transformed Jessie. There is a mystery that they work together to solve and it is so sweet when James allows himself to acknowledge how he feels about Jessie.
A beautiful story that really made me happy throughout. It was good to see Marcus and Duchess happy in London too.
This series is a wonderful trilogy. Very much worth reading.
June 14, 2009
Jessie is a tomboy, racing horses and delighting in beating James Wyndham. James has slowly begun to realize that Jessie, the annoying brat, is actually a woman. And the series wouldn't be complete without another treasure hunt…
I found this one to be slightly boring. James is slightly annoying with his 'no, you can't wear dresses' nonsense, but I never really disliked him. It did draw on too long, and the introduction of the treasure didn't even come until the last part of the book. The ending was quite creepy.
I found this one to be slightly boring. James is slightly annoying with his 'no, you can't wear dresses' nonsense, but I never really disliked him. It did draw on too long, and the introduction of the treasure didn't even come until the last part of the book. The ending was quite creepy.
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