Helpful Score: 2
Charade meets Raiders of the Lost Ark in this Regency-period romantic adventure from the author of Rosehaven. Coulter, renown for off-the-wall plotlines, offers a little of everything?spice, mystery, murder and the search for the Holy Grail?as she tells the story of the Carrington clan. The Carrington brothers are not what they seem; Rohan, famed for his debauchery, is actually quite saintly. His late brother, George, thought to be a scholarly wimp, had been a heartless rake. When commoner Suzannah Hawlworth announces that she is George's widow, her life is threatened by someone who believes she possesses a valuable map. To protect Suzannah and her young daughter, Rohan brings them to his London townhouse and marries her. They soon discover that a locket George had given her contains not only a map, but a key to a cask that holds a magical chalice and the future of humanity. The sudden switch from Jane Austen to Steven Spielberg is disconcerting to say the least, but Coulter's sense of humor and solid writing manage to make it work in the end.
Helpful Score: 2
First, let me say that I love Catherine Coulter. There, I feel better about what I am about to say...I could not stand this book! She has never disappointed me before, but I was ready to put this book down and not pick it up again. First, there was a disgusting relationship between the baron and his parents. They were way to interested in the baron's sex life. Well, the dad was dead, so it was just his mom quizzing his lover about her son's bedroom finesse. Ugh! Anyway, I swear the mom would have had sex with her son if it wasn't so wrong and disgusting. I thought the characters were rather flat and undeveloped. I would have liked to have had her spend some of her time on the development of the characters instead of going into explicit detail about the baron's sexual training. Anyway, this book was a definite 2 stars until I read the ending. The ending redeemed the book and earned it a half star increase. I loved the ending. If only the whole book could have been as well written as the ending....
