Rating: 
Summary: She has written better
Review: If you love Catherine Coulter books, forget that this one is even on the market, it simply is not in the same category as her previous novels.Bishop is commanded by the king to end the curse of Penwyth and marry the already 4 times widowed Merryn. Merryn resides in Pennwyth with a cast of elderly characters who do not want to see the curse ended as this will mean they have been conquered by someone they aren't going to like real well. Splice in flashbacks in the form of visions as Bishop attempts to tame Merryn at the same time that he comes to terms with his own status as a wizard, the tale jumps around and frankly would have been hard to follow if I had really cared about these characters. As usual, Coulter flashes back to previous characters, which is always fun. However, they have no real contribution to this tedious tome. When all comes together and the bad guys get theirs, you come to the conclusion that CC had reached the quota for the number of pages she needed to write and tied it all together in an implausible ending even for writers of this genre. It was like she had to tie it all together and boom that is it - we can get married. (Hey I am not giving anything away here, you know from page one they are getting married, you just don't know how it will all come together.) Hopefully the next will be much better. I wish I had skipped this one.
Rating:
Summary: Expect the Unexpected...
Review: If you're expecting CC's usual medieval romance you'll be taken off guard and frequently jolted into a sometimes confusing paranormal story that transpires simultaneously in another dimension of time - which was meant to explain the history of the curse and how to break it. Personally, I enjoy it when an author adventures outside of their comfort zone and enters into challenging new territory. In this début, CC did a relatively decent job.
I really did not feel the "romance" per say of the leading characters Bishop and Merryn's relationship, but I did feel it for the paranormal co-stars Prince and Brecia. However, I did view Bishop as being purely physically motivated for sex and Merryn by her curiosity and fascination of seeing, touch and becoming acquainted with a man as young as she; especially since she basically lived her entire life secluded within the walls of her castle and amongst elderly people. Each couple's journey for truth was unique, adventurous and amusing.
As always, CC allows previous characters from her series to surface, by bringing in snippets of humor from scenes with Dienwald & Phillippa - they always remind me of "Ralph" and "Alice" in the 60's sitcom `The Jackie Gleason Show'.
This is what I would describe as a "float or sink" read; not one I would highly recommend nor judge the author's exceptional writing talents by.
Rating: 
Summary: strong fantasy historical romance
Review: In 1278 England, Dienwald de Fortenberry, son-in-law to King Edward I, bestows knighthood on Sir Bishop of Lythe for rescuing his wife, Philippa. The English monarch also reward Bishop for rescuing his favorite daughter born out of wedlock by naming him the latest spouse of eighteen year-old Merryn de Gay, a four time widow and mistress of Penwyth Castle. His Highness believes that Bishop might just be the person who can end the curse allegedly placed by witches or Druids that any male who takes Penwyth Castle by force or assaults its mistress will die as some of the King's men have. Bishop thinks humans have done the murders so he concocts a plan in which he will arrive as the King's Wizard sent to solve THE PENWYTH CURSE. That he figures should provide him the time and cover to learn what is truly going on in this Cornwell keep. Merrlyn thinks he is a lying brute, perhaps a bit more clever than the others. As she sees he is a lot more different than the previous men because he cares about people, the couple begins to fall in love. In a bygone era a wizard also seeks the love of an elusive butterfly. Catherine Coulter is at her best with this historical romance that tells the stories of parallel loves. The story line moves back and forth between the two periods. This technique displays the author's talent as both subplots enhance one another. The four prime players and the secondary cast make for quite a wonderful time for fans of the sub-genre who desire a fantasy twist to a strong novel. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: The Penwyth Curse
Review: It didn't seem like Catherine wrote this. I was very disappointed in it. It was disjointed and so many things were not explained satisfactorily at the end. There where too many things left hanging. I am one of her biggest fans, I have every book she has written but this one was not up to her usual standards I am sorry to say.
Rating: 
Summary: Just skip it
Review: Please just don't bother with this Catherine Coulter novel. It had major potential - a mystical/creative/unusual plot concept, but the extremely disjointed narrative and the ending leave you unfulfilled and frustrated. Basically, there are two stories here, one in the "present" time and one even further in the past. Unfortunately, neither story feels complete and Ms.Coulter is unable to weave these two complicated stories together in any coherent fashion, so you find yourself wondering what exactly is going on in practically every chapter. I say skip it and go with one of CC's much better novels (Impulse/Edge/almost anything!).
Rating:
Summary: Probably the worst book I've ever read!
Review: Reading The Penwyth Curse, you almost believe there are two different writers at work - one moment you're reading fairly interesting dialogue and descriptions, and the next minute you read "it would be a very bad thing", and the words "simply" and "just" repeated dozens of times throughout the book! The worst? "she was so afraid she almost puked from it" Oh, puhleez! It had potential, but "just" didn't succeed. "Simply" didn't.
Rating:
Summary: Sometimes engaging, sometimes confusing. An uneven book.
Review: There were moments in which I really enjoyed this book, but often I was thrown out of my state of disbelief by
little thing like the phrasing of dialogue, the changing sense of continuity between the
past and the "present," or the ferocity of the lust between the main characters (or their counterparts).
There was just enough eerieness to keep the mind engaged in the paranormal mystery, but somehow it never
developed into a seamless whole.
An air book in places, but hardly a keeper.
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money!
Review: This author has definitely written better books than this one. I was dissappointed with this novel, it goes on and on over the same thing, a romance between a witch and a wizard, and it was boring. The plot is totally confusing, with many irrelevant things, and of course, totally predictable: you know both couples will end together, no surprise there. I read it to the end because I always finish the books I start reading, but it was not worth the effort nor the money I spent on it.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Worse Books I've Ever Read
Review: This book is a total waste of time and energy. I can't believe Catherine Coulter wrote this garbage. Boring, boring, boring.
Rating:
Summary: I Love Catherine Coulter..But....
Review: This book just dosn't desearve her name on the cover. As usuall Ms. Coulter give's us funny dialoge and steamy love sceans between our hero and heroine. I thought the beginning was wonderfull, unique, interesting. But toward the middle the book started to fall apart. The reader finds him/herself time hopping from era to era. And at first, you have no clue whats going on. It almost seems like two different short books glued together at this point in the story!! Even Stephen King readers would find it hard to follow along Ms. Coulter's wrighting style in this one. I give this book two stars.. one star goes to the begining of the book which was suburb and one star goes to the end of the book which was kinda cool, because Merryn and Bishop find a trinket that belonged to the great wizzard Merlyn.....
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