Rating: 
Summary: Certainly Not Ms. Coulter's Best
Review: I first read 'The Rebel Bride' in its original Signet imprint. Several years later, I picked it up in this new edition. Either way, this book was totally disappointing. Apparently in the 80's the idea of the hero raping the leading lady was considered cutting edge (I didn't think so then and certainly don't think so now), because it seemed a standard trope for many authors. And not only was the character Kate raped in brutalized in childhood, but Julien, the man who supposedly 'loves' her, thinks that her reticence in the bedroom is merely a case of nerves and sets out to forcibly change her mind.Now, I realize that the characters of Kate and Julien are loosely based upon Taming of the Shrew, but where that play was strictly comedy (I don't even take the Shakespearean Katherine's end soliquy seriously--and neither does she), this Katherine is not only a royal pushover, she seems bent on forgiving everything. And Julien, you are no Petruccio! In the beginning, Kate shows a bit of gumption, and she's quite appealing, especially dressed in men's clothes and engaging in a mock duel with her brother. She speaks her mind freely and one could see why Julien would be interested in her. As the story progresses, she turns into that simpering little waif that can drive most readers to distraction. She does, however, show a little spirit when she takes down a scandalous former love interest who was trying to get her hands upon the oh so virile Julien. And Julien...Ms. Coulter has created some wonderful and warm male leads, and Julien St. Clair simply isn't one of them. A narcissistic rake who needs to have his ears boxed in, he's a completely clueless cad who doesn't think beyond his own needs. I guess the only saving grace to this entire mess of a book was that Ms. Coulter dealt with the subject of child abuse long before it was fashionable. Kate's father was evil incarnate and it would have been nice to have him get his just deserts. One last word on the rape scenes--now I happen to like erotic romance quite a lot, and I have no problem with the idea of sexual power play as long as its consensual. What happened to Kate in this book might have worked better had it been written in that style.
Rating: 
Summary: "Hero" crossed the line
Review: I have enjoyed Coulter's books very much. But I, too, am not keeping this one. Our "hero" does cross the line with the out-and-out... scene which was not necessary to the story. After that, he does not redeem himself (could anyone??) nor deserve her forgiveness and love. Her "transgressions" that he perceived are nowhere near that serious; this goes beyond the typical "misunderstanding" angle usually involved in a good story.
Probably [this] occurred more often than we'd like to believe in that time period, but that doesn't mean I want to read about it or that I will like the character(s).
I am now starting the "Bride" Trilogy with "The Sherbrooke Bride"...I am happy to say so far, so good!
Rating:
Summary: "Hero" crossed the line
Review: I have enjoyed Coulter's books very much. But I, too, am not keeping this one. Our "hero" does cross the line with the out-and-out... scene which was not necessary to the story. After that, he does not redeem himself (could anyone??) nor deserve her forgiveness and love. Her "transgressions" that he perceived are nowhere near that serious; this goes beyond the typical "misunderstanding" angle usually involved in a good story.
Probably [this] occurred more often than we'd like to believe in that time period, but that doesn't mean I want to read about it or that I will like the character(s).
I am now starting the "Bride" Trilogy with "The Sherbrooke Bride"...I am happy to say so far, so good!
Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't put it down, sad when I finished!
Review: I love the characters, the way they re-emerge as friends of new characters. The leading men and women are so mean, good, loving, spunky and passionate. I'm currently searching for and reading all her books. Don't know what I'll read once I'm caught up.
Rating:
Summary: Deserves a ZERO in my opinion
Review: I read this book, because I had read "The Scottish Bride" and found it to be a decent enough read. If THIS book is an example of Catherine Coulter, (and my friends say it is) then it is the LAST one of hers I will ever read. The "hero" sees the heroine, wants her, and forces her to marry him against her will. He stalks her for months before succeeding in dragging her to the altar. Then he is angry because she doesn't want to sleep with him, in spite of the fact that she had TOLD him over and over again that she does not want him. So he decides that the only way to "help" her with her fear of intimacy is - get this - to disguise himself, kidnap and rape her. Yeah, that's a wonderful way to overcome a woman's fear of sex!!!! So, when he is "helping her", he discovers that she is not a virgin, and becomes so enraged at this "betrayal" (there are rules, you see, and a woman must ALWAYS be a virgin. The hero can have sex with half the population, both before and after the marriage, but a woman has to be pure, or SHE is a slut) that he brutalizes her into a catatonic state. After he has dragged her home, (still plotting revenge against the woman who HE has forced to marry him and raped) he discovers that the reason she was not a virgin was because she was raped as a child. He then runs around saying "How terrible!What kind of man rapes a child?" Yes, it is SOOOO much more honorable to rape a woman. THIS is a hero? THIS is a good man? THIS is what a woman should want? This is a sociopath, who should be locked away from society. I find it especially ironic that in "The Scottish Bride" Ms. Coulter's villain was a man who tried to force a woman to marry him by raping her. The hero is a gentle man, who saves her. How does she reconcile this with her other heroes, who apparently see no problem with using force to get the women they want. It is a pity that the ratings don't have "negative" stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Got better - but for me this was a tough read!
Review: I really love Coulter novels so it is difficult to rate anything less than a 4 or 5 star. However, this book just was hard to enjoy - it started off just great - Julien meets this beautiful young lady, Kate and is immediately taken with her. He is bored with his rakish life and decides she will be his bride. Kate is also taken with Julien as a friend, and a beautiful friendship ensues. So what happened, that is what is so difficult - Kate never wants to marry anyone and becomes a total shrew! I mean there are just no endearing qualities with Kate until about 250 pages or more later!! Julien tries every single way possible to change her mind. He knows that she has suffered miserable abbuse at the hands of her father, so his first act is to get her away to London. Most of the things Julien does for Kate are truly for her own well being. He is totally besotted over her - they eventually marry - although he has to trick her into that. Nothing he does, no act of kindness nor any gifts, nothing works Kate is just cold and nasty toward her now husband!! Of course Julien has no idea the depths of Kate's problems with feelings and men - and what he does probably offends most of the readers the most. Not that I condone Julien for raping his wife - even though she is blindfolded and does not know it is him. However after all the wonderful things he has done - this is actually when the book finally gets interesting and the characters finally begin to interact emotionally. I believe by now we are well into the second half of the book!! Julien is so full of anquish over what he has done - Kate is so full of remorse for allowing her body to actually enjoy the rapist. And of course Julien is realing from the reality that his virgin bride was not a virgin. Well there are many more things to come and most importantly Julien finally is able to get Kate to come to grips with what has haunted her - the act of being raped and blamed as a young girl! But then once again Kate when she should have been seeking out this wonderful man for sollace and strength - she again becomes a shrew and sends him on his way. Why she changes her mind - I have no idea. For Julien's sake I am glad she did but boy - like I said this was a tough tough read!!!
Rating:
Summary: I threw away the book!
Review: I usually like Coulter's books, but this one doesn't even deserve one star. It starts off great, the chemestry between the characters is interesting, but sadly it goes way down hill from there. After we get to London the book drags. London is for the most part boring. I had to force myself to read on, thinking it would get better, it HAD to get better. I didn't. It got worse, A LOT worse. The rape scene was disgusting and distrurbing and totally uncalled for. The book could have picked up and been a farely decent book, but alas that was not to be. I couldn't even force myself to finish the book, that was how disturbed I was. I read to the point were the hero feels bad for what he did. Of course he does! But regret means nothing. I actually threw away the book. It went in the trash and to the dump. I never throw away books, never, but this one I didn't want it and I wasn't about to try to give it to anyone, the trash seemed like the best place for it.
Rating:
Summary: Five stars for craft, zero for appeal
Review: I've got to agree with the reviewers who think rape has no place in a romance novel, particularly rape committed by the "hero." What outraged me the most about this facet of the book isn't the rape per se, however, it's the fact that Coulter would have us believe that the "hero"/rapist is able to give the heroine an orgasm while she'd tied down, blindfolded, and doesn't know it's her husband attacking her. What a sickeningly repellant thing to write! I've loved some of Coulter's other work, but this offended me deeply. (I'm getting to the point where I want to approach any book of hers with a whip and a chair, not sure whether I'm going to find a pussycat or an angry tiger between the covers!) To give the devil its due, I have to admit that I couldn't put The Rebel Bride down. It's extremely well-crafted; any aspiring writer could learn a lot from the way Coulter keeps the plot racing along, totally centered on the two main characters and their conflict. There's not a dull moment, nor a bland one, though the emotions the text evokes are often very unpleasant ones. Given the subject matter, however, they're not as bad as they might have been; more along the lines of uneasiness and distress than outright horror. I guess my overall feeling is: Read it at your own risk!
Rating:
Summary: Five stars for craft, zero for appeal
Review: I've got to agree with the reviewers who think rape has no place in a romance novel, particularly rape committed by the "hero." What outraged me the most about this facet of the book isn't the rape per se, however, it's the fact that Coulter would have us believe that the "hero"/rapist is able to give the heroine an orgasm while she'd tied down, blindfolded, and doesn't know it's her husband attacking her. What a sickeningly repellant thing to write! I've loved some of Coulter's other work, but this offended me deeply. (I'm getting to the point where I want to approach any book of hers with a whip and a chair, not sure whether I'm going to find a pussycat or an angry tiger between the covers!) To give the devil its due, I have to admit that I couldn't put The Rebel Bride down. It's extremely well-crafted; any aspiring writer could learn a lot from the way Coulter keeps the plot racing along, totally centered on the two main characters and their conflict. There's not a dull moment, nor a bland one, though the emotions the text evokes are often very unpleasant ones. Given the subject matter, however, they're not as bad as they might have been; more along the lines of uneasiness and distress than outright horror. I guess my overall feeling is: Read it at your own risk!
Rating:
Summary: Five stars for craft, zero for appeal
Review: I've got to agree with the reviewers who think rape has no place in a romance novel, particularly rape committed by the "hero." What outraged me the most about this facet of the book isn't the rape per se, however, it's the fact that Coulter would have us believe that the "hero"/rapist is able to give the heroine an orgasm while she'd tied down, blindfolded, and doesn't know it's her husband attacking her. What a sickeningly repellant thing to write! I've loved some of Coulter's other work, but this offended me deeply. (I'm getting to the point where I want to approach any book of hers with a whip and a chair, not sure whether I'm going to find a pussycat or an angry tiger between the covers!) To give the devil its due, I have to admit that I couldn't put The Rebel Bride down. It's extremely well-crafted; any aspiring writer could learn a lot from the way Coulter keeps the plot racing along, totally centered on the two main characters and their conflict. There's not a dull moment, nor a bland one, though the emotions the text evokes are often very unpleasant ones. Given the subject matter, however, they're not as bad as they might have been; more along the lines of uneasiness and distress than outright horror. I guess my overall feeling is: Read it at your own risk!
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