Rating: 
Summary: Ending should have been more substantial
Review: When I first bought this book, I must have read it about 5 times in a row. I really liked the story, however, I feel that Ms. Coulter should have spent more time on the ending of this book. There were too few pages between the time that the heroine finds her husband with his mistress and when he professes his love. The book started off really well, but the ending was a little dull.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but the hero goes off course
Review: When I first picked up this book, the plot summary on the back definitely intrigued me. I bought it hoping that it would be every bit as exciting and interesting as you would think it would be. An evil brother-in-law bent on defiling poor innocent Sabrina...an evil sister...a kind, but feeble grandfather who tries to keep the wolves at bay...Silly romantic that I am, I had visions of a fabulous hero racing to the rescue of a lovely maiden. If that's what I expected...Wow...was I ever disappointed!!The main character, Sabrina, was lacking on all counts. The constant descriptions of her as a skinny, unattractive girl outweighted by the length of her hair made me a little wary. I don't need a Kate Moss look-alike as a role model or heroine. Of course, looks aren't everything. A personality would've made up for everything else--but the "heroine" didn't have one!! I did not like the fact that Sabrina showed little spirit to evil Teresa Elliott's nasty, viper-like comments to her (Teresa was Sabrina's competition, in Theresa's own mind at least, for Viscount Mondevale). I kept thinking, "Come on, girl--show some spirit! Slap the hussy!" Also, it bothered me that she was so stupid that she felt she could conceivably spend five days alone with Phillip without her reputation being compromised. The book was completely untrue to the times, and lacked any historical authenticity. If a young, unmarried girl had been compromised, there would be no course of action except for her to marry the man responsible, and she would not have been such a fool as to protest under the premise of "not wanting him to be forced to marry her for something that wasn't his fault". The entire plot of the novel--Sabrina making Phillip an offer to marry HER--was very manipulative and poorly-conceived. It also bothered me the way so many of the characters called Sabrina a whore, harlot, etc. etc. repeatedly. That got quite tiresome! But, I felt no sympathy for the girl because it was not just stupid, it was absolutely moronic for her to think she could get away with spending time alone with a bachelor with a rogueish reputaiton and not be harmed by a hint of scandal! What was Catherine Coulter thinking when she wrote this book?? I felt the dialogue was very stilted. The characters' interaction with one another was extremely bland, without a touch of the passion I had come to expect from Catherine Coulter. Every word one character said to another had the feel of a badly-written script. I got no feel for who the characters really were, neither through dialogue nor their actions. I didn't even like the hero, Philip, of the novel. I thought it was in poor taste for Catherine Coulter to write him as frequenting his mistress's on his own wedding night. Whaaaaat??! He needed to show some personality, too. I have read other books by Catherine Coulter, and never did I imagine she would write such a book devoid of passion or characterization, but this is one such book. I guess there's always bad with the good, but if you are looking for a good read by her, I advise you not to pick up this book, because I think you will be disappointed as I was. She has so many other good books--read one of those instead!! I'm not ready to give up on her novels, but I know she can do better than this. What happened??
Rating:
Summary: A disappointment
Review: When I first picked up this book, the plot summary on the back definitely intrigued me. I bought it hoping that it would be every bit as exciting and interesting as you would think it would be. An evil brother-in-law bent on defiling poor innocent Sabrina...an evil sister...a kind, but feeble grandfather who tries to keep the wolves at bay...Silly romantic that I am, I had visions of a fabulous hero racing to the rescue of a lovely maiden. If that's what I expected...Wow...was I ever disappointed!! The main character, Sabrina, was lacking on all counts. The constant descriptions of her as a skinny, unattractive girl outweighted by the length of her hair made me a little wary. I don't need a Kate Moss look-alike as a role model or heroine. Of course, looks aren't everything. A personality would've made up for everything else--but the "heroine" didn't have one!! I did not like the fact that Sabrina showed little spirit to evil Teresa Elliott's nasty, viper-like comments to her (Teresa was Sabrina's competition, in Theresa's own mind at least, for Viscount Mondevale). I kept thinking, "Come on, girl--show some spirit! Slap the hussy!" Also, it bothered me that she was so stupid that she felt she could conceivably spend five days alone with Phillip without her reputation being compromised. The book was completely untrue to the times, and lacked any historical authenticity. If a young, unmarried girl had been compromised, there would be no course of action except for her to marry the man responsible, and she would not have been such a fool as to protest under the premise of "not wanting him to be forced to marry her for something that wasn't his fault". The entire plot of the novel--Sabrina making Phillip an offer to marry HER--was very manipulative and poorly-conceived. It also bothered me the way so many of the characters called Sabrina a whore, harlot, etc. etc. repeatedly. That got quite tiresome! But, I felt no sympathy for the girl because it was not just stupid, it was absolutely moronic for her to think she could get away with spending time alone with a bachelor with a rogueish reputaiton and not be harmed by a hint of scandal! What was Catherine Coulter thinking when she wrote this book?? I felt the dialogue was very stilted. The characters' interaction with one another was extremely bland, without a touch of the passion I had come to expect from Catherine Coulter. Every word one character said to another had the feel of a badly-written script. I got no feel for who the characters really were, neither through dialogue nor their actions. I didn't even like the hero, Philip, of the novel. I thought it was in poor taste for Catherine Coulter to write him as frequenting his mistress's on his own wedding night. Whaaaaat??! He needed to show some personality, too. I have read other books by Catherine Coulter, and never did I imagine she would write such a book devoid of passion or characterization, but this is one such book. I guess there's always bad with the good, but if you are looking for a good read by her, I advise you not to pick up this book, because I think you will be disappointed as I was. She has so many other good books--read one of those instead!! I'm not ready to give up on her novels, but I know she can do better than this. What happened??
Rating: 
Summary: Not Coulter's Best Work
Review: While I normailly find Catherine Coulter's work stunning, "The Offer" was a grave disappointment. This book is a re-write of "An Honorable Offer," published by Regency in 1981. I did not read the original and am now glad. I may have been angry with Coulter for changing the story. Phillip Mercerault (Viscount Derencourt) and Sabrina Eversleigh (second granddaughter of the Earl of Monmouth) are fairly good characters in and of themselves. As a couple, they just don't click. Other than the Viscount's kindness to Sabrina when they first meet, he has no endearing qualities to make the reader actually LIKE him and want the couple to get together. Thus, when he begins to act as a chauvanist, the reader wonders why Sabrina doesn't just pack up her broken heart and leave. When she professes to love him, he claims that she is simply hero-worshipping him. Other than her angry reactions to his infidelity and unsensitive nature, Coulter gives the reader no evidence that this is not true. When he suddenly "realizes" his love for her less than thirty pages from the end of the novel, it seems a farce. The heroine, Sabrina, is described fabulously at first--from her grandfather's adoration of her violet eyes, so like his late wife's, to her wild auburn hair. But when she becomes ill and disheartened, she is remarked simply as "skinny." Did Coulter's discriptive tastes end before the book did? While this read has spunk, I feel it has lost something vital to all historical romances in this re-written version. Believability.
Rating:
Summary: Not Coulter's Best Work
Review: While I normailly find Catherine Coulter's work stunning, "The Offer" was a grave disappointment. This book is a re-write of "An Honorable Offer," published by Regency in 1981. I did not read the original and am now glad. I may have been angry with Coulter for changing the story. Phillip Mercerault (Viscount Derencourt) and Sabrina Eversleigh (second granddaughter of the Earl of Monmouth) are fairly good characters in and of themselves. As a couple, they just don't click. Other than the Viscount's kindness to Sabrina when they first meet, he has no endearing qualities to make the reader actually LIKE him and want the couple to get together. Thus, when he begins to act as a chauvanist, the reader wonders why Sabrina doesn't just pack up her broken heart and leave. When she professes to love him, he claims that she is simply hero-worshipping him. Other than her angry reactions to his infidelity and unsensitive nature, Coulter gives the reader no evidence that this is not true. When he suddenly "realizes" his love for her less than thirty pages from the end of the novel, it seems a farce. The heroine, Sabrina, is described fabulously at first--from her grandfather's adoration of her violet eyes, so like his late wife's, to her wild auburn hair. But when she becomes ill and disheartened, she is remarked simply as "skinny." Did Coulter's discriptive tastes end before the book did? While this read has spunk, I feel it has lost something vital to all historical romances in this re-written version. Believability.
Rating:
Summary: Not all that bad when you think about it.
Review: While most of Coulter's books involve cruelty in one form or another, this one at least didn't leave me feeling gloomy. And for those who are shocked by the callousness of the 'hero,' was this really a surprise? If you've read any of Coulter's other stories, this would not come as a shock. It is, I guess, her style. (You can't expect an orange tree to grow from an apple seed, can you?) Men in her books often struggle with their conscience, always giving in to morality in the end. What else did you expect?
Rating: 
Summary: worst book
Review: Why is it that authors love to make the herione look like her grandmother or mother? The grandfather in this book did a terrible job of raising his grand children. No wonder the older sister Elizabeth turned out so bad. The grandfather showed favoritism to this granddaughter who looked like his dead wife, and he ignored the older sister. I heartily dislike the heroine. Oh, Please! She is so beautiful with auburn hair and violet eyes that every man she meets loves her. There was the Duke named Richard who acted like a lovesick puppy. He actually like Sabrina's blood off her finger when she accidentally jabbed herself with a needle. Of course the grandfather loves her more than anything (it seems like the grandfather is in love with her not just love her, it seems like he wish she was his wife instead of grandchild), and Philip loves her too. I wish I never bought this book. This was the worst heroine I ever read. I am tired of the heroine always being the apple of her father's eyes or grandfather's eyes. Why do the parents always love the heroine more than their other children? I just don't get it. Parents should love all their children not just one, this includes grandparents too.
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