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- Romance - |
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The Courtship |
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 The Courtship byCatherine Coulter 341 pages, 2000 Penguin Putnam (Jove Publications) ISBN 0515127213 Reviewed by Charlotte Austin Read our interview with Catherine Coulter The Courtship, the latest historical romance novel by bestselling author Catherine Coulter, is all about falling head over heels in love at the most unexpected moment. Harriet Klausner’s five-star review neatly sums it up as "Catherine Coulter at her best". Indeed, it is Coulter’s best as she describes a fun, witty and erotic battle of the sexes. Readers were introduced to Spencer Heatherington, Lord Beecham, the handsome womanizer and bachelor in The Sherbrooke Bride (1992), and to Lady Helen Mayberry, the beautiful, statuesque and intelligent amazon, owner of her own tavern in Mad Jack (1999). Set in 1811 England, The Courtship now reunites the two in an unlikely partnership bound for a treasure quest known as the mystical King Edward’s lamp. Spencer Heatherington overhears an explicit conversation on discipline between two ladies and becomes convinced that Helen only wants to make love with him. When she explains that she needs him to be her partner in the treasure quest, he is bitterly disappointed. No woman alive has refused his advances yet, and he teases Helen in exchanging opinions on discipline. Before long, the two fall desperately in love and Spenser asks Helen to marry him. Helen, already married to a spouse who has disappeared, has no choice but to refuse Spencer's proposal. Explicit yet beautifully written love scenes abound as romantic tensions mount. What is the elusive power of the lamp and will it ever be found? Does the lamp really exist at all? Intrigue, murder and mystery unfold, accompanied by the accurately portrayed politics and attitudes of the times. The reader will also relish several sub-plots - from Lady Mayberry’s father who sets off to invent the mimosa cocktail, to the young servant Flock who can't marry Teeny because of what their names would mean together - each one carefully designed to answer the timeless question, "what is Romance". The Courtship is a beautiful love story, masterfully told. Vintage Coulter. Also by Catherine Coulter: Mad Jack The Cove The Maze The Target The Bride Trilogy The Sherbrooke Bride The Hellion Bride The Heiress Bride The Viking Trilogy Lord of Hawkfell Island Lord of Raven's Peak Lord of Falcon Ridge The Legacy Trilogy The Wyndham Legacy The Nightingale Legacy The Valentine Legacy |
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