Valcourt Heiress, The by Catherine Coulter
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I am not at all sure I want to dignify this book with a review. I am utterly perplexed by all the 5-star reviews out there, and all I can say is this is SO not my genre. Romances (not the same thing as love stories in my categorization) are silly. This book is sillier than silly. I can’t call this historical fiction by any stretch of the imagination, so I have settled on fantasy. As far as romances go, this one was pretty tame with one utterly unbelievable sex scene. If I hadn’t been listening in the car, this would have been a did-not-finish at that point. It started out as a not bad adventure story, some cute characters, some humorous dialogue. But then it seemed to completely change direction in the second half with the appearance of Merry’s mother, a witch. Not just herbs and potions – but actual magic seemed to be involved. There’s a bit of mystery, and a twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. So two stars. Adequate entertainment if you just want a light read, but don’t set your expectations too high. There are apparently recurring characters from previous books in the “series”. I read this thinking it might be a fun read for my book club, as the library has it as a bookclub-in-a-bag kit. But no, I won’t be recommending it.
Book Description: When Garron of Kersey returns home from the king’s service to claim his title as Baron Wareham, he’s shocked to find Wareham Castle very nearly destroyed by a man called the Black Demon. According to the last starving servants still clinging to life inside the castle walls, the Black Demon was looking for silver belonging to Garron’s brother Arthur. Among his remaining servants is the enigmatic Merry, said to be the bastard child of the castle’s priest. Garron quickly realizes that she is much more than a servant: She reads and writes and makes lists, just as he does. Together they bring Wareham back to its former splendor. But this is only the beginning. Did Arthur have a cache of silver? Who is the Black Demon? And the biggest question of all: Who is Merry?
The Welsh Bookworm 