From Publishers Weekly
Medieval England provides the background for Coulter's latest spirited romance, a tale that pits willful young heiress Hastings of Trent against her new husband, doughty warrior Severin of Langthorne. The union has been decreed by Hastings's dying father, the Earl of Oxborough, to save her?and the castle and estate?from the evil depredations of Richard de Luci. As de Luci's forces advance on the castle, Severin consummates the marriage with practical dispatch. He explains away his harsh commands and brutal deflowering expedient behavior (if Hastings is no longer a virgin, de Luci cannot claim her as a bride), but Hastings feels she has been raped. Seeking counsel from several older women, she is told she must change her attitude and try to please her husband. She takes their advice and, to her surprise, Severin's behavior toward her changes dramatically. Then, just as the relationship begins to grow, beautiful Lady Marjorie, Severin's long-lost first love, arrives at the castle, perhaps, Hastings fears, to try to win Severin back. Compounding her worries is her discovery that the earl had maintained a mysterious second household at Rosehaven, a keep on the English coast. After an angry confrontation with Severin about Marjorie, Hastings sets out alone to find Rosehaven. The secret of the secluded castle is part of the requisite happy ending, but Coulter's (The Valentine Legacy) portrayal of an abusive husband as a romantic hero may leave some readers less than pleased. Although it is presented in the context of the era, her suggestion that a woman can, by changing her behavior, alter the pattern of abuse in a relationship is frightening. The notion that a physically brutal man can be tamed by an intelligent wife is difficult to accept. Major ad/promo; Doubleday Book Club main selection; Literary Guild featured alternate; author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--Ce texte provient d'une édition qui n'est plus publiée ou qui est non diponible.
From Kirkus Reviews
To her usual successful mix of romance, humor, and spicy sex talk (think Wife of Bath with a pinch of dominatrix), the author of the Legacy trilogy (The Valentine Legacy, 1995, etc.) adds a rather substantial leavening of Disney-esque animal characters to a story set in 1277 England. They include Gilbert the castle goat, who gives milk and eats gauntlets; Edgar the Wolfhound (to whom Severin of Langthorne ties Hastings, his young wife, when he wants to humiliate her); Alfred, the huge housecat and familiar of Hastings's teacher, a recluse called the ``Healer'' who hates all men until she's smitten with Severin's man Gwent (``that lack-witted oxhead''); and Trist, the cute marten who cuddles beneath Severin's tunic. Besides comic relief, Trist's loving presence signifies to Hastings that the fierce-looking stranger to whom she's been betrothed isn't the scary warrior she first imagines. Severin has just returned from the Crusades to find his brother dead, his mother mad, and his estate penniless. With the blessing of King Edward, he has come to Oxborough Castle in East Anglia to wed Hastings, an heiress. He wants a sweet submissive wife who will give him an heir and leave him alone. Instead, he finds a strong-willed young woman well versed in self-preservation and herbal healing. (Borla root in ale makes a ``manhood'' flaccid; mugwort and primrose heal a swollen nose.) Beneath the usual conventions of the genre and some spirited good humor is Coulter's standard grim underpinning of domestic violence and marital rape--though this time, while not dispensing with them, she does suggest that men are not as deadly as they seem, especially if skillfully handled. Standard bawdy fare, Coulter-style, though the violence may offend the growing number of romance readers who are dissatisfied with rape in any form. (Literary Guild featured alternate; Doubleday main selection; author tour) --
Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
--Ce texte provient d'une édition qui n'est plus publiée ou qui est non diponible.
