Wednesday, January 6, 2010

A-Z Wednesday: The Valentine Legacy by Catherine Coulter

TItle: The Valentine Legacy
Author: Catherine Coulter
ISBN: 0515118362
Publisher: Jove Books/1996
Pages: 406

Book Blurb

In the early 1820s, horse racing was a down and dirty sport. James Wyndham, who owns racing stables in both England and America, finds his racing nemesis in red-haired Jessie Warfield, renowned hoyden and champion jockey, who knows as many dirty racing tricks as James does. When either wins a race, the other's nose gets rubbed in the dirt.

Jessie has known James for six years, since she was fourteen years old. She often wants to kick him for the way he treats her, but more importantly, she adores him. She just doesn't know how to show it.

When chance throws Jessie out of a tree, landing her on top of James, she is pronounced Ruined. When she decided to run, she really goes for it, all the way to England, to James's cousins Marcus and Duchess Wyndham...James arrives, laden with guilt, to find a Jessie who sounds like the old Jessie but isn't. Jessie has undergone a transformation worthy of Pygmallion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A female jockey in historical settings does make an interesting read, what with weird set of characters and a pirate's wisdom thrown in at good measure. The hero and the heroine are well suited. I liked the sparring conversation and als those other characters who are bent on getting them married. The book did drag in the middle a bit and that can be set right by skipping those pages. A good one time satisfying romance.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sometimes skimming over slow parts is the best thing to do :)

Nise' said...

Enjoyed this series long ago.

Beth said...

Sounds like a book I would like.

Anonymous said...

I don't think I've ever read a romance about jockeys. I may have to see if the library has it.

Laurel-Rain Snow said...

I keep planning to read Catherine Coulter. Some of my friends adore her books.

My V book is here:

http://weboftyranny.blogspot.com/2010/01/z-wednesday.html

Unknown said...

I always skip the slow parts :)

Anonymous said...

I am finding my life is finally slowing down a bit. I hope to read several books this winter. I normally read fiction but I think I will concentrate on more non-fiction for a change. Do you have one you would like to recommend?

Irene said...

thanks for stopping by. I need to read more romance, and I always seem to enjoy your picks.

Anonymous said...

Sounds very good!

Thanks for playing!

Kristen said...

This sounds like a good one. I am a sucker for Pygmalian stories. I'll have to see if I already have it in my stash. ::fingers crossed::

me again said...

My MIL loves loves loves Catherine Coulter! I'll have to ask her if she's read this one.
Here's my V book, if you want to have a peek.
:-)
==lennie==