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Nicholas Minnett Trilogy #1
The Captain's Woman
Together they rode the cresting waves of passion and peril...
His name was Nicholas Minnett. His wealth knew no limits, his daring no boundaries, his desires no taboos. Now he was threading his way through a maze of intrigue that stretched from the topmost level of English aristocracy to the turmoil of war-torn Paris, blazing a trail of conquests that led from the skilled sensuality of London’s reigning beauty to the elemental hunger of the most wanton daughter of the revolution.
Nicholas Minnett plunges into the darkest depths of danger in a world turned upside down by treachery and revenge as he desperately tries to reach and save the captivating, tantalizing, mysterious creature who alone enslaved his will and possessed his heart...
Praise for The Captain's Woman:
'Exciting!' San Francisco Review of Books
'Piquant, audacious, breakneck action!' Library Journal
Christopher Nicole’s novels have been read by millions all over the world. Born and raised in Georgetown, Guyana, he later attended colleges in Guyana and in Barbados. In his long prolific career, Nicole has published over 200 novels and non-fiction works.
His name was Nicholas Minnett. His wealth knew no limits, his daring no boundaries, his desires no taboos. Now he was threading his way through a maze of intrigue that stretched from the topmost level of English aristocracy to the turmoil of war-torn Paris, blazing a trail of conquests that led from the skilled sensuality of London’s reigning beauty to the elemental hunger of the most wanton daughter of the revolution.
Nicholas Minnett plunges into the darkest depths of danger in a world turned upside down by treachery and revenge as he desperately tries to reach and save the captivating, tantalizing, mysterious creature who alone enslaved his will and possessed his heart...
Praise for The Captain's Woman:
'Exciting!' San Francisco Review of Books
'Piquant, audacious, breakneck action!' Library Journal
Christopher Nicole’s novels have been read by millions all over the world. Born and raised in Georgetown, Guyana, he later attended colleges in Guyana and in Barbados. In his long prolific career, Nicole has published over 200 novels and non-fiction works.
- GenresHistorical
331 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 1976
46 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Nicole
219 books58 followersChristopher Robin Nicole was born on 7 December 1930 in Georgetown, British Guiana (now Guyana), where he was raised. He is the son of Jean Dorothy (Logan) and Jack Nicole, a police officer, both Scottish. He studied at Queen's College in Guyana and at Harrison College in Barbados. He was a fellow at the Canadian Bankers Association and a clerk for the Royal Bank of Canada in Georgetown and Nassau from 1947 to 1956. In 1957, he moved to Guernsey, Channel Islands, United Kingdom, where he currently lives, but he also has a domicile in Spain.
On 31 March 1951, he married his first wife, Jean Regina Amelia Barnett, with whom he had two sons, Bruce and Jack, and two daughters, Julie and Ursula, they divorced. On 8 May 1982 he married for the second time with fellow writer Diana Bachmann.
As a romantic and passionate of history, Nicole has been published since 1957, when he published a book about West Indian Cricket. He published his first novel in 1959 with his first stories set in his native Caribbean. Later he wrote many historical novels set mostly in tumultuous periods like World War I, World War II and the Cold War, and depict places in Europe, Asia and Africa. He also wrote classic romance novels. He specialized in Series and Sagas, and continues to write into the 21st century with no intention of retiring.
He signs his books as Christopher Nicole and uses several pseudonyms, some of them female. Pseudonyms used include: Peter Grange, Andrew York, Robin Cade, Mark Logan, Christina Nicholson, Alison York, Leslie Arlen, Robin Nicholson, C. R. Nicholson, Daniel Adams, Simon McKay, Caroline Gray and Alan Savage. He wrote disaster thrillers in collaboration with his wife, Diana Bachmann, under the penname Max Marlow. Under his different pseudonyms he has worked with many publishing houses: Jarrolds, Hutchinson, Simon & Schuster, Coward-McCann & Geoghegan, Jove, Michael Joseph, Mills & Boon, and Severn House.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christop... and
http://openlibrary.org/authors/OL1009...
On 31 March 1951, he married his first wife, Jean Regina Amelia Barnett, with whom he had two sons, Bruce and Jack, and two daughters, Julie and Ursula, they divorced. On 8 May 1982 he married for the second time with fellow writer Diana Bachmann.
As a romantic and passionate of history, Nicole has been published since 1957, when he published a book about West Indian Cricket. He published his first novel in 1959 with his first stories set in his native Caribbean. Later he wrote many historical novels set mostly in tumultuous periods like World War I, World War II and the Cold War, and depict places in Europe, Asia and Africa. He also wrote classic romance novels. He specialized in Series and Sagas, and continues to write into the 21st century with no intention of retiring.
He signs his books as Christopher Nicole and uses several pseudonyms, some of them female. Pseudonyms used include: Peter Grange, Andrew York, Robin Cade, Mark Logan, Christina Nicholson, Alison York, Leslie Arlen, Robin Nicholson, C. R. Nicholson, Daniel Adams, Simon McKay, Caroline Gray and Alan Savage. He wrote disaster thrillers in collaboration with his wife, Diana Bachmann, under the penname Max Marlow. Under his different pseudonyms he has worked with many publishing houses: Jarrolds, Hutchinson, Simon & Schuster, Coward-McCann & Geoghegan, Jove, Michael Joseph, Mills & Boon, and Severn House.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christop... and
http://openlibrary.org/authors/OL1009...
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 15, 2016
There are two ways to evaluate this book: either to take it 100% seriously, or enjoy it ironically, soaking in all the cliches and entirely shoehorned sexual encounters. Too bad it fails from either point of view.
I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if it wasn't a cock-eyed male fantasy with an unremarkable protagonist at the helm (ahoy! a pun). Nick Minnett is not even a remotely sympathetic creature; he has too much money and influence to ever be in genuine danger and he's completely tactless with regards to subterfuge, diplomacy, or just communicating like a normal person.
He even says it himself several times how he doesn't really possess faculties for love, just lust. How can a human being think that literally every woman from 15 to 50 wants to jump his bones from the instant they lay eyes on him? The women in Nick Minnett's life are insulting tropes, hitting all the stereotypes between the virgin and whore dichotomy:
* Caroline -- Basically date rapes Nick.
* Nick's sister Lucy -- She's complicit in Caroline's date rape scheme, and doesn't even seem to be remorseful.
* Seraphine -- Why go to France and not have a sexy French maid? Oh, she's your long time friend's wife? Whatever.
* Aurora -- I feel bad for Aurora, 'cause this girl does what she needs to do to survive in revolutionary France, and Nick could not be less sympathetic.
* Anne -- She's your girl next door. She says so little, and consequently never says anything to piss off Nick.
I get that this book's intended audience is not necessarily looking for three dimensional characters, and Nick's attitude and appreciation of the opposite sex is part of the package, but he is just not likable enough for me to surrender to the fantasy. Whenever he gets in trouble, he escapes out of pure luck or the intervention of third parties, and often the third parties are acquired due to his privilege as being basically heir to the Bank of Europe. The final scene in the book in particular was frustrating -- it had zero weight and was a by-the-numbers bookend for the exposition.
On the plus side for the book, there is indeed smut, albeit PG-13, so there's that; the book's back cover promise of 'his desires [knew] no taboos" goes pretty much unfulfilled. And there are actually some interesting scenes that utilize the backdrop of Paris in the French Revolution. The only downside to that backdrop is that, unless Mark Logan decided to play fast and loose with history (which, frankly, would've been interesting), things pretty much have to happen a certain way for tertiary characters like Queen Antoinette and make Nick's actions seem futile from the start.
So, as a piece of historical fiction, this could've gotten 3/5 stars, but I can't say I enjoyed reading most of it. I think a monkey randomly splicing the Wikipedia article on the French Revolution and some softcore smut from Penthouse could've made a more fun novel.
I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if it wasn't a cock-eyed male fantasy with an unremarkable protagonist at the helm (ahoy! a pun). Nick Minnett is not even a remotely sympathetic creature; he has too much money and influence to ever be in genuine danger and he's completely tactless with regards to subterfuge, diplomacy, or just communicating like a normal person.
He even says it himself several times how he doesn't really possess faculties for love, just lust. How can a human being think that literally every woman from 15 to 50 wants to jump his bones from the instant they lay eyes on him? The women in Nick Minnett's life are insulting tropes, hitting all the stereotypes between the virgin and whore dichotomy:
* Caroline -- Basically date rapes Nick.
* Nick's sister Lucy -- She's complicit in Caroline's date rape scheme, and doesn't even seem to be remorseful.
* Seraphine -- Why go to France and not have a sexy French maid? Oh, she's your long time friend's wife? Whatever.
* Aurora -- I feel bad for Aurora, 'cause this girl does what she needs to do to survive in revolutionary France, and Nick could not be less sympathetic.
* Anne -- She's your girl next door. She says so little, and consequently never says anything to piss off Nick.
I get that this book's intended audience is not necessarily looking for three dimensional characters, and Nick's attitude and appreciation of the opposite sex is part of the package, but he is just not likable enough for me to surrender to the fantasy. Whenever he gets in trouble, he escapes out of pure luck or the intervention of third parties, and often the third parties are acquired due to his privilege as being basically heir to the Bank of Europe. The final scene in the book in particular was frustrating -- it had zero weight and was a by-the-numbers bookend for the exposition.
On the plus side for the book, there is indeed smut, albeit PG-13, so there's that; the book's back cover promise of 'his desires [knew] no taboos" goes pretty much unfulfilled. And there are actually some interesting scenes that utilize the backdrop of Paris in the French Revolution. The only downside to that backdrop is that, unless Mark Logan decided to play fast and loose with history (which, frankly, would've been interesting), things pretty much have to happen a certain way for tertiary characters like Queen Antoinette and make Nick's actions seem futile from the start.
So, as a piece of historical fiction, this could've gotten 3/5 stars, but I can't say I enjoyed reading most of it. I think a monkey randomly splicing the Wikipedia article on the French Revolution and some softcore smut from Penthouse could've made a more fun novel.
Displaying 1 of 1 review