The Wyndham Legacy

Legacy #1

by Catherine Coulter

Marcus Wyndham never asked to become the Earl of Chase. The Duchess never asked to be illegitimate. And neither of these two asked that their fates become so entwined.

Marcus is passionate, quick to rage, just as quick to laughter. He's tough, opinionated, domineering, known as the devil's own son. The Duchess is serene and aloof -- she has silence down to a fine art. She is always in control, her smiles as rare as bawdy jests in the pulpit. She is self-reliant once she realizes that a very special talent can make her so, a talent no one suspects.

Surrounding this unlikely pair are three servants cast in the Shakespearean mold: Spears, Badger, and Maggie -- all cocky, smart, good plotters and better friends, who don't know the meaning of subservient.

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Regency, Mystery

392 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 4, 1994

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Before Coulter began writing contemporary romantic suspense and other thrillers, she wrote steamy historical fiction romances, this is one of the latter. 2.5 stars. It's been a long time since I've read any of this type in the genre. The sex scenes are more explicit than I care for and I could have done with less of them. Outside of that, the story was a typical romance that pits the two would be lovers against one another. In this case an unwanted marriage between two people whose pride stands in the way of acknowledging their feelings for one another. Pretty standard fare, with the heroine having the upper hand most of the time until some mysterious accidents start to occur. The legacy of the title is a supposed treasure that was hidden in medieval times, and it is not introduced until the latter half of the story, which is where the pace of the story begins to pick up and gain interest.

[Obsidian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Trigger warning: Rape.

I read this for Romance Book Bingo: Wedding Bells square. If I have to read this horrible book I am going to make it count towards something.

Lord. Some of my favorite romance reads do not age well at all. Can we just say right now, that forceful marital relations (rape) between the hero and heroine is just appalling and gross to read about. I get it, those were the times, but I don't want to read about it if I can help it. Marcus sucked and I wanted the Duchess to run off and leave his butt somewhere. Plus they were first cousins and no, just a thousand times no. My gross out sentiment was running high while I was reading this. And the Duchess also drugs and forces the hero to marry her and man I don't think I am on anyone's side in this.

The Wyndham Legacy follows Marcus (hero) and the Duchess (heroine). We find out that the Duchess is the illegitimate daughter of the Earl of Chase. He instructs his daughter she is to marry the new Earl of Chase, her cousin Marcus and Marcus doesn't inherit if he doesn't marry the Duchess. We have the American side of the family coming over thinking they will get some money (oh joy, terrible Americans) and this whole book was a who who of who do you hope gets it first.

I don't even get this book. Marcus who does rightfully have a bone to pick with the Duchess drugging him and marrying him against his will is just terrible. He rapes his new wife twice and verbally abuses her almost until the end of the book. One time when he threatens her she defends herself and knocks him unconscious. I recall in later books they are all in love, but did I just block this mess out when I was a teenager? I hope I wasn't swooning over this mess. Man, I probably did. I am just going to hang my head in shame right now.

The Duchess is called that since she is aloof and cold. Well shoot, you get why quick and in a hurry why she acts this way. It's a defense mechanism from Marcus and others who would hurt her. Him goading her in order to get her to break was way too "The Taming of the Shrew" for me. You get repeated references to the Duchess being a bastard which somehow means she is less than any other human being in the room at any one time. I wish she had told Marcus to pound sand.

There are "love" scenes, I skipped over them so I can't tell you much about them.

Secondary characters are so paper thin and evil you have to wonder why in the world Marcus and the Duchess even let them anywhere near them. The only saving grace were the servants in this one. They needed to just kill everyone and take over the estate.

The plot is really just about the fact that Marcus and the Duchess could lose their sizable inheritance if they don't stay married. The whole book is just people trying to off them. The flow is bad, we just go from one awful scene to another when eventually Marcus is all sorry about all those times I raped you.

The ending was just a quick wrap up of things, and also of Marcus and the Duchess being in love.

[MelissaB · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let's see...Why is this a wall-banger?

Oh yeah, the hero and heroine were first cousins. Strike One.

The hero is verbally and physically abusive. Strike Two.

Heroine was a doormat, well at least until the hero abused her so much that she broke and started hitting him with her boot when he raped her. Strike Three, you're out and in the wall-bangers!

[Luana ☆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trigger warning: rape and miscarriage

This author writes her books in a very similar fashion (this is the 2nd for me), only the characters change the names and a few nuances in plote...

I think she must hate women for her heros are not only alpha, they are beasts! This hero here, if you can call him that, said sooo many horrid things to the heroine that I was enraged.

And to save the idiot hero from losing everything she forced him into marriage, yes, she drugged him and forced him to do it, and besides that, she was afraid he would find a way to reverse what she did if they did not consummate their marriage, so she raped him. Doesn't matter that she didn't know what she was doing. Rape is rape.

This had the same kind of line as "The Sherbrooke bride" book. The hero is a beast when he does not get what he wants, the way he wants it, there's someone trying to hurt someone in the family, there's miscarriage and a whole lot of alpha attitude.

Maybe this only got a bad rating because I read another one from her not long ago. I don't know. Again, I only read it because it was an audiobook.

[Fani *loves angst* · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't be impartial about this because blandly put Coulter's humor, just like Julie Garwood's, doesn't work for me at all. Had I known this was more on the humorous rather than the angsty side, I'd never have picked it to begin with.

Impartially though, the heroine had little to recommend her in the first half of the book. For the first 100 pages she only reacts with nods and single line answers to her encounters with every person she meets, including the hero, even when she's insulted. Such a cold fish, I've rarely met before. And then to make matters worse, she proceeds to drug and force to marriage a man who has said to her face that he doesn't want her!

Disgusted as I was with her at that point, Coulter did turn the tables on me and made me more sympathetic to her in the second half, mainly by making the hero a brute. At this point, I felt those two totally deserved each other. And just when some angst was starting to come out of their struggles and making me interested, the humor crept in. Well, the book lost me at that point. I believe however, that this is where things got interesting for most readers who actually liked the book.

If you like Garwood's humor and bodice rippers, this is a good mix of both of them, along with a really good and hard to solve mystery. If you like crazy servants that intervene in their lords' lives and make you laugh out loud, again, this is the book for you. A note though, that the hero and heroine are first cousins and though that was not frowned upon at that time, some readers might still feel repulsed by this detail.
If you however don't like any of the above tropes, you may skip this with no regrets whatsoever.

[Maggie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Normally I love Catherine Coulter novels but this book was horrible.


I have major problems with the relationship between Marcus and the Duchess. In at least two scenes, there is non consensual sex between the couple. It is NOT romantic when the Duchess says, "No" and tells Marcus that he is hurting her but he takes her anyway. I would call that rape.

Second, why is there so much violence between the two? I understand the idea of a fiery passion but this is flat out domestic violence. The duchess literally hits Marcus so hard that he is knocked unconscious.

On top of all this, Marcus is horribly nasty and verbally abusive to the Duchess. In the last 50 pages or so, she grows a spine and starts standing up for herself but its hard to really see her as a strong character after she's put up with so much crap.

Let's also not forget the whole withholding of the seed to prevent the Duchess from carrying his heir. Then he is such a jerk about her getting pregnant but its supposed to be okay because he spends one page in the entire novel apologizing for it later. Yuck.


What a disappointment.

[midnightfaerie · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's been a while since I read Coulter and I used to like her stuff but this one I didn't enjoy. The male lead was so incredibly mean to the girl that it was hard to stomach the girl "just forgiving him because that's who he is". This book made me very sad and I could feel the anguish and pain the girl felt that the man caused. I liked the treasure hunt but I felt it was just thrown in at the end for another plot line, as well as his mother, a character I really liked but hardly got the time of day. Overall, not one of my favorites, but won't give up on Coulter yet.

[TJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gosh, what a beautifully developed story! The "Duchess" was exquisitely portrayed and uniquely written. One can't help but ache for the sweet but devastated girl and for the woman she became. Marcus was much harder to connect with and I found him to be very hard to like. He NEVER apologized for his horrible, viscous mouth and behavior, nor did he ever really try to understand his wife. That made reading the book very hard at times and I was certainly tempted to just throw the book at the wall more than once. Still, the knowledge that Ms.Coulter would somehow make it right in the end keeps one reading until everything comes around and we can sigh and smile as we close the last page!

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Duchess" Wyndham is the illegitimate daughter of the late earl, and finds herself instructed to marry the new earl in order to keep her inheritance.

Oh man, what an ass Marcus is. To be honest, I kept rooting for the Duchess to tell him to f&^% off and go find herself a real man, not a sniveling hateful brat. I loved how she basically beat him into unconsciousness during one of his particularly assy mouth-offs. I did like the Duchess though, especially since her calmness infuriated Marcus so much. It was nice to see a heroine who is able to keep her emotions in check instead of some of the other pathetic heroines in old-school historical romances. There is really no way that the Duchess should ever have fallen in love with Marcus. A pity.

[Karen Darling · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was too much for me. I don't plan on reading anymore books by this author. The hero verbally abused the heroine. The heroine physically abused the hero. The heroine had nine lives. The heroine survived being bashed over the head, pushed down the stairs, and being shot. Also, I thought that the little ditties that she wrote were dumb.

[Katherine ang · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was fun. I wish Maggie and Mr. Sampson's love story was hinted at the book. They just immediately announced that they will be getting married without knowing their story. Also, Mr. Sampson didn't had a lot of exposure here. I expected a lot from him because he was such a charming character at The Valentine Legacy, which I read first before this book. Also, in the Valentine Legacy, the peacocks played quite an interesting role. However, they didn't appear whatsoever in this book. Hmmmnn. The main characters were very enjoyable. The scene that I love most was when Marcus took care of the Duchess when she was ill. I felt his anguish and anxiety at that time.

[Jaime · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve never read Catherine Coulter and don’t read a lot of historical romance, but I enjoyed this. Most of the book was banter between the Duchess and Marcus, and you found yourself cheering them to succeed. And Aunt Wilhelmina was just about the best “evil relative” I’ve ever read — more comic relief than anything else. The “Wyndham Legacy” was mostly just a diversion from the love story, but the ending was a surprise.

[M.A. Levi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The wyndam legacy is a superb read. The plot was good, the characters had there own special flare. Then the plot thickens within the mystery dealing with in the Ruling of Henery the 8th and it's long lost treasure. The romance between hero and heroine was also a passionate fullfilment within the plot. Along with the loving Romance, and Of course the True love They find.

[Heidi (can’t retire soon enough) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite Coulter novel — it was an explosion of HF plot twists... orphans, surprise wills, treasure, long lost cousins. And a throughly bad tempered leading man. And a leading lady that wasn’t my kind of chick until the last third of the book.

But, if you can get past the first half and all of those cliched plot devices, the second half is a pretty good read.

[Sheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the one hand I appreciate the fact that Coulter doesn't constantly bash me over the head with anachronisms the way some romance authors do. The fact that I've done very little research on the Regency era helps, but I know even less about the Medieval era and I've read Medieval romances that were still wallbangers from the anachronisms. The only anachronisms I noticed in this book were the usual ignoring of stays and the use of the phrase “Siamese Twins” a few years too early. The original Siamese Twins were Chang and Eng Bunker, who were born in 1811, and using that term for conjoined twins only goes back to 1829, when British entrepreneur Robert Hunter sent Chang and Eng off on a highly publicized world tour. Does anyone care about that anachronism but me? Probably not.

When it comes to anachronisms more people care about, I still cannot imagine a proper mother-in-law in any western society blithely reminding her son of one of his assignations right in front of his new bride, and I suspect people in the Regency era would have particularly frowned on such a thing. Perhaps I would buy it if said mother-in-law were doing it to deliberately hurt or offend, or if she were a consistently crude person, of the sort who insists that sexual things are no more meaningful than eating and insists everyone be perfectly blunt on the subject, but in this case the mother-in-law approves of her daughter-in-law and is not known for being crude or tactless.

While Coulter plays it for laughs, I also can't imagine a proper woman taking a whip to her husband, nor taking off her riding boot and beating him with it, nor a husband hiring an actress to make his wife jealous. I will put up with novels shrugging off blows that knock people unconscious as no big deal, and guys punching each other in the face with bare fists without breaking things because both of those are such a standard trope, but inter-relational violence is far from standard and does not work for me. Yet another example of why I do not share Coulter's sense of humor.

But while Coulter has some screwy views on sex and violence, she still manages to entertain me and to provide enough appealing characters and subplots I stick with her books. In this one the various servants, Badger in particular, are a large part of the appeal, while the subplot about the hidden treasure doesn’t hurt. I was initially drawn in by the very reserved heroine, however her “healing” (if you can call it that) is so dang unrealistic it’s a good thing the servants were coming to the fore right about then, because she was just irritating through much of the second half of the book.

People who cope with stress and scorn by retreat and control do not suddenly become passionate extroverts just because they fall in love with someone, particularly when said someone is associated with that past scorn and continues to attack them! Coulter is such a big believer in the healing power of love that it works even in relationships where both partners are denying their own love, and in relationships that are, to my mind, completely dysfunctional. Romances are fantasy and the healing power of love is part of that fantasy, but Coulter takes things way too far for me.

[Mauser · Rating 4 out of 5]

La prima volta che lessi questo libro me ne innamorai perché, a modo suo, è veramente sui generi e mi colpì come funzionasse così bene la trama.
Mediamente è la ragazza di turno ad essere volubile e un po' capricciosa e lui ad essere quello solido e tutto d'un pezzo temprato dalle asperità, qui invece l'economia della storia presenta un mix diverso. Lei è quella pragmatica (ma lo è per davvero, non come certe altre che lo dicono ma poi sono tutt'altro), cresciuta tra difficoltà economiche e maldicenze di essere la figlia bastarda che l'hanno resa non insensibile ma pacata, disinteressata nella speranza di essere lasciata in pace (a scuola dicono: lascia correre che poi si stufano di prenderti in giro... ecco com'è Duchessa). Lui, sebbene odiato dallo zio padre di Duchessa, è un uomo che nella vita ha sempre avuto parecchie certezze e sicuramente la più evidente è il proprio carattere testardo come un mulo, l'altra è che per colpa di Duchessa ha perso la sua eredità e la cosa non lo bendispone nei suoi confronti: ovviamente non è del tutto vero, la colpa in realtà è del padre di lei che dopo aver fatto credere fino alla fine al nipote che a lui sarebbe toccata la villa di famiglia, l'eredità e quant'altro, gli ha giocato l'ennesima cattiveria lasciandogli sì villa e titolo, ma non i soldi per mantenerla! E per aggravare le cose i soldi li lascia a lla figlia con il compromesso che non li può rifiutare. Chiaramente lui ci resta malissimo e la colpevolizza così, per fingere che non gli importi davvero parte militare in Francia e le dice un mucchio di cattiverie che, naturalmente, finiscono per irritarlo ancora di più non ottenendo risposta con urla, strepiti e pianti. Duchessa, da vera pragmatica quasi votata al sacrificio, gli propone di risolvere sposandosi tra loro, ma dovendo far valere la sua posizione da "non m'interessa l'eredità" lui la rifiuta e, sempre piùd esiderosa di fare la persona che fa la cosa giusta sempre, mette in piedi un trucco e lo costringe in modo che possa riavere le proprietà dovute e che secondo lei gli spettano. A questo punto la storia si evolve un po' come una bisbetica domata al contrario, viavia che lei smette di fare la brava moglie devota e placida, essendosi giustamente rotta le palle di fare sempre la cosa giusta ottenendone indietro insulti, disinteresse e cattiverie, inizia a reagire, strepitare, fare il diavolo a quattro e lui, che vede finalmente in lei la reazione umana, la tempesta emotiva tipica dei Wyndham, si affeziona, innamorandosi finalmente di lei (oppure ammettendolo, forse innamorato lo era fin da ragazzo), arrivando addirittura a provocarla per la pura e semplice ilarità della cosa.
Ben fatto. Bel romanzo, è giusto ogni tanto avere qualche eroina che sceglie la strada della reazione, è anche istruttivo perchè ogni tanto non si può sempre ingoiare il rospo, è giusto reagire e anche con una bella fiammata e far capire al mondo che non sempre si ha il diritto di metterci i piedi in testa solo perchè normalmente siamo posati, educati, gentili e poco fumini.
Anche se la seconda lettura è stata meno piacevole della prima resta un campione molto particolare di romance che consiglio, sebbene ogni tanto mi domandi quanto i due testardissimi Wyndham di questo libro siano borderline rispetto al bipolarismo.

[Cs · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am only about halfway through the book. I can usually read a book this size within a day or two, but this is going to drag on a bit longer. I do not care for either of the main characters or even some of the secondary characters. I will read the second & third books in the series only to see how the two secondary characters mentioned in this book fare.
I am having difficulty with how the hero in this story is such a jerk! I am also grossed out like most other readers by cousins marrying. Duchess is a shrew because others always treated her with disdain. I want to shout at all of them to get over themselves. Yes, life is hard and sometimes it sucks; but it is what you make it!
I believe this is the first book by Catherine Coulter I've read. As I stated earlier, it will not be the last, but I do think she meanders on in her writing style. It's as if she was paid more for the number of words rather than the quality.
One reviewer stated that the book gets better toward the end so I am holding out hope. And I have to see if my prediction about Trevor is correct.


***Finally finished...I have to agree with several other readers that the book did, in fact, get better in the second half. I was also right about my suspicions of Trevor.

[Amy Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this story. Marcus was terrible for most of the book, but Coulter does a great job showing why he is this way.
Her background on the Dutchess was wonderful.
Although I thought the first cousins was kindof gross, I know that was common at the time.

Marcus had been very cruel at times, when he realizes what he has done to the Dutchess emotionally, he does not skim over the degree of wounding he caused, but makes amends, and changes.

ThI liked the Dutchess' journey from cold reserve from deep pain to finally standing up for herself, I loved the scene in the barn.

I liked the things that Marcus would do to get her to show emotion, their interactions made up the most of the book, and it was delightful.

The mystery was done well and the villain a surprise.
Sometimes the mystery gets in the way and is almost irrelavent, this one was well done.
The supporting characters were VERY well done. The aunt Willie was terrible and absolutely hilarious.
All in all, a good read.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish @ 17%.

I tried to give this book a chance since it has been sitting on my shelf for years. I have been struggling to get into the flow of the story, and have found both the Duchess and Marcus irritating. I brought myself on over here to Goodreads to see if the story improves and have been less than surprised to find that it does not. In addition, there are some pretty heavy issues in here and while I understand Romance has come a long way as a genre, I don't really love the trope of forcing your wife/betrothed/whatever into intercourse for what feels like obvious reasons.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marcus is passionate, quick to rage, just as quick to laughter. He's tough, opinionated, domineering, known as the devil's own son. The Duchess is serene and aloof -- she has silence down to a fine art. She is always in control, her smiles as rare as bawdy jests in the pulpit. She is self-reliant once she realizes that a very special talent can make her so, a talent no one suspects.

[Patricia King · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Wyndham Legacy
Legacy Trilogy, Book 1
Catherine Coulter, author

I always enjoy Catherine's historical novels. This one was no exception. I simply loved Josephina and Marcus. So much chemistry between the two of them. I also enjoyed Josephina's protector's character. He was rather ingenious with all his talents. I look forward to continuing the series.

[Vickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Legacy series

I have read this series so many times I I have all of her books. I was searching and searching and searching because I knew those book I wanted to read. I knew the storyline it was but I forgot the title lo and behold. I found it again as well as having it in paperback, I have it on my e-book.

[nancy hines · Rating 2 out of 5]

Historical Bash!

Historical romance , my foot!!! What a disappointment! Mystery! Suspense!! This tale is not worthy of Coulter. The meandering plot is as boring as is the characters. Not worth bothering to read!

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t know, this book was a little abuse-y. It changed, I guess, but I did not feel comfortable with what was basically rape.
The story was dumb but the writing was ok. I’m going to avoid Coulter in future.

[ChanelBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://chanelbooks.blogspot.com/2017/...

[S Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Banter, mystery and romance!!
11/6/24 re-read still fun and entertaining; their speech pattern and bald statements make it funnier than most

[Debra McEathron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the way this author writes and I had read this book many years ago. It was still a great story and how you sometimes have to overcome great odds to get what you want in love and family.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more a review on Audibles version of this book, than on the story.

I rarely leave bad reviews, and I definitely do not like to leave reviews for narrators because listening to narrating is so subjective and personal. I even more rarely return a book, However after 3 1/2 hours of this narrator, Maggie McClellen, I just can’t take it anymore and I am returning the book. I’m thinking that this book was probably recorded a long time ago before narrators really started becoming a thing? She tries too hard and the thing is driving me crazy is she’ll say something and she’ll just speed through the end of the sentence. Ugh. Im really disappointed too because CC was always one of my favorite authors. This was my first audiobook attempt of hers. I will try another, but never ever again with this narrator.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Josephine goes every year to spend two weeks with her father. Her mom reminds her to stay away from the Earl wife and never tell anything about herself. Her cousin Marcus always picks on her and since she is quite and always in control, he calls her the Duchess.
Josephine receives a note that ride was coming for her in two weeks, and she will stay at Chase Manor. No ride came after a few weeks and she leaves the rented cottage. Marcus find out that nothing was done about the Duchess and goes in search of her. He finds her and she refuses to go with him.
Her father man of business finds her and gives her the details of her inheritance. And he did marry her mom after his wife died and made her official. She finds out that Marcus will lose everything if he doesn't marry her.
Will Marcus and the Duchess work through their problems and live happy ever after?

[미셸 (Undeniably Book Nerdy) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book for the first time in high school and I enjoyed it then. I've always remembered it too because of the heroine, Jospehina aka the Duchess, as the hero, Marcus, nicknamed her when she was nine (and he fourteen I believe) because of her "ice princess" demeanor (which she adopted upon learning she's illegitimate to protect herself).

I bought a used copy when I went to Powells in Portland earlier this month, and I reread it. I think I love it even more this second time around. I'm giving it 5 stars because it was such a romp. Marcus was your typical 90s hero in the beginning, but I liked him anyway. He does get better, and by the end I love him too. I've always loved the Duchess, and rereading made me remember why I love her so much. I can now with certainty say that she's one of my top favorite heroines in historical romance.