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Night Trilogy #3
Night Storm
Dear Reader, You met Alec Carrick in Night Fire. He returns full force-and believe me, this man's got force--in Night Storm, the third novel of the Night Trilogy which I wrote in the Fall of 1988. The Paxtons are shipbuilders in Baltimore. Alec Carrick is an English nobleman who wants to buy them out. Genny Paxton isn't at all what she seems. She dresses like "Eugene" and wants to build her own sailing ships without male interference. Alec, a man of great insight, knows exactly what lies beneath those britches. He gets Genny's goat more times than she can count. This is a love story filled with wit, humor, and outrageous circumstance. It's got more unexpected spins than a roulette wheel. Then there's five-year-old Hallie, Alec's daughter, a charmer who will take hold of your heart and never let go. Do enjoy Alec and Genny--and let me know which of the novels in the Night Trilogy you like best.
393 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
January 10, 2021
The hero is a misogynistic jackass of the nth degree and there is no redeeming him whatsoever. I pity the heroine who, like so many HP Greek tycoon H's, is led around by her nether parts.
Somewhere Lady Justice is waiting for the hero next to an ant hill with a jar of honey.
Somewhere Lady Justice is waiting for the hero next to an ant hill with a jar of honey.
October 6, 2010
Reviewed for THC Reviews
"2.5 stars" I first read Night Storm over 15 years ago, and have to admit that I remembered absolutely nothing about it. Since I normally recall at least bits and pieces of stories I enjoyed even years after I've read them, I figured that didn't bode well for my re-reading of this book, and I couldn't have been more correct. In spite of their arrogant heroes, I had mostly enjoyed the first two books of the Night Trilogy, even upon re-read, but I'm afraid Alec was more than I could handle. I'll get to that in a moment, but he wasn't the only thing that dragged this story down for me. One of my biggest issues was quite simply the quality of the writing. The author penned nearly the entire book in an extremely passive voice, using tons of “be” verbs which equals the dreaded telling not showing. I've seen this happen in other books from time to time, but in this case, it was so bad I felt like the characters weren't even really an active part of their own story. There wasn't much in the way of character introspection to help me understand their motives either. In my opinion, even the chemistry between the hero and heroine was virtually non-existent, and I as the reader failed to truly connect with either one. The pacing was really slow in places as well with a bit too much technical talk of ships and ship-building. Ofttimes the dialog between Alec and Genny went on a little too long and lacked a natural feel to it. A few times, I think it was meant to be amusing banter, but it simply wasn't all that funny. I also noticed that things would be meandering along, only to have some major event thrown in out of the blue, but then not really go anywhere plot-wise. Everything felt really contrived, like it just happened “because” rather than being carefully thought through. In my opinion, the story lacked an overall flow, and I ended up not surprised at all that I didn't remember it from my previous read. It simply was quite unremarkable.
Alec is possibly the most condescending, arrogant, chauvinistic jerk of a hero I have ever read. He claims to be a gentleman yet drags Genny, who he knew was a woman despite her being disguised as a man, to a brothel for a little voyeuristic “fun,” then isn't all that sympathetic toward her when what she saw made her physically ill. By today's standards, the man would probably be considered a sex addict. It seemed to me like the main reason he married both his first wife and Genny was because he couldn't control his lust. He is completely obsessed with Genny's breasts, and with sex in general. He seems to be constantly talking about it or engaging in it, to the point that it became a huge distraction to me as the reader. His naughty talk wasn't all that sexy to me, nor were his seductive methods. The first time he “pleasures” Genny it was little more than forced seduction to my way of thinking, with him basically saying, “I'm going to pleasure you and you're going to like it.” From there he calmed down a little, thankfully not forcing himself on her again until the very end when he gets into some bizarre snit after regaining his memory and repays Genny's kindness and gentleness toward him during the memory loss by literally ripping off her clothes and practically raping her (of course, the only thing that made it not be rape is the fact that she enjoyed it). At this point I'd had it with him, and didn't even care when he finally made an apology within the last pages of the book. His turnaround was just too sudden and too little, too late for me.
As if those things weren't enough, Alec just simply seemed very cold and distant, not like the type of man who would ever fall in love. Although he cared for his first wife and was affected by her death, he apparently never truly loved her, and I can't say that I came away from reading this story with any more conviction that he loved Genny. In fact, he never even said the words, “I love you.” The closest he got was telling Genny to say she loved him, and when she did, he said, “And I you,” which is pretty lame if you ask me. Alec also had a habit of bragging about his past exploits and all but parading them in front of Genny, only to behave sarcastically when she showed any jealousy. Now I don't mind the hero being a rake, but I absolutely don't want to read about that part of his life (at least not to that extreme an extent), nor have him finding women he's slept with in the past around every turn. He also had better be focused on the heroine once they meet, but in Alec's case, he bedded a prostitute twice after meeting and even sharing intimacies with Genny, and then very nearly did the same with a pretty widow, all of which I just couldn't stomach. Last but not least, I thought I might just be ill if the author told me one more time how incredibly “beautiful” Alec was and how all the ladies loved him. Even his little daughter wouldn't stop bragging about how “perfect” and “beautiful” he was even to the point that she said she herself couldn't measure up. Genny was no beauty either, but most romance heroes view the heroine as the most lovely woman in the world even if she is only passably pretty. Instead, Alec actually tells Genny that she's only passably pretty more than once, and even said the same to his daughter once (although I think it may have been meant in jest, though I don't recall anyone laughing), but to me, that's just an awful thing for a man to say to his wife and child under any circumstances. I freely admit that Alec wasn't the worst romance hero I've heard about, but for me, he was pretty insufferable. The only time I kind of liked him was when he'd lost his memory. He was still pretty arrogant, but at least he was treating Genny with some kindness and respect. Aside from that one comment to Hallie, he seemed to be a doting father to her, which in my opinion, was his only other redeeming quality.
Genny was a pretty feisty young woman whose father had taught her the ship-building business after his only son died, and then gave her free reign over it when he himself became ill. As such, she was a highly unconventional miss who had earned the disdain of both women and men alike for her habit of dressing in men's clothes when working in the shipyard. None of the men would do business with her either, because of her being a woman. I realize this was probably accurate on a historical level, but there have always been people in the various eras of history who have pushed the envelope and still found success working with other open-minded individuals. I felt like Genny was the target of misogyny on a lot of different levels. In my opinion, she never blossomed like she should, and could have. Instead, she was virtually subjugated by Alec who stifled her creativity, skill, and intelligence, rather than recognizing, respecting, and nurturing those qualities in a way that would have left her intact. Every time I thought he was going to allow her some latitude, he came back and metaphorically smacked her down again, reminding her harshly of her “woman's place.” I like that Genny had enough backbone to stand up to Alec in a argument, but her own base desires always put her right back under his thumb again. As such, I felt that although likable, she was a pretty one-dimensional character.
Night Storm, and all of Catherine Coulter's romances that I've read to date, are laced with a dark sexuality that borders on the erotic with acts such as exhibitionism, voyeurism, light bondage and forced seduction. I enjoy a good erotic romance occasionally, but Ms. Coulter's darker tone isn't really my cup of tea and probably one of the reasons I've had a hard time gaining a real liking for her work. This book is definitely written in the old bodice ripper style of the 1970's and 80's even though it was first published in 1990. If written differently, I might have liked Alec's initial “pleasuring” of Genny, but taking into account the fact that she'd said “No” about ten times, made it pretty distasteful to me. These types of “love scenes” just don't float my boat. Once Genny gave in to her passions, it seemed like she and Alec were mating like rabbits multiple times a day. With them going at it so much, there were a lot of the scenes that didn't have much in the way of details, but those that did generally felt rather dispassionate to me with the feelings never going any deeper than mere sex.
I really didn't care for all the arguments between Alec and Genny either. In fact, since there were no villains or anything else particularly major standing in their way, their own hardheadedness seemed to be the primary conflict in the story. During most of these episodes, I felt that Alec treated Genny in a rude, condescending way. Granted she was pretty feisty and could give back on some level, but I couldn't help thinking that if Alec had behaved toward her in a more respectful way, she might have responded to him better, which seemed to be born out during his memory loss. The thing that drove me crazy about them though was the constant back and forth in their relationship that went something like this: “I want you.” “No I don't.” “OK, now I'll have you.” “Now that I've had you, I don't want you anymore. Go away!” “No, I won't!” “Well, maybe I do still want you.” “Now, I'll have you again.” It all had me uttering the piratical interjection, “Aaaarrrgh!” more than once which seemed appropriate given the seafaring nature of the book.;-)
Night Storm didn't have many prominent secondary characters. Alec's daughter, Hallie, was really the only one. She was cute, but way too precocious for a five-year-old. As I already mentioned, I tired very quickly of her constant praises of her “perfect Papa.” I also found it a little disturbing that she had so much knowledge of Alec's various mistresses and occasionally even what they had been doing, albeit on a rather innocent level. One would think that a "gentleman" would be a little more discreet when his daughter was around. For fans of the series, Burke and Arielle from Night Fire put in a couple of quick appearances, and they give a brief update on what Knight and Lilly (Night Shadow) were up to.
As I'm sure readers can tell by now, Night Storm was a pretty frustrating read for me. In fact, the only thing that kept me from marking the star rating even lower than I did was that somehow, I managed to read it straight through without setting it aside, although I certainly felt like it a few times. If I'd had even an inkling of memory of what it was like I would not have wasted my time re-reading it. I was probably still suffering from traumatic amnesia from the first time I read it.;-) Since I generally liked Night Fire and Night Shadow, the first two books in the series, I may keep Night Storm around simply to have the complete matching set, but I will definitely be making a strong note to self never to bother re-reading it again.
"2.5 stars" I first read Night Storm over 15 years ago, and have to admit that I remembered absolutely nothing about it. Since I normally recall at least bits and pieces of stories I enjoyed even years after I've read them, I figured that didn't bode well for my re-reading of this book, and I couldn't have been more correct. In spite of their arrogant heroes, I had mostly enjoyed the first two books of the Night Trilogy, even upon re-read, but I'm afraid Alec was more than I could handle. I'll get to that in a moment, but he wasn't the only thing that dragged this story down for me. One of my biggest issues was quite simply the quality of the writing. The author penned nearly the entire book in an extremely passive voice, using tons of “be” verbs which equals the dreaded telling not showing. I've seen this happen in other books from time to time, but in this case, it was so bad I felt like the characters weren't even really an active part of their own story. There wasn't much in the way of character introspection to help me understand their motives either. In my opinion, even the chemistry between the hero and heroine was virtually non-existent, and I as the reader failed to truly connect with either one. The pacing was really slow in places as well with a bit too much technical talk of ships and ship-building. Ofttimes the dialog between Alec and Genny went on a little too long and lacked a natural feel to it. A few times, I think it was meant to be amusing banter, but it simply wasn't all that funny. I also noticed that things would be meandering along, only to have some major event thrown in out of the blue, but then not really go anywhere plot-wise. Everything felt really contrived, like it just happened “because” rather than being carefully thought through. In my opinion, the story lacked an overall flow, and I ended up not surprised at all that I didn't remember it from my previous read. It simply was quite unremarkable.
Alec is possibly the most condescending, arrogant, chauvinistic jerk of a hero I have ever read. He claims to be a gentleman yet drags Genny, who he knew was a woman despite her being disguised as a man, to a brothel for a little voyeuristic “fun,” then isn't all that sympathetic toward her when what she saw made her physically ill. By today's standards, the man would probably be considered a sex addict. It seemed to me like the main reason he married both his first wife and Genny was because he couldn't control his lust. He is completely obsessed with Genny's breasts, and with sex in general. He seems to be constantly talking about it or engaging in it, to the point that it became a huge distraction to me as the reader. His naughty talk wasn't all that sexy to me, nor were his seductive methods. The first time he “pleasures” Genny it was little more than forced seduction to my way of thinking, with him basically saying, “I'm going to pleasure you and you're going to like it.” From there he calmed down a little, thankfully not forcing himself on her again until the very end when he gets into some bizarre snit after regaining his memory and repays Genny's kindness and gentleness toward him during the memory loss by literally ripping off her clothes and practically raping her (of course, the only thing that made it not be rape is the fact that she enjoyed it). At this point I'd had it with him, and didn't even care when he finally made an apology within the last pages of the book. His turnaround was just too sudden and too little, too late for me.
As if those things weren't enough, Alec just simply seemed very cold and distant, not like the type of man who would ever fall in love. Although he cared for his first wife and was affected by her death, he apparently never truly loved her, and I can't say that I came away from reading this story with any more conviction that he loved Genny. In fact, he never even said the words, “I love you.” The closest he got was telling Genny to say she loved him, and when she did, he said, “And I you,” which is pretty lame if you ask me. Alec also had a habit of bragging about his past exploits and all but parading them in front of Genny, only to behave sarcastically when she showed any jealousy. Now I don't mind the hero being a rake, but I absolutely don't want to read about that part of his life (at least not to that extreme an extent), nor have him finding women he's slept with in the past around every turn. He also had better be focused on the heroine once they meet, but in Alec's case, he bedded a prostitute twice after meeting and even sharing intimacies with Genny, and then very nearly did the same with a pretty widow, all of which I just couldn't stomach. Last but not least, I thought I might just be ill if the author told me one more time how incredibly “beautiful” Alec was and how all the ladies loved him. Even his little daughter wouldn't stop bragging about how “perfect” and “beautiful” he was even to the point that she said she herself couldn't measure up. Genny was no beauty either, but most romance heroes view the heroine as the most lovely woman in the world even if she is only passably pretty. Instead, Alec actually tells Genny that she's only passably pretty more than once, and even said the same to his daughter once (although I think it may have been meant in jest, though I don't recall anyone laughing), but to me, that's just an awful thing for a man to say to his wife and child under any circumstances. I freely admit that Alec wasn't the worst romance hero I've heard about, but for me, he was pretty insufferable. The only time I kind of liked him was when he'd lost his memory. He was still pretty arrogant, but at least he was treating Genny with some kindness and respect. Aside from that one comment to Hallie, he seemed to be a doting father to her, which in my opinion, was his only other redeeming quality.
Genny was a pretty feisty young woman whose father had taught her the ship-building business after his only son died, and then gave her free reign over it when he himself became ill. As such, she was a highly unconventional miss who had earned the disdain of both women and men alike for her habit of dressing in men's clothes when working in the shipyard. None of the men would do business with her either, because of her being a woman. I realize this was probably accurate on a historical level, but there have always been people in the various eras of history who have pushed the envelope and still found success working with other open-minded individuals. I felt like Genny was the target of misogyny on a lot of different levels. In my opinion, she never blossomed like she should, and could have. Instead, she was virtually subjugated by Alec who stifled her creativity, skill, and intelligence, rather than recognizing, respecting, and nurturing those qualities in a way that would have left her intact. Every time I thought he was going to allow her some latitude, he came back and metaphorically smacked her down again, reminding her harshly of her “woman's place.” I like that Genny had enough backbone to stand up to Alec in a argument, but her own base desires always put her right back under his thumb again. As such, I felt that although likable, she was a pretty one-dimensional character.
Night Storm, and all of Catherine Coulter's romances that I've read to date, are laced with a dark sexuality that borders on the erotic with acts such as exhibitionism, voyeurism, light bondage and forced seduction. I enjoy a good erotic romance occasionally, but Ms. Coulter's darker tone isn't really my cup of tea and probably one of the reasons I've had a hard time gaining a real liking for her work. This book is definitely written in the old bodice ripper style of the 1970's and 80's even though it was first published in 1990. If written differently, I might have liked Alec's initial “pleasuring” of Genny, but taking into account the fact that she'd said “No” about ten times, made it pretty distasteful to me. These types of “love scenes” just don't float my boat. Once Genny gave in to her passions, it seemed like she and Alec were mating like rabbits multiple times a day. With them going at it so much, there were a lot of the scenes that didn't have much in the way of details, but those that did generally felt rather dispassionate to me with the feelings never going any deeper than mere sex.
I really didn't care for all the arguments between Alec and Genny either. In fact, since there were no villains or anything else particularly major standing in their way, their own hardheadedness seemed to be the primary conflict in the story. During most of these episodes, I felt that Alec treated Genny in a rude, condescending way. Granted she was pretty feisty and could give back on some level, but I couldn't help thinking that if Alec had behaved toward her in a more respectful way, she might have responded to him better, which seemed to be born out during his memory loss. The thing that drove me crazy about them though was the constant back and forth in their relationship that went something like this: “I want you.” “No I don't.” “OK, now I'll have you.” “Now that I've had you, I don't want you anymore. Go away!” “No, I won't!” “Well, maybe I do still want you.” “Now, I'll have you again.” It all had me uttering the piratical interjection, “Aaaarrrgh!” more than once which seemed appropriate given the seafaring nature of the book.;-)
Night Storm didn't have many prominent secondary characters. Alec's daughter, Hallie, was really the only one. She was cute, but way too precocious for a five-year-old. As I already mentioned, I tired very quickly of her constant praises of her “perfect Papa.” I also found it a little disturbing that she had so much knowledge of Alec's various mistresses and occasionally even what they had been doing, albeit on a rather innocent level. One would think that a "gentleman" would be a little more discreet when his daughter was around. For fans of the series, Burke and Arielle from Night Fire put in a couple of quick appearances, and they give a brief update on what Knight and Lilly (Night Shadow) were up to.
As I'm sure readers can tell by now, Night Storm was a pretty frustrating read for me. In fact, the only thing that kept me from marking the star rating even lower than I did was that somehow, I managed to read it straight through without setting it aside, although I certainly felt like it a few times. If I'd had even an inkling of memory of what it was like I would not have wasted my time re-reading it. I was probably still suffering from traumatic amnesia from the first time I read it.;-) Since I generally liked Night Fire and Night Shadow, the first two books in the series, I may keep Night Storm around simply to have the complete matching set, but I will definitely be making a strong note to self never to bother re-reading it again.
October 6, 2025
Alec is an alpha male. If you dislike that type of H don’t read this. I was surprised at the hate reviews of Alec. He’s watered down compare to Alpha male H’s using 2025 standards. Also this is a bodice ripper so I’m not sure what one would expect. The early 1800’s were what they were. Women were chattel so I think it’s written true to era. The fmc Genny runs her failing father’s shipyard. She’s a genius ship builder but the company is in financial trouble because no one wants to buy from a female. She dresses in mens clothes for ease of building ships. Alec sails from England to buy into the business. He meets Genny who masquerades as a man for awhile. Alec knows the truth. They argue,fight and banter. There’s a lot of struggle regarding a woman’s place in the 1800’s. Also Alec is sleeping with ow after he meets Genny. She was a bit of a voyeur and watches him with a beautiful widow. There’s a dead wife trope going on along with the H has a 5 yo little girl.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 7, 2010
I enjoyed the first two books in this series. However this one fell far short of the others. The heroine was very independent and showed promise. The hero was a complete jerk. He didn't really accept her the way she was, then he did, then he didn't and then he had a sudden turn-around at the end. There was a lot of angry forced sex. He even tied her up when she said "no". And no matter how mad she was, she had sex with him and then would cry after.
February 5, 2020
Well, this book is not for weak-hearted readers or haters of Dark Romance, tell you honestly. Dark Romance heroes are not good and mostly arrogant arses, bastards, or worse, awful kidnappers and torturers. So who doesn't like such stuff, better not to read. REALLY. Do not waste your time because this story is not for Clean or Contemporary Romance lovers, or Young Adult Romance lovers. This love story much closer to the Dark Romance.
As a Dark Romance lover I enjoyed reading this last part NIGHT STORM in the whole NIGHT TRILOGY series, but the first book still is my favourite. And I can tell why - Burke became my favorite hero since he helped Auriele to believe in love and saved her from insanity and was very gentle to her. So if comparing him to Alec, Alec behaves really rude and sometimes disrespectful towards Genny and her desires. He doesn't want to understand her dreams and help her to fulfill them. As an ordinary man he forbids her to chase them and do what she loves like to build the ships. And Genny has a right not to appear like a girl in front of other men when she needs to have a deal with buyers and dresses as a man. And I can understand her why. She has a small chance to be heard as a woman who wants to build the ships and appear as a great constructor despite her female sex. However, the most part of the men at 18, 19 century always saw women like creatures who must only gave a birth to their kids and stay home. But what about their own dreams and desires? Do they not deserve to be whom they want to? Why? Who said that? A society? But who is this society to point on some things that a woman doesn't want to? We are all free and we decide ourselves how behaved and how live, and how chase our dreams. No one has a desire to tell us what to do, we are not slaves. That's why Genny's despair that she won't able to rule her own business made my heart sympathize her and not taking Alec's side. Genny deserved to be a talented constructor of her ships and be succeed in that. And I am glad she did, even in the end of this story.
Alec was a horrible ass towards Genny, especially about her sex's education. Well, even he knew lots of things and wanted to teach her, he shouldn't behave as he did. But as we know, this is not a sweet Romance story, but a story about a man who changed his attitude because of the woman he loved and understood, doesn't matter how much time it took for him. So I was happy to know that they made up their quarrels once and for all and stayed together.
Thank you for this awesome trilogy, Ms Catherine Coulter!
Cannot wait to read other Historical Romance, or maybe, FBI detectives!
As a Dark Romance lover I enjoyed reading this last part NIGHT STORM in the whole NIGHT TRILOGY series, but the first book still is my favourite. And I can tell why - Burke became my favorite hero since he helped Auriele to believe in love and saved her from insanity and was very gentle to her. So if comparing him to Alec, Alec behaves really rude and sometimes disrespectful towards Genny and her desires. He doesn't want to understand her dreams and help her to fulfill them. As an ordinary man he forbids her to chase them and do what she loves like to build the ships. And Genny has a right not to appear like a girl in front of other men when she needs to have a deal with buyers and dresses as a man. And I can understand her why. She has a small chance to be heard as a woman who wants to build the ships and appear as a great constructor despite her female sex. However, the most part of the men at 18, 19 century always saw women like creatures who must only gave a birth to their kids and stay home. But what about their own dreams and desires? Do they not deserve to be whom they want to? Why? Who said that? A society? But who is this society to point on some things that a woman doesn't want to? We are all free and we decide ourselves how behaved and how live, and how chase our dreams. No one has a desire to tell us what to do, we are not slaves. That's why Genny's despair that she won't able to rule her own business made my heart sympathize her and not taking Alec's side. Genny deserved to be a talented constructor of her ships and be succeed in that. And I am glad she did, even in the end of this story.
Alec was a horrible ass towards Genny, especially about her sex's education. Well, even he knew lots of things and wanted to teach her, he shouldn't behave as he did. But as we know, this is not a sweet Romance story, but a story about a man who changed his attitude because of the woman he loved and understood, doesn't matter how much time it took for him. So I was happy to know that they made up their quarrels once and for all and stayed together.
Thank you for this awesome trilogy, Ms Catherine Coulter!
Cannot wait to read other Historical Romance, or maybe, FBI detectives!
August 8, 2022
This heroine starts out an interesting character but she turns into a complete moron whenever the hero is around which is problematic in a romance. The author tries to convince me to like the hero by making him a tad sympathetic at first but all too quickly he reverts to being a complete jerk. Then he loses his memory and is less of a jerk, the heroine steps up to help him, things go along swimmingly until he recovers his memory and is, if anything, even more of a jackass that he had been earlier. I can't remember any Coulter hero at the moment I think is a nice guy but most of them are either understandable jackasses or have some redeeming aspect.
This guy's got nothing. The only times he says anything kind or sensible are while he has no memory of himself, and even then he's not exactly a winner.
The plot is so oriented to putting the heroine down it's just painful. She knows she has no sense of style so she goes to the most stylish dressmakers in town, only to have said dressmaker's sister trick her into letting her make the dresses -- except later in the story that scene is rewritten in retrospect so that the heroine knew at the time that there were two sisters and that she had knowingly picked the wrong one. Uh, no, that wasn't how the scene went. At all. It's a book, not movie, so I could just go back and check. I don't remember another example of retroactive rewriting to slam the heroine even more but the slamming the heroine thing was relentless.
I never like the trope of a woman who is mad at a guy and then he uses his sex magic on her and she can't stay mad at him, or the related trope of him essentially raping her but she doesn't care because it felt so good, and I like it even less when the woman is a naive, socially inept female overwhelmed by a beautiful, socially savvy male. I also question a plot that involves a woman who, at the beginning of the book, had intended to remain a virgin spinster her whole life but who becomes absolutely fascinated by sex just because this beautiful, sexy man appears in her life. Much less do I like historicals where a proper woman blithely decides she's going to have sex and act like a man, without once considering the fact that women get pregnant and men don't.
Historically speaking, even highly protected city girls who had no idea how sex works still understood that women got pregnant and men didn't and that was one big reason women didn't want to mess around before marriage. It's one thing for a rather stupid or unthinking or woefully romantic female character to get swept up in things; it's quite another for a generally intelligent, sensible and competent woman who understands ship making, captaining, and accounting, and who would rather work at these manly tasks than marry, to blithely declare, as in this book, that she's sexually curious and wants to lose her virginity to this particular man with no consideration of the costs.
Most of Coulter's books have too many sex scenes for my taste -- or, I should say, too many repetitious sex scenes; I don't have problems with multiple sex scenes if I feel they're moving along the plot or the relationship, but Coulter just seems to like to write about her characters having sex -- but this one seemed over-the-top even for Coulter. Particularly annoying when I'm convinced that, had the characters even been remotely human, most of the sex scenes would have ended with the heroine weeping and heartbroken because the guy is such a jerk and she's given in to him again/her body has betrayed her/he hurt her/take your pick. I don't care how great the physical experience was, I can't buy the heroine of this book is so happy about things just because the sex was physically terrific.
Most authors from this era/who wrote this sort of thing that I find readable have a light, witty touch or engaging and charming characters or clearly don't expect me to take anything seriously. Coulter sometimes does fun, silly books as well, but this book is pure stodgy -- maybe she was trying to be funny and I missed it, but we do not have the same sense of humor and I can still usually tell when she's at least trying to be funny and with this one if she was trying to amuse I didn't even notice the attempt.
Just a sad effort all the way around.
This guy's got nothing. The only times he says anything kind or sensible are while he has no memory of himself, and even then he's not exactly a winner.
The plot is so oriented to putting the heroine down it's just painful. She knows she has no sense of style so she goes to the most stylish dressmakers in town, only to have said dressmaker's sister trick her into letting her make the dresses -- except later in the story that scene is rewritten in retrospect so that the heroine knew at the time that there were two sisters and that she had knowingly picked the wrong one. Uh, no, that wasn't how the scene went. At all. It's a book, not movie, so I could just go back and check. I don't remember another example of retroactive rewriting to slam the heroine even more but the slamming the heroine thing was relentless.
I never like the trope of a woman who is mad at a guy and then he uses his sex magic on her and she can't stay mad at him, or the related trope of him essentially raping her but she doesn't care because it felt so good, and I like it even less when the woman is a naive, socially inept female overwhelmed by a beautiful, socially savvy male. I also question a plot that involves a woman who, at the beginning of the book, had intended to remain a virgin spinster her whole life but who becomes absolutely fascinated by sex just because this beautiful, sexy man appears in her life. Much less do I like historicals where a proper woman blithely decides she's going to have sex and act like a man, without once considering the fact that women get pregnant and men don't.
Historically speaking, even highly protected city girls who had no idea how sex works still understood that women got pregnant and men didn't and that was one big reason women didn't want to mess around before marriage. It's one thing for a rather stupid or unthinking or woefully romantic female character to get swept up in things; it's quite another for a generally intelligent, sensible and competent woman who understands ship making, captaining, and accounting, and who would rather work at these manly tasks than marry, to blithely declare, as in this book, that she's sexually curious and wants to lose her virginity to this particular man with no consideration of the costs.
Most of Coulter's books have too many sex scenes for my taste -- or, I should say, too many repetitious sex scenes; I don't have problems with multiple sex scenes if I feel they're moving along the plot or the relationship, but Coulter just seems to like to write about her characters having sex -- but this one seemed over-the-top even for Coulter. Particularly annoying when I'm convinced that, had the characters even been remotely human, most of the sex scenes would have ended with the heroine weeping and heartbroken because the guy is such a jerk and she's given in to him again/her body has betrayed her/he hurt her/take your pick. I don't care how great the physical experience was, I can't buy the heroine of this book is so happy about things just because the sex was physically terrific.
Most authors from this era/who wrote this sort of thing that I find readable have a light, witty touch or engaging and charming characters or clearly don't expect me to take anything seriously. Coulter sometimes does fun, silly books as well, but this book is pure stodgy -- maybe she was trying to be funny and I missed it, but we do not have the same sense of humor and I can still usually tell when she's at least trying to be funny and with this one if she was trying to amuse I didn't even notice the attempt.
Just a sad effort all the way around.
December 7, 2015
Esta fue una relectura. Es uno de los libros de mi biblioteca que siempre elijo porque es rápido y los personajes son lindos ^^. Pasó un par de años desde que lo leí por última vez y no lo disfruté como antes, tengo que reconocer que mi gusto por los héroes con pasado tortuoso y malhablados está arruinando todas las nuevas lecturas. Alec es un tipo gracioso, hermoso, pero con muchas fallas. Ella, Eugenia, me parece muy OOC para la época. Incluso ahora, haría palidecer a muchas feministas. Pero la historia entre ambos es graciosa y las réplicas entre ambos, muy disfrutables. Me falta hacer review al resto de la serie (que no es una trilogía porque son personajes distintos pero emparentados), pero ya este año tuve mi dosis de Catherine Coulter así que va a esperar un poco.
January 2, 2022
This book was a really hard book to get through and it pains me to give a one star because I like Catherine Coulter and I generally like her historical romance. But this book was awful. Not only is Alec abusive and overbearing, but I never really felt the chemistry between these two characters. It seemed like Genny had to constantly convince herself that she really found him attractive, and he was horrible to her. I cannot imagine how she would want to be with him, when he treated her so badly from the beginning. This isn't a case of him being sweet and then turning out terrible he was always awful. 1 star.
August 28, 2020
What a completely unlikable main character. Alec Carrington is a real bastard. For 3/4 of the book he is a beautiful, manipulative, chauvinist. He becomes decent when he gets amnesia and then when his memory returns he's back to being a bastard, but now he's married Genny and she's stuck with him. He won't deed her inheritance and won't allow her to be herself. I kept thinking she was going to hang herself. I guess an editor read it and told her he was unlikable, but there was a deadline so she wrote in a paragraph where he promises not to be a bastard anymore. Fin. That's it.
December 28, 2015
I enjoyed this trilogy a lot. Although some of the dialogue was "cheesy" and some of the characters hard to take at face value, the characters and romances were compelling and made me want to continue turning the pages. These are older books of Coulter's and have the male leads in her stories rather heavy handed in their conduct with their girlfriends, eventually wives. True escapist fiction.
October 26, 2025
Винаги съм мразила политкоректните романси, защото в нито един житейски сюжет няма политкоректност. Самата политкоректност е един безкрайно грешен, повърхностен и тъп начин да се замитат под килима трупани с хилядолетия несправедливости.
Другата крайност е възхвалата и романтизирането на несправедливостта и тормоза като “секси”. Най-типичният западен пример е Шекспировата “комедия” “Укротяване на опърничавата”, която нагледно възхвалява тормоза и унижението към всяка жена, която “не си знае мястото.” От 16 век досега май не сме изминали чак толкова много път…
Баба Катрин е допуснала огромна грешка в този си сюжет. Читателките са подтиквани да повярват в любов, която не съществува. Героят НЕ обича мацката в книгата. Защото мачкането, унижението, ограниченията и отрязването на всякакъв избор НЕ са любов. Отказът да приемеш другия НЕ е любов. Мацката на свой ред също НЕ го обича. Просто го харесва физически, но от един момент нататък е хваната в капана на епохата, и орязва загубите си доколкото може. Тя тъй или иначе няма много избор.
Другата крайност е възхвалата и романтизирането на несправедливостта и тормоза като “секси”. Най-типичният западен пример е Шекспировата “комедия” “Укротяване на опърничавата”, която нагледно възхвалява тормоза и унижението към всяка жена, която “не си знае мястото.” От 16 век досега май не сме изминали чак толкова много път…
Баба Катрин е допуснала огромна грешка в този си сюжет. Читателките са подтиквани да повярват в любов, която не съществува. Героят НЕ обича мацката в книгата. Защото мачкането, унижението, ограниченията и отрязването на всякакъв избор НЕ са любов. Отказът да приемеш другия НЕ е любов. Мацката на свой ред също НЕ го обича. Просто го харесва физически, но от един момент нататък е хваната в капана на епохата, и орязва загубите си доколкото може. Тя тъй или иначе няма много избор.
February 2, 2016
Well, I didn't hate the book, but I did spend most of my time totally aggravated with the characters. I enjoyed it enough to finish it, but would definitely NOT pay for a copy of it (I got this from the library). I liked the first two books in the series okay, but this one just didn't measure up. It wasn't the story, that could have been excellent -- it was the characters.
The hero, Alec Carrick, is a very rich English Baron. He is portrayed as a 'gentleman', but I couldn't find many (if any) redeeming characteristics in him. He is a real condescending, chauvinistic, arrogant jackaxx I have seen in a book in a long time. Even after finishing the book I still don't have a feel for WHY he is that way. Evidently he had loving parents -- no scarred childhood. He was married earlier and lost his wife in childbirth and that supposedly threw him into a tailspin, but -- he wasn't in love with her -- he was FOND on her. He certainly seemed to have no respect or care for females. He was so cold and distant it was hard to ever picture him falling in love with anyone -- other than himself and his sexual needs maybe. Oh -- and add to that a 'forced' seduction where he gave her her 'woman's pleasure'. Yes, he tied her to the bed.
He was supposed to be a gentleman, but he did outrageous things -- like taking the heroine to a brothel (because she was dressed as a male) even though he knew she was a female. He also said many, many hateful, hurtful, mean things to her throughout the book.
Anyway -- enough about Alec -- he just seemed to be a jerk and yet everyone seemed to love him. Not sure how that all happened.
So -- next is the heroine Genny. I can sympathize with her a bit given the period she was living in. She wanted to do things that were only open to men -- design and build ships -- and she was very capable of doing that -- but society wouldn't support her endeavors. However, I can't help but think that someone as intelligent as she was supposed to be couldn't figure out a way around the system. Like -- hiring a male as a front man or something. There just had to be a way. Anyway, she was intelligent and feisty and just hated being hemmed in by a society she didn't really understand or take part in. I did like Genny, but she was a bit over the top in that ALL she wanted was ship building.
The characters just seemed one dimensional to me -- maybe if there was something explained in the background to make them as they were, it might have liked both of them better.
Then there was the precocious 5-year old daughter. I'm sorry -- she was just way, way, way to mature for a 5-year old. A 12-year old maybe. I loved her, but she just didn't behave in any age appropriate way.
Anyway -- I think I'm glad I read it in order to finish up the trilogy, but I wouldn't do a re-read on it.
The hero, Alec Carrick, is a very rich English Baron. He is portrayed as a 'gentleman', but I couldn't find many (if any) redeeming characteristics in him. He is a real condescending, chauvinistic, arrogant jackaxx I have seen in a book in a long time. Even after finishing the book I still don't have a feel for WHY he is that way. Evidently he had loving parents -- no scarred childhood. He was married earlier and lost his wife in childbirth and that supposedly threw him into a tailspin, but -- he wasn't in love with her -- he was FOND on her. He certainly seemed to have no respect or care for females. He was so cold and distant it was hard to ever picture him falling in love with anyone -- other than himself and his sexual needs maybe. Oh -- and add to that a 'forced' seduction where he gave her her 'woman's pleasure'. Yes, he tied her to the bed.
He was supposed to be a gentleman, but he did outrageous things -- like taking the heroine to a brothel (because she was dressed as a male) even though he knew she was a female. He also said many, many hateful, hurtful, mean things to her throughout the book.
Anyway -- enough about Alec -- he just seemed to be a jerk and yet everyone seemed to love him. Not sure how that all happened.
So -- next is the heroine Genny. I can sympathize with her a bit given the period she was living in. She wanted to do things that were only open to men -- design and build ships -- and she was very capable of doing that -- but society wouldn't support her endeavors. However, I can't help but think that someone as intelligent as she was supposed to be couldn't figure out a way around the system. Like -- hiring a male as a front man or something. There just had to be a way. Anyway, she was intelligent and feisty and just hated being hemmed in by a society she didn't really understand or take part in. I did like Genny, but she was a bit over the top in that ALL she wanted was ship building.
The characters just seemed one dimensional to me -- maybe if there was something explained in the background to make them as they were, it might have liked both of them better.
Then there was the precocious 5-year old daughter. I'm sorry -- she was just way, way, way to mature for a 5-year old. A 12-year old maybe. I loved her, but she just didn't behave in any age appropriate way.
Anyway -- I think I'm glad I read it in order to finish up the trilogy, but I wouldn't do a re-read on it.
October 11, 2010
Just awful. Hated the hero and heroine and thought the entire thing was a waste. My least favorite Coulter by far.
January 3, 2016
I like anything Catherine Coulter writes, either historical romance or her FBI thrillers
July 24, 2023
#buzzwordchallenge2023-weather
Published in 1990 and shows its age. I don't understand how in chapter 3, Ginny says No at least 15 times, he still assaults her and we are supposed to be okay with that. Not romantic. Not sexy. No means no!
Published in 1990 and shows its age. I don't understand how in chapter 3, Ginny says No at least 15 times, he still assaults her and we are supposed to be okay with that. Not romantic. Not sexy. No means no!
June 28, 2024
A ridiculous book with a wonderful cover that aged like milk. Yikes!
April 5, 2020
A great read
I loved this story, couldn’t wait to see what would happen next! The romance was beautiful and the constant humor made this novel a delight to read.
I loved this story, couldn’t wait to see what would happen next! The romance was beautiful and the constant humor made this novel a delight to read.
October 4, 2020
I didn't like Alec's appalling behaviour towards women, nor do I really need the details of anyone's sex life. Why can't we have a romantic story, without the gory details?
September 1, 2017
2 stars.
If there's a theme with this trilogy, I'd say it's sexual abuse. In each book, the hero seems to think it's ok to restrain the heroine and have his way with her protesting.
I know these were written in the days when the submissive fantasies in HR were considered part and parcel of the bodice ripper genre. I have to say that I don't think I felt so strongly about it when I read these years ago but now, it just seems a bit off.
Out of the 3 heroes, Alec was probably the most overbearing and I really don't understand that just because he's "beautiful", Genny is willing to forgive all his tyrannical behaviors. He's also a bit of a hypocrite when he allows his own young daughter to be brought up like a boy whilst decrying Genny for wearing men's clothes while looking after her sick father's shipbuilding business.
So all in all, these HRs were a blast from the past and provided an interesting retrospective look on the changes to our social sensitivities over the decades since the books were written.
If there's a theme with this trilogy, I'd say it's sexual abuse. In each book, the hero seems to think it's ok to restrain the heroine and have his way with her protesting.
I know these were written in the days when the submissive fantasies in HR were considered part and parcel of the bodice ripper genre. I have to say that I don't think I felt so strongly about it when I read these years ago but now, it just seems a bit off.
Out of the 3 heroes, Alec was probably the most overbearing and I really don't understand that just because he's "beautiful", Genny is willing to forgive all his tyrannical behaviors. He's also a bit of a hypocrite when he allows his own young daughter to be brought up like a boy whilst decrying Genny for wearing men's clothes while looking after her sick father's shipbuilding business.
So all in all, these HRs were a blast from the past and provided an interesting retrospective look on the changes to our social sensitivities over the decades since the books were written.
August 9, 2009
Alec Carrick lost his wife in childbirth and now brings up his daughter Hallie and works on expanding his shipping business. When he receives a letter from Eugene Paxton, the son of a Baltimore shipyard owner, he goes to discuss a merger and discovers that the son is really a daughter.
I didn't really like this one, even if there wasn't anything explicitly wrong with it. Genny is supposed to be a strong tomboy, but she comes across as a child, just playacting. Her spinelessness got on my nerves, and I really wanted to see her do less panting and sniveling and grow a backbone. Alec is a total misogynist, but that fact is hidden by the fact that he is portrayed as being 'so understanding' but is really just wanting to put her in her place. The random amnesia plot twist was just odd. I felt like the author had these images of the characters in her head, but she couldn't execute them properly, and they really portrayed the opposite of what she intended.
I didn't really like this one, even if there wasn't anything explicitly wrong with it. Genny is supposed to be a strong tomboy, but she comes across as a child, just playacting. Her spinelessness got on my nerves, and I really wanted to see her do less panting and sniveling and grow a backbone. Alec is a total misogynist, but that fact is hidden by the fact that he is portrayed as being 'so understanding' but is really just wanting to put her in her place. The random amnesia plot twist was just odd. I felt like the author had these images of the characters in her head, but she couldn't execute them properly, and they really portrayed the opposite of what she intended.
June 19, 2017
it seems that this book relates back to the Sherbrooke Series, which I love the idea.
now the Paxtons are shipbuilders in Baltimore and they are in need of help from someone with lots of money in order to save the company. Alec Carrick is a single father to a five year old girl whose mother died in childbirth. he can't stand not going places and seeing grew plies and meet new people. Alec relieves a letter from Mr. Eugene Paxton the son of a man he meets 5 years before. Eugene asked for Alec's help by either buying guide them new boat or buy into the company. when Alec shows up he realizes that Eugene is actually a Eugena. when her father dies in his will he states if she wants to keep the company and I'd Alec wants it they must married or sale the company for no man is willing to deal with a women. as they work to See the company and get to know each other the will have the biggest problem to over come.
now the Paxtons are shipbuilders in Baltimore and they are in need of help from someone with lots of money in order to save the company. Alec Carrick is a single father to a five year old girl whose mother died in childbirth. he can't stand not going places and seeing grew plies and meet new people. Alec relieves a letter from Mr. Eugene Paxton the son of a man he meets 5 years before. Eugene asked for Alec's help by either buying guide them new boat or buy into the company. when Alec shows up he realizes that Eugene is actually a Eugena. when her father dies in his will he states if she wants to keep the company and I'd Alec wants it they must married or sale the company for no man is willing to deal with a women. as they work to See the company and get to know each other the will have the biggest problem to over come.
September 1, 2015
Parker
I love Catherine Coulter, I have read a lot of her books. She is by far my favorite author. However this book had very graphic chapters, in detail that I had to scan through. I still loved the story and character's.
I love Catherine Coulter, I have read a lot of her books. She is by far my favorite author. However this book had very graphic chapters, in detail that I had to scan through. I still loved the story and character's.
October 26, 2018
These three books in the series are really not my genre! The stories meh and the description revolting. I had enjoyed other titles from the same author and I wonder why the vast differences? From now on, I have to be selective with this author!
June 3, 2009
okay story, but too much romance!
February 17, 2015
Sort of lame
June 25, 2015
Riveting
A fast steady read.full of twists and turns and excitement
Plot and story line were excellent.had trouble putting it down.
A fast steady read.full of twists and turns and excitement
Plot and story line were excellent.had trouble putting it down.
July 20, 2018
Couldn't relate to characters, didn't flow very well.
January 1, 2021
By and1515
His wife was gone it was as simple as that one minute she was having their baby and the next she'd died.
Some people would think he would have jumped at the change when his sister-in-law offered to take his daughter and raise her but no he simply couldn't do that she belonged with him.
His Hallie was nearly five years old and was a well seasoned sailor whom had the run of his vessal.
She knew what she was doing her father relied on her they just needed a buyer or things were going to become really tricky.
And then the most beautiful man appeared she'd ever seen.
Alec Carrick Baron; he was an English man with some title.
As for the unusual adventure that follows Is quite funny he knew but was determined to play along with her little game until he grew bored and now he wanted to make it crystal clear he knew.
Genny's idea about men well some males might find it highly offensive but seriously why would she really want one of those they tended to be arrogant, selfish, and clearly weren't house broken.
Alec listened intently as Genny's father expressed his desire to ensure his only child's future because he knew he had one foot in the grave and he wasn't sure when the other one would follow.
However Genny wasn't happy with her father trying to bargain her off to the man the shipping yard was her inheritance.
After much thought Alec desired to buy the shipping yard lock stock and preverbal barrel.
He stared at his Genny and good God that dress was practically horrific but darn it all there was absolutely nothing he could do but hope and pray.
Alec knew she'd seen him and even for a time Genny had been watching them.
Genny wasn't prepared to lose her beloved father this soon leaving her totally devistated but when she was told her father had changed his will leaving specific requirements or she'd lose the shipping company too.
However in the end she married the man and if she was really honest with herself she'd admit he was exactly what she needs.
One hurricane a broken mast and a husband who clearly doesn't remember a darn thing.
Genny was beyond thrilled when Alec remember who she was and even his little girl Hallie.
Sometimes he wonder how he got some darn lucky a wonderful little girl a new baby and his beautiful wife.
His wife was gone it was as simple as that one minute she was having their baby and the next she'd died.
Some people would think he would have jumped at the change when his sister-in-law offered to take his daughter and raise her but no he simply couldn't do that she belonged with him.
His Hallie was nearly five years old and was a well seasoned sailor whom had the run of his vessal.
She knew what she was doing her father relied on her they just needed a buyer or things were going to become really tricky.
And then the most beautiful man appeared she'd ever seen.
Alec Carrick Baron; he was an English man with some title.
As for the unusual adventure that follows Is quite funny he knew but was determined to play along with her little game until he grew bored and now he wanted to make it crystal clear he knew.
Genny's idea about men well some males might find it highly offensive but seriously why would she really want one of those they tended to be arrogant, selfish, and clearly weren't house broken.
Alec listened intently as Genny's father expressed his desire to ensure his only child's future because he knew he had one foot in the grave and he wasn't sure when the other one would follow.
However Genny wasn't happy with her father trying to bargain her off to the man the shipping yard was her inheritance.
After much thought Alec desired to buy the shipping yard lock stock and preverbal barrel.
He stared at his Genny and good God that dress was practically horrific but darn it all there was absolutely nothing he could do but hope and pray.
Alec knew she'd seen him and even for a time Genny had been watching them.
Genny wasn't prepared to lose her beloved father this soon leaving her totally devistated but when she was told her father had changed his will leaving specific requirements or she'd lose the shipping company too.
However in the end she married the man and if she was really honest with herself she'd admit he was exactly what she needs.
One hurricane a broken mast and a husband who clearly doesn't remember a darn thing.
Genny was beyond thrilled when Alec remember who she was and even his little girl Hallie.
Sometimes he wonder how he got some darn lucky a wonderful little girl a new baby and his beautiful wife.
March 30, 2018
The final part to the Night trilogy, Night Storm left me wanting to know more about Genny and wanting to see little girl become an a young woman. Over all I related most to Genny then I did the others from this series, the main reasons I related towards her was the others was the hatred of a man's world and finding the one man that is your kryptonite and no matter how you slice it he is the only one that would bring you down as much has he could bring you up.
As far as the story goes I liked seeing such a strong minded female but I feel she was a bit blind in a way to the issues she faced in and not not planning how she could try to get around them and just trudged through it. She did get a little better as the story went on showing character growth.
She fascinated me so that I wanted to learn more about her life, why she became the way she was and who was this young male friend you get a very small glimpse of. There was small little answers for these and other questions but I felt there was more that was not said.
For the hero and lover, as much as I hated him I fell in love with him through Genny's eyes knowing the same feelings.
I also wanted to see the little 5 year old grow up and see how much her life would mirror Genny
As far as the story goes I liked seeing such a strong minded female but I feel she was a bit blind in a way to the issues she faced in and not not planning how she could try to get around them and just trudged through it. She did get a little better as the story went on showing character growth.
She fascinated me so that I wanted to learn more about her life, why she became the way she was and who was this young male friend you get a very small glimpse of. There was small little answers for these and other questions but I felt there was more that was not said.
For the hero and lover, as much as I hated him I fell in love with him through Genny's eyes knowing the same feelings.
I also wanted to see the little 5 year old grow up and see how much her life would mirror Genny
April 23, 2023
all the booksshelves at my ukrainian Grandma's house were filled with women's cheap/pulp novels with amazing colorful and beautiful covers. As a teenager, I sometimes borrowed books before sleeping cuz wanted to read about "true love." now thinking about it, I understand how these books destroyed women's understanding of what relationships should be and what place a woman occupies in the world. a woman is not a thing and not a victim that needs to be saved and protected forever, she is not a fragile creature, a woman is always a fighter, strong and independent. and let the misogyny men go to the ass.
a phrase from one such book: "he smelled of horse sweat and tobacco and she liked it." after all these years, it seems terribly funny and disgusting.
a phrase from one such book: "he smelled of horse sweat and tobacco and she liked it." after all these years, it seems terribly funny and disgusting.
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