They weren't stupid women, even if their original plotlines were tacky in execution at least. They were dealing with some serious issues in the "Phoenix" novels, though in an abysmally incompetent way, and had some sense of story. It's just the writing...and some of the je ne sais quoi (the first-aid kit in a spraycan; the naked tortured Kirk; the Vulcan angst...oh, one could go on).

So it's not surprising that they had some eye for other people's work. I remember some OK stuff in the second "New Voyages" (the one I read).