Review - Catriona by Jeanette Baker

TITLE:    Catriona
AUTHOR:    Jeanette Baker
INFO:    Paperback, Fiction, 381 pages
PUBLISHED:   Sourcebooks, 2011
SOURCE:   Received from Publisher

FROM GOODREADS:   Kate Sutherland always felt out of place in brash and modern Southern California. But when she comes to her ancestral home in the Shetland Islands to seek a mystical guide who may shed light on her true heritage, Kate is plagued with visions of a life from five centuries past.... A fiery young woman of royal English blood, Catriona Wells is determined to save her family from the deadly political clashes of 15th-century Britain. But Cat's cunning is no match for Scottish border lord Patrick MacKendrick. When this powerful warrior betroths her against her will, Cat must decide whether she dares to love him -- and to trust him with lives that are more precious to her than her own. 

Meanwhile Kate, whose dreams rapidly take on a reality of their own, is caught between a present-day attraction to a charming Scottish historian -- and risking everything in Catriona's dangerous world of passion and bloodshed.
MY TAKE:    Jumping between centuries and different people's perspectives can be confusing and distracting if not written carefully.  Jeanette Baker has done a masterful job of blending the stories of two women connected by blood and separated by time.


Strong characters are always a draw for me.  I like women leads who use their brains instead of simpering and whimpering around waiting for a man to solve their problems for them.  Both Kate and Catriona are dealing with issues of family, love and danger. Neither of them want to depend upon the men who have their hearts.  Trusting someone else to make things right for them is not an easy thing for either of them to do.


The men in this story are remarkable and quite memorable.  You have two hunky Scotsmen in the present who are both vying for Kate's attention ~ for two very different reasons.  Niall is a Scottish historian and Hunter is the Laird of the Sutherlands.  Catriona is married to Patrick MacKendrick for reasons that turn out to be much more than the politics intended.


I highly recommend Catriona to anyone who enjoys good historical fiction filled with romance and intrigue.  A lovely romp through the ages with some fascinating characters.

Out of 5 JEWELS, I give it:

Get your copy at:  Amazon, The Book Depository, Barnes & Noble 

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