Catriona by Jeanette Baker review & giveaway

Title: Catriona
Author: Jeanette Baker
ISBN: 978-1-4022-5586
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Format: Trade Paperback
$9.99
Pages: 400
How I Read It: Trade Paperback ARC from publishers
Rating: 5 Crowns A Royal Read

Kate Sutherland’s arrival in the misty moors of her ancestral home in the Shetland Islands was supposed to cure her visions of danger, intrigue…and a sexy powerful Scottish border lord. Instead, she discovers that she’s been living the tormented memories of Catriona Wells, a beautiful young woman of royal blood who lived five centuries before.

Shielding a dark secret from her past, Catriona was willing to do anything to save her young brother from the deadly politics of her royal family--even agree to an arranged marriage with the formidable Patrick MacKendrick. But would daring to love the hardened warrior who desired her so fiercely destroy her family…or finally allow her to heal?

Meanwhile, Kate is battling her own attraction to Niall MacCormack, an alluring Scottish historian. As the pull of history beckons, Kate had her own decision to make: choose the life and love of her present, or risk everything in Catriona’s world of passion and peril.
(from the back of the arc)



A Quick Summery:

Kate Sutherland has always felt that she doesn’t quite fit into her surroundings. After her mother’s death, Kate learns from their solicitor that she was adopted. Returning to the place of her birth, the Shetland Islands, she has two purposes: scatter her mother’s ashes and seek the answers to why she is having dreams about Catriona Wells, the cousin of James IV of Scotland.

Arriving in Scotland, she meets a handsome historian, Naill MacCormack, who seems to recognize Kate. Yet that would be impossible seeing, as Kate has never been to Scotland (other than as a babe). Finally, it dawns on Naill that Kate is the spitting image of a portrait he has seen of Catriona Wells.

Once she steps foot upon the soil of Cait Ness, the past of Catriona Wells is alive in the dreams and visions of Kate taking her to places she never imagines she would go.

When the past of Catriona Wells and Patrick MacKendrick threaten the future of Kate Sutherland and Naill MacCormack, will Kate give-up her present to correct the past?

My thoughts:

I loved this book from the moment I started reading it. Combining elements of Scottish history, Pectiwita mysticism, danger, intrigue, and romance Catriona is the perfect book to lose yourself in.

At times, I found myself wanting more of the story of Catriona Wells. Cousin to James IV, she was raised at the English court with English sympathizes. When she realizes that, her brother is in danger of losing his life she heads straight to her cousins court with the intentions of becoming an English spy. Yet, things do not go according to plan: first, she finds herself a prisoner of Patrick MacKendrick, a handsome, ruthless Scottish border lord who has the ear of King James, then his betrothed.

Although the book never states the year Catriona’s story begins, I believe that it would be 1495 as the book mentions ‘the Pretender’ to the English throne, Perkin Warbeck being supported by James IV. This was a very tricky time for Scottish-English relations, and especially so for Catriona, who was intent to use both sides to ensure that her brother remains unharmed.

Then we have Kate and Naill. Kate’s story is just as intriguing as she works out both her present and Catriona’s past.

I loved the way this book showcased the emotions, conflicts, and actual events of the time in-which it was set. It allows the reader to connect with the characters knowing that these events, these conversations could have actually transpired. I also loved the way the book draws upon the mysticism associated with the old ways of Scotland.

I hesitate to label this book as a “romance” book because it is so much more than your typical romance book. It is more so historical fiction, laced with romance, and a touch of the paranormal. A true gem well worth discovering.


Overall:

I simply could not put this book down. If you have read a book by Jeanette Baker, then you will know that her books possess that certain something that stands apart from the rest. The characters from Catriona have definitely left a mark upon my heart and I have found myself thinking about them long after the final page was read.




Who would I recommend this book to?

-A lover of historical fiction.
-Someone with an interest in romance novels.
-A reader of time-travel novels.
-Someone with an interest in the machinations of this particular period.


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*Review copy sent from Sourcebooks
*Giveaway copy was purchased by me.

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