Blog Tour/Review: Catriona by Jeanette Baker

ISBN #: 978-1402255861

Page Count: 400

Copyright: 2011

Book Summary:

(Taken from author's website)

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, she is caught between the present day and 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.

Charlene's Review:

Kate, the main character, is caught between two worlds.

In one, she is an adopted daughter in the 20th Century. In the other, she witnesses, firsthand, the life of Catriona Wells, the daughter of an earl in the 15th Century. After the death of her adoptive mother, Kate heads to the Shetland Islands, her parents homeland, to scatter her ashes, and find out more about her past. Almost immediately, the visions she has increase and take on a life of their own.

Catriona is not for sissies. There is so much going on, politically, I was literally unsure of what I was reading for half of the book. This would be my short coming, not Ms. Baker’s, as politics usually sets my jaw to yawning. Fortunately, the strength of the characters urged me forward, and I was quite pleased to have read it.

This historical romance novel focuses on the idea of a twice-born, or people from another time that can go back and make things right. It also touches on the ancient beliefs of Pectiwita, a form of Wicca or white magic. Interspersed with the history of Scottish/English rivalry, the beauty of Scotland, and lusty romance, Catriona is quite intoxicating. Ms. Baker has a gift for storytelling, and paints a realistic picture of a time centuries old with her use of dialect and vivid imagery. The journey Kate must take to right the past and secure her future kept me turning pages until I reached the end.