REVIEW OF

CATHERINE’S PERSUIT

BY LENA NELSON DOOLEY

This novel is the last volume in the McKenna’s Daughters series and I chose it first, because it would be the most recent one the author would be marketing. But let me just say that, even though these books could stand on their own, you would be doing yourself a great disservice by not reading them all. Catherine’s Pursuit was one of the most enjoyable reads I’ve had all year. I would venture to say that the other two books in the series, Maggie’s Journey and Mary’s Blessing are just as enjoyable. I can be sure that you’ll get the same quality of writing as you do in this one.

The story begins with Catherine McKenna overhearing a conversation where her Aunt Kirstin is urging her father, Angus, to tell his daughter something, but he refuses. She confronts them to find out what it’s all about. Finally, her father admits that she has two other identical sisters, and that he had to give them away for adoption after their mother died in childbirth. Immediately, Catherine decides to leave on a trip to go and find them, taking her maid along as a chaperone. She leaves a note explaining where she is going, so Angus sends his assistant, Collin Elliott, to follow her and make sure the two women stay safe.

There are some surprises along the way and Collin ends up helping Catherine find her sister, Mary. But Mary has some secrets in her past that Catherine won’t press her about. And Mary has a grudge against their father for giving her away.

Later, the two sisters accidentally find their third triplet, Maggie, who is hurt the same as Mary because their father gave them away and never tried to find them. Though Catherine is ecstatic the three of them are now together, she wonders how she can get her sisters to visit their father and happily bring their family together.

Throughout the journey, Catherine and Collin form a strong friendship and an attraction to one another. But Collin has his own secrets to keep from Catherine for fear she’ll be repulsed and could never fall in love with him. Or could she?

Aside from a poignant story, the quality of writing is excellent. Sentence structure and word choices had much to do with this novel’s attributes. Here is an example:

                Interest and questioning fought for dominance in her expression.

I could picture that!

Not only do I highly recommend Catherine’s Pursuit for all romance and historical romance readers, but after having read several pages of Maggie’s Journey, I feel confident to also recommend that volume along with Mary’s Blessing to complete the entire set. You wouldn’t want to read just one.

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