TBRChallenge Review: Courting Catherine

Courting Catherine by Nora Roberts
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

*This is a #TBRChallenge review, there will be spoilers, I don't spoil everything but enough, because I treat these reviews as a bookclub discussion. 

All he had to do was convince four sentimental women and their aunt to take the money and run. 

This month's TBRChallenge theme was “It came from the '90s!” and as that was the decade I came into reading romance, well, all I had to do was reach into a closet book box and see what I'd be reading. Courting Catherine is first in The Calhoun Women series by Nora Roberts, it's just shy of 200pgs and while, you know me, I have some grumbles about some aspects not being flushed out enough, there is something to be said for short, snappy contemporaries. 

This actually starts off with a Prologue in 1912 Bar Harbor, ME where a Mrs. Fergus Calhoun is out walking the cliffs with her children and comes upon an artist. There's zinging lust but, alas, she's married and with only a lingering glance back, she leaves the soulful eyed painter behind. For now. We then jump to Bar Harbor 1991 (extremely more current than 1912 could ever be, I can't bring myself to tag this historical, leave me alone) and are stranded with our main male character, Trenton St. James III as his BMW has broken down on the way to negotiate with four women and an aunt to convince them to sell their ancestral home so he can turn it into and fold it into his hotel business. The mechanic he tows his car to, C.C., turns out to be the youngest Calhoun sister Catherine, and she Does. Not. Want. To. Sell. 

She strode toward him until they were toe-to-toe and eye-to-eye. “I’m Catherine Colleen Calhoun. And I want you to keep your greedy hands off my house.”

I mentioned it in a reading update, but I love the clash of he's intrigued by her: “Get your butt back in your big, bad BMW and head back to Boston.” 

“A fascinating alliteration.” and she's annoyed by him: There was something arrogant about a maroon tie. Even his tie is getting under her skin! Classic. They're the oil and water big business rich boy and small-town mechanic in debt girl, but with that all important zing of attraction. I'm going to mention the page count again, it didn't lend itself to allowing too much filling out of Trent, we get that he's against marriage because his dad is on his fourth marriage, so he doesn't believe in all that love junk: Women were unstable, fickle creatures, and marriage was a bloodless kind of suicide. The ever present excuse, Daddy Drama. So while, he feels attraction, I mean, our boy was poetic waxing his butt off: He thought, foolishly, that he could feel the starlight on her skin, taste the moondust on her lips. He also gets scaredy pants when they're ready to get it on and C.C. lets it drop that not only is she a virgin, gasp!, she also LOVES him. The Horror. We get more of a complete character from C.C., having her family around, four sisters and aunt who raised them after their parents died, help to give different layers to her and I just felt like I ended up knowing her more.

Inside, Lilah smiled. “Why, he’s in love with her after all, but he’s too stupid to know it.” 

While these two are having some clash-offs, about to give into temptation, and then the running, there's also some of that trademark Roberts' paranormal. Remember 1912 Mrs. Calhoun? Apparently, she just casually haunts a tower in the house. As one does. Trenton St. James III finds himself attending a séance. As one does! During the séance, they feel a presence, specifically C.C. and Trenton, and an emerald and diamond necklace is brought up. They think it's hidden in the house somewhere, if it exists. This could save their money troubles, but, this is a series and we can't have all the answers in book one (there were also more flashbacks to 1912 to show a little more of the Mrs. and painter story progress but lingering questions there too). So with the necklace waiting in the wings somewhere, the sisters come to the conclusion that they are going to be forced to sell. Deciding that they should have a date before he leaves (a little ???), Trenton St. James III leaves himself open to the oldest attack in the book, The Revenge Dress. Our girl C.C. does not disappoint in a tight slinky red number slit up and plunged down to defeat the toughest of foes. Trenton St. James III has trouble breathing but Daddy Drama is also a tough force and he still ends up leaving. 

“You’re throwing away something—no, not throwing,” she corrected. “You’re politely handing back something you’ll never have again. What you’ve turned out of your life, Trent, would have been the best part of it.” 

A jump of three weeks and our waxing poet grows a heart of gold and comes up with a solution to the Calhoun women's woes (I feel like they should have thought this one up themselves?), he's going to front them the money to turn the west wing of the house into a hotel and have them live in the other part of the house. Trenton St. James III also breaks free from Daddy Drama and admits to himself that he loves C.C. and we get our I love yous and engagement. Like I said, there's something to be said for shorter and snappy and this hit the spot. Probably also because I liked the dynamic between the two, you could feel the attraction and ol' Trent was visibly the one struggling/a mess more, while C.C. put down her snarky fight first and accepted she loved him. Plus, we get some layered under the surface talk/scenes like this: 

“It’s warped.” She swallowed, hoping to smother the squeak in her voice.“Everything around here is warped or broken or about to disintegrate. I don’t know why you’d even consider buying it.” 

Her face was pale as water, Trent noted, making her eyes that much deeper. The panicked distress in them seemed more than a warped tower door warranted. “Doors can be repaired or replaced.” 

She's feeling for him but scared she's not good enough, so using the house in place, and he's all I got you. Sucker for such scenes, I tell you.

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