Catch Me If You Can - Donna Kauffman (Kensington/Zebra - Dec 2019)

Series: Morgan Brothers/Men of Rogues Hollow (Book 3)

IF IT’S TUESDAY, THIS MUST BE SCOTLAND

All Tag Morgan wants to do is help settle his father’s estate so he can get back to properly cataloguing his Mayan ruins. So he’s caught quite off guard to discover that:

A) His father had holdings in Scotland 

B) The property now belongs to Tag

 Leafing through his father’s correspondence with the property’s overseer, one Maura Sinclair, yields even more surprises. His father’s letters reveal a warmer, kinder man—nothing like the harsh, cold disciplinarian Tag remembers. Surely it has to do with Maura, whose writing is filled with a dry wit and an infectious charm that keeps Tag reading all night. By the time the sun rises, Tag knows he’s going to Scotland to find this woman who has so thoroughly captivated him . . .

Good book. Tag Morgan is an anthropologist who studies Mayan ruins, as far from his abusive father and life in Rogues Hollow as he could get. As the oldest of four brothers, it falls to Tag to settle his father's estate when the man dies. He is surprised to discover that his father owned property in Scotland and puzzled over the letters his father exchanged with the castle's caretaker, Maura Sinclair. Fascinated by the wit and charm of the letters and unexpectedly drawn to the writer, Tag heads for Scotland. He doesn't expect to wreck his car in a blizzard on the way to the property.

Maura is the last of her line of Sinclairs. The care and keeping of the castle and its people have fallen on her shoulders. Desperate to keep the property from crumbling into ruin, she reached out to Tag's father as an investor. With his death, the monthly payments have stopped. In the culmination of a horrible day that started with finding her boyfriend in bed with her best friend and continued with the denial of a loan she needed for the property, Maura found herself stranded in a blizzard.

I loved the first meeting between Maura and Tag. The chemistry was incendiary, and the connection was immediate. I enjoyed their innuendo-filled banter as the sparks between them grew hotter. After a steamy night together, Tag is stunned to discover that Maura is the woman behind the letters. After some initial misunderstandings are resolved, Tag and Maura realize that there is more between them than just physical attraction. I liked seeing how Maura's love of the land and her history rubbed off on Tag. She had a big part in helping him get past the resentment of his father that kept him from embracing his own interest in his ancestry. At the same time, Tag's attention showed Maura that she'd been settling for less than she deserved in her previous romantic relationships. The question became one of whether Tag's issues with his father would send him back to the Mayans. I liked seeing the changes in Tag as the Morgan/Sinclair/Ramsey history burrowed into his heart and mind. I loved his solution of the way to combine his passion with Maura's, making it possible for them to have the future they both wanted.