Catching Katie

by Robin Lee Hatcher

Katie Jones is committed to fighting for the cause of women's suffrage. She has no time for romance, especially not with her best friend Ben Rafferty. But when Katie's column in Ben's newspaper, The Homestead Herald, stirs things up, sparks begin to fly. Ben is set on winning Katie over, but Katie is just as determined to stay true to her 1916 feminist ideals. With such strong obstacles in the way, their relationship can't possibly progress. Unless somehow love finds a way...

Genres: Christian Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance, Christian, Historical, Historical Romance, Fiction

344 pages, Paperback

First published January 22, 2003

About the author

Robin Lee Hatcher is the author of over 90 novels and novellas with over five million copies of her books in print. She is known for her heartwarming and emotionally charged stories of faith, courage, and love. Her numerous awards include the RITA® Award, Christy Award, Carol Award, HOLT Medallion, National Reader’s Choice Award, and the Faith, Hope & Love Reader’s Choice Award, and she is also the recipient of prestigious Lifetime Achievement Awards from both American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America®. When not writing, she enjoys being with her family, spending time in the beautiful Idaho outdoors, Bible art journaling, reading books that make her cry, watching romantic movies, and decorative planning. A mother and grandmother, Robin makes her home on the outskirts of Boise, sharing it with a demanding Papillon dog.

Be sure to follow Robin on BookBub so you'll receive new book and special deal alerts:
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/robin...

Reviews

[Robin Hatcher]

Katie is one of my all-time favorite characters. I had such fun with her and Ben.

[Saumia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was initially feeling like one of Katie's opponents in the book while reading her enthusiasm and passion for the women's suffrage. Not because I oppose it but because of her personal decision to stay away from marriage and the responsibilities of family life just because her role model(one of the women's suffrage leaders) had decided to stay single. She even had her reasons to claim that it was God's will and had almost rejected a love that was so much enviable. Ending up being miserable.

But as the story progressed I felt that Robin Lee Hatcher has actually created a character that existed very much in reality. Many of the ambitious women might relate to her. When it comes to women being ambitious, it is considered wrong, even in this century. But many should understand that if God has made men/women that way then it is to bring about His plans using them (irrespective of their sex), provided it is Him who is leading and that the ambition does not turn out to be selfish.

Katie finally realizes that God's will is not always in what she thought was right and is always something that will make us happy in the end. The way Katie's realization leads her to get back her love and her success in achieving the women's suffrage was inspiring. Though she had put off many initially (including me :-)), I guess she was successful in gaining back their approval in the end(atleast I am sure of mine) . Catching Katie.. a perfect title for this story…

[Loraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1916 Idaho, Katie Jones has dedicated her life to the campaign for women's suffrage. Until now she has successfully avoided the ties of marriage, fearing it would obscure her message. Will her growing love for childhood chum Ben Rafferty compromise her calling?

I loved the focus of women's suffrage in this storyline. Both of the characters were well developed and each had their own problems. Katie started out as a strong-minded, independent young woman who was focused on women's rights. But she got so caught up in her "determined agenda" that she became self centered and selfish. Ben, in turn, began as a caring, long time friend. He did the right thing by marrying Katie when he and Katie were found in a situation that could ruin her possible political career. But he did it for all the wrong reasons. He had his own "determined agenda" feeling certain that Katie wouldn't achieve her goal. Neither one of them was really thinking of their spouse nor were they willing to compromise. It's only when the follow God's agenda that they are able to work things out and build a strong marriage. Light and easy enjoyable read.

FAVORITE QUOTES: "Change doesn't happen because of one person doing one big thing. It happens when many people do their own small parts."

"When God makes two into one, I'm sure He also guides them into the life they're meant to live as a couple."

"Marriage is about compromise. At least the good marriages are."

[Celestial · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have wanted to read this book for a while, but now that I finished it I feel slightly let down.
I don't really know why I feel so let down, it's just that this book was not at all as good or entertaining as I had thought.
The characters in this book were not captivating to me in the slightest. I was expecting the character Katie to be at least a little interesting given that she's a Suffragette, but she isn't. The character Ben was a clique. He was like every other guy character in a Christian Historical Fiction novel. This sounds pretty bad but what I'm trying to say is that to me this book was like every other cheesy Historical Fiction book I've ever read.

I didn't hate this book half as much as it sounds like, I just didn't enjoy it enough to give it a very good review. To sum it up I skimmed it, which means I didn't find it interesting.
Many people might appreciate this book very much, so I gave it a 3 star 'cause you guys might like it.

[Loretta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Katie is a young woman with a passion for women's rights in the 1920's. She moves back 'home' after being away at college and working a job. She drives her own car (which is rather scandalous) and picks back up with her life-time friend, Benji. At some point their friendship shifts and becomes a conflict in the story. This is an interesting story to consider how much has changed for women in the last 100 years and the challenges and sacrifices that have helped to make those changes. This book is fiction but based on events during this time period.

[Brenda Poulos · Rating 5 out of 5]

What They Both Wanted

A story with all of the elements necessary for a spectacular read. Tender, with touches of humor. I enjoyed this book as I have the others I have read by this masterful author.

[Lucinda McClellan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a suffragette or a wife and mother? Will Katie follow her head or her heart?

[Lydia Myers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first time I read it in high school

[Kailyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story about women in politics 🤔

[Barb Hess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book.

[Sarita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Catching Katie was such a great, fun story to listen to.

Katie was like a whirlwind with her personality and her passion to make a difference and change in women’s lives, even when the men around her made it difficult.

I enjoyed the whole story, but I think the part which was my favourite was where a marriage due to appearance threw Katie’s well planned live for a loop and she had the inner struggle with standing strong in her believes but also realizing it is okay to adjust one’s plan when God takes you on a different route.

*I listened to the audiobook on Scribd.*

[Sara ♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I REALLY liked this book. A LOT.

So, Katie Jones is a suffragette in 1916 Idaho, a state that already allowed women to vote... but there wasn't a Constitutional Amendment yet, so there was still plenty of work to be done! She went to Vassar and then spent 3 years working in Washington D.C. Now she's like she should go home to Homestead, Idaho and work from there. She's VERY dedicated to the cause and plans to remain single her whole life....

Her best friend, Ben Rafferty, runs the weekly newspaper in Homestead... and when Katie gets back, she gets him to agree to let her write a column for it. Katie is VERY forward thinking and not everyone in town agrees with what she has to say, and pretty soon, the whole town is in chaos... Men are sleeping on couches and their wives are burning their dinners (on purpose), and... contention everywhere... People demand that Ben stop running her column, but he's like, "Ummm... no. She's writing on very newsworthy topics, and I'm not going to make her stop just because you don't like it."

And of course, there's also the story line about how Ben has been "seeing" this girl in town but just isn't feeling for her what he would love to be feeling for her (he wants to settle down and have a family)... and then Katie STORMS back into his life and she's all grown up and beautiful now (they haven't seen each other in like 7 or 11 or something years)... And he's quite attracted to her. And SHE is attracted to HIM, but she fights it, because she's all about Universal Women's Suffrage...

Anyway, it's really really cute, and then it gets tense and sad and I cried... and then it gets cute again!

They end up HAVING to get married, and they're really happy together, but then she gets pregnant and isn't too thrilled and she's like, "This is terrible timing... what about my campaign?" and he's like, "She doesn't want my babies..." and they stop talking to each other and it's SO SAD!!! She finds out he's building the house he wanted to build from his sister (her friend) and she's like, "He showed me the floor plans the other day! It's going to be so beautiful!" and Katie hasn't seen them and just nods... :( Poor girl!

Anyway, it all works out in the end, but it was tense there for a while!! REALLY good!

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

great book about the women's suffrage movement. Katie thought she was destined to never marry, but instead to help women everywhere gain the right to think and cast a vote for themselves. After college she worked for the women's rights movement in Washington D.C. Then she decides to go back to her home town of Idaho and help the women their by writing columns in the newspaper owned by her dear friend Ben. People in town aren't as willing to accept the new Katie or her new ideas of giving women a voice, but she ends up running for office and getting married then finding out she must make a choice between the two. Book about love, women, and choices.

[Jennifer Abbott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book in the mail yesterday afternoon. I finished reading it today. I could hardly put it down, and when I did, I couldn't wait to get back to it! It was a very emotional read. It made me grin, made me cry, sometimes even a little angry. It even had some LOL moments! It was a truly great read! :)

[Alyson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was historically interesting, but a bit disappointing. Somehow I thought the main character would realize that raising a family was a higher priority than women's rights, but she didn't. I guess my own values sent me a different direction.

[Layne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mediocre. It read like a rough draft, it need a few more revisions. But the concept was mildly interesting.

[Leanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty much a waste of time

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story about love, priorities, and women's suffrage. Plus it takes place in Idaho, my home state, so that was fun.

[MaryAnn Diorio · Rating 5 out of 5]

A page-turner full of action, suspense, and captivating characters.

[C.A. Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I picked this up on the recommendation of another author I follow. It was good as far as Christian fiction goes, and a sweet romance with a few teeth-gnashing moments that worked out all right in the end.

Katie is a women's suffrage advocate at the turn of the century. She went off to college at a time when almost no women did so, and bought one of the first automobiles, though it's always breaking down. She grew up with Ben Rafferty, her best friend, but she hadn't seen him in four years because she was so far away and travel wasn't easy back then. It was unclear why she felt "called" by God to go back to her small hometown when she loved the big cities so much and never intended to remain in the town she grew up in, but she did go back, intending to spread her message of the importance of suffrage. Ben, stunned that she grew up to be so beautiful, fell in love with her quickly given that and their shared history. But he knew Katie had no intention of ever marrying, dedicated to her cause and believing that marriage and family were incompatible with it, for a woman. For her part, Katie saw the change in her old friend and fell for him too, jealous of the woman he'd been rumored to be courting. For about the first half of the book, the tension is split between the hornet's nest Katie stirs with her radical ideas and her passionate and less than tactful means of expressing it, and the romantic tension between her and Ben.

Meanwhile, there's an interesting old schoolmarm character named Blanche who seems to be a feminist, but really she's just bitter against men and over the way her life has turned out. She at first is all about Katie, but then grows jealous of her and bitter over the fact that she doesn't eschew all men, as Blanche believes she should if she were truly dedicated to her cause. Blanche's bitterness becomes hatred over the course of the story... which leads to an interesting but compelling twist ending that I wasn't expecting in a story like this.

There's one segment toward the end of the book that almost made me quit reading, because I was so sure it would turn out a particular way and I knew it was going to make me angry. While overly feminist books irritate me on one hand, many Christian books tend to err on the other side, making it seem like a woman's place is primarily at home with her children, and she should subjugate all other desires to that. I thought it was going there... but it didn't. It actually ended perfectly, and exactly the way I hoped it would.

[Pearl Pridham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fighting for women’s rights while struggling with personal desires is the theme here. It’s 1916, and Katie has returned home after living in Washington DC where she got caught up in the Women’s Suffrage movement.

Back home in small-town Idaho, women have already been granted the right to vote. She hopes to motivate them to exercise this right and to fight for nationwide rights and equalities.

Little does she realize how influential she is. Smart-looking, vivacious, and dynamic, she soon has many followers of both sexes. Including her closest childhood friend, Ben, now a swoon-worthy man. As the publisher of the local newspaper, he agrees to let her write a weekly column, which attracts much controversial attention.

Katie and Ben instantly fall back into their old friendship. However, it’s been years, and things have changed for both of them. Yet, despite their differences, they can’t escape their magnetic attraction to one another. What their heads tell them is contrary to their heart’s pull. What to do?

Katie has a strong calling to dedicate her life to fighting for women’s rights. But this doesn’t seem to jive with her heart’s desires. Is it possible to reconcile the two? Can Ben catch the woman he loves, and must he modify his own desires to do so?

I received this book as a free download from Kindle, and enjoyed it very much, as I do all of Robin’s books. Her writing is pleasant to read, and always thought-provoking. Find out more about the author and her books at www.robinleehatcher.com.

[Maggie | TheeReadingRedhead · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1916, Katie is a strong, independent woman who is leading the movement for women's suffrage. She returns from Washington D.C. to her hometown in Idaho so that she can influence women and show them the importance of their voice being heard. She is given an outlet in her best friend, Ben's newspaper. Ben and Katie grew up together and Ben has always been supportive of Katie even when others have not. Katie has always felt called by God to fight for women's rights and to remain single and devoted to the cause. But the more time she spends with her now grown up best friend, the more she begins to experience new dreams that conflict with her calling. Katie is conflicted on whether to follow her heart or what she thinks she should be doing for women. Can it be possible to have both?

I really enjoyed this story and found some of the struggles women faced back then to be relatable to today. This book does a good job showing multiple views on the acceptance of women's rights. I liked that Katie had such strong ideals but that she realized that it's equally important to do the right thing for the right reason. I love that Ben was so supportive of Katie even when it broke his heart to do so. I enjoyed the resolution showing that we each must follow our own calling but we must do so with an open mind and heart putting others' needs ahead of our own. I would like to read more by Robin Lee Hatcher.

[Meredith Resce · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look at the suffrage movement of the early 20th Century. The main character believes it is her God given calling to fight for the right to vote for women. She is supported by the supporting romantic hero, and though she loves him, she has decided that marriage is not for her, if she wishes to follow her calling.
There is some opposition and typical reaction that suffragettes faced, though I suspect it was probably not as much as women of that period would have endured, who followed that cause to fight for women's rights.
A good reminder for women of today, that the equality we experience has come at a price paid by others who were brave enough to stand up in the face of opposition, ridicule and sometimes violence.

[Roni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great historical novel

Robin Hatchet novels draw you immediately into the story as her well developed characters come alive through her story telling. She writes clean fiction that is completely researched to the Era she writes about.
Katie is all on board for the suffrage movement and is at a crossroads when she thinks her choice is either a career or love. The struggles she goes through before realizing the correct path and her thought process is predictable for her age and a page turner as she finally decided what was best for her.

[Betty Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

History of Women's Sufferage

What a well written, comprehensive account of the efforts of one woman and others to gain for all US women the right to vote, the right to be counted as equally significant as men in the early 1900's. It also depicts the opposition by most men and some women to that effort. The fallibility of the main character is described, so she's not seen as a super human hero. I learned a lot about the society of that time. Thank you, Robin, for this wonderful lesson in history.

[PAMpublish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always enjoy a book with a novel plot whereby I learn about an era or topic in history. This, indeed, met all this criteria and more. In addition, it had excellent character development depicting the 'pride and bias' of the era towards women living outside their expected role of the times. Characters were delightful, delving into their true motivations and expectations of the era ranging from sad to funny at times. Highly recommended for an enjoyable read about what women endured for equal rights within this country.

[Emily Horn · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book was good, don’t get me wrong. but katie was so annoying i couldn’t handle it. i know it was basically the whole plot of the book, but katie pushing away ben because of her fight for suffrage got old real quick. and it was the same thing over and over again. at some point it just got kinda boring. i’m a sucker for historical romance, but i feel like this could’ve been done better. overall it was good. would it be my first recommendation to someone? no. but i’m not extremely disappointed with it.

[Gabrielle Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay.
Friends to lovers storyline, I enjoyed. The political storyline not so much. Women’s suffrage was super important, and it was interesting at some parts to read but political non fiction or fiction just isn’t my thing I don’t think. I honestly only finished the book because I’m trying to get back into reading so I’m trying to read every book all the way through. The read it in 5 days but honestly just pushed myself to finish so I could be done and read something else. I do enjoy robin lee Hatcher’s books a lot. This one just wasn’t for me.

[Jeanette Durkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book! It's set in 1916 in Idaho. Women's suffrage is a huge topic in the book. I found all of the facts and politics intriguing.

Katie is a complex character. She's dedicated her education and life to ensuring the vote for women. Sadly she thinks that she can't put love into the mixture. Ben is so patient and kind. He loves Katie and supports her even when it causes him heartache.

I love how the author wrapped everything up with Katie getting her dream and Ben supporting her.

[Lesley Barklay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was surprised to find that I really enjoyed this book. The author clearly did a lot of research into the suffrage movement, and it shows. I also really appreciated the way she wove Christian principles into the narrative.

I'm not sure that the story needed the addition of Blanche's character, but I did enjoy the friends-to-lovers trope. I appreciated seeing Ben support Katie in her dreams and love her for who she was (the third act break up not withstanding).