The Colonel's Daughter

Prequel to The Senator's Wife

De: Jen Lyon

Narrado por: Abby Craden

Before the world knew her as Catharine Cleveland—a leader of industry, a pillar of polite society, a steward of philanthropy, she was:

A scholar.

A rower.

A promising pianist.

A dutiful heir.

But above all, she was a girl who fell in love.

From the ancient halls of Oxford to the sun-drenched vineyards of Bordeaux, and across the Atlantic to the political circus of D.C., meet Cate Brooks in The Colonel’s Daughter—the prequel to the best-selling series, The Senator’s Wife.

For a list of content warnings, please see CW page on the author's website.

©2025 Jen Lyon (P)2026 Jen Lyon

OMFG what a terrific book!

Jen Lyon does not disappoint. Abby Craden amazing as always! I could not stop listening and didn’t want it to end even though I knew the future. I felt every ounce of love and angst.

bloody outstanding!!!!!! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

How I ended up Loving a character after seeing her in a different light is the gift of Jen's writting! The senators wife is such an incredible series, I did not expect to enjoy the prequel as much as I did but wow! just wow!!! The emotion, love, hate, just all the feeling Jen's able to pull out of you is unreal, rare and sooooo needed, this is what it's like to disappear into a book, another world, and tho I don't know how Catherine didn't off herself. -Lets face it I wouldn't put past Jen to do that to us- It was sad and at times enraging to see her take so much and do nothing about it, but to write a character you have all the feels for and understand their shakes and inner struggles is such a gift. I can't say enough good things about it and now I'm going to relisten to the entire series again with new eyes, ears, and heart. Thank you for the ride Jen!!!! Always leaving us wanting more. ❣️ Oh and let's not forget Miss Craden Just bailing the role!!! every emotion, accent, and tone portrayed like no one else ever could.

just what I needed

This book was just what I needed. Jen Lyon gave new life to familiar characters. I enjoyed allusions to happens in the other books in the series. I thought the passage of time was handled artfully when there were decades to summarize. Abby Craden was amazing in aging (and reverse aging) the voices. It truly allowed the evolution the characters to come across the years. In 39 hours, I've listened to it twice.

Brilliant

An absolute masterpiece. Jen Lyon can't write a bad book and Abby Craden never misses! Was brilliant to be read and even better to listen to!

Gorgeous storytelling and performance!

Oh, Catharine...

When Jen Lyon said she was thinking of writing a prequel to The Senator's Wife series focusing on Catharine's college years at Oxford, I encouraged it with a very enthusiastic, "Yes, please!" Catharine is one of those tragic characters that never leaves you - one of my all-time favorites in sapphic fiction.

At just 17, Catharine was a brilliant prodigy at Oxford studying to take over her family's global shipping business. Growing up, she was not allowed to be like other children - she was expected to train in languages, business and economics. Her father, cruel and ruthless, only cared about how her actions affected the family business. He determined who she could associate with. Who was worthy of a match that would support her role in business, happiness be damned.

When she meets wild, free, beautiful French theater aficionado Nathalie Comtois at a nearby Oxford college, the actress opens her eyes to a whole different world. Catharine falls completely under her spell and begins to experience true happiness for the first time in her life. But as their college years come to a close, both realize as much as they wish otherwise, their time together is finite.

Those that read The Senator's Wife series know how their romantic relationship ends, but this story focuses on their time together and what happens between the heartbreak and the years when they become the best of friends. If you haven't already, you should read the Senator's Wife series to truly appreciate the history of these characters.

Lyon is an absolutely gorgeous writer and I loved revisiting this world - as much as I loathe Colonel Brooks and Carlton Cleveland. I am beyond thrilled that she is working on one more book in this series called Duplicity that will focus on Catharine and Alex, but as we know - Lyon loves to torture us, so goodness knows what she has in store. But I'd bathe in any and all words she publishes, so bring it on, Jen!

I read the book before listening to this version narrated by the brilliant Abby Craden. It was even more heartbreaking than the read due to Abby’s masterful performance of the work. There’s a scene between Nathalie and Catharine near the end that made my heart literally ache. This was NOT an easy book to narrate. My hat is off to Abby for knocking yet another of this series out of the park! Bravo!

More, please!