Oh how I wanted to love this book. Alas it wasn't to be. The concept is fantastic but it just didn't draw my attention,. I tried valiantly to get into the book and failed repeatedly.

That said, the book was well written and I fully expect that others will love it!

*This book was provided to me by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

I was unable to finish the book because it archived to quickly. I am very sorry.

I really enjoyed the story of Eve, a twenty-something librarian who goes on holiday to the Scottish Highlands and falls hard for Moira, the older woman with a few secrets. Moira seems reluctant to admit her attraction to Eve, but why? Although she came across as grumpy at times I liked Moira. I wanted her to be who she really was. Eve was caring, emotional and determined. There are some powerful scenes between them, sometimes devastating. Some beautiful, romantic and passionate encounters as well as a wonderful setting made this a must-read. Highly recommended.

I was given this ARC by Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books in return for an honest review.

3 1/2 Stars. I ended up liking this more than I thought I would. With some of the early reviews quite mixed, I wasn't sure what to expect. What I didn't expect was how sad this was. I still have a stuffy nose since I could not stop crying in the second half of the book. While this book isn't really a happily ever after, at least it is a happily for now, ending. I was getting worried there, that's for sure. But for me personally, I like books that make me feel. While this book was not perfect, it was well written for a debut, and Larner sure made me feel something. I would classify this as a drama-romance, with a little bit of comedy thrown in. And that little bit of comedic lightness did help, so that the books wasn't too sad.

First I want to say, I loved the setting. I have always wanted to visit the UK, and after this book, Scotland is pushing to the top of my list. Larner, did a wonderful job describing how beautiful it is.

When it came to the characters, they were a little mixed for me. I thought Eve was pretty wonderful. Shy and clumsy, but really sweet. I also loved her inner thoughts. I instantly warmed to her as a character. When it came to the other main character Moira, I have some really mixed feelings. She has some issues for sure, and was a character that just wouldn't talk. I'm one to dislike people that can't or won't communicate, so it took me a lot to look past that to try to warm to her. Because I didn't care for Moira as much, the romance was just okay for me. I did feel their connection, but it was more that I was rooting for them to get together, so Eve would have a happy ending. Had I really liked Moira more, I would have rated this book higher.

Another part that I liked in the book was, that it had some twists. Twists I did not see coming. I like when an author can flip things on me. As I said before, this book is well written for a debut book. In fact, besides the beginning opening chapters, where the writing seemed a bit forced... after that the book flowed, and felt like it was written by a more seasoned author.

I do not think this book will be everyone's cup of tea, but it did pleasantly surprise me. If you are looking for a romance that is in a wonderful setting, with a lot of drama and angst, pick this up. I will not hesitate to read Larner's books in the future. If in her next book, she can make both characters as likeable as Eve, I think she will have a hit on her hands.

An ARC was given to me by BSB, for a honest review.

Not nearly as intriguing as the synopsis portrayed. The descriptions of the Scottish countryside and the local culture were done extremely well, made me hanker to visit the area, but the protagonists seemed woefully mismatched. While I understood the deep hurt that Moira survived, her indecisiveness and inability to commit fully to anyone beyond Iris grated at varying points. Eve did not seem to be the individual that her older counterpart wanted to end up with and their relationship never had the depth of emotion or compelling quality that the tale of Moira's first love brought to the page. I wanted more for each of these women and the slightly abrupt quality of the ending, which lacked a forward looking epilogue, only served to add to that need.

It was fairly well written although I just could not feel the romance between the two main characters. There attraction was not really there for me as a reader. Over half of the book it is alluring to a dark past or mystery in Moira’s life so that she doesn’t want to fall in love with eve even tough she is. I think there was too much time spend on alluring to the mysterious past without revealing it. It gets revealed towards the end and then I felt the ending was rushed which made there relationship even more unbelievable to me. Sometimes the story jumped around and left me wondering how it got tho this point now and it didn’t explain anything further from the previous topic.
I was really excited about this book because I really liked the cover but was left a bit disappointed.

A May/December f/f romance in a Scottish highlands setting. A fun and interesting set-up, though unfortunately, I found the love interest to be mostly unlikeable, and their romance felt flat and uninteresting.

The usual May-December romance is made even more difficult by differences in generational and familial acceptance. The difficulty of societal rejection for being a lesbian can result in a feeling of shame or even internalized homophobia. Highland Fling delves into self-doubt about whether the woman who is desired finds the feeling mutual; and also the limitations and barriers created by past rejection – personal and societal. Can regret be overcome with courage and love?

Well this book definetly feels like it takes place in Scotland/UK. The author does a great job in immersing you into the area and culture, which I'd guess she has to be from. That was really well done.

The book started slow for me. It took me awhile to get in to it but I can't really pinpoint why that was. Maybe because there wasn't any initial conflict or action, which may not bother others as much as myself. I wish I could be more helpful on "it was slow" but there it is. It did start to pickup halfway through once Eve and Moira really get going, so the second half was stronger than the first.

I also had a problem with the narrative. At some points it was from Eve's POV, and then it would shift to Moira's in the next paragraph. I like when it stays with a character for at least the whole chapter so I'm not questioning who was thinking what.

Roxanne was a hoot. I thought she had the personality and like ability of a main character if it ever came to that

Overall it was just OK for me. I didn't feel like I wasted my time reading it, but I won't be reading it a second time.

I'm not sure if some of my reaction is first-book-after-great-book syndrome, but this one left me rather cold and annoyed.

The love interest is rather unlikable and so deep inside her own head/stuck with her own issues that I in turn had issues seeing the attraction at all. I just wanted to grab Eve and drag her away and push her towards anyone else, literally anyone.

The dark secrets were looming heavily in the first half without being revealed. A flashback only illuminated parts of it, the rest was later revealed in a letter. Both stylistic devices I'm not a great fan of.

I guess it's hard to write a character that just doesn't talk and rather runs away, but I'm not sure how often you can have her run and have the other character believably stay and wait, especially if as the reader I'm not sure I want her to. Bad situation when reading a romance.

The ending was quick but I kind of liked it (or maybe I was just glad I was done with the book).

Quick read, and if you manage to like Moira maybe not so bad. I found my patience with her tried.

Highland Fling was a beautiful love story that you will pull you into the book and make you feel as though you are one of the characters. I wanted the story to continue even as I read the last page. The story setting and characters are wonderfully done. I hope to read another one soon from this author.

Highland Fling is a romance with a twenty years age gap -- Eve Eddison (26) is an Englishwoman on vacation in the Scottish Highlands, and Moira Burns (46) is a 'highlander' with the complicated past.
The writing is solid with good dialogue. This is often the main problem for first book authors, but here it is done really well. The setting, beautiful Highlands of Scotland, is really interesting and very well described. The main characters are well-defined, but I found their romance not particularly convincing and I just could not feel them together as a couple. Besides, I think that too much time is spent on Moira's denial, her dilemmas, and her unjustified and unconvincing behavior. That woman is the queen of the bad life choices. As a result, I did not care much for her.
I am also not satisfied with the rushed and happy-for-now type of ending. Even the average HFN ending is usually more convincing than this one.
All in all, this is an okay read for a debut novel, but if I could get more attached to the main characters and their romance, this would be a much better story for me.

Honestly, this book really irritated me. I sped through it because it was a chore. I thought Moira was a passive aggressive, manipulative bitch who was going to bully her way through any relationship. No happy ever after there. Not even close.

Eve deserved a lot better, but I couldn’t understand why she’d put up with such bullying.

I liked the more complex possibilities of the relationship that Moira had with the others in the story, and how she and John had decided to raise Alice together. However, it seems really old fashioned to have gone as far as marrying him, and pretending that she didn’t ever love Alice’s mum.

This deceit didn’t excuse Moira’s appalling behavior towards Eve though. She seemed to blow hot and cold, to avoid and even to deliberately miscommunicate nearly every they met. Moira was just a pill and it was hard work to get to the end of the book.