Such a sweet, hilarious and passionate novel’. Loved it and read it in one seating! Great job! I cannot wait to see what this author writes for the other boys in the series!

Cassie and her girls go on a trip to Europe but Cassie wants to have a one night stand. She meets Logan for her one night stand but she wants more but does Logan want more or just need her for his show. It was great getting to know the group of girls. Each girl has a story to tell and love to find. This book has drama, friendship and moments that will melt your heart. I loved getting to know Cassie and following her story but I am excited to read about the other girls. This book is a standalone.

Cassie Crow and her closest friends have been on a European vacation for six weeks. They promised themselves this trip when they were in college and now they are following through, five years later. Each girl got to select a country to visit and to explore. Cassie had hoped to have a fling with a European hottie, but the trip is nearly over, and no one has caught her interest.

Logan Reid and his sister, Nettie, are in Scotland filming an episode of the show, Shenanigans. In this episode, Logan pretends to be a Scottish time-traveling highlander waking up in a different century. Cassie finds him, talks with him, kisses him, and walks away from him, unaware that everything is being filmed for this show. After he chases her down, they make plans to meet for a drink later that night. She finds out that she was filmed, and that Logan wants her to sign a release, which she refuses to do. She is also upset and angry about it. Cassie wants to be taken seriously at her job in Chicago, and she wants to film shows with more of a lasting impact, instead of the social events that she currently films. Having her kiss and conversation get blasted all over social media directly conflicts with these goals. Logan is trying to improve his own work situation, and getting Cassie to sign the release is all part of that.

Parts of this book were delightful to read. The pacing is slow in places, but the story still holds the interest of the reader. There are some clear conflicts within both main protagonists that take a while to get ironed out. Logan has to figure out if the release is more important than a potential relationship with Cassie. Logan also has to come to terms with the death of his father ten years earlier. He still hasn't fully accepted it, and this complicates his life and his perspective about relationships in many ways. Cassie still has to get a grasp on her new job and on her different responsibilities, and she has a jealous co-worker in her life as well.

The resolution was nice and the relationships with her good friends and co-travelers lead the reader to believe that other books are planned around this theme and with these characters.

Grab your passport and get ready for a fun, sexy, charming kilted adventure! Cassie and Logan's story was a delightful read filled with humor, passion, friends and love. Cassie and her group of girlfriends are so fun, I hope they each get their own book!

3.5 stars

Getting Hot with a Scot was a fun, cute book about an American girl and a Scottish prankster. When these two meet in a unlikely circumstance, sparks fly and the adventure begins.

I really enjoyed the overall storyline of the book and the secondary characters brought extra excitement a long the way.

The reason for the three stars was the pacing. I felt that the story lagged a few times, and it took me longer to read through it.


- An Arc was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. -

My first from this author. Now I must own the whole series of books. I really enjoyed this book. I will be reading more.

Getting Hot with the Scot by Melonie Johnson
Book #1: Sometimes in Love Series
Source: NetGalley and St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Rating: 4/5 stars

Cassie Crow and her four best friends have spent their summer travelling around Europe and having the time of their lives. With only a few stops left before returning home, Cassie has ticked off every item on her to-do list except one, a hot, sweaty one-night stand with a beautiful stranger. As it happens, Scotland, her next to last stop has just what she has been seeking and he’s wearing a kilt!

Logan Reid has spent his life as a prankster and it has paid off in spades. He is world-famous, gets to live like a kid, and get paid for it! Until recently, Logan has been completely satisfied with his life, but now there is a possibility for advancement he never thought possible. In order to secure his advancement, Logan must prove to producers his appeal can reach a larger, broader audience. To do that, Logan must pull off the mother of all pranks and he does so with the beautiful and completely clueless Cassie Crow.

In a matter of just a few moments Logan not only has the epic prank he needs, but his head has been so twisted and turned around by the luscious Cassie Crow that he isn’t sure he can bring himself to use the footage. What’s more, with the help of her friends, Logan is able to “accidentally” run into Cassie again before she leaves for home. In that brief amount of time, Logan is utterly convinced he will do nothing to harm Cassie even if it means sacrificing his own career advancement.

Meanwhile, back in America and back to reality . . . .

Cassie is back at work and more determined than ever to move on from her fluff position at the TV station and on to a more serious role. With Scotland, the hot Scot, and the stupid filmed prank behind her, she’s ready to get down to business. Nothing is going to derail her plans until the moment Logan Reid shows up in her town. Wait what?? As it turns out, without releasing the video of the embarrassing prank, Logan has still been able to achieve his goals and now that Cassie feels safe from the threat to her budding new career path, a real relationship with Logan seems entirely possible. For several months the plan works, and Cassie is blissfully happy with her one-night stand turned boyfriend.

And then that one drunken mistake causes it all to come crashing down . . . .

The Bottom Line: This was my first Melonie Johnson book and I found myself quite taken with her brand of rom-com. Cassie and her friends - right down to the last one - are all delightful, successful, educated young women living their best lives possible. They support one another, tease one another, and encourage one another even when the plan is crazy. I love the varying personalities, all of which come together to create a wonderful circle of women. As so often happens for me, a book can be made or broken by dialogue and in this instance, the dialogue is sharp, fast, witty, and often sarcastically awesome. In all, I found every element of this book to be a fine introduction to a new series and new-to-me author.

Getting Hot with the Scot the debut novel by Melonie Johnson was an enjoyable story. That was not only full of engaging likable characters. But it was sweet, funny, sexy and at times tender. And I particularly liked the two main characters Logan and Cassie, and thought their different personalities played off each other really well.
But I must admit to finding this story a little hard to get into and at times the pace of the story seemed to drop off. However, the writing style was nice was nice, and I loved the detail, especially when it came to Logan and his Scottish brogue. And overall, I did think this was a great all round read and a good start to this Sometimes in Love series. And I would happily recommend it to others.

What happens when you bring together a prankster and a pragmatist? You get the makings for some "serious" hot encounters; a major misunderstanding or two and possibly a HEA ending. This book had me chuckling, sighing, fanning my face and shaking my head. I was begining to wonder if Cassie and Logan were ever going to figure out not only their own lives, but also a life together. I am looking forward to the next books in the series that I hope feature Cassie's girlfriends and their journeys to HEAs; especially Bonnie.
I definitely recommend this book for a light and fun read and for learning some things about Scotland and England that you may not know about.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

When I read the blurb, I was really excited to read this story and the series. I’ve been planning to write a series of contemporary romance based on my own Europe tour with my best friend and here’s one just like it.

Except it’s not just like my story. Because this one is so incredibly white. The only thing of color is their hair (hero is a ginger, heroine is brown-haired). The locations are major cities in the world, but there’s no encounter with a person of color. Maybe Maria at 60% is Hispanic. Maybe Therese, the heroine’s boss, is black. Maybe. The book wasn’t clear. There’s a lesbian character, but it wasn’t revealed until 80% of the book. It’s 2019. For there not be major representation of other groups is disappointing.

The writing is fine. Beautiful white girl meets a handsome white guy; they have a one-night stand; there’s some deception happening. All is forgiven when he follows her home. They exchange I love yous after coitus. A new conflict arose 75% into the book and the hero is suddenly unwilling to commit. There’s a grand gesture and they’re happy for now.

There are elements I like: heroine knows what she wants, hero is self-aware, family is supportive, friendships are strong, locations are described well. I only wish effort is given to be more inclusive.

Thanks to SMP for providing the ARC through NetGalley. Review reflects my personal opinion.

This book has interesting characters and is well written. I liked that it seemed to be such a mishmash - four girlfriends on vacation, a touch of Outlander (the hero appeared dressed old style in a kilt in a medieval castle), history and pop culture. I loved the Scottish brogue and the descriptions of some of Logan's favorite foods made by his mom, like black bread and clooty dumplings. I liked the friends Cassie went on vacation with and Logan's friend Theo. In fact, I liked their friends much better than I did them, and am definitely planning on reading the next book in the series.

The two main characters were the problem. There just isn't anything romantic about a young woman going on vacation hoping to have an anonymous hookup. I also was not particularly impressed with Logan's career aspirations - moving his youtube channel program where he plays pranks on people to network TV, which seems incredibly incredibly shallow. The travelling also gave me a little whiplast - they were in the UK, they were in America.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read an advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun, sexy, well-written book. Cassie is working on transitioning from a pop-culture reporter to a "serious" journalist. On a vacation to Europe with her best friends, she has a one-night fling with a sexy Scot. Logan has built a career filming pranks and posting them on the Web. After spending a night with Cassie, he doesn't want it to end there. Cassie and Logan were funny and adorable and so were their friends and family members. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more books in this series. I would recommend this book and the series to others.

Title: Getting Hot with the Scot
Author: Melonie Johnson
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4 out of 5

Cassie Crow is a pop culture reporter for a talk show, but she wants to be a “serious” reporter. Even though she’s on the vacation of a lifetime with her friends, her upcoming big interview is all she can think about. Until a mix-up in a Scottish castle leads to a chance encounter with a handsome man in a kilt.
Logan’s career is doing pranks before a camera and making it big is all he can think about. Until he meets Cassie and needs her to agree before he can use the footage that may capture the hearts of his target audience.

What was supposed to be a one-night-stand might become more, but only if Cassie and Logan conquer the fears from their pasts.

Getting Hot with the Scot was a quick, fun read. Running into a sexy Highlander in a kilt—in a castle, no less—is probably the dream of a lot of women, so I found the way the novel took that idea and ran with it to be quite entertaining. The best part of this book, besides Logan’s accent, was the friendship between Cassie and her group of friends.

Melonie Johnson is a writer, a wife, a mother, and many other things, depending on her current interests.
Getting Hot with the Scot is the first book in the Sometimes in Love series.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)

I knew going in this book is the first of a series. About one third of the way in I had to look to see when the next book is coming out. I knew I wasn’t going to want to wait to read more by this author. Happily, I found there will be two more books out within the next few months. Yay!

As far as I can tell, this is the debut published work for this author. Bravo to her! The chemistry between Cassie and Logan is written beautifully and gave me all the feels from the moment they meet. Their attraction to each other in undeniable, and I love that her girlfriends see that and help nudge her in the right direction since she tends to overthink things. These same friends are also fiercely loyal and protective of one another and there is some great lady bonding in this book.

Not only do Logan and Cassie heat up the pages, there’s also a connection between their best friends that I loved seeing in this story. Especially knowing they will be getting their own story in this series. The flame between Bonnie and Theo doesn’t seem forced to fit into this story, it’s organic and the two actually aren’t in a place to be open to the bond. Which makes me all the more interested to read the next book so I can see how they get from where they are to meeting back up.

Logan is a lot of fun but has a whole box full of issues he needs to work through. Cassie has been too busy with her career to foster any romantic relationships, but it’s obvious from her friendship with Bonnie and the other women that she doesn’t have commitment issues or problems with letting people get close to her. It’s interesting to watch the two of them go from one-night stand to vacation fling to more.

Although I really enjoyed every bit of this story, there was a bit of a flow issue with me. It almost like there were two stories (vacation and post-vacation) that are tied together by one video. Having that hanging over the second half of this story was a distraction to me, while logically I know it had to be there. Obviously, I’m having a hard time putting my finger on exactly what it was that didn’t do it for me. Since I really enjoyed this story either way I’m not going to dwell. And I’ll be recommending this new author to other contemporary romance fans. I hope the books that follow in this series can live up to the joy this one brought me.

This was an enjoyable rom com! Cassie is on vacation with a group of her best girlfriends and decides to have a fling. When she meets Logan in Scotland - there is chemistry from the start.

One of my favorite parts is a subplot around Cassie’s love of reading romance and bringing attention to the fact that smart women read romance and there’s no need to keep any reading in the closet. Agreed!!

This was a fun way to spend a few hours and I’m looking forward to seeing where the series goes as Cassie’s friends find their loved.

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the advance review copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to the publisher for an ARC to read and give my honest opinion.


This was a fun and quirky Scottish read about a girl on vacation and what happens when you find romance. Cassie Crow is on a fated trip to Europe with four of her best friends when she finds herself a Scot. Logan Reid is a Scottish prankster who runs his own series of pranks and Cassie gets caught up in one, only to attract Logans true attention.

What did I like? This was a fun read, and the characters were great. I'm hoping that more than one girl gets her HEA in this series given that this is the first book. It an enthralling idea and a fresh new look into a Scot romance, loved the brogue.

Would I buy this book? Yes, and it's a great book to recommend. It's lively and romantic, and we know we will get more than a book from this series. I hope we get Bonnie's story next.

Thoughts for the author? Loved it. Four fabulous stars of entertainment! I will definitely be picking up the next in the series!

3.5 Is It Real Stars
* * * 1/2 Spoiler Free
A man with a kilt is always a draw for me. Add all the goods that are under it with a man who is charming, sexy and eventually sees what is important... that is a terrific tale. This is explored in Getting Hot with the Scot by Melonie Johnson. This takes a savvy reality tv producer who has no love life paired with a Scot who has had a YouTube show on the brink of crossing over and becoming an actual network show.

What you have are people who never had relationships, who have to figure out when things are real or just for show, and also need to understand what is off limits when pursuing their careers.

The characters were engaging and there was a lot of humor, however, there were situations which cause a little unease for me. I do not like practical jokes or pranks so that took a little of the glow off for me. Overall though, it was an enjoyable read.

This is a really cute romantic book. Logan and Claire are two complete opposites. Logan is a prankster who runs an internet show and Claire is a serious journalist looking to make her big break. Claire is an American who goes to Scotland who her friends on a big trip to four countries while trying to find her big story. She’s a commitment phone and doesn’t really believe in love. Logan is the Scotland Highland who loves to play pranks on his friends and others and enjoys a good time. When these two seem fall into each other’s kilts what could go wrong or right? Claire and Logan just feel something more there but can they get through their own personal issues or will they push it all away for their careers? This is a super funny and hot book. This was my first book Melonie and it won’t be my last. Can’t wait to read more.

I received Getting Hot with the Scot written by Melonie Johnson from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. This is the first time I have read anything by Melonie Johnson and is the first in her series, A Sometimes in Love.
While on vacation with friends in Scotland, Cassie Crow stumbles upon Logan Reid in a kilt and decides one night with a sexy Scot will not hurt. Logan Reid has built a career on playing pranks on unsuspecting people for his web show, Shenanigans. But when Cassie kisses him during his most recent prank, he forgets it's supposed to be a prank. After a wild night, Cassie moves on, without signing the release for her section to appear on the show and Logan chases after her. Can they turn one night into HEA?
Sexy and hot, this was a wonderful, fun read. Melonie Johnson doesn't delve into anything deep and both of the main characters are normal people; attempting to work on their career, love life, and private time. Sometimes selfish, sometimes selfless, both of them are good persons attempting to find balance to make everything work. I look forward to book 2 of her series. #GettingHotwiththeScot #NetGalley

Hello, book friends!

You know that saying about never judging a book by its cover? I'm going to confess something. I absolutely did so with Melonie Johnson's Getting Hot with the Scot. I know, I know! It's book rule #35, and I am a rigid follower to not judge the contents based on the cover—or more specifically, title. I'm glad this rule is thoroughly ingrained in my #bookstagram psyche, because I would have been missing out if I'd chosen to instead set the book aside.

My #1 Takeaway: Smart girls read romance novels.

What a powerful statement to infuse into contemporary romance! It impacted me so greatly, I'm bringing it up before I even get into the plot, because I think it's an amazing thread to intersperse unexpectedly. Melonie Johnson touches on an interesting point: Why is there such a stigma surrounding romance novels? As if only air-headed, lust-filled, addled-brained women pick up romance novels because that's all their intelligence allows or sex is all that they are after? Why do we use labels such as "smut"? How offensive is that to not only the author but to the female reader? I may have digressed here from Melonie's more tactfully made point, but, hey, that's what I do—digress.

It doesn't matter what you read, as long as you are reading!

Yeah! Didn't know that would be part of the review, did ya? I felt similarly as I read this rather adorable story. Oh, you want to know what it's actually about? Let's get into it!

Cassie Crow is traveling through Europe with her four best friends. When Cassie loses her way in a Scotland castle after consuming a wee bit too much whiskey, she runs (quite literally) into Logan Reid, a social media prankster and—you guessed it—true Scotsman.

Logan and his sister run a web-based show called "Shenanigans," and Cassie has just unwittingly been caught on film. The clip is exactly what Logan needs to boost the show's popularity with the female demographic, only there's one problem: the smart and savvy Chicago reporter won't sign the waiver allowing him to use the video. With a fair amount of charm and a whole lot of Scottish brogue, Logan attempts to win over Cassie and get the signature he needs for his big break.

Only, Logan finds himself enjoying her company for more than just her signature, and together they embark on an European adventure of getting to know one another—in lots of ways.

Cassie doesn't expect to develop feelings for the Scotsman. It was supposed to just be one night. Perhaps it's the romantic Scottish gloaming or the way Logan doesn't pressure her for the signature. Either way, she gets to enjoy more of her sexy Scot before it's time to go home and their adventure meets its end. Or does it?

A sexy Scottish accent that drips off the page. A youthful adventure across Europe. A group of women tied together by friendship and wit. I'm delighted to have uncovered the first book of Melonie Johnson's Sometimes in Love series. The second book, Smitten by the Brit, is set to be published in August, featuring Bonnie (one of Cassie's best friends) and Logan's best friend Theo. I liked this book so much, I pre-ordered both books. I told one of my best friends to do so as well, as we trade titles frequently, and I know she will love this series. With a recommended 4 stars from yours truly, I think you will as well.

I appreciate NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for my honest review. And, as you can see, I was skeptical when I first read the title. The characters are young (as I'd predicted), in their early twenties, but I enjoyed the dynamics between Cassie and Logan, Cassie and her friends, and Bonnie and Theo (who I am excited to hear more from in August).

Getting Hot with the Scot is being published next Tuesday, April 30th, and I hope that you'll pick it up and give it a chance. I'm incredibly happy that I did, and I think you will as well. It's fun, flirty, and well written. And you know what I love about that (aside from, you know, everything)? The fact that I can pick up this book as a fun, flirty, well-read woman. It's that simple, friends.