Scot Under the Covers by Suzanne Enoch is book Two in the Wild Wicked Highlanders Series. This is the story of Aden MacTaggert and Miranda Harris. I have read the previous book which added to my enjoyment of this one but this can be a standalone book. Miranda's younger brother Matthew ended up falling victim to Robert Vale who is a very experience gambler. Matthew lost to Vale a large sum of money that he has to pay back but Vale is willing to take Miranda in place of the money. Miranda is a quick problem solver but this one might be her hardest one to fix. But then she thinks to ask Aden for help learning to gamble and to beat Vale at his own game. Aden is a expert gambler who doesn't want to make a living doing that but wants to help his own family by marrying a lady. So Aden agrees to help Miranda if she will help him with his problem of getting around the towns ways to find him someone. But the more time they spend together the more time they find it hard to resist their attraction.
Loved their story.

A wickedly delightful read! I always love a good story about a highlander and Aden doesn't disappoint. It seems that he and Miranda have the deck stacked against them. But through the ups and downs, they get their HEA. I voluntarily read this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Miranda Harris had lots of friends and several marriage proposals because of her charm and how smart she is. Aden MacTaggert has come from Scotland to England with his brothers. It turns out that his sister is getting married and the three MacTaggert brothers are to be married before their sister or lose their family inheritance from their mother. The younger brother has since married so it just leaves the older two. Miranda has taken a dislike to Aden since she found out her likes to wager/gamble. But when she finds out her brother had is giving her to a vulture to cover his gambling debts, she enlists Aden’s aid. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and this is my honest review.

She abhors gambling. He's good at it. She suffers because of it. He saves her with it. But Ms. Enoch's story of Miranda and Aden isn't so much about gambling but the journey of these two characters coming to know each other. This is another very enjoyable story in the Wild Wicked Highlanders series. I recommend it.

I was provided with an advanced readers copy of this book. This review is my own opinion and voluntarily given.

I loved the story of Miranda and Aden! Watching them fall in love, how they both change their outlooks and defeat the villain! The ending was positively poetic justice! I do wish more had happened in regards to Vale and a few more questions were answered. Francesca needs a HEA of her own as well. I'm can't wait to see what happens to Coll! Thank you for the advanced copy of the book, it was a pretty great read!

Scot Under the Covers by Suzanne Enoch
Wild Wicked Highlanders #2

Aden McTaggert is in England with his brothers to save their properties and people in Scotland. Why? Because there mother decreed they had to marry English women before the sister their mother returned to England with becomes a wife. They need the money so...they are in England. Their trip to England and the youngest brother’s finding his English bride was the story found in book. Book two is Aden’s and no doubt Coll will get his story in book three.

Aden is a man who likes to and is adept at gambling. He is nimble fingered and able to read people. He is a man’s man but also attractive to women...and...I found I really liked him. Wily, witty and wonderful is our man Aden.

So, when Miranda Harris, sister to Matthew who will marry the McTaggert sister, finds out her brother has wagered and lost a pile of money and she is to be the pawn that pays his bill...she is not thrilled...especially having met the man who is to be her husband. In fact, Miranda immediately asks Aden for advice – as he is a gambler...a gambler she was rude to the first time they met...and the second time they met, too.

After the two decide to become partners in getting her out of the tangle her brother has created they have the opportunity to spend time together, get to know one another and realize that their first impressions would not withstand proximity and the truth.

What I liked:
* Aden – definitely swoon-worthy
* Miranda – intelligent, strong and a worthy partner for Aden
* The decked out deer and repeated allusion to the cheese made from cats-milk
* The boot-wagering scene near the beginning of the book
* The way that the tangle created by Matthew was undone

What I did not like:
* Smarmy evil Captain Vale – I was not to like him and it was easy to do as I was meant to
* Matthew – think he got off WAY too easy
* The holding back of the story of why Francesca – the mother of the McTaggert progeny – left and why there is so much dislike for her

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Was the book realistic? Not so much but it was fun
Would I read more in this series? Definitely

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

A new to me author and a hero in a kilt...yes, please! 

Highlander, Aden McTaggart and his two brothers are in London to find a bride each. Their mother has stipulated they must find English wives before their younger sister marries or they will lose their financial backing. A Pragmatic man, he'll do what's necessary but underestimates the choice of young ladies available. Therefore, he's taken aback when a forthright woman, catches his eye. On meeting, she makes her dislike of him obvious only Aden sees this as a challenge. He's game to find out more about her because she's the only woman to have caught his attention in a long time. 

Miranda Harris dislikes any man who likes to gamble. Therefore, she instantly dislikes the kilt-wearing, devilishly handsome brother of her friend. So, when her own brother reveals he's lost fifty thousand pounds and shockingly reveals she has to marry the man he owes money to, Miranda confides in Aden McTaggart. After all, he likes a wager and maybe he can help her understand how to pay off her brother's debt? 

This is the second book in the Wild Wicked Highlanders series and now I want to read the first one. Don't worry though, this is standalone and you don't need to have read Niall McTaggart's story to enjoy his one, although you'll want too. All the characters are fun and the villain is a scoundrel in this fun and humorous romance. 

The only aspect I didn't enjoy was Aden's dialogue. I understand the author wanting to authenticate his Highland background, but although I understood what he said, it hindered ( my opinion) an otherwise smooth-flowing narrative. 

Overall, a delightful frenemies to lovers tale wrapped around a captivating story. 

***arc received courtesy of the publisher St Martin's Press via NetGalley***

Scot Under the Covers is the second title in The Wild Wicked Highlanders series, and what a delightful romance it turned out to be. Aden and Miranda are a most unlikely couple on the surface – after all, she tosses her hatred of gamblers in his face upon their first meeting (even though her brother is now among that group). Yet there is a flash there, unexpected but still felt as they go about making their own unique deal between them, facing down a blackmailer and maybe falling in love (definite lust) along the way.

I’ve liked the MacTaggert brothers so far, their mother, well, I keep waiting for another shoe to fall to explain how she could have left her boys behind and could now manipulate them as she is and I haven’t seen a clue as to a reasonable explanation. Maybe I just want there to be a reason for a woman to be a shrew to her own sons but the series isn’t over yet so time will tell on that front.

I’ll also be frank and say I don’t like Aden’s sister, Eloise’s betrothed. Some may call him weak but you do not sell your sister to save yourself which is basically what he’s done even if that action was not uncommon for the time. So, no, Matthew is not my favorite person here. Maybe he’ll redeem himself in my eyes over time, maybe not, we’ll see how events play out.

Miranda and Aden are sizzling together in so many different ways. I liked them together and individually. Miranda is facing a dreadful future yet she’s not going down without a fight. She has a plan and this gambler is going to help her or else. Aden can help but he’s discovering that Miranda’s safety and happiness are mattering more than he first expected. When this Scot falls he falls hard and he’ll do everything within his power to free Miranda from this tangle – and then show her what love is supposed to be… with him.

You’ll find a villain most loathsome, a family that will exasperate you one moment and draws you close the next, two unlikely people falling in love in the middle of danger and a romance that will keep you flipping pages until the end. I had such a good time with Scot Under the Covers, and if you love a good Historical Romance full of action, tensions, and sizzle then you’ll want to pick this one up soon.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

Aden needs to marry an Englishwoman, this looks better when he meets Miranda. She needs help and he is more than happy to help.
Loved the storyline and characters.

This is the second book in The Wild Wicked Highlanders series, that follows the MacTaggert brothers as they attempt to find English wives as decreed by their mother. (Don’t ask why… ok, ok! They need their mama to keep paying the bills, so they can keep their Scottish keep 😉 afloat)

Aden MacTaggert is the second son. He’s tall, dark… haired and is pretty handy with a wager. Inspired by his brothers recent love match, he’s looking for an English lass that has more than giggles to offer.

Miranda Harris is the sister of Aden’s fiancee, and she is definitely not interested in any man who gambles…

Aden likes Miranda, he’s down in by her frankness and direct speech, Miranda loathes Aden… until she needs him.

This isn’t really an an enemies to lovers story… more like a circumstance has created sting bedfellows… literally. I enjoyed that each of the characters grew and developed as they worked together for a common goal. Throughout the ordeal, Aden was a perfect gentleman and respected Miranda and her wishes. Although he was doing everything in his power to resolve her problems, he never expected any retribution or payment from Miranda, He does his good deeds out of love, uncertain that once Miranda is free to choose, that she would ever be able to choose him, a man she judged lacking from the start.

A little slow in the first chapters, this story picks up steam quickly and takes you on an exhilarating ride to the end. I could not put it down!

Scot Under the Covers by Suzanne Enoch is scheduled to release January 28th, 2020.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#ScotUnterTheCovers #SuzanneEnoch #NetGalley #pinkcowlandreads

3.5 stars. This was a surprisingly stressful (but enjoyable) read! Aden and Miranda have excellent chemistry right from their first meeting, and it's a joy to watch their mutual teasing/needling turn into much more. I also liked that the main drama -- finding a way to save Miranda from her brother's blackmailer, who insists on marrying Miranda in exchange for forgiving the brother's sizeable gambling debts -- was not something easily resolved and the stakes felt real, rather than just being some miscommunication that is blown out of proportion as happens in some other stories. Book 1 in the series (Niall and Amelia-Rose) slightly edges this one out, but I still really enjoyed this story. I'm intrigued to see how Suzanne Enoch manages to redeem the eldest McTaggart brother in the next book, though we saw a little bit of softening to his character in this one as a preview.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and the GoodReads First Reads program for providing an ARC for review!

Oh my heavens! Get ready to swoon for Aden!

Aden is everything a girl could want in a swoon-worthy, kilted Highlander with dirty mouth and a brilliant mind. When he meets Miranda, he quickly learns that she's not like the other simpering girls with flouncing skirts and fainting spells. He is stunned by her instant dismissal of him because of his love of gambling, and realizes he just may have met his match.

In a delicious twist, Miranda quickly finds herself in a truly awful situation and realizes she now needs someone who knows a thing or two about gambling. But, does she crawl to Aden to beg for his help? Of course not. She marches right up to him, bests him at his own game, and wins a wager against him so that he's now obligated to help her. And now Aden is truly smitten, and can't do a thing to stop his heart from making plans for the future.

Thus the games begin, a daring and intricate dance between Aden and the villainous Vale. The carefully orchestrated steps to free Miranda from Vale's trap unfold against the backdrop of Aden and Miranda getting to know each other, and this is the very best part of the book. Theirs is an intellectual romance, filled with a sly, wicked sense of humor and a brilliant sense of purpose that forges a strong partnership between them.

The HEA is deliciously satisfying, especially with Aden's eldest brother Coll brandishing his sword. I loved the way Miranda realized how Aden had painted himself into a corner, and her insightful solution was perfectly executed. I loved every single bit of this story, and was completely hooked from the first page to the last. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

This is book 2 in the Wild Wicked Highlanders series and it can be read as a stand alone. This one is about Aden MacTaggert and Miranda Harris. Aden is forced to find a wife because of the agreement between his mother and father. And he has come to England to search unhappily. Miranda has been sold by her brother to pay his gambling debts. And she is reluctantly turning to Aden for help. Now they are thrust together trying to get what they both need while still taking care of their families.

I had a hard time with parts of this book. Ordinarily I love anything that has scottish in it. Something about these types of books just draws me in. Usually. I really disliked Miranda's brother and what he does to her. I get that this type of thing probably happened a lot but it just hit me the wrong way and I hated it. And there was a lot of Miranda's personality that just rubbed me wrong. She seemed almost prejudiced towards the person she needs the help from the most. Yes, she is a strong woman and is willing to stand up for herself but she just rubbed me wrong. Aden came across as almost controlling and not in a good way. The story line itself was good. The writing as always was excellent, I just had a hard time with the characters and their traits. And I honestly think that's just me although I could be wrong. I loved the first book so I know that I will be going back to this series for the next book and hope it was just these characters that I didn't like.

This is book two in the Wild Wicked Highlanders, those that have read the first book will remember that the three MacTaggert Brothers had been told by their mother that they had each to marry before their sister.

Aden MacTaggert is in need of someone to help navigate London society and it just so happens that Miranda Harris is in need of someone to teach her how to gamble and win, as she needs to get out of a debt her brother got her in, something he knows about.

Exciting and with some funny, to me anyway, moments, this is both entertaining and thrilling.

I received a copy from Netgalley and I am voluntarily leaving my own honest opinion

Aden MacTaggert and his brothers are in London to fulfill a deal made by his mother when he was 7 years old. All three MacTaggert boys must wed proper English ladies before their proper English , baby sister marries. If they do NOT wed, Lady Aldriss will cease funding Aldriss Park, their home and village in the Highlands. In the first book we see the youngest son, pick up the gauntlet for the sake of Aldriss Park, but Aden and Coll have no plans to comply. That is, until his help is sought out by a headstrong damsel in distress that needs a scoundrel to beat a scoundrel. Little does Aden know that by helping poor Miranda Harris, he is uncovered for the kind, caring, gentlemen no one knew was there.

If you thought Niall MacTaggert was charming and lovable, then you’re going to fall head over heels in love, and possibly lust, with the middle MacTaggert brother, Aden.

Aden is the elusive and mysterious MacTaggert brother. A consummate gambler, Aden is not only as smart as a whip but he’s also slick and witty and he is the perfect man to have on your side when you’re in need of someone to guide you through to freedom from the clutches of an evil gambler.

Miranda Harris hates gamblers with a vengeance. Ever since witnessing the devastation that gambling caused her uncle and his family, she hates anything that involves gambling. So she is determined to hate Aden MacTaggert. But when her naive brother’s gambling debt happens to be her hand in marriage to the scoundrel that cheated him, she has no option but to ask for help from the one man who knows everything to know about gambling and about a gambler’s mind. Now if only she can keep her feelings in check and not lose her heart to the beguiling highlander.

Aden will not only make you swoon, but will also make you laugh out loud with his outrageous behaviour and remarks. A match made in heaven, the chemistry between Miranda and Aden is off the charts. Can’t wait to see who will capture the eldest MacTaggert, Coll’s, heart!! A delicious highland romance series that you definitely do not want to miss!!

4 stars

It's part of a series but this is the first one I've read, Miranda's brother is in debt to a ner do well called Captain Vale. Mathew (the brother) is engaged to Aden's sister and so Miranda goes to him for advice. She loathes gamblers. Aden is a very successful one and Miranda is doubly disappointed with her brother especially as he virtually sells her to the villain as a way of ensuring his poor behaviour doesn't come to light. Aden's mother wants himand his elder brother, Coll to wed English brides and she's willing to withhold money for their scottish estate to ensure this happens. I enjoyed the story...a few too many och the no in the language...I understood that the hero is scottish. There''s more than kissing heer so not for those that like a clean read. It intrigues me enough that I might check out Niall's story and look forward to reading the next one about Coll. I wonder is Suzanne will do Franscesca (Aden's mother's story)?

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

If you’re looking for a historical romance with a set of shy and retiring leads who do nothing but trade simpering glances across a ballroom, I wouldn’t recommend Suzanne Enoch’s Scot Under the Covers. This bold romance includes a heroine who is super prickly and a mastermind hero who delights in her prickliness, and it revolves around the machinations they undertake to save the heroine from an undesirable, unwanted marriage.

Miranda Harris’s brother owes a huge gambling debt to Captain Robert Vale, a man who preys on others. Knowing that that debt will never—can never—be paid in full, Vale has demanded that Miranda marry him. Left with no real alternative in sight, Miranda approaches the slick, gambling Highlander she immediately disliked, Aden MacTaggert, for advice on dealing with a fellow gambler.

Obligated to marry so that his mother will keep financing his Scottish home, Aden’s not happy to be in London and dismissive of English women in general. But Miranda’s beauty catches his eye and her sass/spirit captivate him, and he agrees to help her on her mission.

Though I empathized with Miranda (I couldn’t believe her brother!), I also had a hard time immediately connecting with her. She has her reasons for disliking gambling but her initial treatment of Aden just seems...rude and I was glad that he puts her through her paces before he offers to help with her dilemma.

But then Miranda seems to become more aware of who her real enemies are and how her prejudices regarding gamblers and gambling don’t really align with Aden. And her newfound discovery that she doesn’t have to play by the “rules” of “society”—that those rules would in fact demand that she marry a man who preys on others to keep up a polite fiction—is refreshing and interesting and takes the plot in a direction that feels true to Miranda’s forthright nature.

Aden’s also characterized particularly nicely. He’s smart and aware that Miranda might have mercenary intentions in ingratiating herself with him but also not blind to what’s really between them; he’s strategic and willing to go to any lengths necessary to help Miranda but also honorable and aware of the predicament she’s in, and thus, careful not to take advantage of her. He also likes her for who she is, insults included.

Sounds pretty good to me.

There’s quite a lot going on in this book, and I really enjoyed that it feels as smart as the two leads, even as there are a few loose threads that I wanted pulled a little tighter. I wanted more of Aden’s emotions regarding his mother—this comes up some more at the end, but not enough to satisfy me. I was also left a little unsettled by the gambling stuff. There doesn’t seem to be enough indictment toward Miranda’s brother, who did a dastardly, dastardly thing. They also assume that he’s actually going to quit gambling, when it seems like he must have quite the problem to have become so in debt in the first place. And…
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While I appreciate the twists and turns of Aden’s plan to save Miranda, I also don’t really like how he feels he has to give up gambling in order to make her happy. He doesn’t seem to have a problem with doing it responsibly and it’s obviously something he delights in. I just wasn’t sure that that sacrifice is necessary, or even really a good thing.

It took me a while to really get into this romance but the more I read, the more I became invested in Miranda and Aden's passionate story. Scot Under the Covers is sweet but also slightly unconventional, and the ending is a particularly delightful blend of the two. Hurray for a villain meeting his downfall, and a not-so-immediately-obvious couple falling in love.

(I received a complimentary ARC from Netgalley but all opinions provided are my own.)

3.5 hearts

What are you supposed to do when your brother gambles away a fortune he doesn’t have and promises you to a man you despise? You do what any other smart woman would do and fight fire with fire. Or in this case, a gambling Highlander who might just be able to best the scoundrel at his own game.

Scot Under the Covers is the second book in the Wild Wicked Highlanders series. It centers around three very attractive Highland men, who through some machinations of their estranged mother, have to marry an English woman before their sister marries or loose the money required to run their highland home.

Aden is a sweet man overall; he seems incredibly lucky, until you see the thought and work, he puts behind that luck. I enjoyed reading his character especially when Miranda, his soon to be sister-in-law initially despises him due to his gambling ways. It was fun to watch her opinion change when she meets a true gambler, the one who owns her brother and is intent on marrying her. I also enjoyed Miranda's growth from a sheltered debutante to a woman truly fighting for her future.

This is a fun story with a very charming man in a kilt willing to go to great lengths for the woman he decides will be the one he marries no matter the cost. Aden was the son that seemed the most upset with their estranged mother and who is probably the most like her. I really enjoyed the interactions they had together and how perhaps he might soften to her just a little anyway.

This is the second book in a series and can definitely be read as a standalone, but you’d miss the fun of Niall and Amelia in It's Getting Scot in Here if you decided to do that. If you are a fan of Scottish Brogues and like tricksters, then the love story of Aden MacTaggert and Miranda might just what you are looking for.
Blast it all, he was twenty minutes early. She hadn’t managed to circle her thoughts back around from self-pity to useful plotting yet.


“I’ve some curiosity. Most lasses who decide they dunnae like me have at least conversed with me first. Do ye have a dance to spare for me this evening? Then we can chat and ye’ll have a reason to loathe me.”

Gah this series is bent on having me on a rant over something or someone, isn’t it! Just got to let this out of my chest for the unbelievable denseness of one particular moron: one effing Matthew Harris in particular. He’s a side character who happened to be a MacTaggert’s intended. I just can’t with how selfish and callous he was pictured here. Practically selling his own ONLY sister to a horrid man, and dare to sulk when she didn’t act as he wished her to. Not only he jeopardized his sister’s future by his own recklessness but also his future bride’s family. Oh how I wish Eloise could look for other beau to replace him - IF SHE KNEW ANY BETTER - and let her brother pummeled him to a pulp. Such a weak, stupid, moronic excuse for a man this Matthew Harris was. It would need a fairly HUGE gesture and indication for him - and it’s a big IF - to ever vindicate himself in my eye and be accepted among the protagonists circle.

Now that I have vented that out, SCOT UNDER THE COVERS is a cracking addition to Enoch’s “Wild Wicked Highlanders” series; a pretty even-paced interlaced plot told from multiple POVs with lively (lead and secondary) characters. As per her traits, Enoch combined dry wit and banter with moving play (of emotion) and searing romance in this second installment; bringing together the middle MacTaggert brothers with the one young lady in London who didn’t swoon over this elusive highlander.

I loved Aden and sympathized with his complicated feeling toward his mother; I hurt over this mother/son debacle. The rebuilding of their relationship was chief along with his subtle (nah, it wasn’t THAT subtle, really) wooing of Miranda while trying not to trample on his sister’s hopes and dreams by exposing her troubling fiancé.

Miranda got to me somewhat with her quick-to-judge attitude, especially when - having figured out Aden was not at all like her brother - she didn’t express regret (or say sorry). I also didn’t particularly care for the Harrises siblings or the way these supposedly close brother/sister communicated with each other. I applauded her owning up to what she wanted though and - brother’s problem aside - spoke her mind.

But personally I thought the edge of this story weighed more on the MacTaggert bunch, and not a little between Aden and his mother. Even with little interaction, theirs was the most emotional chunk of this book. And Enoch didn’t force all-is-well reconciliation between the two; which made it all felt more honest and truthful in a way.

While part of the panacea was not to my liking (see above rants, you got the gist which (or whom) I wish ceased to have association with the MacTaggerts) but I still enjoyed SCOT UNDER THE COVERS. Aden and the other MacTaggerts made it up for me. And I definitely have high hopes for Coll’s upcoming book - fingers-crossed it’ll at least as engaging as this one.


Copy of this book is kindly given by the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.