This is just your typical 1920s, British, M/M historical romance. With ghosts, a wounded WWI veteran, and a disgraced academic.

Joachim Cockburn is nearly finished with his doctorate on delusional thinking. He needs one more case study, and arrives at the doorstep of Lord Ainsley Graham's Scottish manor house late one night. In a hilarious case of mistaken identity, Ainsley first tries to seduce the strapping Englishman, but then offers to take Joachim on a tour of nearby haunted places. Along the way, both men realize how lonely they've been and how much they have in common, and there's an unmistakable attraction between them, but Joachim's career depends on unblemished respectability.

The one thing I didn't like: third-person M/M (or F/F) can be confusing to read, because all the pronouns are the same, and sometimes I can't tell who is doing/saying what to whom. I'm sure the author gets tired of differentiating them all the time. But I did feel like Stainton overused "the ginger" or "his ginger" as a description for Ainsley.

I don't usually read paranormal because I'm a scaredy-cat, but I requested this one without realizing there were actual g-g-ghosts. I was relieved that the spirits weren't too scary, and I even felt affectionate about a few of them.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review.

Playful, heart-warning, witty, sexy, charming , very well written and crafted , funny, captivating, entertaining comes to my when I think about Best Laid Plaids, the debut novel by Ella Stainton.

Set in gorgeous and breath taking Scotland in the 1920's , you feel transported to the era , it's society and way of life.

This book made me feel happy and relaxed. And that folks, is all I ask , when reading a Romance Book.

Re-read: Yes
Recommend: Yes

I just reviewed Best Laid Plaids by Ella Stainton. #BestLaidPlaids #NetGalley #ReadOn2020 #BooksILove

If you love hot sex, hilarious hijinks, and a heaping dose of angst mingled with paranormal and historical elements, Best Laid Plaids is for you. Joachim and Ainsley are as scorching as they are interesting in this sex to love story set in post Great War Scotland. Excellent neurodiverse rep in Ainsley.

Best Laid Plaids was a lovely introduction to Ella Stainton. The description grabbed my attention when I saw it listed as did the cover and I am so glad I picked this one to read. Joachim and Ainsley were highly entertaining, even if a little obtuse(or in denial) for most of the book. I felt for Ainsley dealing with the loss of his career and still mourning the loss of his brother. It was very easy to see that for all his bravado, he was hurting inside and just needed someone to see the real him. Joachim for all his gruffness and firm beliefs was able to let his guard down, be what Ainsley needed and discover new abilities about himself. I loved the side characters in Ainsley's family (wouldn't mind seeing ALL of them again), and most especially Barley. I do hope he gets his own story and love at some point.

Scotland was a wonderful backdrop for their adventures, and the author did a great job with the time period. As someone with a Psych degree I thoroughly enjoyed the way "quirks" were addresed and how Joachim used his studies to help those that the world just didn't understand correctly.

I am thrilled there will be more adventures to come with this duo.

I'm a bit of a sucker for historical m/m fiction, so when Best Laid Plaids popped up on Netgalley, I thought I'd give it a try. The book is set between the two World Wars, which seems a very popular time period for authors at the moment - just far enough away to be different but close enough to be easier to research, perhaps?

Anyway, the basic premise is that one of our protagonists (Joachim) is working on his PhD and is interested in people with delusions - cue one of his colleagues suggesting he goes up to Scotland to visit and talk to his brother Ainsley, who wrecked his own promising academic career by telling everyone he could hear ghosts. When Joachim arrives, it becomes apparent eventually that there's been a bit of a mix-up and that Ainsley was expecting someone else, someone who he's agreed to try and seduce in order to discover which way he swings. Fortunately for Ainsley, Joachim doesn't either turn violent or storm out in a huff and they agree to help each other out (in terms of Joachim's research, though they do shag quite soon after as well).

The plot continues on from there, with Joachim trying to deal with the fact that his research as it stands requires him to tell the world that Ainsley does, in fact, hear ghosts. This is complicated by Joachim's own experiences as Best Laid Plaids progresses, though he's not that quick on the uptake and doesn't realise he's having supernatural encounters until he's pretty much forced to do so. There's a degree of misunderstanding and a lot of sex, so if this is your kind of thing then it's probably a book that will work well for you.

The things that stopped me giving this 5 stars: firstly, the heavy use of epithets in the first half of the book. Ainsley has red hair and the early chapters from Joachim's point of view in particular spend a lot of time describing him as 'the ginger' (with an occasional 'the younger man' for good measure) Similar epithets pop up from Ainsley's point of view. This peters off a bit later in the book, so it clearly isn't something the author is wedded to. Unfortunately, this mostly made me think of was my neighbour's cat - the ginger tabby who likes to sunbathe on my lawn, I mean - which you really don't need mid-sex scene. The second thing was, to be honest, the amount of sex scenes that crop up in a relatively short book. I always prefer plot to porn, so again, maybe this wasn't quite the book for me - a bit more sexual tension and a bit less florid detail would have worked better for me, but YMMV.


I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I am not normally a historical romance reader, but this one takes place in one of my favorite decades (the 1920s) in Scotland (dope) between two dudes (doper) and there are ghosts (dopest). And in the author’s note, she indicates it will also touch on ADHD, anxiety, and depression. Score!

It wasn’t as spooky as I hoped it would be. The attraction part starts almost immediately (more on this later), but there are no spooky ghosts for a while. There is A Thing in the Bushes, but it didn’t give me the heebie-jeebies like I hoped. “WHERE. ARE. THE GHOSTS???” I wailed at the sky. When they finally showed up—and they did!—a couple of them actually made me cry because their circumstances were very emotional. A couple of the ghost scenes are extremely well-written, in a “I feel like I am there being sad in the rain with you” kind of way. In general Stainton does a very good job painting scenes.

While Ainsley’s anxiety and ADHD are very much present in the story, Joachim’s depression is more subtle. As Stainton says in her author’s note, every brain is different and no two people are going to feel depression in the exact same way, so maybe I was wrong in expecting it to be more intense. But while Ainsley’s situation is both shown and told, Joachim’s was more told than shown.

Going back to the attraction: It is pretty much instantaneous, and there is so much more heat than there are ghosts. It’s as steamy as the inside of that car in Titanic. At a couple points I wanted to tell them, “Guys, calm down, you’re supposed to be looking for spooks. Keep it in your pants.” But overall I liked them together and there are a lot of Slowly Acknowledged Feelings, which is one of my many romance jams.

I guess this is a 3.5 for me. It’s solid, I enjoyed it, and I’d love to talk about it at the proverbial water cooler, but I’m not going to die if all my friends don’t read it. I’d 100% recommend it to someone who enjoys sexy historical romance, though. And! It is the first in a series! I am very much looking forward to reading the next book.

Thank you to Netgalley for the eARC of this book!

I loved this story. To start off, Ainsley is an adorable character and I would always look forward to his presence in the book. He’s quirky, witty, and sometimes completely ridiculous and when you combine these traits together is the perfect recipe for a very charming and loveable character.

Then there’s Joachim, who’s a war vet and very sensitive about his name, haha. Both characters have their own troubled histories and they compliment each other so well. If you’re looking for a historical romance / ghost story this might be the best one I’ve read recently.

It was 4 stars for me because I didn’t necessarily find the ghost aspects of the book as engaging as they could have been, but this was really made up for in the likeability of the characters and the romance.

This book is amazing, it's adorable and sexy at the same time, with touching characters and amazingly set.

On the one hand we have Dr. Ainsley Graham, who has a restless mind, he is easily distracted, he is flirtatious, and has a great sense of humor although he can sometimes be insensitive. His reputation is on the ground after he admits that he can see ghosts.

On the other hand, there is Joachim Cockburn, who after surviving the war continues with his studies in psychology and is interested in studying Ainsley's behavior. Joachim tends to be more serious and the emotional and physical wounds of war haunt him.

These two contradict each other in many ways, but at the same time they complement each other exquisitely. It's a story that places love above all and gives a happy ending to two damaged souls.

I would have liked a better development on the ghost plot. But, in general this is a very beautiful book

I have received an ARC of this book by NetGalley and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review. Pub Date is 31 Aug 2020.
When I received the book, I was incredible happy, because the description picked my senses really hard and I wanted it so very much… I started reading and it was difficult to make pauses. The author's writing is addictive and noticeable. I laughed a lot with the thoughts of the characters and especially with Ainsley's relaxed and direct behavior. I liked the fact that he was direct and precise in his way of thinking and saying things, even though sometimes it was not the best moment or the best things to be said. The fact that he spoke and listened to ghosts was very well placed and was not exhaustive or out of context. It was very well placed on the story.
Joachim – oh my dear beast - his modest and conservative way, made the balance between the two (Ainsley and Joachim) work beautifully. His own thoughts and his past problems were present in his heart, but on a path where they could be lessened, even if they were never solved. After all, the War never leaves anyone. Those embarrassing moments he went through because of Ainsley made me laugh and pity him at the same time. But I realized that Joachim himself liked that, and that same factor helped him with his way of facing the problems that haunted him.
The secondary characters made me curious to know more about them, as well as the Ghost Family that was described, and in the end, I confess that some tears fell of my eyes. Oh Charlie.
I understand that this is a debut book, and all I can say is: well done and thank you, because, this kind of stories are what we need to read and smile, sometimes. In my opinion, of course.
I will be waiting for the next ones. In the meantime, I will leave my feedback at my Instagram and Twitter account and on Goodreads and Net Galley.

I will publish this review to my blog on July 31, 2020

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Dr. Ainsley Graham claims he speaks to ghosts… but when he does that in an academic setting his life begins to unravel. Joachim Cockburn travels up to Scotland to meet Dr. Graham armed only with his skill in psychology and a description from Dr. Graham’s brother. Ainsley is “a certified genius with no sense of self-preservation, whatsoever”.

When Cockburn arrives at Dr. Graham’s house, there’s some amusing confusion. Dr. Graham thinks that Cockburn is someone sent to him to sort out whether or not he too is gay… this results in a rather flirtatious scene that is quite humorous.

Once the two men sort out who each other are, Ainsley agrees to show Joachim some ghosts. He is game to convincing someone else they exist not knowing that Joachim is only there to study him for his final dissertation.

I suppose if I had to choose a theme for this book it would be overcoming the challenges that we all have in our lives. Those challenges may be considered a “disability” by some but that doesn’t mean we have to accept them as such. We all need different things in our lives, different people, to give us the support we need to live a full life.

There’s a special place in my heart for Dr. Ainsley Graham. He has spent his entire life dealing with ADHD during a time when awareness of it was almost non-existent. I can’t begin to imagine what an uphill climb that would be. In addition to being neurodiverse, Ainsley is also gay. Simply living his life could result in him ending up incarcerated. That would be a problem for most people, but Ainsley lives without the self-preserving filters that most people rely on.

The author did a wonderful job of writing Ainsley. What I enjoyed the most was that he didn’t seem to think of himself as differently-abled in any way. he acknowledged that he was different, but he is who he is and that’s all there is to it. I can’t really describe it any better than that, but I adored him. He was brave and strong and dealing with a lot of emotional weight from the things that had happened in his past.

The novel is set in Scotland in the 1920s. I didn’t get a real feel for the time… I can’t say that I noticed a lot of a difference in terms of language or grammar. I could imagine Ainsley’s Scottish accent, but my Dad is from Edinburgh and there were certainly some phrases and mannerisms that I felt were missing from Ainsley’s speech.

There are some really steamy sexual encounters in the book. Ainsley is a very free spirit, but I loved the internal push and pull as he struggled to battle with himself over what he wanted. Very enjoyable read!

Best Laid Plaids is an amazing debut. It’s fun, sexy, charming, and heart-warming and so much more. Ainsley and Joachim are two unique academics each in search of a new beginning as well as someone to truly understand them. The slightly eccentric ADD Ainsley’s career was cut short due to his insistence of the existence of the supernatural (Ainsley is a wonderfully hilarious character who at times overestimates his own power but is somehow still extremely endearing due to massive amounts of wit, charm, and sexiness. You want to shake your head at him, but also want to both laugh and kiss him. The balance in creating him and making him both venial and likable is something to behold.).

Anyway, while Ainsley doesn’t need to work due to his family’s wealth, after quite a bit of time doing everything healthy and un not to be sad, he needs purpose, almost as much as he needs to overcome his own guilt over his brother’s death.

Joachim is a former WWI solider from a much more modest background, who is working hard to be a credible academic and help his own family. He’s cautious, caring, and conscientious, but with a quiet but wicked sense of humor, and his own stern sexiness. He’s fighting both guilt from his love’s death and PTSD as well as a whole lot of feelings of inadequacy when he comes to “study” Ainsley.

What starts out as two men ostensibly using each other (Ainsley feeling far less guilt that Joachim) becomes a journey through the world of both the supernatural and their own healing. It has a bunch of surprises in store for skeptic Joachim as well as commitment-phone Ainsley.

The build of their relationship is a joy to watch. The banter in this book is the absolute best as are the teasing and sly jokes. There are also just so many funny moments, both clever and slapstick. The side characters are all unique and weird and interesting and hilarious. As are the ghosts. Everyone needs ghosts. And Violet is the best of good dogs.

What’s even better is the writing. First, there is the atmospheric quality that the voice, the writing, and the details create. Its everything. It feels 1920s but in all the best was, the tone, the fun, the little bit of underlying sadness. It’s just fabulous.

And second, the voice is so incredibly unique and delightful and delicious, it is just everything. No one writes like this. It’s signature. You will be able to tell a Ella Stainton book a million miles away in the future, in the best way possible. It’s a star voice.

Anyway, all I can say is READ THIS BOOK. Seriously. It will make your entire year. Thank you so much Carina and NetGalley for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!