This was super cute - I enjoyed the banter, and it's always fun seeing a modern Scotsman (when they're used in historical novels with such abundance). I recommend.

This is a sweet story following Paige, a librarian looking for love and to start a family as she is nearing the age of 30. James is from Scotland and is in Michigan for an artist retreat to give them time to complete a project to showcase. They meet at Paige’s work and neither of them can seem to stay away.

This book has a time crunch added to the element. James is only in Ann Arbor for 8 weeks, which clearly isn’t a lot of time. I personally think it’s a push to believe that they will fall head over heels in love (when he isn’t even there for a full two months), then decide to move in together by the end of the book. That seems really fast. However, that’s the way the book is designed to have things happen. Since Paige’s former boyfriend “wasted” her 20’s with indecision she needs to commit to having a husband and a family fast.

Their relationship is sweet and it unfolds very naturally. I think I just needed the extra *umph* from the story to really propel it forward. I wanted more excitement to keep the plot moving. But I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone looking for a sweet and simple romance that doesn’t involve the dreaded miscommunication trope. Seriously, it’s great for people who love uncomplicated love stories.

This book was a sweet read, the perfect in between book. Also who doesn’t love a scotsman? The book focuses on a librarian and her journey to find love, even if it isn’t permanent. I recommend reading!

Summary: This story follows, Paige, a newly single librarian just getting out of a disappointing long term relationship. Her ex boyfriend couldn't commit enough to propose so now she's determined to find someone who will. At 29 years old Paige is on the hunt for a husband to settle down with and a promotion to full time librarian. One day, all the stars align; a full time position opens up and she meets James, a hot Scottish artist. But there's a catch, he's only in town for eight weeks.

Review: The premise of this book was cute. I think books about book lovers are always especially sweet. Unfortunately, the execution wasn't amazing. The chemistry between James and Paige was lacking and the dialogue felt forced if not a bit awkward at times. It was a quick and fun read so I still enjoyed it but it definitely leaves something to be desired.

Thank you NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours for giving me this ARC!

I'd like to start off by thanking NetGalley, 8N Publishing as well as the author Alana Oxford for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely adored this book! It was a cute, fun, slow burn romance that all started in a library (SWOON!) I also loved that James' dialect was written the same way that he would speak it. At times I had a hard time pronouncing the way it was written, but otherwise I mostly got giggles out of all the different he says things.

I would definitely recommend this book!

2.5 Stars

It was just ok. The romance was sweet but bland. The story was pretty simple, nothing special or unique. It got pretty boring at times, especially the road trip which was basically a play-by-play of what to do in Michigan. The characters were fine, but were pretty bland and lacked depth. Overall, the story was very surface level and never went very deep emotionally.

This was a funny, adorable and cute romance story. I read this book in one sitting. I am such a sucker for stories about book lovers so a librarian and a book loving Scotsman is a perfect story for me. I fell in love with it.

If you love a strong Scottish accent, friends-to-lovers and falling fast and hard, you will definetly fall in love with this book.

Thank you to 8N Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars for this one!

I didn't love it and I didn't hate it. To be honest, halfway through it just kind of dragged for me. The plot was what drew me in (books and a scotsman? Yes, please!) and I was really hoping for something more. Tension? Spice? I don't know.

Overall, I felt like I didn't connect much with the characters and the story was a bit underwhelming. Is it sweet? Yes. Easy to read? For sure. So if you're looking for a short and sweet romance, this may be for you.

Paige is a recently single librarian, while she is at work she meets James a man from Scotland who is in town for an art residency.

Although I wanted to love this book, I couldn't. The love interest James has all the swoon-worthy characteristics any good love interest needs, however, his and Paige's relationship felt flat to me. James himself had no real personality, he almost seemed too perfect and inconsequential at times. Despite this being a romance book I felt as was no real hook or spark in their relationship. It was just so meh.

During the book, Paige and James go on a road trip to show him the best places in Michigan however this is when the book began to dull even more. During this trip there was a lot of detail that I don't think was needed. You would think their relationship would develop so much more during this trip but It didn't. It just dragged.

Paiges and her friend's relationship was fine however, it could've been done without mentioning her friend's pregnancy every time she was mentioned

Overall this book was okay, even slow or boring in a few places. I think it would be good for people who are new to romance and don't want something intense.

I was really drawn to this one being a librarian myself. While I did find it really cute, it was kind of predictable and there wasn't enough conflict to keep me flipping pages. A cute read about librarians, and books, and romance, but not my fave.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

Scotsman in the Stacks sounded it would be right up my alley, but sadly was not for me!

Thank you Netgalley and 8N for the ability to read this!

If I could live in this period time, it would be the way Alana Oxford described. Scotman in the stacks is a cute read. It has the romantic banter between the characters and I look forward to reading more of Alana's work.

Paige is working part time as a librarian, trying to make sure she can pay her bills. When a position opens up as a full timer librarian, Paige is determined to get it. James is a woodworker visiting Michigan for summer artist residency. Paige was not expecting to meet a charming scotsman while at work, but when she did she was instantly attracted to him. They only have eight weeks before James must go back to Scotland. Can they resist the urge to become more or will they be able to remain just friends?

This book was cute, but I don't think I will be reaching for it again. Paige and James are very cute together, but at times the book felt a little slow. Additionally, the conflict at the end of the book and the resolution felt almost too simple and easy. They could have easily prevented it if they just communicated with each other and let each other know where they were at. Overall, this was a cute, quick read but it is just not for me.

Scotsman in the Stacks was a tad too cutesy and outdated for me personally. I could not connect with the characters at all.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc ebook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Cute Librarian plus a Sexy Scottish man visiting for an art residency, combined with a cute cover and the promise of a sweet, cozy romance – how could I resist?

Scotsman in the Stacks follows Paige, a part-time librarian who recently broke up with her commitment-phobe boyfriend and James, an artist from Glasgow, participating in an Ann Arbor summer art program. When the two meet, there are instant sparks, but the residency is only for 8 weeks, at which point James will be returning to Scotland to take over his uncle’s guide boat. Will Paige fall for another unavailable guy? Or stop herself – keeping James clearly in the friendzone – from getting her heart broke again?

Unfortunately, Scotsman in the Stacks missed the mark for me. This was the first book I read by Alana Oxford, and the only real words I can use to describe it are “sweet,” “fluffy,” and at times “bland.” The writing was good, and the story/plot wasn’t bad and held so much promise, I just think it was a lot longer than necessary with too many superfluous details and one-dimensional characters.

I felt this novel lagged on, and some of Paige’s dialogue was depressing and some of James’s Scottish accent was annoying and confusing. Moreover, James was too nice, and Paige had too many insecurities for a positive, uplifting rom-com that I thought I was reading.

Lastly, for a romantic comedy where the characters even go on a road trip together - we aren’t even sure if they ever “really” slept together (but for language such as “we fell into bed” and then the chapter would end!). This book was extremely PG and flat.

I did enjoy learning more about Michigan and I did look up some of the places visited while reading, so I thank Oxford for that . . . and I had no idea you had to have a master’s degree to become a librarian!

If this wasn’t an ARC, I probably would have DNF’ed it. I am glad I finished the novel since the last couple chapters did increase my rating from a 2 to a 2.5, but at the end I rushed through it to be able to read another book. The premise was cute, but it was too rough around the edges.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC; all opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and 8N Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 2.5 (rounded 3 Stars)
Name: Scotsman in the Stacks
Publication Date: 6/14/22
Number of Pages: 260

“Scotsman in the Stacks” is a sweet romance filled with loveable characters…a Scotsman and a librarian. Although the story started out at a nice pace, it dropped off a bit and became slow. There were parts of the story that were not fully developed.

The story is about Paige who wants to become a full-time librarian and find the man of her dreams. She is in a relationship that goes sour and hopes of one day finding someone to love. By chance she meets James who is visiting from Scotland on a summer residency and from the pressures he has at home but his brief stay puts Paige in his life. Unfortunate for Paige, she only has eight weeks that have her investing that time and her heart on the line as she has already given up so much in her previously failed relationship. One she thought would lead to marriage and children. This my first problem in the story as the heroine believes a part time job and long term relationship will have her then boyfriend want to propose marriage…a bit far-fetched.

Not sure about the pacing but it felt a bit slow. I could have cared less about her current relationship and what let up to the breakup. This story was way to descriptive and not a telling…and a bit repetitive in places throughout the story. I looked at this way, Paige had just got of a relationship and jumped right back into one I guess for biological reasons. Enter James and she loses her heart. Later she rethinks her choices as James had to go back to Scotland on an emergency. Hmm…if she didn’t jump right in, things could have gone slower and not rushed in eight weeks. Also, I overestimated the Scot as I thought this story was going to include some heat and steamy but not forthcoming.

I thought the sub characters (friend and her husband) were nice additions to the story. However, the author did an okay job with the characters but they could have been developed more. I was also looking for some angst and conflict somewhere in the story. This story kept me wanting and fell a bit flat and had me pushing to finish to the end.

Have I wished to be a librarian when I "grow up" prior to reading this book? Of course. Have I wished to be a librarian who stars in her own rom-com prior to? No. Do I absolutely wish this now? Of course. This book had every single thing I could ask for in a rom-com; lovable characters, hunky men with accents, books, and utterly perfect best friends. I wish I could read this book for the first time again - that's how magical it all feels.

Scotsman in the Stacks was a cute quick fade to black romance that I enjoyed but felt could have given more. All said I loved James and Paige and would recommend this to anyone looking for a light romance read. 3/5 stars. Thank you Netgalley for the EARC.

I can not vibe with a main character who believes having a part time job is okay because she thinks her boyfriend is going to propose and then she can rely on him.
And then to complain she didn't want to be going about it alone at this stage of her life. It doesn't seem to me that she has an interest in love but an interest in someone taking care of her.
It is a hard pass for me.

Scotsman in the Stacks by Alana Oxford should have been a charming beach read but it’s a slog through dark, dank, pond water that’s probably full of leeches and water snakes and maybe alligators. Bored alligators that probably can’t be bothered to eat you … but do you want to chance it?

Paige, our librarian protagonist, really wants to be married. She wants to be married so much that she … hold onto your seats, readers … she’s going to … GASP … ask her boyfriend of six years to marry her. I know, I know. What’s next? Are these forward young ladies going to start wearing trousers? Soon they’ll be wanting bank accounts and regular employment.

Paige is shocked, shocked by how bold she’s being but the poor girl just can’t wait any longer. She has to get married so she can have children. Those eggs aren’t getting any fresher, if you know what I mean. It’s not like she could just have a child without getting married. Is that even legal? Who would support her?

Okay, enough misogyny. Let’s move on. There are other really terrible aspects of this book for us to discuss.

Unfortunately, the author leans into the really troubling practice of describing unlikable people as physically unattractive. I mean, has she ever heard of Ted Bundy? Appearance doesn’t determine character. That’s a laughably bad trope. Period. She also describes the male love interest’s teeth – and I refuse to say anything more about that.

Finally, and possibly worst of all, the author, apparently to remind us that the male protagonist is Scottish, has written some – but not much – of his dialogue phonetically. This is also bad and authors should not do it, especially if they picked up their (inaccurate) understanding of the Scottish Burr from binge-watching Outlander.

There are a surprising number of errors that seem unlikely to be caught or corrected (because the author likely doesn’t see them as errors). Yes, that is a problem but I can’t really expand on this because I read an ARC. Quotes from an ARC are a big no-no. If you’re curious, you’ll just have to read the book.

The pacing is ludicrous. We spend a lot of time early in the book learning about a relationship collapse that literally has no impact on the entire rest of the story. We could learn in one sentence that Paige just got out of a long relationship (there I did it for you, author). We didn’t need an entire chapter on it.

Then, because our HEA couple gets together far too early in the story (one kiss and BOOM), there is no build up to HEA, no pining, no suspense. Nothing. Instead, the author treats us to a weirdly self-indulgent tour of all her favorite places in Michigan. I’ve been there. It’s nice but we don’t need to read page after page of descriptions of places that aren’t relevant to the story.

The author also shares the minute details of her characters’ lives. We know that Paige brought sweats to the beach for when it gets cold and why she brought sweats to the beach, even though she doesn’t think she’ll look cute.

Oh, and she also brought blankets but they had to walk all the way back to the car to get the blankets so they could sit on the beach to watch the fireworks. And that’s a snippet of how the entire book is written. Read this book if you want to join Paige on her trips to the grocer to buy her best friend ice cream.

We also learn a lot about how cold Lake Michigan is. Do you want to know how we know that Lake Michigan is cold? Because the author tells us three times in the same paragraph. So, yeah, if you decide to travel to one of the Great Lakes this summer (I recommend Lake Erie – Presque Isle is remarkable and there are 11 beaches to visit.), you’ll find the water pretty chilly until August.

So, yeah, the water is cold; beware if you decide to wade into it.

I received a digital ARC through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.