Thank you to Xpresso Books, NetGalley, and Alana Oxford for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

I really, really wanted to love this book, but it left me wanting more. It had so much potential, starting off with a librarian meeting a handsome Scottish man. So. Much. Potential. But then, the plot left me wanting so much more. The two main relationships, Paige & Kayla (friends) and Paige & James, could have been much deeper but it felts so surface level. I just feel like so much more could have been going on.

I really wanted to love this book, but I just ended up liking it so-so. 2.5 stars.

This was a very cliche book: girl dumps ex, meets cute foreign man, falls in love. However, Paige went from wanting James to be her friend to (what seemed like a couple days) to making out with him and deciding not to be friends, and then just jumping right it. Just seemed a little rushed and there wasn’t a lot of build up, not enough for me anyway. James doesn’t seem to have much of a personality. He seems nice and is a Scottish artist and that’s about it. Seemed like the author had to explain out everything (show not tell!). Felt like a teen-written book on Wattpad. The author has a good idea for a story but it needs to be refined more.

This book was an adorable easy read. Can’t help but fall in love with a Scotsman! I did feel a little bad for Norm but that just my soft heart. I’m glad Paige got her fairytale romance

Paige is a part-time librarian interested in shaking up her life and meeting someone new after her BF of six years wouldn't commit. James, a tour boat operator from Scotland, is doing an art fellowship program in the area. When he comes in to check out a library book, he can't resist checking Paige out as well. But with a ticking clock in the form of the end of his fellowship, will their relationship get a happily ever after?

I liked it! (three stars is a like in my book) This is a sweet, uplifting romantic comedy that is perfect if you want something light and fun. Paige can be a bit of a cliche at times (thinking 30 is the end times for a single gal), but there was something deeply real about how she was able to push past her fears and move forward into the person she wanted to be. James was dreamy - I loved that I could read his accent and his sweet kindness and strong presence really grounded the book. I also really like the relationship between Paige and Kayla - the support and love the two have for each other was amazing and brought me a lot of joy.

It was clear someone from Michigan wrote this, and it was a joy as a non-Michigander to learn more about the UP and some of the sites. Definitely, a love letter to Michigan, which I found to be cool.

Scotsman in the Stacks was a sweet, easy read. I felt the whole book was very surface-level and superficial, but that's what made it sweet and easy to read. I didn't feel like we really go to know any of the characters deeply and the drama of their relationship seemed very light. I'm not sure I bought that they felt too deeply for each other after just a few weeks as I have felt between characters in other books. There wasn't that deep passion that I expected to feel between them. Did that make it a bad book, not at all.

There was never a doubt about what would happen in the end and it was a nice journey to get there.

Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC in return for my honest review.

Thank you to 8N Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy.

Paige is a part time librarian in Michigan. She is 6 months post break up from a man she hoped to marry. Enter James, a handsome and kind Scotsman. Paige and James have an immediate attraction and fall fast and hard for each other. Paige just isn't sure how they are going to navigate the distance since James is only in Michigan for the summer.

This book was almost sickeningly sweet. The main characters are supposed to be in their late 20's but they read much more immature than that. The characters are also pretty flat. I don't think this is a bad book necessarily, just not the type of romance book I usually pick up. This might be great for someone who likes closed door romance books.

If I were to compare this book to something, I think I'd pick Christian rock. I'm not sure that will make sense to anyone but me but there you have it.

3.5 stars. This book was really sweet. The main characters are Paige and James. Paige has recently broken up with her long time boyfriend and is in a weird place in her life - with her rent increasing, hoping for a promotion at work but without guarantees and recovering from the recent heartbreak - when one day she meets James at the library where she works. James is an artist, and they hit it off immediately, but James is staying in the States temporarily which puts a damper on the feelings they end up developing for each other. Still, the story is really low angst, and they end up getting the HEA at the end. It was a little bit cheesy at times, which is why it was not a solid 4 star for me, but it was still a sweet and enjoyable read. #ScotsmanintheStacks #NetGalley
*E-arc provided by Net-galley in exchange for an honest review*

I received this book as an ARC on NetGalley. A very cute, feel-good book with Hallmark movie energy.

Life has not been going Paige’s way. At 29, she always thought she’d be married and starting a family. Instead, she recently dumped her boyfriend of 6.5 years who she just realized is a commitmentphobe and she doesn’t have any more time to waste. The thing is, after 6.5 years, she doesn’t know how older adults meet new people. She also needs her library job (which she loves) to be full-time or she won’t be able to afford her apartment. Luckily, a handsome Scot comes to her desk asking if he can get a library card, and life changes drastically.

James is an artist-in-residence from Glasgow for 8 weeks, working on his wood-sculpting for a much-needed change of pace. He needed to get away from the pressure of helping the family business so he could focus on his passion. When he and Paige meet, it’s electric. It’s clear they both are into each other, but Paige makes it clear she isn’t looking for a summer thing, because she really wants to find someone she loves so she can marry and start a family. That said, they can’t stay away from each other, and thus begins a beautiful summer love story.

This book is great for people who want just a sugary-sweet romance. We don’t see any sex, it’s not super intense, and there are relatively no major issues. The only conflict is that he is probably leaving at the end of summer. The stakes in this book are low, so it’s low-stress and really cute. :) I struggled to relate with Paige’s desire to have kids, but otherwise this is literally my dream life. This book did read almost like a tourism advertisement for Pure Michigan at times. Oxford goes into major detail when they travel to different places in the great state of MI, but it almost felt like too much on occasion. Aside from the lack of relatability on my end and the graphic detail of Michigan, this book is great for easy reading. I like a higher-stakes book that makes me nauseous, but this was a cute treat and I’m glad I read it.

This is approved! Definitely give it a read when it comes out in June!

This book was okay. The dialogue seemed kind of forced between Paige and James. I had high hopes for them and how they’d figure out how to make a relationship work, but I seemed to tie itself up a lot easier than I thought it would’ve. I did like learning about Michigan and the nuances of that area.

2.5 Stars— the premise of this had be so excited but the main characters had no chemistry. While I liked them both individually, there was no spark between them that made me dying for their HEA.

Paige is a librarian who just left a long-term relationship that was going no where. James is a visiting Scotsman who’s only here for 8 weeks. Paige doesn’t want to start anything regardless of their mutual interest. Paige was relatable, but also two dimensional in that she didn’t have the big dream for the library promotion until it became available. It’s like she’s happy to have the life society has told her to have, but she has no desire for her own aspirations. James is nice enough but he’s not especially exiting either. The two of them do work, just have no chemistry.

I went into this book with a lot of hope, who wouldn’t love a book about a librarian falling in love with a Scottish man! Welllllll….

Scotsman in the Stacks just didn’t wow me like I was hoping it would. I’ve read a lot of really harsh reviews and don’t wholly agree or disagree with any of them. This book was just okay.

Some things that I loved were Paige and Kayla’s friendship. They are so supportive of each other and it’s just the kind of friendship you dream about having. Their friendship was more entertaining than Paige and James’ relationship. I also enjoyed that the book was set in Michigan. Typically a lot of romance books are set in cities that are trendy or super well known, but having it set in a state and city that doesn’t get much attention made the love story seem more realistic and that was nice!

A couple of things that I didn’t love were that the book was very long and at times felt like nothing was really happening. And I also found the utter lack of communication between Paige and James while they were apart hard to believe.

Paige is a newly-single, part-time librarian at a public library in Michigan. While at work she deals with a variety of patrons, including an attractive man with a Scottish accent named James. James is an artist-in-residency in town for 8 weeks. Paige and James strike up a conversation and start a relationship.

Unfortunately that's pretty much the entire plot of the novel. I was excited for this one because the cover is super cute and I'm also a librarian and I love reading about other librarians. However, I found Paige to be judgmental of her patrons which is a big no-no. There is also very little chemistry between Paige and James. For most of the novel Paige is mopey and feels sorry for herself, but at the end she suddenly gets a tattoo inspired by James and they decide to move in together after less than 8 weeks of knowing each other. I know it's fiction, but it just doesn't seem realistic. This book was just very bland.

CW: emergency c-section for side character (on-page), heart attack of family member (off-page)

I tried so so hard to like this book, but ultimately just couldn't get into it. Based on the cover and the synopsis, you think it's going to be a super cute, charming rom-com with an adorable librarian and a handsome Scot, but it was just incredibly unrealistic and a bit boring. There is absolutely no way that any part-time librarian would be able to afford an apartment on their own and we started off with that being part of Paige's concern for breaking up with her boyfriend who also still didn't want to get engaged after what... 6-7 years together?! Then we're introduced to James who sounded great until the author described him as having a goatee...... a goatee, in 2022! There was just about no chemistry between them and reading the Scottish accent written out got tiring. I really wanted to love this because the premise is so cute, but it was kind of boring, the writing was a bit cringe at times, and it read like a first attempt at fan fiction.

I'm having a very conflicting reaction to this book. I found this book browsing online and thought it sounded like the perfect cute romance book that ties in a love of reading through the main character Paige's career as a librarian. It seemed like it'd be a pretty standard romance book with the added touch of the library, but it still fell a little short.

The Good:
This book was off to a pretty decent start. I could feel the frustration from Paige in the first chapter, and I was ready to see how her story would change as she moved on from the long-term relationship that just ended. The word choice itself in the book was also nice. I liked the ways in which the author balanced dialogue and non-dialogue, and things like sentence length or paragraph-length never stuck out as an eyesore. The third-person point of view was beneficial, and I think Paige was the right character for this book to follow. Furthermore, I think the main conflict of the story was reasonable, and it didn't fall into some of the overused cliches I try to avoid when reading romance novels. I wasn't really mad about anything in this novel, and I think it was a very promising start that could shift into even better work as the author continues to write new stories.

The Bad:
While the beginning chapters were promising, I quickly found my opinion changing as the love interest James was introduced shortly thereafter. The initial strength of their connection felt a little off, and it was hard for me to find the chemistry between their characters despite the majority of the plot solely being their relationship. The plot itself somewhat lacked depth or any significant side plots that would've helped the reader connect more with the characters. It felt like Paige and James's characters were defined only by their jobs and their connection to each other, and even the side characters felt trapped in being solely tied to one part of their identity (such as Paige's best friend existing only as a pregnant woman). Making both the characters and the plot more dynamic would've gone miles toward improving this book. I wanted to hear more about Paige's work in the library and her efforts with the discussion group, but it felt like those were only mentioned when James was somehow tied to it. Despite this being a romance book, I think it's totally okay to include scenes that push the characters forward even if it doesn't directly impact their relationships. The other main problem I had with this book was how James's accent was written into the novel. This is definitely a personal preference, but I really find myself disconnecting from books that spell out how characters with accents sound instead of spelling the words as normal while mentioning their accent. There were too many "dinnaes" and other wordisms for me to really enjoy the love interest, which was especially hard since the whole plot revolved around James interacting with Paige. This book had a lot of potential, but it ultimately ended up falling short for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and 8N Publishing for providing me with a digital ARC of this copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book - and by "loved", I mean I devoured Scotsman in the Stacks in a matter of hours.

Paige & James are probably a couple of the most relatable characters I've had the pleasure of reading this year. Paige is a librarian working up the chain to a full time job, learning how to be herself and recognizing her self worth. Her best friend, Kayla, reminded me of my best friend - reminding me of my worth, paving the way for my life later. I loved their duo and the love they had for each other as they go through different things in life.

The friendship, however, is not what this book is about - it's about Paige and James. James - the Scotsman - is an absolute delight. He's sweet, he's kind, he's chivalrous. If you're looking for a prince charming with an accent, this guy is IT. Paige and James fall for each other quickly - a soulmate situation.

My only critique of this book is that it was hard for me to read the Scottish accent. I would likely really enjoy an audiobook version with a Scotsman as James. I understand what the author was doing and it didn't take away from the sweet story at all. I wish I could do 1/2 stars because it really didn't take away a full star for something so minimal (in my opinion).

If you're looking for a feel good, HEA, prince charming scenario - go for this! I recommend, 100%!

I did not finish this book. It was just boring. I am a librarian and I was excited to read about a librarian finding romance, but the characters were flat, there was not chemistry. Missed opportunity.

Overall not a bad book, and did enjoy it for the mos part. A librarian, and hunky Scotsman, what not to miss? However, didn't really feel the chemistry here. I liked the characters, but felt a little more was needed. Would still recommend though, but a bit more details would be nice. Loved their road trip. Makes me want to check it out now.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, 8N Publishing and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Sweet, lovely and beautiful.

Might need to make a dentist appointment after reading this—it’s sickeningly sweet. This seemed like it would be cute but there’s no chemistry between the characters and it was very boring. The road trip was the low point. Dozens of pages of complete boredom. I do detect a Hallmark movie in the making though. Also, there’s no way a person can live on their own on a part-time librarian paycheck—completely unrealistic.

I loved the concept for the plot and the connections I was able to make to the main character. She was in a realistic place in her life that was relatable. Such a wonderful story! I can’t wait to continue talking to others about the characters.