HOLY. MOTHER. OF. SCOTS. (see what i did there?)

this book took me through so many emotions and i handled each one with a good, deep and therapeutic cry. the way alexandra kiley handles grief in this book is such a triumph. i particularly love the fact that kiley explores loss in more than one way: actual grief of addie losing her mom which results in losing her dad to his own grief. it's a different, less manageable form of pain to grieve someone who is still living, and kiley describes it so gently and so well.

and the way she writes the love interest, logan, in an assist way where he allows addie to move around in her pain and grief and doesn't try to fix it or her is so, so refreshing. i love when the main character is given something and isn't forced to grow out of it or change how she's feeling because of love. while love is vast and important, it doesn't fix everything. this aspect of their dynamic was so, so important to me.

this book means so much to me, and is similar to my favorite read last year, you, with a view by jessica joyce. rivals at work trying to peel back layers of each other and falling in love with all the messes they find. maneuvering through life with the heaviness that grief rests on your heart. trying to find pieces of loved ones in places you want to call home.

and, y'all the EPILOGUE. UGH. it's so, so insane. you're all going to love this one so much.

thank you alexandra kiley and netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review. i cannot wait for this to be out in world and i hope it settles in your heart the way it did in mine. <3

I Loved this fun rom-com. Who could go wrong with a tour of Scotland?
Can't wait for more from Alexandra Kiley.
Ready or Scot...

Globetrotter Addie Macrae always follows her wanderlust. As a travel consultant, she jet sets around the world—anywhere but Scotland. But when she’s sent on assignment to help a struggling family-run tour company in the Highlands—and save her own job—Addie packs away her emotional baggage and turns on the professional charm.

Rugged as the land he loves, Logan Sutherland’s greatest joy is sharing the beauty of Scotland’s hidden gems…even if it means a wee bit of red ink on the company’s bottom line. The last thing Logan wants is some American “expert” pushing tourist traps and perpetuating myths about the Loch Ness Monster—especially when Addie never leaves her desk to experience the country for herself.

As they wage an office war, Logan discovers Addie’s secret connection to Scotland: a handful of faded Polaroids of her late mother. Hoping for a truce, he creates a private tour to the places in the pictures to help Addie find closure and appreciate the enchantment in less-traveled destinations, never expecting the off-limits attraction sparking between them. But Addie’s contract is almost up, and magic won’t pay the bills. They can’t afford distractions, but how can Addie do her job if she hasn’t explored all Scotland—and Logan—have to offer?

A copy of this book was provided to me free for review by Canary Street Press in exchange for an honest review.

This is not your typical contemporary romance, because this book is filled with so much more depth and endearing characters than most I have read. They say not to judge a book by its cover, and in this case that is 100% true. The cover is cute, with the title and the design both coming off to me as standard Rom-Com fare. But Kilt Trip was so much more!

Addie and Logan start off as your typical Enemies to Lovers trope. She is brought in from a consulting firm to revamp his tour company Heart of the Highlands and he is resistant to change. But they start to develop a playful friendship which blossoms into a heart-warming romance. While Addie is trying to help him see the possibilities of change in his company, he helps Addie come to terms with her feelings of resentment and grief that she has harbored since the loss of her mother.

I really enjoyed how their relationship seemed to play out very naturally which made their coming together romantically, while still spicy, very real and not campy or over the top. I appreciated that Logan had a lot of emotional depth and was the one in the relationship trying to get the other to break down their walls. I liked the array of other side characters as well. I though the friendship between Addie and the Heart of the Highlands office manager Elyse was a fun way to break up various plot points as well as the relationships Logan had with his brothers.
Overall I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes sweet, sentimental romance with a hunky man in a kilt as the male main character!

Kilt Trip was an enjoyable read about both love and loss. Scotland is such a magical place and I always love reading books set there. Thank you so much NetGalley for letting me read a copy of this book early!

Thank you Netgalley and Alexandra Kiley for this advance copy of Kilt Trip. While I was so excited for this title, it unfortunately wasn’t for me. I got about 50 percent through the book and there was too much history and too much focus on the female main characters parents. I can absolutely see so many others loving this story, it just wasn’t my time:

Thanks to Canary Street Press and HTP for my advanced copy of Kilt Trip by Alexandra Kiley.

I loved this book! The Scottish setting was perfection and I loved Logan!

Addie is a travel consultant and her newest assignment is to help a small Scottish tour company. Logan is running his family's tour company and they focus on connection and sharing the best-kept secrets. So Addie's idea to turn around their company with generic itineraries goes against everything he believes in. When he takes her on a tour, she starts to see the magic and helps him find ways to better market their tours, but it goes against everything her boss wants.

As someone who prefers to travel to more of the off-the-beaten-path places, I loved Logan's tour ideas and found everything about this book lovely. I loved all of the secondary characters and this book has the best Scottish charm. It made me want to hop on a plane. I love Scotland so much!

This was a great debut and i highly recommend it. Kilt Trip comes out March 5th!

This is very much a ‘me’ thing, but I was both excited and hesitant to read Kilt Trip. Excited because I’m obsessed with Scotland and I’m always on the hunt for romances set there, and hesitant because a lot of the books I’ve read that are set in Scotland don’t FEEL like they’re set there. Kilt Trip was everything I hoped for and then some. The writing was beautiful and descriptive, the story had the perfect balance of humour, heart, and steam, and not only did I truly feel like I was back in Scotland, I also fell hard for Addie, Logan, and the other wonderful characters.

I loved Addie and Logan so much. Addie had been running from her grief for a long time and had put up so many walls, never allowing herself to stay in one place for too long or get too close to anyone. She’d convinced herself the two close friends she had were all she needed and that she was content with the brief connections she made with fellow travelers and clients. I appreciated how her grief and healing were woven into the story without ever becoming too heavy. Those moments tugged at my heartstrings and made me connect to her even more. I loved Logan’s passion for his job and his country, and how much joy he took in showing people the beauty and magic of Scotland while helping them connect to the land, its history, and their own roots. Addie and Logan together were truly something special; their interactions ranged from flirty to contentious, and I loved how, ultimately, Logan patiently and lovingly did his best to take down Addie’s walls brick by brick. I also adored Logan’s family and co-workers, who made Addie feel welcome in a way she hadn’t experienced in a long time, which also went a long way to breaking down her walls and making her feel at home in Scotland.

Kilt Trip was delightful, charming, and captivating. I found myself completely immersed in the story, which is rare these days when I’m easily distracted and find endless reasons to set a book aside. I’m definitely going to buy myself a paperback when it comes out in March because it deserves a spot on my Favourites Shelf.

Womp womp, Kilt Trip wasn't my favorite. The beginning of the book started off promising. I liked the tension between the main characters and the Scotland setting. As the story progressed, I started to get bored and annoyed. The middle of the book felt very repetitive with Logan's feelings and frustrations towards Addie. Addie's character was too wishy washy for me. It's bad when I'm starting to root against her😅 I also struggled with the narrative. The third person narrative made it difficult to fully understand where Addie and Logan's heads were at. I felt that the characters were too quick to develop feelings for each other. Perhaps if the book were shorter, I would have enjoyed it more? Thank you to NetGalley and Canary Street Press for the ARC.

Synopsis: Addie Macrae feeds her wanderlust by working as a travel consultant. She’s always avoided one place that holds family memories she’s not ready to face— Scotland. While on assignment to help revive a struggling family business, Addie butts heads with the stubborn, but braw, kilt-wearing tour guide, Logan Sutherland.

Thoughts + Things: In this whirlwind rivals to lovers workplace romance set around Hogmanay in Edinburgh and the Scottish Highlands, Addie and Logan’s attraction is electric. There are so many tender moments between the duo that kept me reading chapter after chapter. There’s just the right amount of heat and it’s balanced by a bit of family drama and of course the gorgeous Scottish setting. You can tell this book is incredibly well researched. It’s informative about popular tourist sites without feeling cheesy. Logan’s accent and Scottish slang had me melting. He falls 1st and works hard to earn Addie’s trust by making her feel seen. This book swept me off my feet!

Content warnings: grief, specifically loss of a parent; Just a heads up, there is a bit of miscommunication and a 3rd act breakup.

This was a fun read - a great holiday/vacation romance in Scotland, a country I almost got to visit but missed out on last year… still have to get back there, but truly go and properly visit. Books like this make that bucket list trip even more intriguing!

The banter between Addie and Logan right from the very first meeting, before he knows she’s anything other than a regular tourist taking his insiders tour of Edinburgh is fascinating, and when he finds out she’s the new consultant his family brought in to update the whole company and how they run and the tours themselves? His whole outlook on everything changes and it becomes a workplace rivalry for the ages.

It’s a great read and a solid 4-star - a book I really wish I could have listened to in audio with a great Scottish voice for Logan! I definitely recommend this one to all, especially those looking for an escape to Scotland and those who enjoy a good workplace enemies to lovers!

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing (Canary Street Pres), and this is my honest feedback.

In days gone by, I longed for a story to make my heart sing, to give me hope, and make me smile. In days gone by, I longed for a story of home. Alexandra Kiley combines romance and laughter, kilts and Scottish history into a wonderful story of home you won’t be able to put down.

#KiltTrip #NetGalley #AlexandraKiley

Addie McCrae is in the travel industry. She is on the run from memories, feelings, and loss. Logan Sutherland is also in the trial industry and is about to experience loss. The loss of his beloved Heart of Scotland tour guides will destroy him and take away his identity. When Addie comes along to consult the Sutherland family business, she makes a mistake of letting Logan argue to show her where her destiny began long ago when her mom and dad honeymooned in the Mac Crea highlands and places she is now standing. Great read with delightful and flawed characters.

Kilt Trip by Alexandra Kiley

Addie Macrae loves her busy life, traveling around the world for her job and foregoing close relationships to keep herself emotionally safe. She heads to Scotland where she needs to get a family-run tour business back in the black in order to save her own job, promptly meeting a handsome Scotsman while doing some undercover recon. Naturally, they fall instantly in love, but realize they are rivals in the boardroom, since he oversees the tour business that she is there to overhaul into profitability. The back and forth of their relationship seesaws from highs to lows, until they finally figure out a way forward.

My honest thoughts - I didn’t have high expectations for this book going into it, and I left more disappointed than I anticipated. For a light romance, I thought this would read smoothly and quickly, but I dragged through it for many many chapters. Addie’s stubborn commitment to not communicate or open her feelings - which was discussed way to much to begin with - felt overly dramatized, Logan was the ever-solicitous and picture-perfect gentleman, consistently trying to get Addie to feel safe and open up emotionally. Both characters felt more like caricatures.

I had serious issues with her job - it seemed such an odd way to run a business, she was gone in Scotland so long, and even her role in helping the tour companies just seemed extremely contrived. Was there no other plausible way to make this plot come together? There are a few redeeming moments where relationships seem authentic and the story stumbles into a good vein, but by and large it’s either predictable (yep, they sleep together and yep, it is mind blowing) or contrived (she’s in an AirBnB with his brother, she can just chill in Scotland doing her “job” for weeks on end, etc).

Some people will find this a nice book to read, as it does have some lovely descriptions of Scotland, along with a pretty female main character learning to trust her feelings again thanks to a tall dark and handsome man with an accent. And a kilt. There’s some open door romance as well, which is generally tastefully done. For me, though, this was a miss.

4 🌟

If you want to be transported to Scotland and are looking for a cute romance to go along with it, this is the book for you. It was amazing to feel transpired to Scotland while reading this book. I mean who doesn’t love a man in a kilt and that knows what he wants. Seeing Addie’s grief process was beautifully written and very well done. Overall, I really enjoyed this debut novel and will pick up the next Alexandra Kiley book.

This book has:
💚 fun banter between the leads
💚 reverse grumpy sunshine
💚 Found Family
💚 Learning about New Cultures and Traditions
💚 Grief repression
💚 Rivals to lovers
💚 Slow-burn workplace romance

Cons:
🧳Miscommunication
🧳A lot of repetitive back and forth

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

Thank to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Canary Street Press and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy!

Scottish highland ✅
Workplace romance ✅
Enemies to lovers✅
Great banter ✅

Such a fun read! Definitely worth adding it to your list!

A travel consultant finds herself in over her head when she is assigned to help a struggling family-run tour company in the Highlands, and with a very handsome kilt-wearing scot to distract her... things are definitely not going as planned. Addie Macrae is constantly on the go, her job taking her around the world, and when her latest assignment has her job on the line she is determined to make it work. Too bad there is Logan Sutherland, a rugged tour guide and owner of the company that Addie has to work with and he wants none of her changes to his company despite his company being on the bottom line and almost out of business. Logan and Addie do have a connection though, while traveling around Scotland and going on tours, they find themselves falling for each other. Yet it was only meant to be an assignment before Addie leaves, can Logan convince her that he's in for the long run? This one was a bit of a miss for me unfortunately, I was so looking forward to a cute romance set in the Highlands between rival business partners (with a touch of Hallmark) and it just kind of fell flat for me. I really didn't find myself all that invested in the romance between the two characters and had hoped for more. I felt kind of checked out while reading this and just didn't really find myself really caring all that much (which is so unfortunate because I had such high hopes for this one). While this one was a miss for me, if you do enjoy Hallmark-esque romances set in the Highlands give this a go, maybe you'll hbave a better time with it than I did.

*Thanks Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, Canary Street Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this book. Hot Scottish tour guide in a kilt, trying to keep his struggling family business afloat? Check. Determined, ambitious American consultant who needs a win? Check.

Addie and Logan's chemistry is off the charts from the beginning, but when they discover they have opposing views on how to move his family business from the red to the black, things only heat up. The banter between these two is perfect and Logan is such a swoon-worthy hero (did I mention the kilt?), but Alexandra Kiley really captures the deeply magical Scottish setting so perfectly, you'll feel like you're there, falling in love alongside Logan and Addie. This book is the perfect steamy escape.

With an enemies to lovers trope, found family, hilarious travel moments, hairy coos and a sexy kilted Scotsman, Kilt Trip will draw you in like Logan Sullivan’s enchanting storytelling!

When Addie Macrae travels to Scotland as a travel consultant, her objective is clear: improve the Sullivan family’s tours and leave. But in addition to her travel suitcase, Frank, Addie carries her own personal baggage—Polaroids of her mother. She quickly discovers this isn’t an easy consult when the Sullivans welcome her like a member of their family and tour guide, Logan Sullivan, refuses to allow an American-know-it-all to alter his tours.

Logan is keen on showing Addie the real Scotland and connecting her to her own history. Though Addie’s hesitant at first and digs her heels in the literal mud, which makes for laugh out loud banter, she rediscovers a connection to her mom and in doing so, herself, from a man that is woven into the tapestry of his country like the fine blend of his kilt. Highly recommend!

I received this ARC from Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
Travel consultant Addie is hired to revamp a tour of the Highlands by the current owner. The owner's son, Logan, is against changing anything about the tours because of how important the history of the lesser known stops are to him. Logan will fight Addie all the way in order to thwart her itinerary changes.
This is a classic workplace enemies to lovers romance book, which I eat up every time! The bickering was great and perfectly built up the tension. There was great spice in the book as well. If you enjoy romance books set in Scotland, definitely give it a try.
Kilt Trip by Alexandra Kiley comes out on 03/05/24.

Brb, booking a plane ticket to Scotland!

Addie Macrae is a talented businesswoman who helps failing companies pick back up. She's been everywhere except a country special to her late mother -- Scotland. When assigned to rebrand a struggling family-run tour company in Scotland, Addie reluctantly packs her emotional and physical baggage and sets off to help the Sutherlands. Addie is determined to make this trip as quick as possible, but Logan Sutherland is determined to make that impossible.

Logan Sutherland is a rugged Scottish native, happiest when he's showing a tour group through Scotland's hidden gems, all while in a kilt. He firmly believes in his dream for the family's tour business and does not want to be a gimmicky tourist trap. Even though Addie threatens to upend everything he's worked for, Logan can't help his instant attraction to the beautiful blonde. He takes Addie on a personalized tour to convince her of his vision. Addie and Logan embark on a trip of a lifetime, but even though Addie can't help her growing feelings for Logan, she is hesitant to follow her heart.

Alex Kiley's <i> Kilt Trip</i> is a vibrant tribute to Scotland's lush hills and scenic history. I loved the banter between Addie and Logan. I felt how warm and welcoming Logan's family was and hurt for Addie and the loss of her mother.

Thank you Alexandra Kiley for the ARC! Highly recommend picking this one up if you love forced proximity and enemies to lovers!