This was a hard no from me. Short Novella but took me weeks to get through - I should have DNF. Some people will love this sweet story but insta love is a hard no for me and that’s what this is. I wanted more outlander

This was such a cute Christmas novella! I found myself giggling and kicking my feet throughout the entire story and ended up sobbing.

I loved the fantasy part of it. The magic of Christmas and Highlen.
"Highglen was a place of pure magic. For the first time, I understood why my mother had told me to search for it. I didn’t want to let it go."
And this magic place obviously makes you believe in soulmates. Makes you believe in love at first sight even if you didn't believe in it before. And so you love Maren and Duncan and want them together from the get go just as much as they want each other.

Duncan is a giant softie, charming adorable man and I fell for him just as fast as Maren did. He was so goddamn cute and always said THE most perfect thing ever. I was giggling like a schoolgirl and he wasn't even talking to me (unfortunately).

Maren was so cute as well. She was going through a lot and finding Duncan and a perfect magic place was just what she needed.

Watching their love grow. The stolen glances. The sweet words and kisses. The connection between them... It was everything. I was smiling so hard through the entire novella that my cheeks ached by the end of it. And of course, the happy ending just tied the entire thing in a perfect bow.

I know I'm going to be thinking about this for a long time and I'll smile every single time. If Sariah decides to write more novellas in this world I'll read every single one of them. In the meantime, however, I'll be reading her other books because I have been missing out!!

~ Favorite quotes ~

“I love when you say my name,” I confessed.
“Then I shall say it often. And every time I do, take it as a token and reminder of how much I want to kiss you.”

“Maren, you are my worst temptation and my saving grace.”

“And I am yours. Yours, and no other’s. For as long as I live.”


Thank you so much to NetGalley and Montlake for the ARC of this novella. All opinions are my own.

Fun, short, and sweet holiday story. Not quite magical realism, but holiday magic at its best. Marengo and Penny are on a quest to find answers and embraced the beauty and magic of Scotland. They get more than they bargained for. I enjoyed the meaning behind the story and the details of Christmas in the past and stories behind the customs of the time. I totally want to go wassailing lol. The holidays held so much meaning! I have thoughts now for the upcoming holiday!

If you're looking for a painfully cheesy Christmas romance with a fantasy twist and a crash course in Scottish celebrations, look no further! Personally I wasn't a fan, but if you love the festive season and don't mind insta-love, this may well be the perfect book for you!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Almost Like Being in Love is a quick read about a young woman and her friend visiting Scotland as her mother dies in hopes of finding out what happened to her uncle years ago to give her mother closure. The friends stumble into a town lost in time during a snowstorm and find a few surprises. The romance in the book is "insta-love". which is just as implausible as the town lost in time. If you just go with the story and not question anything, it is an entertaining and cute read. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC to review.

There are always going to be some problems with a time traveling story but I enjoyed this one. The Brigadoon like plot was cute and the supporting characters worked well. My only problem was that the romance felt too quick and forced at times.

This is my first Sariah Wilson book and it was so CUTE!

It is the perfect palate cleanser to get you moving past Halloween and into the Holiday spirit! It’s a novella so it's shorter but still has depth and so many characters that I really enjoyed! I am also a HUGE fan of time travel so I loved the elements of that in this book! I loved the hidden kingdom and the christmassy activities too! I have already done a deep dive into Wilson’s backlist and I can’t wait to read more from her!

4 stars

Thank you @netgalley and @amazonpublishing #MontlakeRomace for the early copy

This one is out November 14th

Almost like being love is the perfect Christmas novella if you're a fan of medieval time, insta-love and overall Christmas vibes.

Maren and her friend get stuck in a snowstorm in the Scottish Highlands. When their car won't start anymore and they're about to freeze to death, they spot lights coming from the woods and take a chance. What they don't know is that once they're found, they've traveled back to the seventeenth century.

Usually, I'm not a fan of Insta-love at all, but with the time-traveling storyline being somewhat magical, it didn't bother me as much. The connection between Maren and Duncan was instant, and seemed quite deep from the start. They had banter and little mishaps because of the changed language.

My biggest struggle with this was how easily Maren adapted to the way they lived in the seventeenth century. I'd expected, and hoped for, a bigger struggle, as it would add some tension to the relationship. I wanted them to sweat a little, I wanted to wonder (even though you know) they'd overcome the hurdles.

I would love to read a sequel with one of Duncan's sisters choosing to go back home with someone to the 21st century and how she'd adapt there.

Maren Kelly and her friend Penny are on a trip to Scotland. It's a trip she wanted to take with her mother, but she can't because she's very ill.

When they get lost in the Forrest, they're rescued by Duncan Cambell who's handsome and kind and seems not of this world. So does his village, Highglen. The people are welcoming, and Maren feels like everything is familiar and fantastic.

There are a lot of magical surprises in this story. And familial surprises. How does it all work? Why do things that aren't knew feel so welcoming? The Magic is neat and new to me. I'd never heard of a story like this before.

It's an instant attraction for Maren. But how does she stay? How will it all work out?

Short and very sweet!

I am a sucker for Sariah Wilson's books and when time travel is involved and Christmas, I'm in. I also really enjoy a quick read where characters know what they want and who they like, even if it's fast. I loved Maren and Duncan and the dilemma they had. This book was quite the adventure and I was along for the ride! Huge thanks to the publisher for the Netgalley approval.

Sariah continues to deliver another entertaining and dreamy romance! I'm a big fan of her books. This novella is Christmas-themed and perfect the the holidays! It reminds me of a clean version of Outlander, the book and TV show: romance, time-traveling, family, true love, local customs, and culture. I have been watching Outlander in my streaming service, so the dialogue, local customs, and Gaelic language were very similar and just up my alley. So romantic and gallant. Totally brought me back to that Scottish Highlands!

The connection between the characters was strong and quick (insert "insta-love" here) which is a regular trend in Sariah's books. This one in particular was very quick and it took me a bit to "believe" it and truly feel it, but ultimately it won me over.. I didn't want to put it down! I particularly enjoyed the recurring time-traveling connecting the reader with more generations - love it when a story comes full circle! Or almost full circle! I was left wanting to hear more about the other characters like Ainsley (Duncan's sister), Alasdair (the chaperone), and Robert (the uncle). I hope to hear more about them in a second book!

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free copy to review.

DNF at 41%

Instalove is one of my least favorite tropes and this book is absolutely rife with it. If it's not the main characters falling immediately in love at first sight, it's every other character referencing the fact that they also experienced this once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon. While I really enjoyed the concept and the history that the book imparts, the lack of tension in the romance just left me feeling devoid of Christmas spirit.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Brigadoon! Maran, from Ohio, is rescued by Duncan during a blizzard Scotland and, if you like insta-love and can suspend belief this makes for an entertaining light read. What will Maran do? Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Perfect for a rainy day.

If you like Outlander you’ll definitely enjoy this! I felt like the story did drag out a bit but overall a cute Christmas read.

Dnf at 25%. I don't know what I expected of this book, but time travel was not apart of it. It was moving very fast paced for me and not something I was able to wrap my head around

As a huge Brigadoon fan, I figured this would be right up my alley. It was a really cool idea, but the characters were honestly a little too cutesy for me. Also the instalove was a bit too insta for me. I think a lot of other readers will enjoy this one, but it wasn’t for me.

I'm a big fan of cheese, but not of this variety. When I say I wanted to DNF this, I wanted to DNF it with everything in me. However, I made myself keep reading simply so I could write this review.

My two biggest issues with this book were the pacing and the insta-love between the FMC, Maren, and the dashing Scot who resides in a time traveling Scottish castle, Duncan.

As a fantasy reader, I can overlook the absurdity of a time traveling Scottish castle full of people who think it's the mid-1600s. I can even overlook the FMC and her friend going to Scotland, getting stuck, and being rescued by inhabitants of said time traveling Scottish castle. But what I cannot overlook is the fact that Maren immediately fell in love with the leader of this time traveling group of Scots. Nothing about that was believable and it just seemed very silly.

In turn, I think that's where the pacing was incredibly off. While a novella is going to feel more rushed than a full length novel, this story just didn't fit within the parameters of a novella. Right off the back falling in love with a man you just met who lives thinking it's still the 17th Century? Just no. It left me shaking my head and wanting to finish this as quickly as possible.

This novella was not for me and I wouldn't recommend it, simply because this isn't the good kind of cheese that I would hope to find in a romance read.

My feelings on this book went back and forth as I was reading it.
It's an interesting and fun premise and relied VERY heavily on insta-love as a trope. Without insta-love, the story would not be possible.
And I'm just not a big fan of insta-love for strangers. It just doesn't make sense to me. There can be insta-lust, but love without even having a conversation? No.

The book felt very Outlander inspired, given the setting in Scotland and the time traveling, though it definition has its own spin on it.

Overall, it was fine. A lovely Christmas book.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers and of course the author for gifting me this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was a really cute, festive rom com set in Scotland which I felt added to the festive feel. Perfect for people who want a hug in a book with not too much spice.

One of my favorite old Hollywood musicals is Brigadoon, so it’s no surprise that I really enjoyed this adaptation set at Christmas. Unlike the film, in which the quaint Scottish village appears out of the mist once every hundred years, this book’s Highglen appears during a week-long snowstorm at infrequent intervals in response to an unsuspecting visitor in need of some Christmas spirit. Four hundred years in the real world is a mere 7 years in Highglen, where it’s still 1647.

Maren and her friend Penny have left America in search of her uncle who disappeared about 30 years prior while on a research trip. She reluctantly leaves behind her mother, who has cancer, to fulfill her dying wish of finding her long lost brother. So imagine Maren’s surprise when, after her rental car breaks down, she’s rescued by a handsome Scottish laird, Duncan Campbell. It’s love at first sight, with a vague sense that they’ve met before, but can they ever have a future if she’s has to return to be with her mom and he has to remain with his large family and the villagers who depend on him? Is there a chance for a Christmas miracle?

Unlike most time travel books, this one doesn’t worry about changing the future by incorporating modern conveniences into 17th-century Scotland because the Campbells are able to benefit from the knowledge and resources shared by their visitors, whether it’s the culinary skills of a chef who appeared in the 1800s or Maren’s veterinary skills. Duncan has six sisters, and there’s definitely something in the air when it comes to them finding love with hapless visitors, including Maren’s Uncle Bobby.

If you’re looking for a quick read full of Christmas spirit and a hunky, poetic, Scottish book boyfriend, this one fits the bill. It’s a love at first sight, sweet, clean romance with unchallenging dialogue, low angst, and the perfect chosen family.


I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Montlake through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.