My first Sara Cate book. I loved the characters and how they helped each other without smothering the other. A really great book!

An emotional and intense start to another great series from Sara Cate. The setting is immersive, the dialogue is impactful, and the characters are vivid and earnest. Truly a stunning read all around, can't wait for more!

I love Sara Cate’s previous books, so I was really excited for ‘Keep Me’. Enemies to lovers? A fake marriage? A Scottish manor, complete with a grumpy owner? Sign me up! However, the execution was lacking overall. It was hard to root for Sylvia and Killian, when all they do is bicker the first half of the book. The spice was okay, but Cate’s Salacious Players Club books are better by far. I will be interested to see where the next book in the series goes.

Loved the plot outline for Keep Me! The execution didn’t quite live up my expectations. Neither of the MCs were particularly appealing. While I came to like them a little better as the story progressed, it was still hard to understand what they saw in each other. We did see some much-needed character growth throughout the story, it just wasn’t enough to alter my overall impression of the book.

This was a true enemies-to-lovers story - so much so that I wondered how the MMC who was really unlikeable at the start was going to redeem himself and end up with the FMC. The author had done a great job of developing the characters and building a believable romantic arc throughout the story. I really connected with the FMC and felt invested in the relationship and rooted for her to find her happy ending. The chemistry was sizzling and the spicy scenes were very well written and helped move the story along.

Having read some of the books in the Salacious Players' Club, I went into "Keep Me" thinking it was along the same lines. There were a few things that surprised me about "Keep Me" - while it wasn't as spicy as the previous books I read by the author (but still pretty spicy!) - it was full of emotion, well-rounded backstories, and two characters you can't help but not cheer on! This is my favorite book I've read by the author.

Plus this book is set in Scotland so you know what that means?! Men in kilts! From the first page, "Keep Me" kept me intrigued as I wonderd countless times how two stubborn, hard-headed people would be able to survive together, let alone in a fake marriage. As the pages turned, the reader begins to unravel the lives of Killian and Sylvie, exposing their past traumas, family issues, and mental health challenges. I loved how they supported each other through it in different ways - both together and seperately. I'm going to keep my eye out for more in this series and hope they revolve around Killian's siblings!

Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for providing a digital copy for me to review.

What a fun and wild ride! Sara Cate knows how to tell a great story. Keep Me is a fantastic addition to her collection of works. Much like I, I have no doubt her readership will be eager to get their hands on her newest release and just gobble it up.

Sylvie and Killian are two strangers who find themselves face to face when Sylvia decides to break into his home to sneak a peak at an antique typewriter for her (soon to be ex) boyfriend. It is hate at first sight, a mutual dislike for each other’s strength and unwillingness to submit. So what should happen naturally afterwards? Sylvie finds herself propositioned by this stranger’s family: marry him for one year and help them get back the family mansion he has been partying in for years. One year is all it takes and she will be ten million dollars richer. She agrees and they begin their life of wedded “bliss.” But they soon realize they’re more alike than they originally thought and inexplicably drawn to each other. As passion and feelings begin to arise within the walls they’re sequestered in, they find themselves wondering what will happen at the end of their one year contract?

I had no business loving this book as much as I did, but who doesn't enjoy a man in a kilt? I normally am not one to enjoy the fake marriage trope but this one had me carrying my iPad EVERYWHERE to finish it in a single sitting. The main characters grew as people both together as well as separately, addressing their demons and past traumas while falling for each other despite all their best efforts. The spice was absolutely delightful and I look forward to sharing this with anyone and everyone who asks me for book recs!

I really really love Sara Cate books so I was so excited to read this arc. I did enjoy this book and would give it a 3.5 stars. The Scottish mmc and a not annoying fmc really made this book a fun read but I feel like they went from hating to loving each other slightly too fast. Wish this book was longer so we got more of them as a couple. Cannot wait to read more from her in the future.

An old Scottish Manor houses a beast and a Beauty comes to transform him. The manor has a library that totally gives Beauty and the Beast vibes. These two main characters support and love each other enough to hold space enough for each to heal in their own right at their own pace! A new book by Sara Cate…. Say less! A book set in Scotland with a 6 foot plus hero… gotta have it!

I devoured this book in less than 12 hours.

I'm not usually one to embrace a marriage of convenience trope in contemporary romances, so this book was a slower start for me than Sara's work typically is. But it's Sara Cate, so I hung in there, knowing she would make the wait worth it.

The premise of the story is less believable than most - Sylvie wanders into a stranger's home in rural Scotland to get a photograph of her boyfriend's former family heirloom and is caught by the homeowner, a rather swxy and surly Scot. Fast forward a few months - Sylvie is back in the States and newly single, and a woman shows up at her door with an offer thats impossible to refuse: if Sylvie marries the Scot whose home she broke into and stays married to him for a year, the family will pay her $10 million.

Wild, right? This story is also a true hate to love story. Killian and Sylvie are brutal to each other in the beginning. They speak to each other so unkindly that it felt nearly impossible that Sara could make me cheer for them to work out, but she converted me in the end.

Sylvie and Killian work through some really heavy issues in course of this book, and it's their healing journey that moved me to keep reading.

Keep Me is perfect for fans of highlander romances, spicy romance with a sprinkle of BDSM, and Sara Cate's work in general.

Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for providing a digital copy for me to review.

Another stellar spicy romance by the amazing Sara Cate! She always brings the passion and the great characters and storylines. She had me with the tartan cover and didn't let go until the very last page. Highly recommend. Will be purchased.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review*

A fake marriage that turns out to be anything but!

Killian and Sylvie begin their arranged marriage looking out only for themselves. However, sharing a life tends to reveal the people we are underneath. Both recovering from their own wounds, Killian and Sylvie slowly find solace in one another.

Falling in love wasn’t a part of the plan, but as their connection grows, each become desperate for the life they have borrowed.

At its heart, Keep Me is a romance of healing and what happens when we face the truth—we all need someone to stay. Cate expertly delivers a romance you can’t help but fall for.

I believe books find us when we need them the most. Keep Me is the type of novel that heals, even when you didn’t realize you needed a hand to hold.

Recommended Listening: “Look After You” by The Fray

A strong American woman is challenged to marry a strong Scottish man (in a kilt)? Yes, please! I read this novel in one sitting. Things heat up between these two until you think they may combust!

Keep Me, written by Sara Cate, is the first title in the Sinful Manor series.

Format: NetGalley ebook
Genre: Contemporary fiction, Romance
Overall score:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice level:🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Characters: Killian (MMC) & Sylvie (FMC)

I LOVE THIS BOOK!! I have been a fan of Sara Cate’s since she published the Salacious Players club series, and this newest title is one of her best books!! Give Me More was always my favorite book by this author, but after reading Keep Me, I have a new Sara Cate favorite!

Killian and Sylvie enter into their marriage of convenience for individual reasons and both have plans to get out of the deal. They go through their own heartbreaks and issues, but once they are “together” nothing can stand in their way!

This book has it all…spice, love, hate, jealously, heartbreak, and sexy men in kilts!! 🥵

Fans of Sara Cate will adore this book, if you know and love her other titles then this book will be another five star read. New readers to this author will definitely need to read the trigger warnings to ensure nothing catches you off guard.

I am definitely looking forward to the other books in this new series!

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title!