✩4.5

✦What to Expect✦
•Marriage of convenience
•He’s a grumpy Scotsman
•Enemies to lovers
•Forced proximity
 
✦Characters✦
•Sylvie Devereaux
•Killian Barclay
 
✦Fav Quotes✦
There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.

Sylvie is fearlessly herself. And I love that about her.

“Do you promise to keep me?”
“I do.”

✦Thoughts✦
Omgggggg Sara has done it again!!!
This book is sinfully good and so hot!

Chapter 29 *omg squealinggggggg over it*

I immediately was sucked into the story and loved the dynamic between these two.
This was such a good enemies to lovers!

The grumpy Scotsman Killian…. Yasss please!

Truly had the best time reading this one! I literally was squealing non stop because Sara Cate is the queen of writing k!nky spice and she delivered!!!!

That ending!!!!! All the feels

Thank you so much to Sara Cate, Hambright PR, and Net Galley for this E- ARC! All thoughts and opinions are me own 💕🥰

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

Find more on my IG @kayreads_romance

⚠️ !! Please be sure to check any TWs before diving in !! ⚠️

What to expect:
* Marriage of Convenience
* Grumpy x grumpy
* K!nky vibes
* Scottish broody billionaire
* Enemies to lovers
* Forced proximity

Thoughts:
Sara Cateeeeee! One of my absolute favorite authors! I really enjoyed this story I lovedddd the banter between Killian and Sylvie and I love how we got to see them grow together and individually!
The agoraphobia rep was so important and done so beautifully I think

Sara Cate is one of my auto-read authors, and I went into Keep Me thinking it would be as spicy as her Salacious Players' Club series. While it was spicy, it wasn’t quite as scorching as Salacious Players' Club, but it still delivered the heat, especially with the intense chemistry between Sylvie & Killian.
Killian is a damaged, grumpy hero who’s spent years hiding from the world in his Scottish manor, while Sylvie is struggling with the fallout of her past and trying to figure out who she is. Even though they hate each other they enter into a marriage of convenience (loveee this trope). The chemistry between Killian and Sylvie is electric, especially with their sharp banter and the slow-burn romance. One part I loved was watching them navigate their complicated feelings for each other—while healing from their respective traumas—was both heartwarming and heartbreaking.
Overall, Keep Me is a compelling read for fans of grumpy heroes, broken characters, and slow-burn romance. I loved seeing Sylvie and Killian grow together and fall in love, and I’m excited to see where this series goes next!

Tropes:
Age gap
Grumpy hero
Marriage of convenience
Enemies to lovers
4/5 stars
2.5/5 spice

Thank you SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca and NetGalley for providing an arc for
an honest review

My ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is my first read by this author. Looking forward to the Salacious Players Club series since I’ve heard a lot of raves.

Sylvie never thought that breaking into a Scottish manor and taking photos of an old typewriter would lead her to be propositioned into a marriage of convenience wherein the payout is 10 million dollars. But alas, now she must share the large manor home of Killian Barlcay, her husband, for one year in order to win that money. Can't be that hard, right?

Sara Cate does not mess around. All of her books are steamy and a delight. While I found this one a little light on the plot, overall, I enjoyed it. Sylvie was not my favorite lead character, actually she annoyed me through a lot of the book. Killian on the other hand felt fully formed and traumatic and full of good things.

THe pacing was moderate and the spice was high.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

“What the f*** did you just say to my wife?”

🩷Marriage of Convenience

🩷Grumpy x Grumpy

🩷Enemies to Lovers

🩷Forced Proximity

This is your typical Sara Cate book full of spice and emotion but with a Scottish twist!

Killian Barclay is a grumpy Scottish billionaire who lives in his family manor and never leaves. His family wants the manor back and here enters Sylvie, the girl who they want to use to trick him. There is much more to these characters though and they’ll learn a lot about each other sharing a marriage and a house.

The banter between them is perfection and their relationship may start fake, but we all know how that usually goes!

“His kiss feels like crawling back into my own bed after months away. It feels like finding the one other soul on this planet that matches mine. It feels like home.”

Eeeek. This was such an awesome enemies to lovers/marriage of convenience story.
I really loved Killian. He was so grumpy and really mean to our heroine. But don't be fooled. She gave as good as she got! The chemistry was off the charts, and I loved the character development so much!!!!
The third act break up was a bit cliché but I enjoyed it anyway.
I cannot wait for more from thus universe!

I was blesssedddd with an ARC of this book & OMG I ate this up!!!
Honestly read this so fast that I surprised myself.
I loveddddd this book. I loved the direction Sara took with the POVs. It kept me wanting more.
The chapters were all the perfect length & honestly the characters were just so intriguing.
Forced proximity is alwayssss chefs kiss but this was executed so nicely.
Of course, the spice was spicinggggg 😏
And the ending of the book had my heart strings being pulled. I was rooting for them so much.

Highly recommend reading Keep Me! Especially if you like Sara’s other books. They never ever disappoint!

Overall: 4.5 ⭐️
Spice: 3.5 🌶️

4⭐️ | 2.5🌶️
It’s a sure bet that if Sara Cate writes it that I’m going to read it! While I felt this series was quite different from Sara’s previous work (ie; The Salacious Players Club & The Goode Brothers) I found it to be more tame, but well rounded character development & devoured this book in 24 hours!

We are getting a brand new series based in Scotland & I just can’t wait to see where the rest of the series will take us!

Killian and Sylvie were the perfect enemies to lovers in a scheme of marriage of convenience but with a little forced proximity paired with hate to want you attraction takes over they find themselves falling for each other.

They slowly exit the enemies phase and uncover a very tender love and protectiveness for each other. It might have taken some time, but you can’t help but fall in love with their story.

I will say if you are a Sara Cate fan then you may be disappointed that the spice and kinks are much more tame for what Sara typically gives us, but overall I still found the story to be a very quick and enjoyable read!

Read if you enjoy:
Marriage of Convenience
Age Gap
Enemies to Lovers
Forced Proximity
grumpy x grumpy

Thank you Sara Cate, Sourcebooks Casablanca, NetGalley, & Hambright PR for the early copy in return for my honest review!

If Sara Cate has one fan, it’s ME 🥹 I 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙙 this book in a single day and am actively forcing myself to not open it back up for an immediate reread! I adored the characters in this one. Sylvia and Killian were both so headstrong and stubborn, but their chemistry, even through their initial arguing and loathing, was off 📈 the 📈 charts 📈. I came for the enemies to lovers and stayed for the sweet and tender love that formed between these two grumps. Watching them both battle their demons and striving to overcome for the other was so sweet and had me tearing up more than once. Let's not forget the APPLAUSE for male mental health rep 🥹😭 Infinite stars for this one ⭐️♾️💕

Hehehehe I love a couple that uses bickering as foreplay, and that’s EXACTLY what you’ll get in Keep Me by Sara Cate.

Sylvie in all her neglectful past and shitty partners is desperate to make it on her own, so when a boon of 10 million dollars is dropped in her lap, she agrees to deceive the asshole of a man who chased her out of his home weeks ago. All she has to do? Marry him for a year then steal his house.
Too bad she loves sparing with him, and under that gruff hard exterior she she’s the hurt he’s hiding, and try as he might Killian wants to hate his new wife but when arguing with her makes him feel alive again, he keeps finding that harder to do than expected.

I found myself being so intrigued by these characters and the armor that they put on for the first half of the book. You could tell that they were defensive and wanted to be loved but had no idea how, but they were finally enjoying not being treated like glass. Then suddenly it was 50% in, Killian was very much in his “My Wife” phase and Sylvie was focused on what he had under his kilt and helping heal the hurts Killian was keeping in his past. From there on I DEVOURED the rest of this book in one sitting. Then part 5 had my heart in a VICE GRIP.

If you like Grumpy X Grumpy, nicknames, and light kink I’d pick this up.

*Thank you Hambright PR, Sourcebooks, and Sara Cate for the ARC.*

Sara has never done me wrong in any book that she has written, and this book was no exception. Killian and Sylvie leapt from the page and grabbed me from page one. Their relationship was fiery from the beginning, and I loved their banter together, loved seeing how things progressed between them, and especially loved seeing them both grow as people because of each other. It was so amazing to see the changes between them, and see where they were as people near the end of the story. I wish that I could read this book again and again and I most likely will because this is one story that I will never get tired of. Yet another masterpiece from Sara Cate.

I think it’s safe for me to say if I see Sara Cate’s name on it, I’m reading it. Add Scottish recluses and an age gap, and I’m in. But if you’ve been worried her work may be too forbidden, too taboo for you… this might be a good place to start, because Keep Me was tamer than her other books.

📕 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Keep Me by Sara Cate

📙 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: Sinful Manor character series. Book 1.

📗 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀: E-book ARC on Kindle. Courtesy of NetGalley.

📘 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: Contemporary romance

📔 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀: Age gap, Scottish hero, broody and broken MMC, BDSM vibes, marriage of convenience, enemies-to-lovers.

📖 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: Sylvie’s lost in life, and takes an offer to marry a recluse in Scotland for $10 million dollars. All she has to do is stay married for a year - but Killian Barclay turns her world upside down.

🌟 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: Correct me if I’m wrong in the comments, but the Sinful Manor series is the first Sara Cate has published that’s STARTING as a trad published series. And it’s definitely a departure from her normal writing.

It’s got all of the elements of a Sara Cate book - super hot MMCs, a huge age gap, and a great story arc… but it’s a little less spicy and def felt more contemporary than her work usually is.

I loved the way the story was told - dual POV but in sections - and I especially loved the end of the book and how the characters came together (no spoilers!)… but there were some small misses that made me give this the rare four.

This series isn’t on KU to start, which is also a departure.

Overall - I think it’s a good start and I was super happy to get the ARC. I gave Praise a four-star review as well, and look how big the SPC series got. I’m interested to see where this series goes.

𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹: 3.5/5 🌶🌶🌶

𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏 𝑨𝑹𝑪 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘.

I floundered between a 3 and 4 for Keep Me. Ultimately, the parts that stuck with me the most about this story, weren't great. This book was marketed as a girl stumbling into an old Scottish manor where the grumpy Scott that owns it fills his time with debauchery and kink. There are only 2 scenes of this nature, one of which was so cringy, I am shocked it's not on the triggers list. The book holds MAJOR other woman drama that goes too far and then is just...gone?

Our heroine is described as "tough as nails" but I just wasn't getting that anywhere. On multiple occasions she was more of a spoiled rich girl than someone who is "tough". ie: she gets cut off from her parents and instead of getting a job, blows through what little savings she had and then calls her parents and whines...WHINES.

Killian and Sylvie don't just throw insults at each other (for no apparent reason), but he calls her a see you next Tuesday and a cow right up until the very end. There just weren't enough lovable moments to make up for that unless it's assumed it happened in the large time gaps.

Overall, there's good world building and the scenes are set very well. The spice is low but that's too be expected with a publisher.

Keep Me was a good, but average book, until the last quarter. The last quarter put it solidly in five star! Killian and Sylvie are pretty harsh to each other in the beginning. I appreciated that it took so long (time wise) for them to connect with each other. They both have their own mental health struggles that they need to work through and they support each other through that. (Once they've worked through some of their snark and sexual tension of course.) Sara Cate writes excellent spice and this was no exception. Reading this one definitely had me itching to go through her backlist. A solid addition to the Sara Cate books. Highly recommend to any fans of sexy scots and sassy FMC's.
Thank you Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for the ARC!

I have been a Sara Cate fan for a while now, this book is no exception. Sylvie and Killian are 🔥 Grumpy meets grumpy in this beautiful story about 2 different hearts that help mend each other in a way neither of them expected. I loved that the dominant aspect of the book was lightly touched on but not the main focus, gave it just the right about of extra spice (which the spice was 🤌 absolutely on point.

I loved this book so much 🩵

Killian and Sylvie have my entire heart. Their story was so beautiful, a little heartbreaking, but they both come out so much stronger at the end. Their HEA was hard fought for, and so well deserved.

I cannot wait for book 2 in the next book in this series 🩵

Keep Me was not what I had been expecting from Sara Cate. It was dislike to lovers, grumpy x grumpy and while the kink was there it wasn’t in her typical style. I absolutely loved it. I loved Killian and his brute mentality, I want a Killian in my life haha. Sylvie is adorable and reminds me of a tortie cat - all sass but the moment you offer some praise they melt. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the series plays out.

A book with hate to love, a Scottish hero in a manor with some spicy secrets… sign me up. “Keep Me” is a steamy, emotional and healing romance that has me wanting more from this series.

Killian Barclay wants one thing… to be left alone in his manor and for his family to stay away. He wants his infamous parties to continue but his family wants it to end. Sylvie Devereaux is a New Yorker who is often left on her own and forgotten by her parents who are too wrapped up in their own art world. But she ends up sneaking into the manor when on vacation with her current boyfriend, seeing the brute of a highlander was the last thing she was expecting. And weeks later, his sister comes to her with a proposition. Marry Killian for one year, turn his playboy reputation around and walk away with ten million dollars. Seems easy enough but not everything is as it seems.

I was so excited for this book when it was announced and I wasn’t disappointed. A grumpy Scottish hero with all the spice Sara Cate is known for. I loved how this book was set up into parts and each part was either from Killian or Sylvie’s POV. Sylvie goes through a lot in this book with her parents and how unsupportive they are of her to her finding her way back to writing. She’s smart, fiery and passionate and that shines throughout the book. Killian has a broken soul after losing his parents in an accident and shutting down is the only way he knows how to deal with it. My heart broke for him as we learned about his past and what demons he was dealing with. These two were a true hate to love couple and the banter and insults they threw at each other had me cracking up. Despite the front they put on, you could feel the chemistry and connection they had for each other. And when they finally give into the attraction, it was great. The growth these two do emotionally had me cheering them on as they worked through their personal issues so they could be a real couple. The ending for them was perfect and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

This book was really fun. Even though they could sometimes be really unhinged, I really loved Sylvie and Killian as a couple. This book is definitely very spicy but it didn't bother me. I saw the third act conflict coming from a mile away, but it was fitting and made sense. I don't know if this story will stick with me, but it was super enjoyable and I'd recommend it. I will definitely read the next one in this series.