⭐️⭐ Keep Me by Sara Cate

This book was a struggle to read. I read her Salacious Players Club books and devoured those. So, I got this one. Read it. And bleh.

The way in which Sylvie and Killian meet and enter into their fake marriage was so absolutely ridiculous. And of course, they don’t like each other. Therefore we not only have a fake marriage of convenience, but an enemies to lovers storyline as well. Okay. I can do this. But the way in which they went from enemies to lovers had no depth. It was unbelievable and full of holes. The story felt like a first draft, before the author put any thought or substance behind the story.

I hate to be so harsh as I think Sara Cate is a great author but this one was not it.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this title for review.

Overall: 4.25/5
Spice level: 3.5/5
Tropes, marriage of convenience, grump/grumpy, "my wife", forced proximity, enemies to lovers

I'll be honest, at first I didn't like Sydney's character much. I can't pinpoint why, but she grew on me and became a sympathetic character. She had a lot of growth, especially after she stopped worrying about gaining her parents' love and approval.

I will say the double grump trope made for some interesting interactions between her and Killian. Kindred spirits of sorts.

I think one of my favorite aspects of the book was how Sydney accommodated Killian's anxieties and fears about just leaving the house, and he did the work of overcoming it.

The third act breakup up created time and space for them to better themselves and have development.

Keep Me is a story filled with brazen humor, no holds barred banter, and chemistry that shines through in every interaction the main characters have. On the surface, this is a marriage of convenience born between two individuals who TRULY do not like each other. Sylvie, our brash American FMC, is looking for a quick way to replenish her fastly depleting bank account. Killian, our stubborn, grumpy Scottish MMC, is facing the fact that his family wants him to relinquish his rights to the family manor. When a year-long arranged marriage offers each of them a solution to their problem, they jump on it immediately.

Keep Me is more than what we see on the surface; it's a spicy tale filled with debauchery, yes, but it's also a story of falling down and finding your way back to who you want to be, with heartfelt emotion that truly makes the reader love the characters through all of their flaws.

Sylvie and Killian are two people who've experienced so much pain in life that they've hidden themselves in various ways to avoid more hurt.

Sylvie may seem selfish in her motivations for entering the marriage, and she is. But she’s also an incredibly caring individual who seems to wear this mask of hating the world as a guise to avoid the hurt she’s felt from being let down in every interpersonal relationship she has time and time again. Killian may be the life of the party and a brute force, but he is also a man who feels deeply and it shows.

Sara Cate created a very honest tale of what grief and the loss of oneself can look like through the eyes of her characters in a way that was unexpected. I love these characters and can't wait to see what's next in the series!

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙘𝙚, 𝙎𝙮𝙡𝙫𝙞𝙚,” 𝙄 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙧.
“𝙄’𝙢 𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙨.”
“𝙒𝙚’𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙨, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙘𝙚.”

Another unputdownable read by the Daddy of Spice!

Alls I’m going to tell you for the synopsis: Sylvie is offered the chance at $10 million dollars if she marries Killian, and stays married to him for 1 year, with no extramarital affairs…

Ok, so my initial thoughts on this one, as an avid Sara Cate reader: this one just felt “softer”? Don’t get me wrong, there is definitely some good spice, but the love story just felt more “gentle”, I guess.

And I just loved all those sweet, gushy feels!

These two were so passionate, in love and hate, but when they started to fall for each other? 🥰🥰🥰

They both have deep seated issues to work through, and I really appreciated the way they both worked through those separate issues, in order to get their hard earned HEA.

Thank you Sara Cate and Sourcebooks Casablanca for providing me an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

What this book is giving:
✅ Contemporary Romance
✅ Marriage of Convenience
✅ Age Gap
✅ Grumpy Scot who loves a feisty gal
✅ Forced Proximity
✅ Past traumas

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ / 5
🌶️🌶️🌶️½ / 5

3.5 stars - I liked the Beauty and the Beast (but make it Scottish) vibes that was the story of Killian and Sylvie. The marriage of convenience plot made sense, but overall this story fell flat for me.

I enjoyed Killian and Sylvie as a couple, but they did give me whiplash. They went from arguing like cats and dogs, to giving into their chemistry and deciding to give into their relationship, despite the secret Sylvie was keeping.

We didn’t spend much time outside of the castle, which added to the monotony of the story. The plot felt underdeveloped, in that some things were brought up but barely handled. The people sharing didn’t materialize into the orgy it was alluded to, the time jump at the end felt like a way to rush the story along, and the ending was very abrupt.

I would recommend this book, but I wish I’d gone in with lower expectations as this didn’t remind me of a regular Sara Cate novel.

Sweet and sappy, with a little bit of spice thrown in. Killian is a complete brute who let his past dictate his life until he met Sylvie. She is a foul mouth, entitled cow according to Killian, but she is also the only woman Killian would consider entering into a fake marriage with. Sylvie, dealing with her own issues agrees, knowing that 10 million dollars awaits at the finish line. What neither of them expected was to actually fall in love.
For those who enjoy the troupes of a marriage of convenience, enemies to lovers, and forced proximity.

This book has so much heart. It's quirky and funny, exasperating and it kept me guessing. Every time I thought I knew what was next, I was thrown. It does have a happily ever after, but what an adventure it was getting there. Both of the main characters are memorable as is this amazingly well written story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
🌶🌶.5

Thank you to @netgalley and @sourcebookscasablanca for the ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed Sylvie and Killian’s story and felt like it really kept me on my toes throughout the book. This book had everything I would expect from one of Sara Cate’s books: spice, banter, and emotional turmoil. I loved the chemistry between Killian and Sylvie and how they both fought against their feelings because of how stubborn they are. As someone who is very much a grump, I really related to both characters. One thing that would have pushed this one up to a higher rating for me would have been to reveal more of Killian’s and Sylvie’s stories earlier in the story because I did spend a good part of the book being like “but WHY are they like this?!” and then once I knew my heart broke for them. I will also say that this was definitely on the tame side for Sara’s books. I expected considerably more spice from this one and was almost a little disappointed that there wasn’t more. The spice that was there was HOT and I just wanted so much more of it.

Read if you like:
- Grumpy x Grumpy
- Marriage of Convenience
- Everyone has Trauma
- Age Gap
- Billionaire
- Spicy scenes 🌶

I received a free copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca; all opinions expressed are exclusively my own.

This is another extremely difficult title for me to rate, because I have some wildly mixed feelings about it. Honestly at about 50% I considered not finishing because I just hated the characters so, SO much. Killian felt like an ass with zero redeeming qualities; Sylvie was neglected, sure, but is absolutely an entitled ass and behaves abominably to the people around her, particularly her parents' secretary Enid (I'm really not cool with calling another woman ugly because you're mad at someone else) and I found myself literally saying "I'm so glad they're together because no one else should have to put up with them!"

Then I got into the last, maybe 1/4 of the book, and my feelings changed as the main characters experienced growth and change, something they had to do APART from each other, which I appreciated. I think the single best moment in the book for me had nothing to do with the romance, but when Sylvie and Enid had a frank conversation and were able to relate to each other in terms of how they experienced Sylvie's godawful parents. So I'm really torn; most of the book put me off, but the ending made me glad I finished it after all. I'm giving it a 3 stars because I'm averaging the 2 star first 3/4 and the 4 star last 1/4.

For sensitive readers, this book contains, first of all, just some really awful people. Like, most of them suck. Also, ethical non-monogamy, NON-ethical non-monogamy (cheating), grief, trauma, PTSD, panic attacks, agoraphobia, severe childhood neglect, emotional abuse, graphic sexuality, BDSM, alcoholism, blood, injury, and betrayal.

OK ok. Now this was a surprise! The synopsis had me thinking it was going to be a lot more kinkier than it was, I have to admit. Sara is the queen of kink, BUT, this one was a little lower on the spice but at least to me, MUCH MORE full of tenderness and love. I really enjoyed this one and think it is one of her best written books. I tried reading all of Killian's words in my head with an accent because as other readers stated, it is easy to forget he's Scottish (although I am eagerly awaiting the audiobook.) Maybe it would have been helpful to have some of his words phonetically spelled instead so you could "read" the accent more? (Ala Highland Fling by Meghan Quinn?) That being said, they are not really likable characters, I will admit. And up until about halfway through, my eyes hurt from rolling at their antics but then the story shifts a bit....and took my heart with it. I truly truly loved this one.

I received an ecopy of #KeepMe by Sara Cate for a review on #NetGalley. At first, I wasn't sure I wanted a book that featured swinger's and BDSM. This book turned about to be more about two people who each have bad stuff in their backgrounds. The woman has had uncaring parents. The man is angry and guilt Ridden over his parents deaths. They sign a contract on false promises and marry. Neither of them expect to fall in love but they do and this book tells that story. Do not read if you do not want crude language and not sex behind bedroom doors. Do read if you want spice in your romance. I can imagine this book being on booktok for the same reason as Sarah Maas books are, but this is not a fantasy just a contemporary romance

While I enjoyed this I had a hard time with Sylvie at the beginning. While I liked her ability to speak her mind she was a bit of a brat and not in a good way. I loved her and Killian’s dynamic. They both gave as good as they got. Watching them grow together was both sweet and laugh out loud funny. While I know some of the twists and turns needed to come I hated that they did. I liked the representation of working on handling a tough struggle in a healthy way. I swooned hard for the ending. I was so attached to these two. I’m glad they got their happy ending.

This book had me laughing and crying. I had a hard time putting it down it was soo good!! Sylvie is freakin fantastic!
Their banter back and forth shows that they are meant to be.
Hope to see more of the Barclay family.

Oh Killian 😻😻😻
I haven't cried to a book in a LONG
time and I was like a little baby by the end of this!
Forced marriage. Basically enemies to lovers. Bullying for SURE and I LOVED it! All my years of watching Outlander paid off because I knew EXACTLY what Killain sounded like. And Sylvie is so perfect for him. She really is. The hardships they both go through are heartbreaking but I loved their growth together.

I read this book so fast and loved every minute of it. Killian is so broody but he’s not alone, Sylvie is grumpy and at rock bottom. They’re both missing something from their life and they find a spark in fighting with each other. But that spark ignites feelings between them they can’t ignore. What was supposed to be an easy pay out for Sylvie turns out to be the hardest thing she had to do. I loved their journey from hate to love and how much they loved each other. I can’t wait for more from this series!

Keep Me was so unexpected. I went in blind and Killian and Sylvie completely captivated me. Both have character traits that initially gave off some pretty big red flags but it also allowed so much growth to occur.

Sylvie was angry and broken when she agreed to marry the angry Scotsman. And Killian was convinced a marriage of convenience would help him in the long run.

What initially starts as words of anger quickly turns into words of anger and passion. Their connection is electric and it doesn't take long for each to give into their desires.

KEEP ME by sara cate is a steamy marriage of convenience romance about sylvie, a new yorker who agrees to marry a grumpy scotsman at his family's request, all for low low sum of 10 million dollars. but as she spends more time with killian, it gets harder and harder for her to keep her distance from her husband.

i really enjoy sara cate's books and this was no exception! it's a lot different from the salacious players' club series (and certainly a lot less spicy), but i loved how combative and argumentative sylvie and killian were. like they gave absolutely no shits about what they said to each other, so it really felt like the enemies were enemy-ing (until they were not).

read if you like:
- grumpy x grumpier
- extra spicy spice
- marriage of convenience

thanks to hambright PR and sourcebooks casablanca for the advanced copy! KEEP ME comes out december 3.

Keep Me is the first book in the Sinful Manor series. It follows Sylvie Devereaux who is from New York and ends up meeting Scottish Killian Barclay when she wanders into his manor in Scotland. Sylvie ends up marrying Killian in a marriage of convenience. Neither Killian nor Sylvie wanted to marry and they do not get along. They are constantly insulting each other but they have to find a way to get along as they are married after all.

This wasn’t great for me at all. I’m giving it 3 stars but to be honest if this wasn’t an arc it would probably be a 2. I can see people enjoying this especially readers who like Sara Cate’s older work like Gravity. This just has a completely different vibe to her Salacious players and Goode Brothers series and I just wasn’t into it. The story moved way too quick for me and I’m all for ignoring reality but the way these two ended up married was too forced for me. The romance wasn’t romancing for me and I just didn’t believe these two were really in love. Plus because Sara’s other works have had kink in them I was expecting this to be more kinky but it felt pretty average to me. That said this does have an audience and I will still continue to read Sara Cate because generally I love her books. This just wasn’t to my taste.

Another fantastic read by Sara Cate! I loved Killian and Sylvie’s story. The way they grew to love each other was such a beautiful story. I truly enjoyed the fact that this isn’t a love at first sight, happily ever after from the start. Sara Cate gives such great descriptions of both characters that it’s hard not to root for them. I won’t spoil this book, but I will say that you should definitely read it!

,i had ups and downs with this book but overall it was enjoyable!

Major up was the spice was good, I loved Sylvie and she really said whatever she wanted. Once they were in love I loved them together.
And the downs…the story kind of felt all over the place, killian called her some of the worst things which turned into their cute little banter and I wasn’t a fan lol. I also think killians back story and character could’ve been developed much more.