Everything is better (and hotter!) with a brooding, sexy Scot. Didn't love the end, but still very satisfying.

ARC Provided by NetGalley: Ummm my favorite romance author writing a book set in a Scottish manor with a kilt-wearing "brute".....yes please! I love all of the Salacious Players Club books because Sara Cate does a fabulous job of mixing the spice with the heart and growth of her characters, and Keep Me is no exception. When I think of "Scottish Romance" it's hard not to conjure up a bodice ripper from the '70s; thank the Celtic gods that Cate was up to the task of modernizing the image in my mind.

Due to a tragedy in his past, our MMC Killian has become reclusive in his family home, mixing alcohol with debauchery to avoid his past. Our FMC has recently been cut off by her narcissistic parents and needs to find money fast to be able to survive- hello fake marriage, meet enemies to lovers <3

The spice is well-written, as I would always expect from Cate, and I really loved how Killian's character arc was portrayed. I cannot wait to read more in this new series!

I recently discovered Sara Cate and was immediately impressed by her ability to create empowering, strong, independent and sensual characters. Keep Me is alike her previous novels, straight to the point, fast paced and easy to read. The characters are interesting, with traumatic back stories that make this union the more powerful.
Although I enjoyed this book, I have finished this with quite a few questions and not completely understanding parts of the story. I know this is book one of a new series so I am hopeful the next book answers these questions.
Highly enjoyed, spicy, fast paced and quite swoony.

By far my favorite Sara Cate book ever! It was beautifully written, deliciously spicy, and come on - man in a kilt - what more do you want?! Killian and Sylvie have a permanent place in my heart. They had such beautiful trauma and grew so much through this book. And during that growth, Sara broke my heart and then put it back together. Can't wait to read more in this series!

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Enemies to lovers, marriage of convenience, a rich and grumpy Scottish man... what's not to love? The reason for their fake marriage is far-fetched, but the high stakes of having millions of dollars on the line made things interesting. Although this book is spicy, it's more plot and character focused and thus there is less page time devoted to spicy scenes compared to Sara Cate's other novels and I appreciated that she shows this versatility in her writing capabilities. Some of the banter was fun but it frequently escalated into a level of cruelty that was uncomfortable to read and some may consider to be emotionally abusive. Overall this is a great choice if you're looking for something slow-burn and spicy with these particular tropes.

Enjoyed. Ridiculous but sexy fun set in a Scottish castle. I’m not typically a romance reader let alone one set in modern times so this was an enjoyed step out of my comfort zones.

I have mixed feelings about this book. While I love the combo of two grumpy main characters, I feel like their journey to falling in love wasn't entirely believable. Granted, neither is agreeing to marry a complete stranger and live in his Scottish castle for a year, but still...

The banter was fun, but it got a little too personal and mean for me at times. It went beyond teasing and straight into cruelty. And the pacing of the book felt wrong; it's not unusual for characters to hate each other in the beginning and be madly in love toward the end, but the falling-madly-in-love part happened too far into the story for my liking.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved this book. It looks like it starts a new series and I cannot wait to see where Sara Cate takes the next few books.

In this book, Sylvie is visiting Scotland with her boyfriend when they come across Killian, an older man who has been hiding from the world for years. They are immediately at odds with each other. When her boyfriend is right away cheating with her best friend, Sylvie receives a proposition she can't refuse. She is offered 10 million to marry Killian and be with him for a year, then his family will be able to get the estate he lives in back from him. Sylvie has a bad relationship with her parents and has no other options at that point, so she agrees.

Over the next few months they become more comfortable with each other and utlimately fall in love. Meanwhile both of them have their trust issues and are trying to deal with their own issues along the way. It was wonderful to see them both working on their issues while being there for each other. I loved the romance of their relationship and how both got to their HEA. Of course there was your standard Sara Cate spice. Highly recommended.

I recieved an advanced copy and am giving an honest review.

This book has fake marriage and enemies to lovers, which are both tropes that I enjoy. Because of the tropes it is a bit of a slow-burn and perhaps not as spicy as other Sara Cate books I have read, but overall an enjoyable read.

The spice was a bit tame for my liking and I didn't love the characters. I love an enemies to lovers trope, but this wasn't it. I found it hard to suspend disbelief, both with the circumstances around the marriage that were full of plot holes and the two main characters going from being so mean to each other to falling in love.

Sylvie is still figuring out her life when she travels to Scotland with her then boyfriend and meets Killian, a brooding Scotsman who is quite angry to discover a random American woman breaking into his family's ancestral estate, Barclay Manor, which he also calls home. After a tense encounter, Sylvie returns to New York City, only for her boyfriend to cheat on her with her best friend and her wealthy parents to withdraw their financial support. On the verge of being evicted from her apartment, Sylvie is offered 10 million dollars by Killian's sister in exchange for entering a 1-year marriage of convenience with Killian himself. Naturally, she agrees.

I decided to DNF this book 37% of the way through for reasons mainly to do with plot and character development. To start, the marriage of convenience plotline made little sense. As is explained by Killian's sister, the primary intent behind the marriage is to remove Killian as owner of Barclay Manor. A sham marriage would achieve this goal because some legal document (of origins unknown to the reader) has stipulated that once Killian has been married for 1 year, ownership of the estate will transfer to Killian's wife. But why would such a stipulation exist in the first place? Even more baffling is the fact that Killian is entirely ignorant of these terms and instead agrees to the marriage merely to get his family off his case. But how could this be possible? Right from the start, it is established that Killian is aware that his family is trying to undermine his ownership of Barclay Manor. In this respect, how is it at all feasible that he would know nothing of the estate's terms of ownership AND be completely unsuspecting of the marriage scheme put together by his sister?

In terms of character development, Sylvie and Killian are far from sympathetic characters. Despite attempts to provide them relatable backstories, the two come across as rude, selfish, and incredibly juvenile. They are also just plain mean to each other. Killian treats Sylvie in an archaic manner, namely through offensive name-calling and rough manhandling. To be fair, Sylvie calls Killian names as well, but the ones she throws at him are by no means as derogatory as the ones that are aimed at her. At a certain point, I could no longer suspend my disbelief. While I knew that Sylvie and Killian would eventually fall in love, I couldn't imagine it in the slightest. The constant exchange of vitriol made me actively dislike the characters and care little about their futures, which is the exact opposite of a what a romance novel should do. A romance novel should convince readers that love is inevitable and encourage them to actively root for the couple every step of the way. If it doesn't, then what's the point of even reading it?

This review will be posted on Storygraph a few days before the December 3, 2024 publication date.

This book just did not work for me. I am fine with a fake marriage trope, but the reasoning behind Sylvie's marriage to Killian made no sense. Sylvie's parents are artists, and they were really cold and uncaring for her when she was growing up. They finally cut her off, and she has no money. Killian's sister offers to give Sylvie $10 million if she marries Killian for one year, gains ownership of his castle/manor, and then gives it to his siblings. Killian is still dealing with the trauma of losing his parents, and he has not left his house in six years. The sex scenes in this book were meh and there was no chemistry between Sylvie and Killian. Killian is supposed to be Scottish, but it just felt like Sara Cate would throw in Scottish phrases randomly. The drama between Sylvie and her parents just felt too extra. Skip this book.

Okay, but why did this make me cry??? Not at all what I was expecting from this book but in the best way. Overall it wasn’t the most groundbreaking romance I’ve ever read but I loved the character development! Will definitely be recommending this one.

A missed opportunity to write about a duo of damaged rich lovers. Instead Keep Me reads like fan fic.

I absolutely love Sara Cate. LOVE. Her spice is 😘 but the thing that got me about this book is it made me feel things. The only thing I would say is Sylvia’s mum’s revelation didn’t exactly feel realistic. But hey, maybe she did some soul searching off page.

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.