I liked the way the love and trust built through the story. Him finding a way to come to her, was really the only solution. That said, there were lots of plot holes and unfinished ideas around his previous lifestyle. The plot only focuses on his agoraphobia, and not his lifestyle. The FMC definitely gains depth as the story goes on, but she remains a pretty unrelatable character.

I loved this one. It was filled with forced marriage with a scottish man... need I say more. I loved the audio book version of this one. The characters were so relatable, and I can't wait for more from this author.

Thank you Net Galley ARC

From Lala’s Book Reviews

Sara does it again with another captivating, emotional, and spicy read with Keep Me!

Sylvie has been recently cut off from her parents and is down on her luck when she catches her boyfriend cheating on her with her best friend and decides to take up a lady up on her offer of ten million dollars in exchange for marrying the lady’s brother, Killian, for a year. The only down side is that Sylvie would also sign away the deed for his manor to their aunt.

After moving to Scotland to marry and live with her new husband, she realizes that it might not be as easy as she had initially anticipated as Killian is making it difficult to even be in the same room with him, but by some grace he agrees to marry her.

The two argue with each other all the time and are stuck together in the middle of the countryside. Sylvie starts to adjust to her new life but still finds it hard to like her husband despite his physical appearance.

With all great romance stories, they start to give into to their physical attraction and sparks fly, then they become less of enemies and start to like one another.

At this time Killian wants nothing more than to keep Sylvie in Scotland with him after the one year is up, but he knows that she needs more than what he can give her while she wants nothing more than to try and help him heal from his past trauma. That is until he learns the other part of the contract that she signed when they first got married and everything changes.

This dramatic and emotional novel kept me turning the pages. Sylvie and Killian are the epitome of grumpy x grumpy, as their individual histories reveal themselves they find out there is more to than meets the eye. As they uncover their trauma and offer support to each other will they find more than what they were looking for?

Another Sara Cate masterpiece?! I swear she could write her grocery list and I would rate it 5 stars 100%. Killian and Sylvie are amazing!! I thought it'd be weird reading a book with a Killian in it due to it being a relatives name but wow... He made it worth it.

Absolutely loved this book and cannot wait for the remainder of the series. I love all things Sara Cate. this book is uh-maze-ing! My recount of the story below leaves out a ton of the story so just go read it, it is worth every second.

Spoiler warning: Killian and Sylvie

Sylvie brakes into Killians mansion in Scotland, to try to find a typewriter for her current boyfriend. She gets caught duh by the grumpy Scottish bachelor living in the mansion.

Sylvie goes back to the states and is struggling as her parents have cut her off of the family money, she finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her with her best friend! *how dare he!*

Killians sister comes to the states to strike a deal with Sylvie. (Guess Sylvie made an impression on him) Killians sister needs someone to marry her brother, and stay married for a year so that it shows their Aunt that Killian is a changed man and deserves to be able to continue to live in the house without her watchful eyes (OR so he thought). The sister had other plans, after the year was up the house would be Sylvies, his family then wanted Sylvie to sign over the house to their Aunt. In return they would pay Sylvie 10 mil dollars (I mean she was cut off by her parents what’s a girl supposed to do?). She agreed to the deal.

Sylvie went back to Scotland and her and Killian were married to start their very fake marriage. Both of them were grumpy. They had a hateful relationship, which fueled the tension fire *fanning myself*. Bad name calling, in which he was a total man about and didn’t realize deep down it bothered Sylvie.

Sylvie found out some secrets about Killian, and more secrets about his mansion parties with his university friends. In which they had to pretend they were actually in love at. They actually fell in love. I mean duh of course they did. Once realizing his feelings He shut her out, and sent her away as he worked on himself. They would still call each other and talk. Until one day she received a phone call from his sister, he was gone he had given his mansion to his Aunt and was gone. Sylvie rushed home to where she was going to pack a bag and get on a plane immediately. That was until she came across a tall, handsome, brutish Scottish man sitting on her porch waiting for her..

My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️.25

General Thoughts: This is my second Sara Cate novel. She writes such unique, engaging stories with fascinating, multilayered characters. This book was hard for me at first. The characters' dislike for each other was so prevalent that it was hard to read at first, but luckily, the author wrote her story in such a great way that I stayed invested. I enjoyed Sara's writing style in this one as much as I did with her first. She has an easy writing style to follow. Her books tend to explore some darker themes but in a way that's not heavy-handed. An intriguing story that left me interested until the very end. I received an advance review copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. Thanks to the author and Hambright PR.

Spice Meter:❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 Very frequent, spicy, and k1nky.

Romantic Tropes
-dual POV
-romance
-contemporary realistic
-dislike to like
-close/forced proximity
-arranged marriage
-dislike to love

You can read more of my reviews on Insta @mylastromancenovel.

Keep Me is book one in the Sinful Manor series and OMG Sara Cate is officially in her Scottish era!
I loved Killian and Sylvie's love story!!
Sara had me capitvated from the start and I could not put this one down.
I am a sucker for an enemies to lovers book and their banter was delicious!
The sexual tension just yes please!!! AND THE SPICE! I WAS BLUSHING!!!
Overall, a great book and cannot wait for more!!

SARA CATE NEVER MISSES! Keep me was a rollercoaster of a book I couldn’t put down. I was hooked from start to finish. I laughed, I cried, I blushed, because man this book was smutty in the best way possible!
Killian is every bit the brute he is described as. I started out really not liking him but by the end I was his biggest fan! Yes he’s still a brute but the way his character develops you really fall in love with him.
Sylvie, in my opinion is a black cat. She’s been burned by the people around her. But you get to watch her grow, and learn to let love into her life.
These two together were messy in the most perfectly imperfect way. The enemies to lovers was done perfectly, the tension between these two was glorious. And when that very thin line between hate and love blurred it was beautiful to watch these two fall head over heels for eachother.
The element of right person wrong time, had my heart breaking and queue me crying in my bed at 11pm.
I loved this book so so much, I wish I could read it for the first time all over again!

This was a quick, dark romance, read with plenty of erotic moments. Recommended for those who enjoy a good tortured hero. Readers who enjoyed Fifty Shades of Grey and similar titles like this book.

Keep Me - Sara Cate

5/5⭐️
4/5🌶️

📚📚📚
I don’t think I was ready for it but wow did this book blow be out of the water!! This is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE Sara Cate of all time now! Killian is my favorite MMC and wow did he steal my heart fast! That Scottish brut had me kicking my feet and melting with the way he would talk to Sylvie! Sylvie totally stole my heart too. At first I thought she was spoiled but then I got to really see her and wow do I hate her parents! That poor girl. Also the way Sara truly made me start crying around 87%. That hurt! Overall I really enjoyed this one and the ending definitely gave me all the good feels with smiles! You need to add this one to your tbr.

Also I truly hated Killian’s Aunt.

📚📚📚
If you like to read:
- Marriage of Convenience
- Grumpy x Grumpy
- Kinky Vibes
- Enemies to Lovers
- Broody Hero
- Forced Proximity
… You should definitely check this out

5 Stars!

“I’m gonna miss you, my wee little wife,”

This author does not disappoint and I love that she's giving us a whole new series to obsess over, with Scottish heroes...yes please!

The "meet cute" was a little odd, I'm not gonna lie. I decided to just go with it. I won't spoil it here. Bottom line, Sylvie and Killian meet, and a few months later, after her world has crashed and burned coincidentally, his sister shows up with an offer of a lifetime.

What to Expect:
- Enemies to lovers...AF!
- Fake marriage
- Age gap - He's over a decade older than her
- Forced proximity
- Reclusive hero/ Broken MMC
- Some BDSM moments

These two had some INTENSE enemies-to-lovers energy in the beginning and I loved watching the emotion begin to thread through their relationship. I feel like Sara Cate does this so well. Although Killian is a massive jerk in the beginning, these story was a little sweeter than this author's norm, in my opinion. That did not detract from my enjoyment of this story at all though, and I still found the book to be completely unputdownable.

🎧Audiobook review🎧
Dual Narration
Narrated by Will Watt and Kelli Tager

This audiobook was PERFECT. These narrators elevated this story. Capturing the banter and each vulnerable moment so perfectly, I had chills listening to so many parts. Kelli did such an incredible job as Sylvie. Who was headstrong and bold! Kelli brought out each side of her so well. Will was our broody Killian, full of so much pain he hid from the world. The more I learned about his character, the more I fell in love with him. And Will nailed his character so well!! His ability to flip from a Scottish accent to an English one was impressive.

4.5 I loved it. This was quite the Beauty and the Beast retelling except instead of a monster, he's a big Scottish brute who hasn't left his manor in 10 years. His family is worried, but not so worried they aren't willing to strike a deal with some rude lady in need of money that broke into his house, that he can't stand in order to take his house away. Was this story without flaws? No, but did it keep me on the edge of my seat and have me begging for me more? Absolutely.

Thank you to @Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC for an honest review. You can buy it at your local book store anywhere at this point. And the audible is even better.

4⭐️4🌶️

Arranged Marriage
Forced Proximity
Enemies to Lovers

Sylvie takes a trip to Scotland and stumbles on Barclay Manor and the grumpy Scot inside- Killian.

She heads back to the states and her world blows up. Killian’s family tracks her down and makes her an offer she can’t refuse. Can she make it happen or will this blow up in her face too?

“You turned my entire world upside down, mo ghràidh. You can do just about anything.”

I really don't know how I feel about this book.
I had to sit down with my thoughts before writing this review, and I'm still not sure if this book was good or bad.

First off, I'm extremely grateful to have received an ARC, but in all transparency, I genuinely think that the only reason I ended up not DNFing this book was because it was an ARC. Reading it felt like a rollercoaster for how much I liked it and then disliked it. However, I did finish it, and while some parts were flat, others were good and I even ended up crying at the end.

Overall, I think this book just wasn't for me. I found both main characters forgettable and I just didn't care for the plot that much the more it unfolded.

Thank you Sara for the ARC.

A hot, broody Scottish man with a desire for all things kinky... yeah, I'm sold!

Killian is definitely an a**hole, but I liked that Syliva stood her ground and pushed back against his attitude.

The parties were a fun surprise that gave us a lot of spicy moments.

Their reasoning for getting together for the marriage of convenience is a bit unrealistic and far fetched but I like that in my fiction.

This book was such an amazing read! Sara’s books always get me out of a reading slump and also has reinforce me on me still needing to visit Scotland.

I love how chaotic Sylvie is and she can be a force of nature.
Killian on the other hand, he’s a bit broody and has some stuff going on.

Loved this book so much and can’t wait to see what’s next for this series!

Overall Ratings:
5/5 🌟♾️

I loved this book. It was strong from the begging not in a insta love way but just the angst and storyline. You felt for both and when they finally collide it was great. There was a lot of good banter between them and couldn't put the book down.

Love Sara Cate and love this new book! Characters are great, plot was promising and intriguing and the romance was hot! So excited for the rest of this new series- it’s a keeper! 😂

When two grumpy, unstable people meet...under dubious circumstances, and fall in love. This book is for lovers of grumpy men with sexy accents, Scotland, and a love that overcomes. Definitely recommend!

Thanky you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for a digital ARC!