I have wanted to read this author since her last paranormal romance, and when I saw this one was set in Scotland, well my love of the country thanks to my Outlander obsession, I knew I had to read it! I was unsure if it would end up actually qualifying as monster romance, but it definitely became that about 3/4 of the way through.

I loved the characters, even if Lachlan was a bit rude at first, it made sense. Even if the rhyme the way he knew it, which we didn’t get the actual full bit to start, made me think that he should have been happy to see her, as I would have interpreted it as she was the “savior” in this case. Which, Keyanna or Key as she preferred to be called, kind of needed something like that in her life after how things had gone for her recently. And once she found out the history between families and what the curse Lachlan was suffering was, of course she made it her mission to help him solve it.

The family history was very unique, but I loved the way it fed into Scottish folklore and mythology. And while things seemed to be kind of straightforward, I loved how the author made some unexpected twists, even one I kind of saw coming, but it was different than I expected. The relationship with her grandmother started out harsh, but seeing how they soon were able to become family, and I loved her grandfather, it made for more than just romance, but also a family reunion story.

And let’s mention quickly the monster romance bit of the story, or should I say monster steamy “bits”, lol. That was fun how the author did it, and again some unexpectedness! My first book by this author that I’ve wanted to read for a few titles now, and I can say this will not be my last! Now to get caught up on those I still need to read!

3.5 ★

some of the family history & rivalry went over the head, but under loch and key was a decently entertaining tale overall. key and lachlan had an endearing connection, as they worked to solve a centuries old mysterious that had been a curse upon both of their families. key's growing bond with the relatives she's never known was a nice touch, providing her a tie to the father she lost and this land that should have always been her home.

thanks to berkley and lana ferguson for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Berkley Romance & PRH Audio for the copy!

Under Loch & Key
By Lana Ferguson
🎧 Narrated by: Samantha Summers and Flint Park
Spice level: 🌶️🌶️

LISTEN. TO. THIS. BY. AUDIO. The narrators were incredible, and it was DUET and Flint Park’s ACCENT was 🔥🔥🔥.

This is the perfect slump breaker book. I thought I was entering a reading slump, and even when I’m not I constantly bounce between books, but once I started Under Loch and Key I could not put it down. Every single character was so intriguing, and the plot zipped along without losing any character depth.

Some people are calling Under Loch and Key a monster romance, and it is very monster romance light - so if you’ve liked previous books by Ferguson, I think you should give it a try. Monster romance curious? This is a great starting place.

Lana Ferguson’s books tend to be on the spicier side of the cartoon cover romances that I’ve read, and this one felt very tame and more slow burn compared to The Fake Mate. It definitely still has spice though!

This gave me “Do Your Worst” by Rosie Danan vibes, which was another enemies to lovers + solve a paranormal mystery books that I’ve loved!

Under Loch and Key by Lana Ferguson is standalone romantasy novel set in Scotland. We meet Keyanna “Key” MacKay, who recently lost her father, and wants to honor his last wish, to spread his ashes in Scotland. Key flies to her father’s hometown in Scotland, and is determined to meet her estranged family, where he had never returned to Scotland; and needing to learn more about his past. Key will meet her grandparents, as they learn that her father passed away; her grandfather welcomed her with open arms, but her grandmother still held grudges, having never seen her son again; in time her grandmother will openly love Key. Key will try to mend the broken ties between them; and her cousin, Brodie.

Lachlan Greer has his secrets, which he keeps quiet, with only two friends at the pub, who have known his secrets for years. He meets Key, and tends to be nasty to her, with Key not liking him at all. Lachlan, works for Key’s grandparents, gets a view of the lukewarm welcome from her grandmother. When Key attempts to spread her father’s ashes, she slips and comes face to face with the Loch Ness monster.

Key learns that Lachlan is affected by an old curse that affects all Greer men in a Scottish urban mythology revolving around the Loch Ness monster. Key begins to understand that Lachan has been trying to find clues to end the curse. They will begin to work together on trying to find the clues behind the curse; and their attraction brings them even closer and they fall very much in love. Key needs to help save Lachlan and find a way to break the curse. She also discovers that she has been developing strange powers, such as fire from her hands, as well as opening windows and stopping rain.

I really loved Key, as she was great heroine; and learning to love her grandparents. Lachlan turned out to be great, as he had fallen hard for her. I will say I thought there was a lot of smut throughout the last half of the book. Under Loch and Key was fun, lighthearted, family oriented, heartwarming, forgiveness, with a mystery that Key might be able to solve. Under Loch and Key was very well written by Lana Ferguson.

Let me tell you I love a good monster romance. this book is dipping your pinky toe into the monster
romance genre. So if you’re looking for a good intro book, look no further.
Lochland is a Loch Ness monster at night and by day he is a human man and is trying to find the
“key" that would break the curse that will allow him to be fully human again. Enter Keyana, a women
who lost the only family she ever known and now she is trying to connect with her extended family
in Scotland. When Lochland and Keyanna collide they’re instant enemies until they have to come to
get her and figure out how to break the curse.
This book feels like a nice summer read; very light hearted and funny. The banter between the two main
characters is very entertaining, and the spicy scenes were very creative when it came to the
monster inside Lochland. Over all I’ll give the book a 3.5 stars. If you’re expecting a paranormal with
lots of smut, skip this book. If you’re looking for a good summer mystery with medium smut and a
sprinkle of monster romance, this is the book for you.

This is such a perfect introduction if you're someone who's been wanting to dip their toes into monster romance! I think I'd read Lana's grocery list at this point, everything she writes is so much fun! The Scottish setting is PERFECT. I truly loved the relationship between Loch and Key, everything flowed so naturally and realistically for the premise of the book to be what it was.

I'm still unsure if I liked this book or not, but it was entertaining. I was kind of shocked that Lana didn't go THERE (if you know what I mean), but it was a fun read about an urban legend.

monster romance (if you can even call it one)? not for me.

i really wanted to like this one, but unfortunately it fell flat for me. i think if i had the DNF gene, this would have gone into that pile.

but i persevered. it took 6 days, but i finished. still doesn’t change how i feel though.

i just wasn’t connected to the story and i didn’t believe that in a 2-3 month time span, key and lachlan fell in love and broke a curse of 25+ years. and for what, truly?

this book tried really hard to be an enemies to lovers, but there wasn’t enough enemy-ing to really be called that.

there were also a significant amount of plot holes, the characters were not memorable, and i couldn’t keep up with the background of it all.

thank you to berkley pub for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

🌶️🌶️

Thank you to Berkeley and prh audio for the copies, all thoughts are my own.

Hookayyy. I could not stop listening to this! I’m glad I was listening to it as I was reading the ebook version, so I didn’t have to stop reading when I had to run errands. I absolutely adored this book! The lake scene had me like 🥵. Plot wise there weren’t any real surprises in it, all the moves were telegraphed in advance but I still couldn’t put it down!

❤️ Tropes ❤️
💋 paranormal romance
💋 Scottish magic
💋 an ancient curse
💋 Nessie is a dude. A shapeshifting dude

Key definitely has nothing left going for her in the world. She is on her way to spread her Dad’s ashes in his favorite loch and then try to meet his family who wanted nothing to do with her for her entire life so far. Easy peasy. Only some jerk ruins her moment with her dad and insults her. Oh? And he’s staying on her grandparents farm. And he was nicer to her than her own grandma. This is going well.

I went into this book blind and that made it even more interesting and fun for me! I really enjoyed learning about the ancestry and lore of the families in this book as well as some Scottish slang, etc!! The book hooked me from the first chapter and I was definitely into it the majority of the time! Also let me just say.. the spice? It was SPICING! Give it a try, y’all!

4/5

One thing about Lana Ferguson is she is always going to deliver a riotously good time. Under Loch and Key is her latest paranormal romance with a little bit of Scotland and a whole lot of Lach (see what I did there). A forgotten family secret and the death of a family member lead a young woman to turn to the family she never knew back in Scotland where hidden lore and animosity with a handsome stranger intersect with staggering romance. Under Loch and Key keeps the romance and action hand in hand with a mystery spanning generations connecting back to two families. I really loved our two leads and the push and pull between Lachlan and Keyanna as they got off on the wrong foot and struggled to move forward in pursuit of the truth. This is as steamy as you’d expect from a Ferguson romance but I loved all of the twists she implemented here that had my jaw hanging open in disbelief. Just so much fun and certainly one of my favorites from Ferguson so far!

Honestly, if Lana writes it, I am going to read it & I am going to devour it. The thing I love most about Lana’s writing, is that it opens my eyes to different genres of romance. This was my first monster romance & it certainly won’t be my last!

This was so fun. I couldn’t stop smiling. I loved the whimsical angle to it, but it didn’t overshadow the romance or overdo it in a way that felt too much. Just the right blend of the fantastical while still keeping to contemporary dialogue and plot. It was a joy to read and I hope to check out more from Lana Ferguson soon.

Never thought I’d be so taken by a romance around the Loch Ness Monster but here we are! Keyanna “Key” MacKay is reeling from the death of her dad and travels to Scotland to meet her family for the first time - getting a chilly welcome from her grandparent who had a falling out with her dad years before. She’s there for a fresh start but as she works to bond with her family, she also must deal with the grumpy farmhand Lachlan who has a big secret of his own. They’re constantly at odds and she can’t understand why he harbors such a grudge for someone he just met. What Key doesn’t realize is that she may have the answers Lachlan needs to undo a centuries long curse, but she also may be the end of him, in a battle that goes back generations, proving that fairy tales are not just for the books.
This novel is full of humor, biting sarcasm, and high stakes, with a side of spice. I loved the dialogue and felt like I was in the midst of the Scottish countryside watching the entire story play out. Would love to see more stories taking twists to old lore (maybe the referenced Bigfoot next?!)
Thank you to Berkley Publishing for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Berkeley for including me in the blog tour!

I really like this book, it’s a winner! The premise is unique and I love the characters and the Scottish setting. There are some very steamy love scenes, so a warning if that’s not for you.

Key MacKay (Keyanna) was raised by her Scottish father who didn’t talk about growing up in Scotland. Now that he’s died, Key goes to Scotland to find her family. She also finds Lachlan Greer, an extremely gorgeous guy who works on the MacKay farm. Their respective families have been in the area for centuries, and Lachlan’s dad knew Key’s father, but Key can’t figure out what made her dad leave Scotland and move to the US.

Lachlan has been searching for something, but he won’t say what he’s looking for or why. I don’t want to give away any plot twists, you’ll have to read the book.

I highly recommend this book, 4.5 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley, I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I give this 2.5 stars. An entertaining read, but it didn't really capture me beyond that. I had an enjoyable time reading it, but it wasn't necessarily for me. I thought the villain came a bit out of nowhere and was especially villain like. I enjoyed the romance between Lachlan and Key, but would have enjoyed more yearning between them.

Under Loch and Key by Lana Ferguson is a fun, lighthearted mystery with a dash of romance, but it didn't fully hit the mark for me. The premise—a treasure hunt set in the Scottish Highlands—had a lot of potential, and the setting was beautifully described, but the plot felt a bit predictable at times. The chemistry between the two leads was sweet, though at times it felt rushed, and some of the characters' motivations weren’t fully developed.

While the book has its charms, especially for fans of cozy mysteries and adventure, the pacing was uneven, and I found the resolution a little too neat and convenient. Still, it’s an enjoyable enough read for those looking for a light, easy escape, just not as gripping or memorable as I’d hoped.

This was a fun and unique mystery. Loved these characters. Great banter. Also, set in Scotland-yes!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the advanced digital copy - all thoughts are my own.

Thank you for Netgalley and Berkley publishing for giving me access to this Advance Reader Copy! Happy release day to this book! This book surprised me greatly. I'm not one for paranormal romances and non-human romance novels, but I adored The Nanny and The Game Changer so I decided to give this one a shot. Perhaps The Fake Mate is a future read of mine since I didn't mind this book??

Alright, time for a review:
This book was phenomenal. It was so much FUN, and sometimes that's all a book needs. The characters had depth and the plot was really unique, although somewhat predictable. That being said, I had different theories for the ending so I was still surprised with how it turned out. I didn't love the overuse of "Och," Can someone let me know if this is actually something that is frequently said in Scotland LOL. The spice was *chefs kiss* but it did get a little weirder than I typically like in my spice, likely due to my lack of experience with paranormal romances. While this book was heavily focused on the romance, there was so much character development and the different types of relationships represented added something to the book. Overall, I highly recommend it. When I picked this book up I didn't expect it to be a 5 star read, but I'm so happy I've been proven wrong.

I love Lana and her books so much so I was beyond excited for this Monster romance featuring Nessie!!! I thought it was so fun and was certainly an enjoyable and entertaining read!!! And Lana always delivers with humor and spice in her books and this one did not disappoint in those areas.

I did feel like it was a tad too long and the and the last minute panic conflict was a bit predictable and silly.

But overall I had a great time reading this one.

Thank you Berkley for the earc for review!