Review: UNDER LOCH AND KEY by Lana Ferguson https://bit.ly/4ijTXTq
Publication Date: 12/03/2024
Genre: Contemporary Romance/ Romantic Comedy
Reviewed by: Reading in Pajamas/ Donna
Rated: 3.5 Stars

This book was a lighthearted paranormal romance set in Scotland. Full of legends, curses, and mysteries. I enjoyed the different take on the normal paranormal genre. (If you’ve read my reviews, you know I don’t like to give away anything that isn’t on the author’s blurb. So, I may sound vague.) Key is searching for information on her father’s life and why he left Scotland. That coincides with Lachlan searching for clues on his family’s curse. This story is about their collision course. I like how they came to bolster each other’s confidence – once the distrust was rectified.

I didn’t feel the connection between Key and Lachlan. Lust, yes…love? Not until the very end. I liked them but was never truly invested. Perhaps because the book dragged in some areas. More talking about looking for clues rather than fully searching. A large part of the book was also about Key finding her grandparents and forging a relationship. It wasn’t exactly easy, but it was real. The romance part was pretty hot, so not lighthearted like other parts of the book. All in all, it was an interesting story and makes me curious about Lana Ferguson’s other books.

*Review copy provided by Pengiun in exchange for an honest review.

Kindle https://amzn.to/4f5IUdr

Wow, what a hot monster romcom! I never thought I would be reading about a Loch Ness monster romance but anything that Lana Ferguson writes I will devour it.

This slow burn enemies to lovers was such a page turner and kept me reading late into the night. The story line was great and I honestly just love Lana’s non-traditional love stories.

****Many thanks to Berkley Publishing Group, Lana Ferguson, and NetGalley for my gifted copy!

I can always count on Lana Ferguson for a fun time, especially with monster romances! I loved the background setting of Scotland and these characters. The banter between Loch and Key was cute, funny, and loving. I loved that Lana managed to add depth and emotional moments to their relationship while still maintaining the fun! If you love paranormal romances, definitely give this one a read!! Overall, a really spicy fun read!

Tropes:
Grumpy x Sunshine
Forced Proximity
Dislike to Love

🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝
Lana has Done. It. Again! On a journey to fulfill her fathers last wishes, Keyanna brings his ashes back to his home in Scotland. Only to stumble into a world of estranged family, magic, mystery, and a broody Scotsman named Lochlan. 🤤

Lana writing such entertaining and easy to read romances, but she always takes the time to build the world around her characters. This isn’t just a contemporary romance, it’s a paranormal romance, and such a cozy mystery too. It’s the perfect little package.

The banter and the tension between Key and Lochlan was SO freaking good y’all. It was sassy, funny, and truthfully endearing. Lochlan is all mush underneath his rough exterior…and his exterior can get very rough 🦎 😜

I also need to say I love Key’s grandpa with ALL of my heart. He is seriously the sweetest man, and I loved when he meddled. Seeing Key grow a relationship with her grandma and grandpa whom she’d never met, was bittersweet and heartwarming. Lana giving me all the FEELS!

If you’re new to paranormal/monster romance, this is a great book to start with. There is enough monster in the spice, but it’s not too much for someone who is new to the genre. All I can say ladies….IT grows and omg his TONGUE!

♡︎ Monster Romance
♡︎ Family Mystery
♡︎ Found Family

Also, a huge thanks to @berkleyromance and @netgalley for the gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 5/5 stars

Key travels to Scotland to reconnect with her family…and finds more than she bargains for when the hot farmhand turns out to be the Loch Ness Monster.

I unequivocally adored this one. Lana Ferguson is usually a hit for me, but I think this is her best yet! The concept is SO unique, and the Scottishness (I’ve decided that’s a word) was so on point. Lachlan and Key were both fantastic characters, and there was so much depth to their relationship and their connections with secondary characters throughout the plot.

I love when a broadly lighthearted romance also offers a lot of depth and emotion, and this one had that in spades. The ending was super poignant and the epilogue absolutely made me cry. HIGHLY recommend this to all fans of paranormal romance or those interested in giving monster romance a try!

CW: Death of parent; dementia; abandonment

This one was giving my some 00’s/10’s Nora Robert’s paranormal romance vibes and I am HERE FOR IT. So excited to get a snippet in the acknowledgements that more paranormal romance is headed our way from Lana in the future.

What if the Loch Ness monster was actually a cursed hot man? Like could not be more in love either this plot. Lachlan is so great once we get past his broody exterior and I just love Key and her ability to keep pushing even when things aren’t so easy. I really felt for her at the beginning, feeling so lost and alone without her dad. They definitely fall under the enemies to lovers category and I loved when they put all that aside to join forces to try and break the curse.

Thank you to @berkley for the eARC! Thank you to@libro.fm for the ALC!
4.75 stars! This was so much fun and with such an interesting plot. I loooooved the dynamic between Key and Lochlan and the narration was excellent and brought these characters and those scenes
J to life! I appreciated the family ties and the
larger plot of this so much, it added a lot and made this story richer. I identified with Key as I also lost my father, and understand that feeling of wanting to be closer to a loved one through other family.
This is a great romance with the perfect combination of fantastical elements and spice. I was a little intimidated to read this initially, but it's nothing too outlandish and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Lana sprinkled a bit of magic into this story and I am here for it. 😍

Keyanna "Key" MacKay is in Scotland to meet the grandparents she never knew. After her dad passed away, she wanted to fulfill his last wish, to visit the local loch where he grew up. After being saved by... something monster like, she discovers there is more to the stories her dad told her growing up. And every bit of them center around the grump Lachlan Greer, who was living on her grandparent's farm.

This book brings monster romance into the contemporary world in a fun and exciting way. I loved being able to be on the journey with Lachlan and Key, discovering the truths and history of their families along the way. Key was such an emotionally deep character. She was looking for any sort of connection she could find to her dad and my heart broke for her as her first interactions with her grandmother not what she expected. Her power and strength to keep pushing is what made her so enduring to me.

Lachlan is a grump and I love it. He was prepared to accept his fate for all of time, but the Key to the mysteries was closer than he thought. I loved seeing his walls come down and the mistrust slowly turn into admiration, faith and trust. Seeing them find that they have more in common than they thought was a treat and I loved every moment of it!

This was such a fun read for me! Absolutely loved Loch and Keyanna! The banter between these two had me laughing out loud and was some of my favorite ever! Lana is quickly becoming one of my favorites for paranormal romance and I can’t wait for more from her!

2.5 stars!
Special thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for early access to Under Loch and Key!
This book had everything:
- He's a shape shifting cryptid
- There is a curse they have to figure out and avenge
- Sweetie side characters in a grandma and grandpa
- monster sex that was kinda hot!!??

Heres what I enjoyed:
- I love a cryptid, especially one who is bound to shift by a curse that can't be unbroken. The plot line was such fun to read about.
- I loved the side characters, especially Key's grandma and grandpa. They were a wonderful addition to the story, as was Loch's dad.
- The curse!
- The smut! okaaaaayyyy giant monster!

Here's what I did not enjoy:
- the length! 400 pages for what! This could have been pared down to a 280 page romance, had we skipped the farming talk that in no way added to the story.
- The pacing. Again, 400 pages for what! I really enjoyed each little journey they went on, but had this been better paced, it would have been a much better book.
- The curse (Didn't you just say you loved it, Eliza?) I did - but I think it would have been much better had they been solving lines of a riddle at each journey, for it all to culminate at the end, solving the curse. I thought each piece in the puzzle was good, but it took too much time to get there!
- There was a lloott of inside thoughts that I didn't need. It did not make me feel connected to Key or Loch. This would be 800 times better as a quick little smutty romance about a shape shifting cryptid and a curse that needed to be broken.

Overall, it had so much promise, but took me too long to be invested, and much too long to get to the point. I fear that I am likely not a Lana Ferguson fan.

4.5 stars - I really loved Key’s character and her background navigating grief and searching for family connections. Key, and her family line having magic, was a very pleasant surprise and it made the story much more interesting for me! I loved the background between the Mackay and Greer lines and feel it added so much to the story! This was my first Lana Ferguson book and I loved her writing so I will be reading the Fake Mate by her next! The ending of this book was also perfect and wrapped up everything I needed it to.

One of the reasons this wasn’t a 5 star for me was due to where the spicy scenes were at within the book. I was more interested in the story and found myself skipping those scenes to get back to what was going on with the plot, which I’ve never done before. Maybe the plot just had me that hooked?🤣 Overall, I really enjoyed this read!

Keyanna "Key" MacKay is thrust into a world of secrets and magic after the death of her father, leading her to Scotland and an unexpected encounter with the brooding Lachlan Greer. Their chemistry is undeniable, even as they try to keep their secrets from each other—and themselves. The twists and turns of their journey, paired with the backdrop of a centuries-old curse, make for an enchanting story filled with heart, humor, and just the right amount of suspense. Key’s determination and Lachlan’s hidden depth create a swoon-worthy dynamic, while the book’s exploration of family, legacy, and unexpected magic will leave you eagerly turning the pages.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Book Review 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Under Loch and Key by Lana Ferguson
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
When I saw the announcement for this book and found out that Lana was writing a Loch Ness monster romance, I knew it would be an immediate 5⭐️ read. Just like everything else Lana writes, this was witty, funny, charming, and sexy. Lachlan and Key had insane chemistry, and the perfect enemies to reluctant friends to lovers plotline. They had the best banter and one liners, and the angsty, tension filled, snarky back and forth was top tier. I loved their relationship! This book also had a heartwarming side plot that deals with family and forgiveness, and a delightful amount of Scottish mythology, history, and kilts. The only thing that would have made this experience better would be if I had listened to the audio and gotten to hear Lachlan’s Scottish brogue. I absolutely adored it and highly recommend it!
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
Read if you like:
▫️Scotland
▫️the Loch Ness monster
▫️enemies to lovers
▫️grumpy x sunshine
▫️great banter
▫️dual POV
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
Thank you to Berkley Romance, Berkley Publishing, NetGalley, and Lana Ferguson for the ARC. I received an advanced copy for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Under Loch and Key is perfect for bookworms interested in dipping their toes into the monster love sub-genre. This is a rom-com monster love story. The monster elements are there, and they are also lightly sprinkled into the spicy scenes. But this book isn't overly batshit weird, bonkers crazy. What I mean is that it doesn't dive into the deep end of this subgenre. This story lives in the shallow end of the monster-love pool, making it a great read for those keen on reading a book from this sub-genre.

I adore this book. It was everything that I had hoped it would be. It's fun, flirty, and spicy. It's a quintessential Lana Ferguson book with a Scottish monster twist. Lana's writing is so wonderful. She creates these stories that are so easy to sink into and are bursting with great characters, witty banter, and lots of drama. I was instantly hooked on this book. I fell in love with Key and Lachlan's characters and quickly became invested in their love story. I also was incredibly curious about the folklore, curse, and rivalry that existed between the Greer and MacKay families. Lana did a great job at taking those traditional Scottish myths, aka the Loch Ness Monster, and making it her own. She weaves those monster/myth elements into this contemporary rom-com and creates something that is super entertaining and enjoyable to read.

I loved all the characters in this book. The secondary characters were quirky and sweet, adding charm to the story. Lana did a great job at capturing that small-town Scottish vibe. Key and Lachlan are great MCs. Key's relationship with her father and family is going to tug at those heartstrings at times. Her journey at learning more about the place that her father grew up in and connecting with her grandparents was beautifully done. I really liked her as a character. She is fierce, spunky, and, at times, very vulnerable. Lachlan is that typical broody Highlander who tries to be gruff with the heroine to hide the growing lusty feelings he is experiencing. Lachlan is an interesting character. He has a lot of those typical alpha male characteristics, but underneath that prickly exterior is a man who is alone and terrified of what the future may hold for him. He has demons that he needs to learn to deal with before he can really move on in his life.

The romance in this book is typical Lana Ferguson romance; I mean by that, it's witty and very spicy. Key and Lachlan have this dislike-to-lovers trope vibe to their love story, which is right up my alley. I love the sharp, witty banter that often exists in a dislike/enemies-to-lovers romance. In the beginning, Key and Lachlan go out of their way to aggravate each other while trying to ignore those lusty feelings that pop up whenever they are around each other. The relationship between Key and Lachlan was so delicious. I enjoyed the chemistry and sparks between these two. The spice is pretty spicy, and there are a few sex scenes when that monster element gets thrown in. The main hurdle between these two is Lachlan's lack of trust. He has grown up thinking that the MacKay family are the enemies, and even though deep down inside he knows Key is trustworthy, he has a hard time giving up his secrets.

Under Loch and Key is a spicy Scottish romance with a monster twist.

This is my first foray into Monster romance and I don't think that it is the genre for me. While the authors writing and characters are just as amazing as always, the monster aspect is definitely not for me.

4 stars for writing
3 stars for plot
3.5 stars total

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I've become a pretty big Lana Ferguson fan. I love that she can write contemporary but also can venture into the mythical realm of the paranormal without batting an eyelash. I've honestly not seen this with many romance writers and she does a fabulous job with it. I venture to say I may like her paranormal romances more than her contemporary ones! Bring on all the monster romance for me to read. Plus, this one is new to me. Who would have thought to use the Loch Ness Monster as the monster in a romance story?
I don't know much about Scottish folklore when it comes to The Loch Ness Monster. Just what I've heard here and there about Nessie having been spotted at some point and the grainy pictures I've seen that really don't tell much. I love that Ferguson took this lore and expanded it to make it more relatable. I won't get into too much as I don't want to spoil it, though I think the reader figures out pretty early on something is amiss!
Keyana McKay is a great character. She spunky but also a bit shy and unsure of where she fits in the world. With no immediate family left, she jumps over the pond to Scotland to find her roots, and also her family that her father left behind. Of course she doesn't understand why he left and why his family (especially her grandomother) is so cold to her. That is until she starts to unravel her family's part in the lore of the monster deep in the loch. I cannot imagine the loneliness Key must feel from having lost the only person in the world who meant anything to her. But Ferguson does a great job of helping us with this. I was definitely rooting for her to have a HEA from the very start. I enjoyed how Ferguson also wove some magic into Key's past.
Lachlan Greer is a secretive character. Secrets he carries because he has no other choice. Secrets that were thrust upon his family long ago by the McKay's. Ferguson weaves a feud between Loch and Key's families that rivals the Hatfields and the McCoys. But when his secret is revealed and he sees he's not cast out by Key for it, things start to heat up a bit between them. Enemies to lovers quickly changes into something with burning and hot. He's definitely the grumpy to her sunshine (which he has no problem talking about) but she also wins him over and softens him.
And let me just tell you about the side characters! I loved the twins so much. They were super supportive of Loch and were not inclined to give away any of his secrets, lest people persecute him. I can see how they might have their own little stories in the future
Ferguson does a great job keeping the pacing going in this story, especially considering how long the book is. I was never bored. I kept wanting to pick the story up and see what would happen next. I love the mystery woven into the romance. I figured out early on who the "villain" was but it was interesting to see how and why it was that person. She inserts spice where it's needed and doesn't overdo it. And the banter! I caught myself laughing out loud on numerous occasions. This author knows how to do it and do it right. She does a nice job with the world building and back story. I love the use of the journal entries to help this story along.
The only thing I would have liked to see more of is the actual country of Scotland. I feel like Ferguson tried to put some of it in the story through the farm and a visit to an adjacent town, but for the most part I did have a hard time picturing the Loch and how it was situated to the surrounding areas. I needed a bit more description of what I know from friends/family who have visited is a beautiful country.
Overall this is just a fun story intermingled with mystery, romance, folklore, curses, and a bit of the paranormal. Ok, not a bit, but you'll see what I'm going on about. I am definitely a lifelong Lana Ferguson fan and cannot wait to see what she has in line for the future! If you enjoyed The Fake mate by this author, this one will reel you right in!

This book captivated me. I loved every single second of it! I hope that there will be another book that moves me the way this one did.

Thank you to the author, publisher, & to NetGallet for early access to read this book.

The premise was actually quite promising, but unfortunately I did not care for the fmc as she seemed like another manic pixie dream girl character type, that was overly kind to this random rude man. The relationship between the characters didn’t even have any sort of romance, I mean there was smut, but besides that they didn’t really have any chemistry. The one thing I actually liked was her budding relationship with her newfound family, and her self discovery which I found really interesting, but also very convenient for the plot. Regardless, it was a short and cute paranormal romance, unfortunately it was not for me.

Thank you to Netgalley & Berkley Publishing Group for the arc in exchange for my honest opinion .

4.5 ⭐
First and foremost , I love Lana Ferguson and her writing . The banter in this book is absolutely incredible . I laughed so much . The writing was so well done - definitely felt the Scottish vibes . I really enjoy the characters and the plot was great . Im newer to monster romance and I found this one so unique and fun . And I think the audio to this will be amazing . Loch ness monster who is also a Scottish grump ? Don't mind it if I do

Please give this a go if youre a fan of magic and mystery , monster romance with enemies to lovers , and touch him and die vibes !!

cool premise, but the kind of a slog

This had an interesting beginning, but it really dragged in the middle. It took me almost a month to read this because I completely lost interest. I picked it back up because I did want to know how the mystery would turn out. The ending was pretty good and worth sticking around for but this seriously needs a good edit of the centre to tighten up the story and keep the momentum going.

The lore was decent, the premise interesting and the characters likeable. I just think the author spent way too much time in their heads and thoughts. Even in the big fight scene at the end they are both musing about what their opponent is thinking and why things are happening instead of describing the action sequence.

I think I’m going to put this author aside as her style of writing just does not engage me even though her story concept are solid.