Definitely a cool plot line - with an interesting beginning, a little slow in the middle and then picked back up. Overall, moments of funny and emotional, adventure and of course some mystery and magic. I enjoyed the characters. You get grumpy vs sunshine and forced proximity with this one as well as Scottish lore and magic. I liked this author's other book and overall enjoyed this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkeley for the complimentary advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a great first step into the water of monster romance if you have never given it a try before. I liked the setting in Scotland and the Loch Ness monster was not a romance I had explored before.

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“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎; 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐.”

Okay, this one was cute! The banter was zesty & I loved the ending so much. It was such a perfect little wrapped up HEA.

While this is technically a monster romance, I'd say it was more romance than monster. We get a couple of scenes where it's kind of fun, but other than that it's more about the characters figuring out the curse and what that means for their relationship. I was hoping for a little bit more, but I'll take what I can get.

I would definitely recommend this one to anyone looking for the following:
▫️monster intrigue or a foray into monster romance
▫️enemies to lovers
▫️witty banter
▫️spells/riddle breaking
▫️Scotland setting

4.5 stars. This was such a fun read! It's a take on the lochness monster I didn't expect to see, but totally appreciated. The mystery kept me guessing. A good rec for paranormal romance fans!

The lochness monster is a girl because he name is Nessie, right? Nope, the lochness monster is not a girl, it's definitely a man, a very broody and large man. Lana Ferguson does an amazing job of weaving fantasy into this rom com and sprinkling in plot twists. Of course the FMC is the key to the prophecy to break the spell.

I was really unsure about this book at first but ended up loving it! I really enjoyed that Alix was going back to her roots and discovering her family history not only about the relationship. This was also my first real paranormal romance, I was unsure what to expect, and although there were parts I thought a little strange, overall I really enjoyed!

This was such a cute story with an amazing backdrop. As an American who has always dreamed of travelling to Scotland, this setting was atmospheric and whimsical.
At some points, the plot was losing me and the story did not feel like it had a natural flow. I found myself putting the Book down multiple times because the pacing of the overall plot was not holding my attention.
The romance felt instant but did grow on me throughout the story.

I love cryptids, but I really love the Loch Ness Monster. Nessie is my favorite legend, and one of my biggest bucket list items is to go sit on the shores of Loch Ness for a few weeks and try to spot her myself. This is the first romance I’ve ever seen that centers on Nessie, so I was very excited to read it! The blurb is pretty vague, so as not to spoil anything, so I will also be vague! We meet Keyanna, still mourning the loss of her father. He had never shared much about his growing up years with her, and they never went to Scotland together to visit her family. His dying wish was for her to return and spread his ashes at Loch Ness. While there, she meets her grandparents and other extended family. She doesn’t get the warmest welcome from her grandma, but the rest of her family quickly embraces her. She also meets Lachlan, who works on her family’s property even though he hates the entire family. Their meeting is cold, but there’s also a small spark of intrigue. As he and Key get to know one another better, secrets are revealed on both sides and feelings grow.

The book starts off really strong, but the middle two thirds of this book really dragged for me. I was very intrigued by the mystery, the dangerous loch, the family secrets, the magic, and folklore, but I’m not going to lie… this was a slog to get through at times. We spend a lot of time in both characters’ heads while they sift through their feelings, worries, concerns, etc. It got quite repetitive, because their thoughts mirrored each others’. I really loved Lachlan. He’s a grumpy cinnamon roll, who has been very hurt in the past and is alone in this world. He doesn’t know where his future will take him. He’s very loyal and sweet and his ability to love deeply tugged at my heartstrings because of all the heartbreak he’s endured. Key was meh for me. She came off as both very smart and very dumb at times. She pretends to be humble, which is a pet peeve of mine. But I liked them together, and I was pulling for them the entire way through. I also liked Key’s cute grandpa and her grandma grew on me by the end.

The romance didn’t do it for me, and it’s kind of hard to explain. The blurb doesn’t specifically call this book a monster romance even though, in hindsight, the cover and blurb hint at it very heavily. Still, though, the monster romance genre is different than a romance with humans who are not fully human. I guess I was expecting the same kind of situation as a vampire or werewolf romance. But I avoid “monster romance”. It’s just not my thing, and I didn’t realize that’s what I was getting with this one. Many monster romances I read about have some spicy elements that I don’t find appealing. The spice level in this book is not what I expect from books with covers that look like this one. The scenes are much longer, more intense, more detailed, and contain word choices that made me uncomfortable.

I actually wish there was no romance in this at all and that Key and Lachlan were just friends who maybe fell in love in an epilogue or something. Their relationship is what I would consider to be “forbidden”, but it’s also insta-love and I had a hard time wrapping my head around how they were able to open up and trust each other so quickly when history shows them that they shouldn’t have. I would have preferred a stronger focus on the lore, history, magic system, mystery, etc. I love medieval folklore and magic and really enjoyed learning the history of two dueling Scottish families and how their history has continued to spread mystery throughout this area of Scotland up to the present day. I loved the parts where someone discovered something important or a revelation was made. There’s some suspense and searching and I loved all of that. I loved the descriptions of Scotland and the loch and I loved exploring a medieval castle. I loved Nessie. But then, circling back to the issue of pacing, things dragged a lot in between the parts I loved. The major climax happened with an hour still left in the book and I remember wondering what they heck they were going to do with with last hour. This book was extremely long and it wasn’t necessary. I wish everything had been tightened up more so momentum wasn’t lost. I will also note that there’s more swearing in this book than I’m used to, and found it to be distracting.

Bottom line, there were parts of this I really loved and parts that I skipped entirely. I wish I had been more aware of what I was getting into with this book (although, it’s Nessie so I’m sure I would have read it anyway), but I made it work for me by skipping the parts I wasn’t interested in and ended up really enjoying the story I got as a result. I even got emotional at times because of some sweet family moments and some swoony things Lachlan said. I don’t think I’ll be reading more books by this author, though, because the storytelling didn’t work for me.

A wonderful wonderful love story and one that I was not expecting to pull my heart strings as much as it did.
The setting was wonderful and the I was really impressed with the research that was done on Scottish colloquialisms and culture. Lachlans mannerisms and speech really drew me to him and I loved to see the Scottish tongue shine through.
I thought Keyanna was a wonderful female lead who was both strong and soft in all the best ways. I really empathized with her grief and her journey to fulfill her dad’s wishes. Her relationship with her grandma and grandpa and their growth was one of my favorite parts,
The romance was sizzling and HOT and didn’t draw away from the romance and plot. It was wonderful. I really enjoyed the pacing as well and I can’t wait to read more by Lana!!!

not my favorite by this author but was still a fun read, you can honestly never go wrong with a monster romance they’re just so fun

Under Loch and Key is a fun take on the myth of the Loch Ness Monster. I don't think it is going to be a romance book for everyone, but those who like paranormal and want to try something besides werewolves and vampires should give it a shot.

Lana Ferguson, the woman that you are. From cam girl to literally loch ness monster smut, i’m here for it. This was so fun and silly and just downright enjoyed every moment of it.

What a fascinating idea! I didn't find "Under Loch and Key" a very engaging read, but I continue to appreciate the variety of stories Lana Ferguson writes.

I found the mystery/curse storyline interesting, but it was too in the background to be intriguing. Lachlan & Key are both good characters and their relationship is the highlight of this story. Their story starts quite slow but burns hot.

Overall, "Under Lock and Key" doesn't stand out to me, but I look forward to Lana Ferguson's next idea!

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

I enjoyed the unique take on the Lochness monster and all the beautiful descriptions of the Scottish highlands setting. Learning more about the magic system of this world was fascinating and I truly felt for the struggles of both Key and Lachlan. Their banter was fun and I could see why they were attracted to each other. However, I would have loved to learn more about Key's backstory and what we later discovered about her. Thank you to the publisher for early access to this book.

This book was such a fun, unique take on magical realism. It had plenty of great spice, high emotions, and tensions between the two main characters. Although I found myself getting a little fed up with the extreme amount of miscommunication throughout.
Over all though, I was giggling and kicking my feet and enjoyed this book.
Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for sharing this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Quick Breakdown

Paranormal Romance
Set in Scotland
Enemies to Lovers
Grumpy x Sunshine
Mysteries & Curse Breaking
Family Reunions
No 3rd Act Breakup
Duet Narration 🤌🏻
Open Door - Moderate

THANK YOU @berkleyromance for the eARC & finished copy & @prhaudio for the gifted ALC in exchange for my honest opinion #berkleypartner

Raised by a single dad in America, Keynna “Key” MacKay heads to home to Scotland after he passes, only to find a grandmother she’s never met who doesn’t seem to want to know her, a grumpy Scotsman who thinks she’s an idiot, and a centuries-long feud with the clan next-door.

I went into Under Loch and Key pretty blind & I recommend you do the same. It was such a trip! All I knew was that this was written by Lana, set in Scotland, and has something vaguely to do with the Loch Ness monster. Filled to the brim with Scottish folklore, It features a grumpy x sunshine, enemies to lovers romance between two MCs that can’t stand each other but can’t seem to stay away. The banter was sublime, the chemistry & inevitably Lana spice burned me alive, all while the mystery woven in kept me on the edge of my seat. There is also so much vulnerability & softness to love, too. The undertones of grief & loss, coming home & finding yourself were entirely relatable.

While I technically went back & forth between the ebook & audio, the audiobook stole the show. It’s performed in DUET by Samantha Summers & Flint Park & they absolutely knocked it out of the park.

Trust me 🙏🏻 Add it to you TBR. Set your Libby notifications.

It was an intriguing start!!! I loved the mystery, but wished there was more of it. It was a fun romance with a splash of mystery! Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read in exchange for a review!

The story was cute, but I found myself skipping the romance scenes because they were all the same. I also did not really think it was necessary to switch back and forth between Key and Lachlan. I would have liked just Key's perspective. Was a cute romance novel set in Scotland. Lacked a little bit of detail around the storyline that I felt was just filled in with love scenes.

There were some unexpected surprises, but it was predictable for the most part. I expected more overall. The spice was okay, some parts I enjoyed and some made my eyes roll.

I was not expecting, well, <i>that</i>. I did enjoy this book and thought it was fun (though maybe not as fun as I'd hoped), but I'm honestly not sure how I feel about the inclusion of the more fantastical elements. There is a found family element, a bit of a mystery, and a couple of surprises, but overall, I just didn't really get that invested in the characters' stories.