Oh, Lana. I think at this point you could have me reading anything mixed with a romance and I’d say, well Lana wrote it so of course I’m going to read it!

Read if you like:
🐉 Loch Ness Monster Lore
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland Setting
⚔️ Enemies to Lovers
✨ Curses
🏠 Found Family (sort of)
❤️ Monster Romance (ish)

Technically this is my first monster romance and I think it was a good place to dip my toe in, especially considering Lana also introduced me to the Omnaverse so I’ll just keep letting her introduce me to sub-genres of romance in the future, okay... 😉

I really loved the relationship between Key and Loch and how the natural and fated enemies was there for them simply from their last names (very Romeo and Juliet meets monster romance) because it’s a love story, with tails. 😂

Anyway, from their enemies I really enjoyed their tension as they clearly had the hots for each other but obviously shouldn’t act on it, especially from Loch as he knows the lore between their families that since Key didn’t grow up in Scotland with her family and after her dad’s passing this is her first trip there and first time meeting her extended family she clearly does not.

I also really loved how the Nessie reveal happened and all the ensuing Nessie jokes because you just can’t not make them 😂

I also loved the hunt for information on the curse and trying to break it that Loch and Key went on all while getting some great banging in because come on, you have to right?!

Well, that’s enough from me… just know I love it and keep it coming Lana… and what will be next?!

Thanks so Berkley for my ARC and PRHA for my gifted audiobook! Btw the audio is amazing and absolutely loved the duet narration as it was so damn good!

Thank you, @berkleypub, for an advanced digital copy of this book!

Lana Ferguson's Under Loch and Key is a delightful surprise, especially for readers like me who were drawn in by the Scottish setting. The story follows Keyanna, an orphan who returns to her Scottish roots to uncover lost family connections. Along the way, she meets Lachlan, a brooding Scotsman with a mysterious past and a family curse.

Though paranormal romance isn't typically my genre, this novel is a refreshing departure from my usual reads. Ferguson's skillful incorporation of Scottish mythology added a fascinating layer, immersing me further into the story. Her vivid descriptions of Scotland's rugged beauty made me feel like I was walking alongside the characters, experiencing the land's magic.

The relationship between Keyanna and Lachlan is charming and fun, with an endearing "grumpy vs. sunshine" dynamic. Their banter was one of the book's highlights, and while the mystery aspect didn't entirely captivate me, the evolving romance kept me hooked. The heat between the characters was well-written and undeniably steamy, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the monster romance element.

Overall, Under Loch and Key is an enjoyable, adventure-filled, and steamy read that's as enchanting as entertaining. The twists and pacing kept me engaged from start to finish, making it a thoroughly enjoyable ride.

This was my 1st Lana Ferguson novel and now I have to read the rest of her books. I went into this book blind, just knowing a girl goes to Scotland - which say no more. I thoroughly enjoyed this book so much that I can't wait to buy a physical copy. I never thought I'd love a loch Ness monster romance so much but I did and I can't stop thinking of Lachlan. I thought the story flowed seamlessly and didn't feel rushed. I felt very connected to Key and the family struggles. Needless to say, I loved this book!

Under Loch and Key⁣:
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Thanks for the free book @librofm @prhaudio @berkleyromance #BerkleyPartner #PRHAudioPartner ⁣
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“she tastes like honey and sunshine and every good memory I’ve ever had, however few.”⁣
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Honestly, Lana Ferguson, it took me an entire year to actually read your stories, and I’m kicking and screaming about it. Immediate an auto-buy author, immediate top of the TBR. I didn’t know how I’d feel about “monster” (cries “he’s not a monster mom!”) romance, but I loved this book and think it’s a good way to tiptoe on into it. ⁣
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Let’s talk about because, duh, me. Holy shite. The amount of times I told my husband I’d “lay down for a spell” like channeling my great-great x5 on my dad’s side. Definitely a keep your headphones on kind when the kids are around, but it was done so well. One of the best audios of the year for sure. ⁣
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We got romance, we’ve got a curse (LFG) needing to be broken, grumpy/sunshine, one barn (like a bed and a horse but very countryside), and a touch HIM and cry (love you Key), strong and caring FMC, oh did I mention monster?⁣
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I loved Lachlan and Keyanna’s story. Did I end up watching 4 Scottish Holiday movies after this? Yes. Can we get this as a holiday movie? Please? ⁣
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Out December 3rd, such a good audio and print read! I know some of our faves, @aardvarkbookclub had sign copies for their December pick, so best grab it up! (Also the epilogue 🥹🥹 AND the sneak of Overruled? We won) ⁣
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QOTD: Happy December AKA my birthday month! What’s the one material gift you wish for this holiday season? If a book (duh) which one??

* Scottish setting/Loch Ness
* Paranormal/monster romance
* Enemies to lovers
* Centuries-old curse
* Found family

After the death of her father, Keyanna "Key" MacKay travels from New York to Scotland, her father's birthplace, to spread his ashes and reconnect with her estranged grandparents. She wants to learn more about her family and why her father left Scotland and never came back. On her first day, after almost falling into the lake, she is saved by a grumpy Scotsman, Lachlan Greer, who is not impressed by the clumsy American invading the lake and his space. Lachlan doesn't want anyone, especially a MacKay, to discover his monstrous family secret.

Under Loch and Key is a funny, emotional, and captivating paranormal/monster romance. I've never read a romance about the Loch Ness monster and found it new and refreshing. Key and Lachlan have scorching chemistry, and their sexy times were very steamy. I loved how their relationship grew from disdain to friendship and love and how they joined forces to break Lachlan's family curse. Following them to solve the puzzle and discover century-old secrets was intriguing. I also enjoyed Key's journey of reconnecting with her family and her Scottish roots.
I thoroughly enjoyed Under Loch and Key. I recommend the book to all romance and paranormal romance fans.

I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. This was a fun take on the Loch Ness Monster legend so there were mystical elements integral to the story. It was a fun book but was still able to grapple with issues like how much of who we are results from those who came before us and how much is determined by our own choices. The side characters were great, definitely added to the story.

I’ve been loving a good paranormal romance lately and while most of the ones I’ve read are usually witchy in nature, this is the first one I’ve read (or even stumbled across) that had a loch mess monster as a love interest (or character LOL). This made it a unique and fun read for me with lovely Scottish vibes and an interesting plot that kept me engaged throughout the story, though I absolutely knew who the villain would be from the beginning. There was a decent amount of spice, some including a partially shifted Loch Ness monster if that’s something that intrigues you 😂

Thank you to Berkley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

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

Under Loch and Key is set on a farm in Scotland, where Key MacKay ventures to her father’s hometown to uncover the truth about why his father left his own parents and hometown.

The first few chapters felt dull to me. I almost DNF’ed it, especially since I found it difficult to keep up with Scotland’s terms. I wish the author had avoided using so much jargon or at least explained it in a way other readers could understand. Despite that, somewhere in the middle of the book, my curiosity got the best of me, especially as I read about the Loch Ness Monster.

The story had a promising plot, although it was too predictable for my taste. I was hoping for some jaw-dropping plot twists but ended up a little disappointed. I also didn’t feel any chemistry between Key and Lachlan, it seemed too rushed and shallow. And while I’m okay with spicy scenes, this was on a whole new level of Fifty Shades of Grey. Coitus with a monster? That’s intense! I felt like the ambiance and overall tone didn’t really suit the story's theme. It seemed as though multiple genres such as Urban Fantasy, War, Romance, Historical Romance were thrown together, with the addition of powers, making it feel disjointed.

I also found the reason behind Rhona and Duncan’s estrangement too shallow. With all the anger Rhona pent up, I just didn’t see why their family feud persisted for so many years.

Honestly, I think Sorcha and Tavish’s love story might have made a better narrative. But anyway, that’s just my opinion.

Overall, this was a wild and steamy read for me. Definitely not my cup of tea, but if you’re into this level of spiciness combined with adventure, you’ll probably enjoy it.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for giving me the chance to read Key and Lachlan’s story.

✨WHAT I LIKED:
📌 Rhona finally opening up
📌 Finlay accepting his granddaughter and crying
📌 Key discovering the truth
📌 Lachlan saving Key for the first time
📌 Key rescuing Lachlan
📌 Tavish writing his letter to Sorcha

✨TROPES:
📌 FORBIDDEN LOVE
📌 FAST-PACED ROMANCE
📌 MYTHICAL CREATURES
📌 FAMILY ESTRANGEMENT
📌 SMALL - TOWN SECRETS
📌 INCREDIBLY PASSIONATE AND STEAMY SCENES

🖥️ GOODREADS REVIEW: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7045830687

💻 BLOG REVIEW: https://kimthebookdragon.wordpress.com/2024/12/01/arc-review-under-loch-and-key-by-lana-ferguson/

My first Lana book and it did not let me down! 🥹
This one was soooo fun and the perfect mix of spicy! 😍 I was a bit nervous going in since I’ve never read a lochness monster romance but it took me by surprise!!!🤭

It was so cute watching Lachlan and Keyanna’s develop from hating each other to him being down bad for her!!😭🩷 I love seeing a grumpy, name-calling MMC who eventually shows their cutie soft side and this was definitely Lachlan!!🩷 I also absolutely loved how Keyanna still stuck around to get to know her dad’s family no matter how mean she was treated at first by her grandmother, and I also enjoyed the characters’ backstories as it helped me get to know them better and understand their feelings and attitudes throughout the book!

Overall this was such a fun read!! And the audiobook was AMAZING!!!😍 the male narrator has the hottest Irish accent 🥵😍

Thank you so much to Berkley for the ARC and PRH Audio for the ALC! 🩷

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing the ARC.

I absolutely loved this book.

I am no stranger to Lana Ferguson. I have liked/loved books of hers in the past and this book intrigued me. I loved the idea of a centuries-old family curse being the reason there was a Loch Ness Monster. It felt like a refreshing take in the paranormal romance world, and Ferguson did not disappoint.

Key and Lachlan were so dynamic, you can't help but fall for them as you learn more about them and their families. While this is technically a PNR, there were so many other themes woven throughout that made it into something incredibly poignant. Key is dealing heavily with the loss of her father and trying to foster the only connection she has to him, even if they're unwilling. Lachlan has been dealing with this curse his entire life, starting when his father disappeared into the loch and didn't resurface. The loss felt by both of them is so integral to their stories and it is seamlessly woven into the story, making this not just a love story but a story of forgiveness and acceptance of each other and of ourselves.

This was an amazing book. 10/10 perfection.

3.5 stars. I was very excited about the possibility of a fantasy romance centered around the Loch Ness monster. The premise feels so creative and of course the cover is adorable. I ended up slightly underwhelmed - there were things that just didn't quite feel like they came together with the two MCs and I found some of the book a little slower paced and harder to keep engaged.

Overall, the story is interesting - the connections of the FMC to this area of Scotland and her interactions with the village and side characters was endearing at times. I enjoyed seeing her build her own relationships and roots to this particular place and group of people. The MMC was grumpy and a bit of a teddy bear underneath. His relationship with the FMC was a little lackluster at first, but as it grew - it did have some good elements.

Overall, I enjoyed this one. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC.

Under Loch and Key was such a fun read!!!

The writing was phenomenal. Lana has a beautiful vocabulary and her writing is truly flawless. She paints a beautiful picture through her words.

This is a romance book set in our modern setting with a little monster fantasy sprinkled in and I have to say I loved it!! This was such a unique and fun story!

Oh and the 🌶️?! Was 🥵🥵🥵

I highly recommend this amazing read!!

Posted to Goodreads:

Keyanna’s father always told stories about his life in Scotland. Keyanna decides to take his ashes to his childhood home. Once in Scotland, Keyanna connects with family members she had never met, learns about family secrets, and meets Lochlan, a mysterious man with family secrets that have ties to Keyanna’s father’s past.

I had a mixed reaction to this book. I liked Keyanna and parts of her romance with Lochlan were filled with sizzle and fun. Also, I truly enjoyed the setting. Ferguson did a great job of crafting descriptions of Scotland. However, the “twist” didn’t work for me. Even in a paranormal romance, it felt ridiculous. Plus, many aspects of the paranormal felt underdeveloped. The book is written well and I think people who are fans of this paranormal romance subgenre will enjoy it but it wasn’t for me.

Keyanna “Key” MacKay heads to Scotland to uncover the truth about her late father’s hidden past but ends up being saved by Lachlan Greer, a grumpy Scotsman who doesn’t trust her. As they deal with family drama, strange powers, and a centuries-old curse, their growing connection might be the key to solving the mysteries they both face.

Lana Ferguson is one of my favorite romance authors and I love that she branches out into different subgenres of romance! I had never read a monster romance before, but if Lana writes it, I’m game! I enjoyed the premise of Under Loch and Key and loved how bingeworthy it was. The history behind the curse was the most fascinating part of the story and I was hooked on the mystery the characters were trying to solve. I also enjoyed learning more about Key’s family especially her grandparents, who added depth to the story. The book struck a great balance between contemporary romance and paranormal elements which worked well for me as someone new to monster romance. While I liked Key and Lachlan as individual characters, I found their romance a bit weak and wasn’t entirely sold on the monster romance aspect. The pacing dragged slightly in the middle, but the action-packed final quarter more than made up for it. Overall, this was a solid 4-star read and I’m glad Lana’s writing pushed me out of my comfort zone!

Thank you so much to Berkley romance for the free book! #Partner

This book will be out on Dec 3rd.

Lana Ferguson has become one of my favorite romance authors and I knew after reading The Nanny that she would be an autobuy author. But sadly I feel like I am still chasing the high that I got while reading The Nanny. And listen there is nothing completely wrong with the books that she has written including this one but it just isn't hitting me the same way as that one did.

One thing I do love about Ferguson is that she doesn't play with the same type of contemporary romance. She likes to change up the type of books she writes (paranormal, monster, hockey). So when she announced that she was going to be releasing a Loch Ness monster romance, I was in! Also this cover was so geniusly done!

Key and Lachlan did not get off to a good start in the beginning. And as Ferguson does best - the tension between the two is so strong! I am not the biggest fan of romances that deals with solving riddles/mysteries but this is one of the few exceptions. Key and Lachlan work together to help solve Lachlan's family curse. They learn a lot about each families and Key even learns some surprising things about herself too!

Throughout the book Key is trying to honor her father who had recently passed and connect with his parents. Her grandmother was not very welcoming and wanted nothing to do with Key which I cannot imagine being Key in that position. Granted she did show up unannounced but still! Her grandfather was one of my favorite characters and often the voice of reason.

Overall I liked this one! I recommend this if you love a little mystery mixed with your romance, dysfunctional family and a sucker for a Scottish setting - give this one a try!

I really wanted to love this book, but the pacing was unfortunately way too slow, plus the plot of majority of the having secrets seemed too much.

Keyanna “Key” McKay heads to Scotland after her father passes to reconnect with her estranged family and fulfill her late dad's dying wish. It isn't a soft landing per se, when she meets Lachlan Greer, who lives and works on her family's farm. And he is a Scottish hottie, Ferguson keeps the accent and flavor alive in this novel, and being an Outlander girlie for life this appealed to me greatly. 

No fronting, they start off spicy and develop a little sweet on the side. And as they unravel the secrets that bring them closer togethe they discover how magically  interconnected their family has been for centuries. 

Aside from the romance, there is a layer of complexity with Key looking to create a relationship with her grandma: Grief and regret is present and alive in this book, so buckle up for some emotions.

And a lil reminder…This is a paranormal romance, and this will become way more relevant once you uncover the secrets for yourself when you read Under Loch and Key after December 3rd.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts on this book. 
Rating: 3.5⭐️

This book was such a fun fantastical read!!! Lana Ferguson did a really great job at balancing the loch ness monster plot while keeping this a romcom that feels light and enjoyable!! It was such a captivating read; it’s one of those books you can just picture so perfectly while reading and that makes it even more fun!!! I really liked the characters and their respective developments throughout the book, and the epilogue was so so perfect!!!

I think that the climax towards the end was a little bit rushed and the writing was a little bit cringey at times, but otherwise it was so great!!

I was curious to see where Ferguson went with this, because I hadn't really heard of a Loch Ness Monster romance before, and overall I think she managed to pull it off. There were certainly elements of it that were unique, and I think it was a fun story. I think as a whole it wasn't anything overly new, which is to say it didn't reinvent the genre in any way, but that's not a necessity for a book like this, it just has to be enjoyable, and it was. It had a fun premise that was unique enough that it stood out from the surrounding titles and it had heart. There were a few things that knocked this down to a 4-star read instead of a 5-star read, but it wasn't bad. I think my main "issues" with it were that 1) despite the book being billed as a Loch Ness Monster romance for the first...quarter or so of the book that element is kept...secret, I guess. It's clear the MMC is hiding something, and obviously we know what it is, but despite getting his POV nothing is said about that element until the FMC basically stumbles upon it. I don't understand what the point of that was, because just based on the package and synopsis of the book it's not a secret to the reader, so treating it like this big reveal felt odd to me. As for 2) the ending felt a little...out of place, I suppose. That's not to say I didn't see it coming, because I did. I'm just not sure overall it fit. I don't want to give any spoilers, but there was more or less an antagonist that kind of appeared out of nowhere, and I think it would have worked perfectly fine if that aspect was just disregarded completely and the whole "breaking the curse" thing was the climax. I do want to reiterate that these "issues" weren't a huge problem for me. I still enjoyed the book well enough. In fact, I loved the dual POV that we got, and the fact that we got character development and excellent side characters really made me happy. Those few things just kept it from being a totally mind-blowing read. That being said I still think it was worth the time to read, and it offered something I hadn't seen before while keeping me turning pages. It was an effective romance novel, and I certainly won't hesitate to recommend it to those looking for monster romance, or even just something a little different. I'll also be curious to see what Ferguson comes up with next, as far as paranormal stories go. I'll also probably end up reading her next contemporary book too, because her stories are just quick, smutty fun.

This was such a cute book!!!
Like oh my gosh I love it so much!

The Loch-ness monster but make it a cursed family line?!!! (Also totally not gonna lie I had Jamie Fraser in my head while I read Lachlan)
I know this is just a book but it’s made me want to move to Scotland SO much more!

Between Key trying to figure out where she belongs now, and Lachlan wanting to break the curse there’s SO much that happens!

It’s very “I want to hate you, trying to convince myself I hate you but I secretly want you” and I loved it! I could not stop reading once I started and I already want to reread it!
Definitely getting this for my shelf!
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