Cute second chance romance that brings you to Scotland on an adventure that allows Jack and Brooke to re-evaluate the past and their feelings towards each other while working together to achieve the goal of making her mentor and Jacks aunts memoir wishes come true.

This was a sweet read that will warm the heart out of anyone who loves a good second chance to make things work.

I very much enjoyed this second chance romance (I think I liked it more than the first book in the series). This book will make you want to book a trip to Scotland right away. Loved the book and all of the characters.

I received an arc from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Scot and Bothered by Alexandra Kiley – 3.5 Stars

Scot and Bothered delivers a heartfelt second-chance romance set against the stunning backdrop of Scotland’s Skye Trail. Alexandra Kiley weaves together past and present with dual POVs and timelines, creating an emotional journey full of longing, regret, and rediscovery.

Brooke and Jack’s chemistry is undeniable, and the yearning in this book is off the charts. Their history is complicated, and watching them navigate old wounds and unspoken feelings was both frustrating and rewarding. I especially loved Mhairi—her presence added so much heart and wisdom to the story. The writing beautifully captures the rugged landscape and the emotional weight of their past, making for an immersive read.

That said, a few things didn’t fully land for me. The “betrayal” that led to Brooke’s expulsion (or rather, lack thereof) felt less dramatic than expected, which dulled some of the tension. Also, the idea that these two lived in Edinburgh for years without crossing paths stretched believability more than any concerns about visas or logistics. While I enjoyed the push and pull of their relationship, I would have preferred ongoing tension over the more traditional third-act breakup.

Overall, Scot and Bothered is an engaging, emotional read with a great setting, a strong second-chance romance, and a memorable supporting cast. While I debated between 3 and 4 stars, the depth of feeling and character growth made it a worthwhile read. Fans of angst, adventure, and slow-burning reconnections will enjoy this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and HTP books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Admittedly, I was originally drawn to this book because of the cover. I love a romance set in Scotland. Then I read the description and I was sold because not only was it in Scotland but it was also a second chance romance where the FMC is forced on a week long hike with the man that broke her year 7 years prior. I’m a big fan of stories about second chances, starting over, and taking chances on yourself and this story had that. And all the pining - so good.

A few things that bothered me a little - so she is expelled but how does she stay in Scotland if she’s not at university anymore? After things went down with FMC/MMC and she leaves he just never tried again? I would have liked a little more build here but it didn’t deter me too much overall I really liked the novel!

I will start by saying dual narration is not my favorite, but Alexandra does this well! This book is all about second-chances and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. It has all the cozy Scotland vibes and parts that will give you butterflies. If you’re looking for a cozy read with relatable and realistic characters. This book is for you!!

4.5 / 5 🌟
4 / 5 🌶️

Can’t talk right now, too busy booking my trip to Scotland!

Okay but in all seriousness… I loved this book! Alexandra Kiley uses her words to paint the most beautiful background to her characters’ lives and then made it feel like I was part of their journey to self discovery.

Scot and Bothered is a second chance romance, following the story of Jack and Brooke. We meet them both during an event that brings them back together, after not seeing each other for seven years. The novel then proceeds to time jump between “then” and “now” as we learn about their relationship and how they fall in love… twice!

In a twist of fate, Brooke and Jack must hike an eighty mile treacherous trail in the Scottish Highlands in a tension filled forced proximity situation! Both of them have lost their way since losing each other… and this trip seems to be the key to finding themselves again.

My only complaint about this book is that the conflict revolves very heavily around the miscommunication trope - both in the past and the future. I would have loved to see a little bit more character growth throughout the last half of the book.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a romance novel with a side of introspection. This novel made me want to find all my passions in life and then chase them with every fiber of my being! The way that Brooke and Jack find their way back to each other is so beautiful and you’ll fall in love with all the little moments that happen along the way.

Read for:
💜 Second Chance Romance
💜 One Bed/Tent
💜 Forced Proximity
💜 Loveable Side Characters
💜 Wanderlust Worthy Setting
💜 College and Beyond (then vs now)

Thank you to Alexandra Kiley, NetGalley, and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an ARC of this novel.

I was so excited to jump back into Scotland with another Sutherland brother. I quite enjoyed Kiley's debut book about Logan and Addie. This one did not disappoint and painted a lovely picturesque view of Scotland.

- second chance romance
- hiking trip through Scotland
- Writer and Photographer
- duel time-line
- slow burn

Jack and Brooke first meet and fall for each other in college but it ends in heartbreak. Six years later they are able to reconnect on a hiking trip for Jack's aunt's memoir which Brooke is a coauthor for and Jack the photographer. I loved how we go a duel-timeline and was able to watch Jack and Brooke's beginning and then how they reconnected during the trip and that made is so much for meaningful and felt connected to the two of them and they were both so well written. It was such a heartfelt read and I highly recommend picking it up. Also it can easily be read as a stand alone.

Thank you to netgalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Alexandra Kiley for the eARC!

I was lucky enough to be an ARC reader for this book and let me tell you I was so damn pleased with this book! Scot and Bothered is a second chance romance that takes on you on a journey through a hiking trail in Scotland. The story follows Jack and Brooke, two former partners from college. I’d only heard of ghost writing in songs so I immediately was intrigued by Brooke’s longing to be her own writer but finding the courage to step out of her comfort zone and follow her dreams. Through her journey with Jack on this hiking trail, they both embark on a journey neither of them expected. There are few books that can hook me instantly and this book did that. Run don’t walk and pick up this amazing book that will bring you joy, tears, and the courage to follow your dreams!

Thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing/Canary Street Press and NetGalley for the ARC 🤍

First off, I need people to stop throwing around “enemies to lovers” and relearn the definition. I saw SO many people call this (and many other similar style books) enemies to lovers. This is second chance romance. EtL is NOT “oh we had a break up I’m still mad at you but immediately fall back in love at the moment of a crappy apology”. Stop getting my hopes up 😭😭

It’s just a TA position you’re not actually a professor calm down on the woe is me there’s a power imbalance. Let’s be real here how much power do you really have over her as a lowly TA? I don’t even know what trope they were going for with that one

She’s an immature brat for at least half of the book. I get things happened, but clearly they weren’t so bad because half an apology later and you’re immediately thinking about how easy it would be to fall for him again. 🙄

TLDR: it was well written, but the vibe was just not it 🥴

Scot and Bothered was a wonderfully inspiring and emotional read. Brookes dream of being a published author is destroyed when she’s expelled from school. Luckily she’s found work as a ghostwriter but her dreams might be back on track due to her mentor giving her a chance at cowriting her memoir. Catch is that the current work in progress is lacking and she is convinced to take a trip with the books photographer on the very rugged Skye trail that her mentor helped founded in order to help the manuscript. Even bigger catch is the photographer is her ex and the reason she was expelled. A tense but emotional journey starts and I couldn’t have been more engrossed in the story. I was not expecting the emotional impact this book had on me. It was sad but uplifting and inspiring. Can not wait to read more from this author.

Alexandra Kiley's writing felt like a warm welcome back into the heart of the Scottish Highlands. Brooke and Jack's story captured me instantly, and they absolutely stole my heart. The issues I have with this book are surface level. For instance, something about a romance book being written in third person feels odd, but I suppose it didn't really took away from the story at all. I will say, however, that switching between Jack and Brooke's POVs and also between the past and the present timelines felt like a bit much at times. I also wish we had gotten a little bit more development on Brooke's past. We got very brief glimpses into her life before moving to Scotland but nothing compared to the backstory we got about Jack's family and life before Brooke. I also have questions about Brooke's visa status in the UK, but that's a whole other can of worms. This book was so so sweet and the perfect cure for someone longing to escape into the magic that is the Scottish Highlands.

Back in Scotland with one of the Sutherland Brothers, Scot and Bothered acted as the tour guide Jack didn't want to be, once again making me want to visit this country and explore.

This time past lovers, current enemies, Brooke and Jack have to work together to hike the Skye trail so that Brooke can find her author's voice while ghostwriting her idol's memoir and Jack can capture the journey on film for his favorite Aunt.

Second chance romances are my jam, but this one kept me on the hook because the reader didn't actually learn the full details of the first try up front. Timelines jump between "Then" and "Now" to show how Jack and Brooke got to where they are in their relationship and lives.

For me this was a bit slow to start out until they really got on the trail, but I enjoyed the peeks into their past and was definitely along the ride while Jack tried to break down Brooke's walls and be back in her life.

Hopefully we get Reid's story next??

🎧 Audiobook +📗eBook: Scot and Bothered

✍🏾 Author: Alexandra Kiley, I read Kilt Trip & gave it 4 ⭐

📅Publication date: 3/4/25 | Read: 3/3/25

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Adult Fic

Tropes: travel, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, 2nd chance romance, 1-tent, forbidden romance, workplace romance

🗣️Narrator: Angus King and Savannah Davies voice all the characters with standouts from Brooke, Jake, and Mhairi. The reading style brought the text to life, and the author and narrators worked together perfectly. The pacing and flow allowed me to get lost in the story. The narrators paused and announced new chapters and there was a table of contents which helped me follow along.

🏃🏾‍➡️Run Time: 10:11

🌎 Setting: Edinburgh, Scotland

👆🏾POV: 3rd person dual-Brooke and Jack & 2 timelines "Then" and "Now"

⚠️TW: cancer-not H/h, grief

Summary: Brooke is asked to co-write her mentor Dr. Mhairi's memoir about Scotland’s most challenging trip, Skye Trail. She agrees to hike the rugged trail and is surprised to find Jack is the nature photographer. He's Dr. Mhairi's nephew and the man who broke her heart and ruined her writing career.

👩🏾 Heroine: Brooke Sinclair-an aspiring author turned ghostwriter after being expelled from University of Edinburgh

👨🏾 Hero: Jack Sutherland-a photographer whose family expected him to join the family tour-guide business

🎭 Other Characters:
*Mhairi McCallister-Brooke's mentor/college professor and Jack's aunt
*Logan-Jack's brother co-owner and lead tour guide at family's business The Heart of the Highlands.
*Jack's parents-Gemma and Neil and another brother Reid
*Rohan-Jack's roommate/Brooke's TA
*Charlotte-Brooke's editor

🤔 My Thoughts: I loved the accents and descriptions of Scotland itself. Jack did some serious groveling and pining for Brooke, while she tried to resist falling for him again. Their careers were important as Brooke wanted to write her own stories and Jack to shoot his photography without approval from his family.

Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice level 4/5🔥🔥🔥🔥

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing | Canary Street Press, Harlequin Audio, and Alexandra Kiley for this ARC and ALC! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Canary Street Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Alex Kiley does it again! If you love long luxurious descriptions of beautiful striking landscapes and other cities across oceans then this book is for you. Kiley has a knack for beautifully descriptive settings making you just want to hop on a plane and be there physically too. I will say for some this could be too much, without a ton of plot to support it, but that’s all in personal preference. Normally enemies-to-lovers isn’t my favorite trope but I really found myself cheering these guys on the whole time. Overall another beautiful cozy comforting book from Kiley that I’m thrilled to add to my shelf.

This is a cute second chance romance.
I loved the setting; between the academia setting of the University of Edinburgh to the streets of Edinburgh, to the majesty of the Isle of Skye. I loved Kilt Trip and it was fun having bits of those characters make an appearance in this book. I’m hoping there’s a book about the third brother, Reid, coming next!

It is a cute, heartwarming second chance romance about finding and following your dreams and being true to yourself.

However, something about this book moved slow for me though and it was hard to keep my interest in it. I wasn’t as invested in the characters and maybe it’s because I didn’t personally relate to them.
Either way, I loved being transported back to Scotland, meeting more of the Sutherland Family, and enjoyed the overall story.

If you like a spicy second chance romance and love Scottish settings, you need to add this to your TBR!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

“Take a chance on yourself. Trust that the thing you love will take you where you need to be.”

I just finished reading Scot and Bothered by Alexandra Kiley, and this one is a standalone follow-up to Kilt Trip. It follows Jack Sutherland and Brooke Sinclair on their epic hike along the Skye Trail, a trail that Mhairi, Jack's aunt and Brooke's idol, helped create.

You first meet Jack in Kilt Trip as he's Logan Sutherland's brother, but this one focuses on his ruined romance with Brooke and how they got to where they are in flashbacks. In their short-lived fling, Brooke gets kicked out, and Jack gets fired from the University of Edinburgh, and they haven't talked to each other since... until Mhairi sends the two on a work trip together. She wants Brooke to ghostwrite her story and Jack to photograph it.

Brooke is still furious with Jack over what happened seven years ago, but will the breathtaking Scottish landscape and some quality time on the trail be enough to rekindle their love for each other?

You'll love this book if you like:
• Second-chance romance
• Atmospheric Scottish scenery
• Only one bed & tent!
• Dual timeline
• Crying your eyes out

This book just got released, and you can pick it up today! A huge thank you to HTP Books and The Hive, Canary Street Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Whooo boy this book made me very emotional. Jack and Brooke have both found it difficult to believe in themselves and take the risk on an artistic career (photography for him and writing for her). As someone who also has a passion for art I felt very seen by their individual journeys and found it so healing to see them support and believe in each other whole-heartedly. Putting pieces of your soul out into the world for strangers to evaluate is such a vulnerable thing. I totally related to Brooke's hesitation to be truly herself. It was so sweet to see Jack be so unbelievably tender with Brooke in her anxiety and self-doubt. I had a great time with this story and I recommend it to anyone looking for a soft, emotional romance.

4.5 rounded up. I truly loved the parallels and back and forths when it came to the past grievances and present day struggles. The dynamics of a TA and student relationship was enough to send me into a tizzy of delight and the art of second chances was done deliciously. The only thing I wished would have been omitting the blaringly obvious third act break up but I feel that had communication been stronger from the get go they would have made it there sooner.

[ARC review]
SCOT AND BOTHERED by Alexandra Kiley is brought to you by the number two.

The second book in the series (the follow up to Kilt Trip), a dual POV, dual timeline, second chance romance. Lotta twos!

It's also a forced proximity, as Brooke and her former love Jack are forced to hike the Skye Trail for the sake of the book they're both working on for their beloved mentor (her) and aunt (him), Mhairi. Brooke is cowriting her memoir, and Jack is taking photos for it. Unfortunately, they haven't seen each other since their relationship imploded.

Neither second chance nor dual timelines are things that really call to me, but I do love a forced proximity. There's nothing wrong with those tropes, and they work here, especially as Brooke and Jack have to take a second chance not only on each other, but also on the dreams they each gave up.

It also deals with (spoiler alert /content warning) a loved one with terminal cancer. Much of the last act deals with processing the news, grieving, etc., so be mindful of that if that's a sensitive topic for you, as there's no content warning or authors note in the ARC.

More than anything, it makes me want to go to Scotland, to see the wild and beautiful landscapes that are described as they hike the trail. It definitely has a vivid sense of place, that makes me yearn for my ancestral homeland. (Not really; all of my forebears were from the lowlands or England, not a single highlander on the tree lol.)

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#NetGalley #ARCreview #ScotAndBothered

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC!

3.5 stars, rounded up.

This story has beautiful pieces to it - both thematically and locationally. The descriptions of the Scotland were beyond words, while Brooke and Jacks relationship held similar qualities. This really put the “second chance” idea to the test while giving a story that actually had ups and downs. Well done!