✅ Brooke, American, ghostwriter & Jack, Scottish, photographer
✅ second chances; dual timeline
✅ set in the same Universe (and same family) as Kilt Trip
✅ travel adventure (they’re camping across Skye)
🌶️: not really

Like Kilt trip, this will make you want to plan a trip to Scotland.

This was so tender??? Not necessarily surprisingly, but also, kind of surprisingly given the title.

There is so much earnestness and compassion and love. The relationship between Mhairi and Brooke alone had me on the verge of tears from the very beginning. Mhairi clearly saw Brooke as a kindred spirit immediately, and the two fit so well into each others lives even without Jack.

And Jack, you sweet summer child. You well-meaning idiot. You precious baby. His genuine care for Brooke in their separation was so sweet and heartbreaking. He respected her space even when it devastated him, and wanted to be in her life in any way she’d allow it. Even if it wounded him.

I love a good second chance romance and duel timeline, and this book did not disappoint!

The slow burn and familiar banter as Brooke and Jack get to know each other again was perfect, all while set in the beautiful backdrop of trails in Scotland.

While their romance was a main story point, I also loved the story of Mhairi and her impact on everyone around her. How traversing the trail was more than the place and an adventure, but a way to build community and value life. She touched so many people with her life and contribution of the trail, and I love that that storyline came through the entire time.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Two people struggling to find their way after university. I loved the setting and feeling like I was hiking in Scotland. I also loved their mentor, Mhairi, and what her relationship with the two main characters brought to the story.

I felt like this book offered quite a bit more than the very silly title suggested. A super sweet and touching story about figuring out what matters most in life.

Thanks to Canary Street Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

An okay read, I was a bit disappointed. I mean, it's in Scotland and the second chance trope, so expectations were high. Brooke and Jack have a history, and unfortunately, this drags on for quite a bit in the book, which impacted the pacing. This was also definitely not a rom com.

#netgalley #ScotandBothered

I went into this book not having read Kiley’s previous novel, and not knowing much about this premise of this new one. I was pleasantly surprised to find it to be a second-chance romance, which is one of my favorite tropes!

Overall, I liked this story - I found that I related well enough to Brooke, and did find Jack to have a good amount of depth. The overarching story was believable, and there were plenty of good elements to this story. I even liked the prose! But sadly, this book still fell a tiny bit flat for me; I didn’t find myself deeply immersed in the story.

I would recommend this book to friends, especially as a good example of a character-driven plot and a second-chance romance. However, I would urge the publisher to solve their ARC formatting issues for future readers, as this e-ARC was very disorganized.

Huge thanks to Canary Street Press, Alexandra Kiley, and NetGalley for a copy of this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Alexandra Kiley for the ARC!

I had high hopes for this book - second chance romance (love), Scotland, the adorable title. While the writing was great, the story just didn’t do it for me. It was surprisingly serious/intense for what I expected to be a cute little rom-com novel, with a lot of emotional depth that I wasn’t prepared for. I think this is a very good book for someone who wants something entertaining and introspective, but it wasn’t necessarily for me.

That said, I do think Alexandra Kiley is a talented writer and I would read future works by her!!

I came into this book thinking it was a forced proximity Scottish romcom. It's definitely forced proximity, and situationally Scottish, but I can't characterize it as a comedy. Even the romance but was angsty.

Like the beginning of so many contemporary romances, our heroine Brooke is in a low point in her life. She is a ghost writer, and immerses herself in a Scottish hike reminiscent of the Appalachian Trail in order to get the full experience of her client so she can write ... better. Then there's Jack, the photographer who goes with her. There's history here and it's not good. Brooke is mad, and Jack is in love and apologetic.

Pacing:
Unfortunately, the "Brooke is mad, and Jack is apologetic" theme lasts a solid half of the book, without the reader ever figuring out what the hell happened in their past. It was difficult to get through the first half of the book, tbh. I felt like I was watching friends fight and being a third wheel and wanting to get the hell out of the room.

The latter half of the book moved a bit faster, with a little more expected romantic angst, poignancy, and growing up.

Characters:
I found it difficult to like Brooke - for her age, she seemed petty and childish. She held a grudge for several years and then poof, she sleeps with Jack and it's all lustfully ok but not really resolved.

Writing:
The writing was a bit choppy for me. That could have been the language (idioms, cultural slang) itself and may not be a problem for other readers. It felt like dry skin snagging on a sweater at times. I had to put the book down several times to take a break because the words were hard to read - not emotionally, it just took concentration to make sense of overly long sentences or previous references.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

Brooke Sinclair always knew how her life should go: MFA in Edinburgh, Fellowship, successful writing career! But life doesn't always go as planned. 7 years later Brooke is a writer, but a ghostwriter, never able to fully celebrate her own work. When her writing mentor Mhairi Macallister asks her to co-write her memoir Brooke leaps at the chance. Mhairi's memoir celebrates the nature trail she founded not he Isle of Skye and the only way Brooke can truly write about it is to experience it herself. What she is not so ready to experience? Having to follow the trail with Jack Sutherland, photographer, Mhairi's nephew, and the man who broke Brooke's heart and ruined her future.
If you love Emily Henry and Scotland you will love Scot and Bothered!

I waffled between 4 and 5 stars for this book. First of all, the initial book I this series started off strong for me, but Peter’s out a bit in the end. This one? I loved. The author showed a lot of growth a maturity in her writing. I could envision the scenery as easily as I could the ardency of the characters’ feelings. It was vivid and poignant and heart rending. I’ve read a lot of romance, and this one hits the mark, for something beyond smut and tropes (although those are there if you’re seeking them).

Brooke Sinclair is a college student studying writing under noted professor Mhairi McCallister wen she suddenly finds herself expelled from school and having to ghostwrite for other authors. When Mhairi decides to write her memoirs about her life in Scotland, she hires Brooke to write it for her and decides to send her off on adventure to Skye to learn about it herself. She then mentions that her nephew Jack Sutherland will be accompanying her for the photography. Brooke and Jack have history and he was the reason she was expelled from school.

They’re forced together along the hiking trail founded by Mhairi through the Scottish highlands for two full weeks. Can they keep old feelings away and stay away from each other?

This was a cute book full of wonderfully descriptive writing. I definitely enjoyed the second half more than the first half. The first half felt a little slow but the second half picked up and kept me interested. I didn’t really feel connected to the characters in the first half but it does get better. The two main characters are meh but the descriptive writing of the Scottish countryside is so beautifully written that it makes up for a lot of the slower parts.

Slow to start. I didn’t feel really connected to the characters. I had higher hopes for this with the story and location.

I LOVED Alexandra's "Kilt Trip" so much that I was beyond excited to get early access to Scot and Bothered. Lets be honest, I will read anything set in Scotland/Ireland ... I mean, I can't write... but can someone please send me to Scotland to help check out the scenery with a super hot nature photographer?! Brooke is so lucky! Can't wait for my preordered copy to arrive in March!

I loved this second-chance romance. Brooke and Jack are thrown together for a book project seven years after a life-altering breakup. The setting is so nice and atmospheric, and the tropes are great (one tent, anyone?). I loved this sweet book that had the perfect amount of steam.

This book was a mixed bag for me. I didn’t hate it and I didn’t love it. It had some really good things going for it, but I also didn’t appreciate a few things. The biggest draw back was the story felt over dramatized. There was just so much drama it was distracting. I also felt that the characters weren’t a good match and they just didn’t work together for me. However, individually they were both great and I enjoyed them. The chemistry between them just needed to have more for me to enjoy it wholly. However, the ending of this one is one that I am glad I pushed through the not so good parts to get to. It was just so fantastic and satisfying. I also really enjoyed the setting, it was wonderful. And I greatly enjoyed that this was told via dual pov.

If you’re looking for a fun romcom with a great ending, and want it set in Scotland, then check this one out.


3.5 stars rounded up

Wow. Kiley has done it again! I loved Kilt Trip and I always get nervous for a second book of a series but this was pure magic! I am absolutely smitten with Jack and Brooke and hope one day to find a love that makes me feel safe, and so utterly supported. You always read about butterflies and nerves in romance but this couple made you feel grounded and special like you were in on a special secret with them. The description of Scotland makes me want to book a plane ticket and go tomorrow! The family in this book made me nostalgic for being close to home with a loving family and I think everyone should have an Auntie like the one in this story and her ending made me choke up hard because I loved her just as much as the characters. What’s a beautiful story of love and grief and love again. I could not recommend this book more!! Thank you for writing this, please keep this series going forever!

I felt conflicted while reading it. I didn’t really love either character. I didn’t feel connected to Brooke at all and didn’t really buy how she could still stay in the country..? Jack was fine. I did really love the descriptions of Scotland though. Very beautifully told but more character development would’ve sold me completely.

DNF
I’m about 50% into this book and I don’t know if it’s just the timing of when I picked this book up (too many distractions for me) or the pacing of the story that is not keeping my attention. The story goes back and forth between before and after in this couples relationship and we are able to gather that he was her TA at the University and they are not supposed to have a physical relationship. It apparently does evolve into one ( that hasn’t taken place yet in the story but the FMC eludes to this as the reason she leaves school) I normally love a flashback timeline but it slowed the pacing down and I didn’t feel their connection. Sorry. This one wasn’t for me.

I finished this book a few days ago, and as I’m sitting here ready to write the review I’m struggling to remember any emotions I was feeling about the plot or it’s characters. I like the general idea of following along with the two characters (Jack and Brooke) as they trek through the Scottish hillsides and find their way back to one another. Kiley did a great job of telling you how passionate the characters were about their dreams, even though they still feared taking the leap to jumpstart those careers. Even though the main narrator (Brooke) doesn’t find out about Mhairi’s sickness until the end of the book, she did a fine enough job portraying that grief and how that in turn caused her anxiety about starting out her own writing projects with her mentor no longer going to be around.
Overall the 2.75 rating is mostly because these characters didn’t stand out enough for me - they were simply two ideas on a page, never feeling fully flushed out enough for me to be rooting for them and dying to read the next chapter. Which is something that’s important to me, especially when you have a largely character driven book. There was just nothing that made me intensely passionate about this book.

I was so excited to read Scot and Bothered, but it fell short in my opinion. I was not invested in the leads because every few chapters it would go back in time, knowing there was a bad split between the two. I think if the book was written chronologically I would have liked their relationship better.

I know this might seem petty, but how on earth did Brooke get to stay in Scotland after she no longer qualified for a student visa? This kept niggling at my brain and I couldn't take the rest of the book seriously. If there was a sentence or a paragraph on how hard it was to get a work visa for the UK after losing her student visa, I would have accepted that.

The characters did not make wise decisions and pretty much wanted to get caught. Who takes their girlfriend to see their parents, knowing that their relationship is not allowed and knowing that their aunt is her professor? Then he decides that is the perfect time to announce to the family that he doesnt want to work for the family business, causing a bunch of awkwardness. Jack was constantly warning her that she could get in major trouble and she always brushed it aside. Then she doesnt even get expelled. She is forced to drop out of the class that she could have been cheating in, which is a fair punishment. She decided to drop out and blamed it all on him.

Overall, I felt like the main characters had lust for each other and they wouldnt last forever. They made really bad decisions so it was hard to root for their relationship.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of Scot and Bothered in exchange for an honest review.