This was my first book by Alexandra Kiley and she will now by on my repeat read list! As someone planning a trip to Scotland, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Brooke and Jack's trek across the Isle of Skye. Even through the pages, you can feel the cozy charm of Edinburgh and the Isle of Skye. This book jumps between past and present and is does well in setting up their relationship as well as building up to what ultimately caused their downfall.

arc's not being formatted normally when i transfer them to kindle is my nightmare...

this seems like a book that would be right up my alley but something about it just threw me a bit. i am blaming the formatting but it could also be the fact that i was reading another second chance romance at the same time and that one had a better plot line. this was just kinda hard for me to follow and i wish that i was more in love with it because everything about it usually would work for me. the vibes were there and the tension was there but i just couldn't get into it... sorryyyyy.....

This book was mildly formulaic as a typical romantic story most of the problems could have been solved by open and honest communication.
That being said the now and then formatting of the chapters sometimes disrupted the flow of the narrative, but the then scenes add understanding and depth to the characters.
It was a pleasant diversion and the scenery described on the pages was detailed enough for a clear picture of Skye and Scotland. You will root for them while wanting to yell "just talk to each other". pleasant and diverting read overall a nice break for anyone seeking an escape.

Scot and Bothered by Alexandra Kiley

Releases March 5

Thank you @canarystreetpress and @netgalley for the ARC!

Rating: 4.5 stars rounded up

Review: I absolutely loved this book. I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump, so picking up any new book is daunting for me right now. But I picked this one up late last night and absolutely devoured it. I laughed, I cried, I laughed some more. I loved the dynamic between Jack and Brooke, both in the past and present. I loved Mhairi’s character and how honest she was throughout. I’m a sucker for a second chance romance and this was an amazing one.

Synopsis: Brooke Sinclair’s dream of being a published author derailed when she was expelled from the University of Edinburgh seven years ago. Now a ghostwriter, she sticks to other people’s stories. But when her college mentor, Mhairi McCallister, needs a cowriter for her memoir about Scotland’s most challenging trek, Brooke will do anything for the opportunity—including agreeing to hike the rugged Skye Trail for authenticity’s sake. What she doesn't know is that the nature photographer who’ll join her is Jack Sutherland, the teaching assistant who shattered Brooke’s writing career—and her heart.

Between falling for a student despite university rules and walking away from his family’s tour-guiding business to follow his photography dreams, Jack is desperate to prove he didn’t disappoint everyone for nothing. And he can’t ignore his aunt Mhairi’s final wishes for her memoir. Even if it means acting as guide and storyteller for the one who got away. Even if it means keeping secrets about Mhairi’s health.

As Jack and Brooke head into the solitude of the sweeping Scottish landscape, they’re forced to confront old feelings that haven’t disappeared with time. But can two weeks and eighty miles heal years of unspoken hurt and offer a second chance at the end of the trail?

˗ˏˋ 📸 ˎˊ˗ Thank you Netgalley and Canary Press for the opportunity to read and review this early! ˗ˏˋ 📸 ˎˊ˗


˙✧˖°📸⋆｡˚ "𝓘'𝓿𝓮 𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓽𝓸𝓸 𝓶𝓾𝓬𝓱 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓻𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓹𝓮𝓸𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓹𝔂, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝓘 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓲𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓘 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝔂𝓸𝓾." ˙✧˖°📸⋆｡˚


Tropes:
📷 Second Chance Romance
📷 Hiking Trip
📷 Forced Proximity
📷 One Tent Trope
📷 Found Family

Non-Spoiler Thoughts:
📷 This was a really sweet and tender book about two people who had a misunderstanding and just couldn't get their timing right. The setting of Scot and Bothered was just as beautiful and atmospheric as Kilt Trip, and returning to it was a breath of fresh air. While the conflict didn't hit super hard for me, the resolution did. The romance on the trail was so sweet, and watching these two people with such long history kind of just fall back into it like no time had passed just felt romantic. This was such a fun, heartfelt story, and overall a good time.

SCOT AND BOTHERED is a beautiful second-chance love story filled with emotional depth and delicious tension. A romance that has so much realness and rawness to it that it was very easy to adore and care about the characters. Even though I'm not a ghostwriter traveling the Skye Trail with the handsome and sweet man who broke my heart when at the time he thought his choice was actually going to help me. I found the story very relatable when it comes to struggling your direction in life when your life didn't turn out to how you thought it would be now. Surrounded by the breath-taking Scotland landscape, Brooke and Jack reignite their connection that they never actually lost seven years later, and in the process learn more about the kind of lives they want to live.

I was deeply invested in their relationship and watching it evolve and just wanted to sign every time they were closer to each other or just looking at one another. I loved so many moments and quotes in the book but my favorite may just be: "Trust that the thing you love will take you where you need to be." I really enjoyed the beautiful writing and can't wait to read whatever the author decides to grant us with next!!

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book had me at coos. But seriously, I immensely enjoyed the emotional rollercoaster the story took me on.
Cannot wait until my shelf trophy copy arrives.

After reading Kilt Trip, I knew I would love to read this story and see the characters I grew to love! This was such a sweet and sad story at the same time. Brooke and Jack's flashbacks really made this story whole - their connection, their slow-burn, the breakup... it made the present story so much deeper.

However, I did feel like there wasn't a lot of romance in the present storyline. I also felt like the seven-year gap between them breaking up to the present felt like a very long time... I just think it is unrealistic that they never would have talked during that whole time, especially with Brooke being so close to Jack's aunt.

Overall, this was a cute story and I loved the one-tent, traveling-together tropes that were included!

Scot and Bothered follows Logan’s brother Jack and his ex, Brooke. Mhairi, Brooke’s mentor, encourages her to hike the Skye Trail to gain perspective for the memoir she is co-authoring after years of only ghost writing. Jack (her ex) unexpectedly joins her on the trip when the initial photographer for the book gets injured and Mhairi, his aunt, calls in a favor.

I enjoyed this novel even more than Kilt Trip, and am excited to listen to the audio version when it releases. It is duel timeline, alternating between when they first met in college and present day. It is a story of second chances, forgiveness, and rebuilding of confidence in themselves and each other. Not to mention the Scotland setting always makes for gorgeous descriptions along the way!

I would (and have) recommend this book to those who love a second-chance romance (this coming from someone who does not always enjoy this trope)!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an advanced copy of this book! This one was a fun read that really tugged on my heartstrings. I think I felt the whole conflict of the story was just too unrealistic, and honestly they did the FMC dirty with that! I think a few parts just felt a little too cheesy, but it has some extremely vulnerable and emotional parts that came out of nowhere. It definitely gave me the travel bug again and I’m dying to go back to Scotland now 🥹 3.5/5 Stars

I loved this second chance romance along the Skye trail in Scotland reunites lovers after seven years. Brooke and Jack first meet in college and although the sparks immediately fly at a Halloween party meet-cute, their romance is forbidden when they discover he is a TA and she is a student. A horrible falling out leads to a derailment of their career paths.

After years as a ghostwriter, Brooke is finally trying to fulfill her dream of publishing a book with her name on it if she can endure the week long trek of the Skye trail. The only problem? Her long lost love is the hired photographer that will accompany her. The trail is full of fun tropes involving one tent, one shared bunk bed, overcoming the fear of traversing the Bad Step together, and relearning all of the reasons they fell each other in the first place.

This story was incredibly romantic. It’s is a stand alone, but does involve cameos of Jack’s brother Logan and his love Addie (from Kiley’s first novel Kilt Trip). The depiction of the trail and all of its beauty made me want to book a trip to Skye asap. It was fun to follow along with each of the characters internal conflict of following their dreams or taking the safe path, in both professions and in love.

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

This book was so beautiful and emotional. I loved the second-chance romance so much. It has dual POVs and dual timelines, which turned out to be fantastic. I really liked that we got to experience their first meeting, what happened afterward, and how they felt about it all. The chemistry between both characters is so steamy, and you can tell their bond is stronger than ever. I knew this was going to be a 5-star book because I absolutely loved Kilt Trip.
The pacing was done well, and the character development was perfect for this book.
B's story was really relatable, and I can definitely understand the feeling of wanting more in life and trying to chase your dreams before they are gone. Jack's story was so sad, and I really felt for him during this book. His family wanting so much from him but also him not wanting the same things they wanted was pretty relatable.
The amount of crying I cried during this book was ridiculous, but I would definitely re-read this book so many times.

Thank you Net Galley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review,

This book is a lovely second chance romance with very likeable characters.
The setting is Scotland, and it makes you want to go buy a ticket tomorrow.

Can definitely recommend this one, and will be keeping an eye out for future books from this author!

This was an emotional second-chance story that had a lot of heartache and longing. I wanted more depth into the characters and in their past relationship, but I really enjoyed the “now” timeline and the journey they went through together. The setting in Scotland was fantastic and I would read many more books like this, it was lovely. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to read and review.

4 ⭐️

Thank you so much to Harlequin Trade Publishing & Netgalley for the gifted eARC!

This book was beautiful! I love the second chance romance trope, and I thought that the dual timeline was a nice addition to it! I really enjoyed getting to read about the start of Brooke and Jack's relationship, and then getting to see how they found each other again.

The descriptions of Scotland were so detailed and I loved it! This book made me feel like I was really there.

I loved the relationship between Brooke and Jack, and their individual relationships with Mhairi were so sweet.

I definitely recommend this book and i'll be checking out more from Alexandra!

tropes:
💗 second chance romance
✨ dual timeline
⛺️ one tent

3.5 ⭐️
Thank you so much HTP, Canary Street Press, the author, and Netgalley for letting me read this advance copy of Scot and Bothered!
This book was such a wonderful journey. Both Jack and Brooke are struggling to live their dreams. Him as a successful photographer and her as a published author. Jacks’s aunt is also Brooke’s mentor and has them both go on the Skye trail to help Brooke get a better sense of the trail for Mhairi’s book she is ghostwriting. Problem is they broke up years ago and she has vowed to never speak to him again.
My favorite part of this book was the journeys they both went on. Jack forging his own path away from his family being a photographer, and Brooke fighting to find her own voice as an author. Mhairi was such a good character and I loved how she pushed our couple together and all the wonderful advice she gave to both of them.
I think I wanted more in the now timeline than in the then timeline and wanted some more chapters of their adventures and self discovery during the trail.
The vibes were immaculate and I enjoyed Alexandra Kiley’s writing so much. One tent trope is now one of my new favorites 🥰
Definitely recommend if you are looking for a fun, romantic, Scottish adventure with a lot of heart!

I received an ARC of Scot and Bothered from NetGalley. Reading this story felt like receiving a warm hug. I enjoyed the back and forth between Jack and Brooke’s perspectives. I think the varying perspectives shows that often times both individuals have good intentions but it gets lost in translation sometimes. I also enjoyed the varying theme of growth as each character matured and found their own path. The theme of grief was hinted throughout as well and done very well. A must read for 2025!

So beautiful! I felt like I was there on the crazy hikes, watching the beautiful sunrise, the Milky Way, swimming in freezing cold water….
The second chance romance was lovely even though I usually really dislike that trope. But it was the scenery the emotional depth, amd Aunt Mhairi that really stole the show for me.

You’ll enjoy this if you enjoy…
-second chances
-forbidden romance
-strong family ties
-camping/hiking
-poetic language

Note on content-I personally skipped the steamier scenes and didn’t feel like I missed anything critical to the plot

I received an advance reader copy (ARC) of *Scot and Bothered* in exchange for my honest opinion, and I could not put this book down! As someone who loves both Scotland and Colorado, I truly appreciated the author's affection for both settings. The chemistry between Brooke and Jack was as delightful as a hairy coo, and I was rooting for their reconciliation the entire time they were backpacking together. This book was heartfelt, encouraging, and just the right amount of spicy.

Alexandra Kiley has managed to make every character in this charming novel someone I would want to spend time with. I especially loved the relationship between Brooke and Mhairi.

I would also like to express my gratitude to Harlequin Trade Publishing | Canary Street Press for providing the ARC.

A second-chance, forced proximity romance - the MCs do a difficult hiking trail together for work. If you liked People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry, you'll like this one too!

The good -
I loved the emotional journey the MCs took to figure out what they wanted in life versus what held them back all these years.

The not so good, for me -
It was a dual past/present narration, and the purpose of the past chapters was to show their initial spark + what caused the breakup. The problem for me was that, the cause of the breakup was pretty clear right at the start, and it was borderline agony waiting for that "past" chapter to come up -- this distracted me from enjoying the actual romance between the characters. To be fair, not everyone will have this problem, it's probably specific to people with anxiety like me?

TWs - terminal illness of a loved one

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!