I cannot tell you how many times I have listened to this book... For research sake, of course! I love Sara Cate, and I love everything about her writing!! This book especially made me swoon!

Breathless.

This book made me breathless. And speechless. I have read every single one of Sara Cate's books, and they always make me feel some kind of way, but this one hit just right! It was so good, I turned right around and read it a second time through!

Killian Barclay is a recluse living at his family estate in Scotland. He is a dark and mysterious millionaire Playboy, often hosting scandalous parties in his den of debauchery. His parties are notorious for group s3x, out of control drinking and carrying on. There is spouse swapping and public group play, and drugs. And Killian is here for all of it, and he will never leave, and he will never change!

Sylvie Devereaux's boyfriend wants to know if his family heirlooms still exist in the estate, but not badly enough to go knock on the door and ask. But with a spine made of steel, Sylvie was never one to back down from a challenge. Instead of knocking, she figures she'll just sneak in, snap some pics, and return to the car with no one the wiser. And she almost succeeds, that is, until she is caught on the way out by a giant, looming, terrifying man who is thicker than a 200 year old tree. And hot too, she would love to climb him like a tree. That is, until he opens his mouth, accuses her of colluding with his sister, and stealing his property. Then he smashes her phone and scares her out of the mansion.

Sylvie leaves the Highlander's Manor, hoping to never see him again. And why would she? They live 4,000 miles apart! On different continents! Yet she is approached with a deal (after ditching her lousy, wimpy boyfriend). Marry the Brutish Highlander, and stay married for a year. If she can do that and keep him faithful, she will earn ten million dollars. With no place to go, and no money to her name, she agrees, and takes off for Scotland and marries the grumpy guy.

He is mean to her, and she snarks right back at him. But Killian is not what he seems on the surface, and Sylvie has a lot of learning to do if she wants to make this work for the entire year. Once they figure out how to work together, maybe they can both get their needs met before they both lose everything.

This spicy, sweet, adorable book made me so incredibly giddy in parts, frustratingly angry in others, and swoony as well. I wish this book had been another 500 pages with more banter, more fighting, more push and pull, more angsty moments, and as always, more spice and steam!

The audio book narrators did a fabulous job, I loved listening to every second! Can't wait to see what Sara Cate comes out with next!

Sara Cate is a smut queen and everyone needs to know it!!!!

Also this audiobook was fire and I want to reread it immediately.

Probably like a 4.8 out of 5? But I’ll round up for Mother.

Sara Cate’s writing is on another level. I have read and loved everything she’s published so far and Keep Me is no exception. I read it once and listened to it once before publication and both times I devoured the entire book in one sitting.

The brooding, reclusive Scottish hero who hasn’t left his mysterious manor is everything I didn’t know I wanted in a MMC. I’ll admit that on my first read through I didn’t catch that the FMC is only 25 and it’s making me feel old because when I heard that I was like girl stop worrying about figuring out your life, you shouldn’t have it together yet. My only minor complaint is that I wish they had been a little more involved in the depraved shenanigans that were teased about in the beginning of this book.

Narration: I can’t think of anyone better to help bring this story to life than Will Watt. He’s fantastic. Kelli Tager is new to me and while I don’t have any complaints, I probably won’t be seeking out books for her narration specifically.

Thanks to Sourcebooks, Dreamscape Media, Sara Cate and her team as well as NetGalley, Edelweiss, and Libro.FM for providing me early copies to review.

I looove me some Sara Cate but I’ve never listened to one on audio - it was a treat. Big thanks to both Netgalley and Libro for gifting me the ALC to listen to!

After finding out her boyfriend has been sleeping with her best friend, Sylvie decides to take up a fake marriage offer from a wealthy Scottish family. Stay married to Killian Barclay for one year and inherit 10 million dollars. The catch? She has to convince him to give up his family home… which comes with some complications to say the least.

I did have a very hard time with the fact that the MMC called the FMC an “ugly cow” wayy too many times but I eventually got over that. It wasn’t my fave Sara Cate but I enjoyed it!

This book gave me major Beauty and the Beast vibes, and I absolutely loved it! The Scottish accents in the audiobook were fabulously done, adding an extra layer of immersion that made the story even more enjoyable. Killian is deliciously grumpy, and when you pair that with a deep, brooding Scottish brogue? Absolute perfection. I was melting as I listened.

The dynamic between Killian and Sylvie crackled with tension and chemistry from the very start. They are truly the definition of that fine line between love and hate—constantly at odds, yet undeniably drawn to each other. Their journey from animosity to something deeper was so well-done, with every heated argument and lingering glance making their eventual connection so so satisfying!

Sylvie Devereaux is the daughter of famous yet neglectful parents. She is tough as nails and keeps everyone at arm’s length. During a trip to Scotland, Sylvie decides to break into the Barclay Manor to get a glimpse of a famous heirloom…except, she doesn’t anticipate getting caught by the grumpy man that lives there.

Killian Barclay lives at Barclay Manor and wants to be left the hell alone. He’s suffering from a traumatic past and is riddled with guilt. His family attempts to hatch a plan to get him out of the house…but it involves marrying the woman who broke into his home. Will their marriage of convenience last long enough to complete the contract or will they tear each other apart before time’s up?

I really enjoyed this book! Sylvie was such a headstrong character with neglectful parents and Killian was a grumpy man with a history of trauma/grief. The banter was so fun and I loved how both of them progressed as characters. The spice was spicyyy and I was here for it! I will definitely be reading more by Sara Cate!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen to an Advanced Listener’s Copy (ALC) in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

Okay this book just wasn't for me. I wasn't really into the story or the characters. The premise of a marriage of convenience is one of my favourite tropes but the way this one came about was not it.

I did really like the narrators and the audiobook itself was really well done.

This audiobook is amazing! The narrators did a great job bringing the characters to life. It had all the feels.

Sylvie and her then boyfriend are visiting Scotland when she sneaks into a mansion to get a peak at an antique typewriter and was caught by the brutish owner. Weeks later she has rid herself of her cheating boyfriend when the family of the owner of the mansion finds her and has a proposal for her. Come back to Scotland and marry their brother for a year for $$ to keep their aunt happy. Too bad Killian is so, so unhinged and does everything he can to make her life miserable. Until they come together after visiting his aunt and she confronts her. When Killian and Sylvie come together they first do so in hate until it turns into love and then when they seem to be moving along there is a stumble and secrets revealed. Sylvie ends up back in the states and the souls who were healing and working so well together are not working too well apart. Make sure you read/listen to this one all the way to the end, you will not be disappointed.

I cannot wait to see where this series take me next!

✨ Keep Me by Sara Cate ✨

Oh how I loved this book!! I was immediately sucked into Killian and Sylvie's story- especially since they meet while she's breaking and entering into his Scottish castle. It was so so good!

"𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶....𝘐'𝘮 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥."

Killian is unable to leave his castle after a traumatic event. After years of being alone, his family sets up a marriage of convenience with Sylvie. Sylvie is an American woman who finds out her boyfriend cheated on her and after years of abuse from her highly successful artistic parents, decided to move into the caste and be married to Killian for a year in exchange for the money she needs to start over.

"𝘚𝘰 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘉𝘪𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭...𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦."

Their dislike for each other was so believable at the beginning- it was the definition of hurt people will hurt people. But I was so invested in both of their personal growth as they let each other in and started healing all their hurt. The ending was also everything I could have wanted and more. From the emotional moments to the mind blowing spice, this was a fantastic marriage of convenience romance in a swoony location.

You should check it out if you like:

✨ Scottish Hero
✨ Marriage of Convenience
✨ Enemies to Lovers
✨ Mental Health Rep
✨ BDSM
✨ Family Dynamics
✨ Forced Proximity

📚 Book: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
🎧 Audio: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
🔥Spice Rating: 🖤

🎧 𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼...
If a book takes place in Scotland and the narrator has a Scottish accent, you know I'm going to say the audiobook made the book better!! This book is no exception. I loveddd Will Watt and Kelli Tager in this audiobook. They were both new narrators for me and I loved how they brought life to these characters and this story. Their accents were incredible and I cannot recommend it enough.

Huge thank you to Sara Cate and Dreamscape Media for this gifted audiobook.


Spice Rating
🤍 clean romance
💗 closed door/ fade to black
❤️ spicy content (a few detailed scenes)
❤️‍🔥 explicit, play-by-play (major part of the plot)
🖤 graphic, more than vanilla

There were some fun spicy scenes and I loved how the main characters met, very Goldilocks. I thought the ending was perfect for these characters. I would definitely read more of Sara Cate's work in the future.

Kelli Tager and Will Watt did a good job narrating the story, Will's Scottish accent at times sounded more Nordic than Scottish, but it was still enjoyable.

🎧Song Pairing: Lights On - H.E.R.

💭What I thought would happen:

We can all collectively laugh at the fact that I thought this would be a YA THRILLER. Yup. I made a judgement error 😂

📖What actually happens:

😈Breaking and entering
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Grumpy Scotsman
👑Entitled rich woman
💍Marriage arrangement
🌶️Spicy (light BDSM)
🩷Real feelings happen

🗯Thoughts/sassy musings:

Well ladies I said 2025 would be the year I step out of my little reading comfort zone. So once some light was shed on the fact that this book was pure se❌❌ I was like oooo Nelly! Brace for impact! Kidding.

All in all it wasn’t even as hawt hawt as I thought it would be but it definitely had Jamie glancing over as I was performing a data analysis and listening at the same time. Raise your hand if you love to shock your husband with your books 🙋🏼‍♀️

Anyways, ending ended up being much more touching and sweet and the book did have some depth to it. Zero complaints (shocking right?!)

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

This is my 2nd Sara read. Again this was ok. I think the main problem is that I didn't see the connection between the main characters and how they became a marriage of convivence was to far fetched for me. Sylvie's parents were annoying but all of the side characters were nothing noteworthy about. The middle part dragged and I just the story felt a bit incomplete or even rushed and with some missing information especially with Killian's Aunt. I need more substance with this one.

Narrators Kelli Tager; Will Watt were perfect.

I received this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Keep Me
by Sara Cate
Narrated by Kelli Tager; Will Watt

Keep Me by Sara Cate was overall a 3.5/5 stars novel for me. The plot was decent, but quite predictable. That's not to say that it wasn't worth a listen. It was, it just didn't hold any real surprises for me. Sylvie first meets Killian when she's visiting Scotland with her boyfriend and breaks into Killian's manor to steal a typewriter. Not quite sure what the whole point of that was, but she gets caught. Fast forward to Sylvie being approached to marry Killian for a year to ultimately get him kicked out of his house, and for doing so, she is set to receive a nice chunk of change. It takes a bit, but Sylvie and Killian do get married and eventually, their attraction wins. There's a bit of kink and a bit of trauma, but overall it was an enjoyable listen. I didn't get the gut punch like I do sometimes when you really connect with characters and they then feel heartache, but with a bit more character development, that could have been possible.

The narration was well done and I felt that it definitely added to the listening of the story. I'd be interested to listen to book 2 to see what happens next with the two of them. Thanks so much to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and the author for the chance to listen to and review this ARC!

Sara Cate can do no wrong. This Beauty and the Beast type book set in a Scotland castle is just what my romance loving heart needed. And the audio? Absolutely delectable and so wonderful! Sara is the master of romance and this is an instant classic!

My feelings about this book are further proof why I just don’t think romance is my genre.

A lot of the plot devices and details that brought this story along were just nonsense. I’m expected to believe that two people are going to spend three weeks in Scotland to SEE a typewriter? I don’t know, it just felt like I didn’t believe a thing that happened in this book.

The characters were likable enough but the banter that made these characters enemies was overkill in my opinion.

The smut in this book was okay. I could take it or leave it.

Overall, this one was just not for me. I probably should have DNF.

There is something about a grumpy/grumpy dynamic that is just not done enough in romance, and I loveddddd how well this one did it!

💍 Marriage of Convenience
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Grumpy X Grumpy
💍 Kinky Vibes
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scottish Broody Billionaire
💍 Enemies to Lovers
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Forced Proximity

These two truly do get married against their wills, and yet even with all the grumpiness and hate towards each other, the tension is to not be ignored. And seeing their hatred morph in to love really was such a beautiful transition.

The 3rd act breakup was something that truly was necessary here, and she did make it lasttttt - but when you see how it pays off, it is all worth it!

Killian and Silvie meet under very unusual circumstances. When fate throws them another curve ball they come back together as they both need something only marrying the other will get them. I loved how supportive and possessive Killian is while Silvie is suck a free spirit who ends up just really wanting what is best for them both no matter the cost. Kelli and Will really bring their all to these characters in the audiobook giving Sara Cate another amazing audio for everyone to rave about!!

What makes this story stand out is its emotional depth. Both protagonists have been scarred by their pasts, and watching them navigate trust, love, and their own insecurities adds layers to what could have been a straightforward romance. The supporting cast, especially Killian’s meddling family, brings humor and warmth, balancing the story’s heavier themes.

The slow burn between Sylvie and Killian builds delicious tension, and the payoff is worth every twist and turn. Their chemistry is electric, with plenty of banter, passion, and heartfelt moments to keep you hooked.

If you’re a fan of steamy, character-driven romances with a touch of high-stakes drama, [Insert Title] will sweep you off your feet. This isn’t just a love story—it’s a tale of healing, second chances, and the power of vulnerability. Highly recommended!