A Highlander Walks into a Bar by Laura Trentham book review

This book is among my favorites this summer! I do love all things Scottish, so this book had a lot going for it for me with just the cover and title! This story is a blend of the Highlands and southern hospitality. Highland, Georgia is a small town that embraces it’s Scottish heritage and brings in tourists because of it. Rose and her daughter Isabel (Izzy) have been keeping a large estate going by continuing the tradition of the annual Highland festival. The annual festival is a lot of work and Rose decides to take a vacation before the mad dash to the end. When Izzy picks her mother up at the airport, she is not expecting her mom to have brought home a Highlander. They claim it was love at first sight, but Izzy and Gareth’s nephew, Alasdair are not quite as trusting of the whole arrangement. 

It becomes pretty apparent to the reader that Gareth and Alasdair are keeping secrets. But so do Rose and Izzy. Neither party wants the other party to take advantage of their family. Isabel thinks Gareth might be interested in the estate and Alasdair thinks Rose might be interest in what Gareth left behind in Scotland. Alasdair decides to help Izzy with the final plans for the Highland Games and they notice the sparks between. In fact, they are quite hard to ignore. Alasdair is a hot Scotsman who looks good in his regular work clothes, but even better in a kilt! There was so much fun and humor in this story. Lots of laugh out loud moments and lots of really sweet moments. Izzy has her fair share of awkward moments and as a reader you will feel embarrassed right alongside of her. Fortunately, Alasdair thinks her personality and quirkiness are endearing and he enjoys spending time with Izzy. 

There is a little bit of a mystery going on as Alasdair inadvertently sets off a chain of events that will make Izzy and Rose very mad at him. But part of the fun is watching Alasdair work towards making changes in his life that will bring him closer to his family and find a woman that he genuinely cares for. Izzy and Alasdair bring out the best in each other and their personalities balance each other out. I like the secondary romance between Rose and Gareth and some characters are introduced that will be part of the next book. Imagining Alasdair’s accent and good looks make this for a swoon worthy read. He could very well be your next book boyfriend. The author does a nice job ending the first story, but setting up readers for book two.

Charmer in Chaps by Julia London book review

Oh man, I can’t believe it’s been so long since I have written a review. Work and conferences have gotten in the way of my fun reading and reviewing. So, I am trying to catch up and write about some of the books I have loved this summer!

I’m a fan of Julia London, so I was more than willing to give this book a try. She did not disappoint. Our main characters in this book are Ella and Luca. The story is set in Texas and it was full of non-traditional surprises throughout the story. While there are is a lot of chemistry between our two characters and a HEA love story, the author tackles some tough issues. The author does a wonderful job with the character’s back stories and talks about things we don’t always delve into in romance books. Ella came back to where she grew up somewhat reluctantly because she inherited a house from her grandma. She does not have money to fix it all up, or really any money for anything. Ella was a foster kid as she was growing up, but she managed to go to college and get an accounting degree. As her car dies on the side of the road, Luca Prince is the one who finds her.

Luca comes from one of the richest families in their town. He was a star athlete, had access to whatever he wanted, and went through women like crazy. People don’t expect much from Luca because he was never really good at school and people just assume he is not very smart. He gets by on his looks. However, readers will find out that Luca can’t read because he has dyslexia and that is why he did not do well in school. His family is embarrassed by his lack of goals in life. Little do they know that Luca is learning how to read so that he can get into environmental conservation and undo some of the damage his family has done to the land over the years.

Ella and Luca kissed once upon a time in high school. Ella remembers every little detail and Luca does not seem to even remember that he went to high school with her. No reader will be able to resist the charm and flirtatious nature of this hot cowboy! Grab a fan and an ice cold drink because hot damn do sparks fly once Ella starts letting Luca into her life a little bit. They are both cautious about jumping into any sort of relationship with anyone, but Luca’s persistence pays off. I love that Ella worked so hard to make it on her own. She is tough and smart and able to fend for herself. I love that Luca was a male character who was working on getting help with reading. As a librarian, I know this is a problem, but so many adults do not ask for the help they need. So, it’s really progressive that the author wrote it into her story. It’s a perfect summer read for many reasons. You can even pretend you are in Texas by the ranch with all this summer heat! I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.