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.