Under Loch and Key
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

Arriving in Scotland on a spur-of-the-moment trip to learn more about her recently deceased dad, Duncan, Keyanna MacKay starts her visit with an encounter with a flock of traffic-impeding sheep from which she needs to be rescued by a very angry yet totally hot Lachlan Greer. Things proceed downhill from there when Key arrives at her family's farm and receives what can best be described as a frosty welcome from her grandmother, Rhona. The key question now for Key is whether she can find a way to thaw things out with Rhona without heating things up with Lachlan, who just happens to be working for her family. Ferguson (The Fake Mate, 2023) puts her own ingeniously clever and wonderfully whimsical spin on the Loch Ness monster legend and the Scottish romance with a delightful rom-com that delivers plenty of cheeky banter and heartfelt musings on the importance of family as well as love scenes hot enough to warm up the coldest Scottish loch.

A woman travels to Scotland to unravel her late father's past and meets a grumpy Scotsman with his own secrets. Keyanna MacKay was brought up by a single father who was always tight-lipped about his upbringing, so when he dies, she's left with no family. Key decides that learning about his life before he left Scotland would be a good way of keeping his memory close and perhaps connecting with long-lost relatives. She discovers a grandmother and other extended family in Scotland, but they're hardly welcoming. "I know who you are....And you shouldn't have come," are the first words her grandmother says to her. Lachlan Greer has little patience for the American he's already written off as clueless. When he witnesses Key's snubbing by her family members, his grumpy demeanor gives way to begrudging pity, and he starts helping her navigate the local community and try to build a bridge to her grandmother. At first, this book seems to be a contemporary romance with light magical undertones involving a family's mysterious curse, but it quickly devolves into a monster romance heavy on shock value. While monster romance can be fun, it doesn't work here. Key and Lachlan's chemistry is bumpy, and the pace of their relationship as they go from disastrous first impressions to a happily ever after is all over the place. Ferguson tries to combine too many elements--including a grumpy-meets-sunshine pairing, a mystery with sensitive family dynamics, and the complicated logistics of falling in love with a cryptid--leaving several threads not fully resolved. The setting is the most positive element, with Scotland's lush greenery providing the perfect whimsical background for hunting down long-buried family secrets. This slightly smutty monster romance feels more like a spectacle than a deliberately paced story. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Arriving in Scotland on a spur-of-the-moment trip to learn more about her recently deceased dad, Duncan, Keyanna MacKay starts her visit with an encounter with a flock of traffic-impeding sheep from which she needs to be rescued by a very angry yet totally hot Lachlan Greer. Things proceed downhill from there when Key arrives at her family's farm and receives what can best be described as a frosty welcome from her grandmother, Rhona. The key question now for Key is whether she can find a way to thaw things out with Rhona without heating things up with Lachlan, who just happens to be working for her family. Ferguson (The Fake Mate, 2023) puts her own ingeniously clever and wonderfully whimsical spin on the Loch Ness monster legend and the Scottish romance with a delightful rom-com that delivers plenty of cheeky banter and heartfelt musings on the importance of family as well as love scenes hot enough to warm up the coldest Scottish loch. Copyright 2024 Booklist Reviews.

Bestselling Ferguson (The Nanny; The Game Changer) blends rom-com with paranormal. Key MacKay travels to Scotland after her father's death, carrying with her the memory of a bedtime story he told her of how a monster once saved his life. Lachlan Greer has powerful secrets to keep, and an odd tie to Key. Prepub Alert. Copyright 2024 Library Journal