Melonie Johnson

“Playful, passionate, and positively unputdownable!”—New York Times bestselling author Christina Lauren IT’S TIME TO FLIRT WITH A MAN IN A KILT Cassie Crow, a pop-culture reporter for a TV talk show, is focused on becoming a “serious” journalist. But when she stumbles into a kilted Highlander with a killer accent, Cassie decides that taking one night off from work and spending it with a sexy Scot couldn’t hurt. . . Logan Reid has built a career on his charm, hosting a series of off-the-wall hijinks on the Web. But when the Scottish prankster meets the all-American, equal parts intelligent and irresistible Cassie, Logan realizes that one night of fun won’t be enough. Could it be that this career-focused, commitment-phobic couple is finally ready to take a chance at true and lasting love? “Witty, sexy, and oh-so-fun. . .Melonie Johnson is an addictive new voice in contemporary romance.” —New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Julie Ann Walker

Getting Hot with the Scot

Lauren Sullivan

Content warnings: (view spoiler)[fatphobia and thinphobia (a minor character is a model so we get both sides of the coin), death of a parent (during childhood) (hide spoiler)]

I’m not a big fan of Scottish or highlander romances, but the cover was so gorgeous and the blurb so intriguing that I had to read it. While I had some issues with it, overall this is a light, funny, and enjoyable read.

While wandering off on a tour of a Scottish castle, Cassie stumbles upon a man done up in Highlander gear – and ends up kissing him. Turns out it’s part of a skit meant to boost the female viewership of Logan’s internet show. If Logan can show that he can attract that demographic, he’s basically guaranteed a show on a major US network. But Cassie refuses to sign the waiver, fearing it would compromise her job as a reporter back in Chicago, leading Logan to basically hunt her down. One thing leads to another, and soon Logan’s questioning which is more important – his electric chemistry with Cassie, or the waiver.

“Cassie thought what she’d wanted was a one-night stand, had believed the experience of a hot night of foreign action would fill that place in her that, for years, had sat waiting, wanting more . . . needing more. But tonight, this perfect shining jewel of a night with Logan, this was what she’d been waiting for. This was the souvenir she’d craved, and the memory she would keep with her always.”

My absolute favorite thing about Cassie was that she was a romance reader herself. I also liked Cassie’s career-mindedness, and I really enjoyed all the parts related to that and how she was trying to go from covering “fluff” to more serious topics. Her tenacity was another trait I admired, especially how she turned a bad situation into a win for herself. On the complete opposite spectrum, Logan’s a prankster at heart, and that, and his love for his family, was rather endearing to me. It also makes him a bit of a Peter Pan, though, willing to live in the now and ignore the future, and that includes things like making commitments. Despite good reasons for his “seize the day” mentality, he was, at times, so seriously dismissive of Cassie’s feelings that I had a hard time with him. Those reasons also made him desperate to prove himself with his show, a trait he shared with Cassie that led to their main conflict.

“Maybe that was what Cassie needed to find—a hearty meal to sustain her, one with enough spice to keep things interesting. A relationship with a man she could look to build a life with, not a fling with a sexy Scot who had the potential to screw up her plans before she even got the chance to execute them.
Logan wasn’t an appetizer—he was dessert—sweet and sinful and totally bad for her.”

And that’s where my main issue with the book comes in. While I felt like their conflict was very realistic – who hasn’t had to deal with career vs relationship? – I felt like they did a poor job communicating about it. Neither person had much previous experience with romantic relationships, and it really showed. Logan was reluctant to tell Cassie exactly why he’s so desperate to get that particular clip on the air, and Cassie also didn’t seem willing to explain why that would be so bad for her career (though, for that part, I think Logan would’ve understood immediately if he hadn’t been so immature). I just wanted them to sit down and talk it out, and by the time they actually did, it was the end of the book. It felt a bit like they were going around in circles, and it made parts of the book move pretty slowly for me.

I also had a minor quibble with the whole premise behind the book. The multi-country trip is a result of a decade-old pact by a group of friends from college. The five friends all agreed to take a trip five years after graduating college to five European countries. The, well, upper-class-ness of this was a bit eyebrow-raising for me. How many people in their late twenties are able to take that much time off from work, let alone afford the contemporary equivalent of a grand tour? Oh, also, due to one of the friends’ family connections, they get to stay for free in a series of posh hotel suites. I think most readers will appreciate the escapist quality of it all, but it added a layer of disconnect for me.

While the trip didn’t sit well with me, I did enjoy the secondary characters. Logan’s family was a high point of the book for me, especially Janet. I also liked Cassie’s friends, though I’ll be honest – I kept getting them confused. I think this is an effect of having so many characters that need to be introduce, since it is the first in a series. There were times, though, that I was almost more interested in Cassie’s friend Bonnie and Logan’s friend Theo (and all The Little Mermaid jokes), who are, naturally, the starring couple in the next book.

Overall, while I did enjoy the book, the communication issues were a problem for me, enough to drop it down a star. If that’s not something that bothers you, I think you’re going to a have a great time with this book. Despite that, I’m very interested in the next book, especially since Bonnie and Theo are the next couple!

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

b.andherbooks

I received a free copy in exchange for a fair review.

A career focused woman on a grand tour of Europe with her gaggle of girlfriends finally has the fling she packed her king-size box of condoms for with a Hot Scot.

While this story had moments I loved, especially the "meet cute" where Logan Reid pretends to be a time-traveling Highlander, popping out of a secret passageway in the castle Cassie is touring with her friends, I overall found the story to be rambling and uneven.

I detested that Cassie's girlfriend gave out Cassie's phone number to Logan without her consent or knowledge and got REALLY mad when the hotel desk clerk gave out Cassie's hotel floor and almost room number to Logan and his best friend just because they flirted with her. Can we not do this in 2019? I appreciate the author having Logan acknowledge this behavior as stalker-ish at best, dangerous at worst, but the fact he did it anyways made him suspect as a hero to me. I also didn't like the continued concern Cassie had that Logan would ask her to sign a waiver to release the video footage of their makeout for his show.
 
He continues this behavior by coming to Chicago after finding out additional information about Cassie, and doesn't tell her he's in town until he's already there.

There were one too many "break" moments where Logan would screw up, Cassie would tell him to go away, and then she'd easily forgive him. Both Cassie and Logan have such interesting careers and both felt underdeveloped and not as central to the story as I would have hoped. I felt there was too much buildup of the obvious next book romance between Cassie's engaged friend and Logan's British BFF. Less of them and more of the central couple please.

Also, one of Cassie's MANY girlfriend's (I think there is five? It was hard to tell them apart) swished her "strawberry-blonde ponytail" at least five to six times in the first part of the book. I know her hair color better than I know Cassie.

I think the author shows promise, but I was not swept away by this story despite the great premise.

Jolie

When I first saw the title of Getting Hot with the Scot, I was in love. I am a complete Anglophile. I love anything (and everything) that comes from England, Ireland or Scotland. I figured I was in for a treat. For the most part, I was. There were a few things that I didn’t like about the book. But other than that, I thought Getting Hot with the Scot was a delight to read.

I liked Cassie, even though she gave off some desperate vibes at the beginning of the book. She went on her dream trip expecting to have a fling. I don’t know about you, but that is not something I expect when I go on vacation. Flings, well, they happen. You can’t force them. I did like that she brought an industrial size box of condoms with her. While I agreed with her about being filmed, I also didn’t see the harm in letting them do it. I also understood her freak out over seeing the release form in Logan’s jacket pocket. If I had spent 2 days with a guy and found that out, I would have reacted the same way.

I liked Chicago Cassie better than Trip Cassie. She was more real. More relatable. She seemed more in control than when she was on the trip. Saying that I did think her reaction to seeing the video online was overboard. She signed a release. You would think that working on TV would have prepared her for that. It irritated me a little bit. But, I got over it. By the end of the book, Cassie was the most real that she was the entire book. I was able to connect to her the most at that point.

Logan, I didn’t care for. Imagine that, not caring for a hot Scottish man. It killed me inside to realize that. He came across as an immature prankster who only cared about his gratification. I also got some major stalker vibes through the book. He followed Cassie to her hotel. Got Theo to find out that they were staying there and booked a room. Then pretended to run into her. Then, he tracked her down in Chicago. When I say tracked her down, he called her. But still, he googled where she worked and found that where he was going was in the same building. Then debated showing up at her job!! No thank you. His immaturity shown through when he released the video of him and Cassie kissing in the castle. He was so wasted he couldn’t remember it. Drove me nuts. I wanted to smack him upside the head and say “Why, why did you do it?“

The sexual tension was high in this book. From their first kiss, Cassie and Logan had it going on. The author was able to keep the spark going throughout the book. Intense sexual tension leads to some pretty awesome sex scenes. Their first “date“, they had sex. Logan had Cassie bent over a desk. Then there was the supply closet in the bar scene. Where Logan almost, but not quite, had unprotected sex with Cassie. Thankfully, the author didn’t go there. Even the makeup sex was hot!!

I had a love/hate relationship with the Scottish part of the book. I loved that it was set in the Highlands. I loved that the author had Logan, Janet and Mam speak like they were from there. I tend to read with accents, so that helped with me a lot. I loved that the Scottish traditions were detailed. But, I didn’t like having to google/look up words and holidays. Like clooties. I had no flipping idea what they were. I had to look them up. And so you guys don’t have too, click here for the link. I wish that there was a glossary or something at the end of the book. It would have helped.

The end of the book was sweet. I loved the talk that Mam gave Logan. He needed it. He needed to be told what she told him. I couldn’t stand Tiffany after what she did to Cassie. I was hoping that she got fired. The direction that Cassie’s career went was awesome!! What I loved, even more, was what Logan did during the New Years celebration. My heart melted.

My final impression of Getting Hot with the Scotis this. It is a cute romance. The chemistry between Logan and Cassie was electric. I did find that Logan was immature. He also gave off stalkerish vibes. I also found that Cassie tended to react and then think about what she did after the fact. But, this was a good read.

I would give Getting Hot with the Scot an Adult rating. There is explicit sex. There is language. There is mild violence. There are triggers. They would be the loss of a parent. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Getting Hot with the Scot. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

Getting Hot with the Scot

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