Great especially for fans of Outlander (which I happen to be) as there are a few references. Charming and sweet, with a thoughtful exploration of grief.

"Scotlander" by Sheila McClure takes readers on a journey from the glitz of LA to the misty landscapes of Scotland, offering a mix of romance, humor, and self-discovery. While the novel delivers an entertaining and light-hearted read, it falls short of fully immersing the reader in the depth and complexity often expected from a romantic comedy.

The premise of the story, centered around Willa Jenkins escaping the glitzy party scene of LA for an Outlander-themed experience in Scotland, sets the stage for a charming escapade. The unexpected twist of pairing Willa with the irritating yet sexy Finn, posing as a fake husband and wife, adds an element of humor and tension to the plot.

The author captures the essence of the Scottish setting, providing picturesque landscapes and a taste of the local culture. The Outlander-themed experience, complete with farm work and the potential loss of Balcraigie Castle, adds stakes to the narrative, creating a backdrop for Willa and Finn's fake marriage to evolve into something more.

The characters, while entertaining, lack the depth needed to fully invest the reader in their journey. Willa's struggle to recapture joy after losing her best friend is a relatable theme, but the emotional depth of this struggle is not fully explored. The romantic tension between Willa and Finn follows a predictable trajectory, and the stakes surrounding the potential loss of the castle feel somewhat contrived.

The humor infused throughout the story is one of its strengths, providing moments of levity that balance the romantic elements. McClure's writing style is engaging, making the book an easy and enjoyable read. However, the narrative occasionally lacks the depth and nuance that could elevate it beyond a standard romantic comedy.

In conclusion, "Scotlander" is a three-star read that offers a pleasant and light-hearted romantic adventure. Sheila McClure's blend of humor, romance, and Scottish charm creates an enjoyable experience, but the story may leave readers craving more depth and complexity in character development and plot twists. It's a delightful escape for those seeking a feel-good romance set against the backdrop of the enchanting Scottish landscape.

This is a great spin on how the fantasy doesn't match reality but can still be a beautiful experience. I did have a hard time sticking through the beginning but it definitely picks up. Willa's naivety makes the journey even more compelling. If you enjoy a peek at chores on a scottish farm and the real experience of having a surprise trip planned for you, Try this romance out.

A quick, easy and cute read that had me swooning weak at the knees and seriously comtemplating a trip to Scotland

Witty, enjoyable and wonderfully romantic, get ready to swoon over Sheila McClure’s fabulous new novel Scotlander.

After losing her best friend, Willa Jenkins doesn’t know if she will ever be happy ever again. Heartbroken and devastated, fun is not something Willa is thinking about – until her friend Valentina comes up with a wicked plan that will whisk her straight from her glitzy and shallow life in LA to the majestic beauty of the Highlands: a two-week Outlander-themed experience at Balcraigie Castle and Willa soon gets a heck of a lot more than she had bargained for when she finds herself swapping stilettos for wellies and getting down and dirty by doing back-breaking work on the farm. However, Balcraigie Castle also comes with its own Jamie Fraser: Finn, who might be as handsome as sin, but who is also infuriating, aggravating and somebody Willa just cannot stop thinking about!

Finding herself working her fingers to the bone on the farm is bad enough, but finding out that she has to pretend to be Finn’s wife is even worse…or is it? Learning that Finn and his parents might lose the castle if the Outlander experience doesn’t work out puts a completely different spin on the situation and makes Willa determined to do everything she can to keep Balcraigie Castle from going under. The stakes have never been higher for Willa – especially as she has found herself falling head over heels in love with her fake husband, Finn.

Will there be a happy ending in sight for Willa and Finn? Or will this experience be one the two of them will never forget – but for all the wrong reasons?

The next best thing to cuddling up to Diana Gabaldon’s swoon-worthy romantic hero Jamie Fraser, Sheila McClure’s Scotlander is terrific fun. Hilarious, heartwarming and sparkling with wit, intensity and heart, Scotlander is a wonderful romantic tale about second chances, finding happiness and falling in love when your least expect it that will leave you with a huge grin on your face.

I don’t usually go for this type of romance novel but I’m glad #netgalley and #amazonpublishinguk gave me the opportunity to read this #arc. Willa just lost her best friend and the depression that comes with that makes her realize she’s not happy with her life. A surprise notice from a law firm embarks Willa on a spectacular journey that only her best friend could have orchestrated from Heaven. Every time I thought the story was going to become too fantastical the author used Willa or another character to bring it back to reality. I loved this ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ romance and whether or not you are an #outlander fan I think you will too! 📚📚📚 #bookstagram #booksbooksbooks #booklover #bookrecommendations #netgalleyarc #netgalleyreads #my2023readingchallenge

I love outlander so I couldn’t wait to read this book! The Scottish setting did not disappoint! From the landscape to the community to the outlander references!

There were also some really funny moments in this book. This wasn’t just a rom-com though as the theme of grief and loss were also beautifully explored.

I loved Finn as a mmc too!

Overall this was an enjoyable read that I would definitely recommend to others. You don’t have to have read outlander to enjoy this book though!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sheila McClure for the chance to read an ARC of "Scotlander". This is my honest and unpaid review. I am a big Outlander fan, have been for decades, so when I saw the description for this book I immediately requested it! I imagine there are several of us out there who would love the chance to live for a time in the Outlander world and this book does give you that. There is a good amount of humour in this book which is nice to balance out some of the sadder aspects of the story. I did at times get a bit lost in the dialogue flying between the characters and found it more than a bit distracting. Overall I enjoyed the story and the characters and can't wait to read more by this author!

This book is a 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
Overall, this was a fun book! The premise that launches all the shenanigans (because that’s what they are) is heartbreaking: Willa’s best friend, Valentina, passed away from cancer and has left her and Valentina’s brother, Gabe, an all expenses paid trip to Scotland for an immersive Outlander TV show-inspired experience.

Willa’s life is a bit of a mess. She’s a workaholic, doesn’t have any other friends, and doesn’t see her family often. She goes on the trip, feeling some attraction to Gabe (after the two of them get day-drunk in a restaurant following the reading of the will) and finds herself in rural Scotland, wearing Jacobean-style clothing, doing chores around a farm, and falling for Finn, who is her fake husband for two weeks and the owner of the land they are on.

Willa gets herself into and then out of messes, becomes a shoulder for Finn to lean on as he opens up about the difficulties he and his family are facing and that they may lose the farm, and also begins to open up to the other guests in the experience, and also learns why she and Gabe would have never been a good match.

There were parts that I felt were drawn out or a bit cringey when reading, but altogether, i had a fun time reading this book. Of course, we have an HEA and the scene when Willa and Finn reunite is just as ridiculous (in a fun way!) as other events that brought the two of them together.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC. All thoughts are my own.

I have enjoyed the series of Outlander and so was excited to read this book. I do think having at least an awareness of the show helped with some of the finer detail/references of this book, but it is not essential.
This book had a great storyline and the details of a traditional Scottish castle, farm, food and village life were really enjoyable. There were some good comedy moments, such as (no spoilers) the lines about scarecrows and ancestry-dot-com made me laugh out loud. I was really invested in the stories of the other main characters, Gabe, Finlay and Orla in particular. Conversely, I didn’t take to the main character, Willa. She was stroppy and sulky, mostly with everyone, even those trying to be kind to her. Okay, it was to be expected as she had lost her friend. It just felt unusual for a rom-com of this type.

However, the story surrounding the whole “clan” is engaging and the (again no spoilers), big scenes three-quarters in, involving all the community is an absolute joy and my favourite part of the book. The way modern use of social media was woven in, really brought the whole Scotlander experience to life.

Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Willa is setting out to fulfill her best friends dying wishes - go to Scotland and complete the total Outlander experience. She gets paired up with a cute local who is equal parts sexy and grumpy, she starts questioning her life back home. As they are paired up, Finn and Willa both help each other through difficulties.

This is a delightful and entertaining read for fans of Outlander or rom-coms in general!

If you are a fan of Outlander, live you life guided by the question ‘What would The Rock do?’, or like quirky RomComs set in Scotland with a hot Scot in a kilt and a sassy American woman, then this is definitely the book for you!

When Willa is instructed to attend a lawyer’s office for the reading of the Will following the death of her best friend Valentina, she meets Valentina’s brother Gabe who had been estranged from Valentina for 20 years. They find themselves instructed to take a holiday to Scotland for an immersive Outlander experience on behalf of Val, and both feeling guilty about things they wished they had done with Val, and both grieving for her, they dropped everything and went to Scotland.

What they arrived to in Scotland was not quite what they expected, and there was a funny meet cute at the airport between Willa and Finn which ended up in embarassment for Willa and a headache for Gabe! The chemistry between Willa and Finn was seriously hot, but both of them fought against it for much of the story.

There were so many fabulous characters, although I really would have liked more of Gabe’s story. The Outlander superfans were all very different but I especially warmed to Jennifer and Jules, a mother and daughter sharing their love of Outlander. You do not need to have read or watched Outlander to appreciate the story, but there were some amusing links between scenes in the story and connections to the Outlander world.

I loved the way in which, with the help of Willa, Finn and his family were able to create an event to help them out of their difficulties. I adored the image of Annie Lennox singing in a field of potatoes!

This was a story about love, loss and the legacy of loved ones. Although there were some funny moments, and a lot of romance, there were moments where my tears flowed too. Who knew I would cry at words of wisdom from Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson? Scotlander is a wonderful RomCom that is published on 21st June 2023.

This was a DNF for me just couldn't get into it tried a few times to come back to it but wasn't the book for me. I want to thank NetGalley for the digital arc.

This book is a fun romcom with a slow burn romance, is lighthearted but emotional too given that the topic of grief is present. Our mc Willa’s growth through out the book is lovely to see and you get to meet an array of fun characters coming along for the ride. The Scottish outlander settings were lovely to read about. And the romance of course was really cute too

Overall this book was a solid read and it was a fun time

3.75

🌟New ARC Book Review🌟

Title: Scotlander
Author: Sheila McClure
Rating: 4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

QOTD: Have you traced your ancestry? Any surprises?

This is a charming book about a girl from Hollywood named Willa who goes to an immersive Outlander experience at the behest of her recently deceased best friend Valentina. At the lawyers office, she meets Val’s very hot estranged brother, who has also been given the Outlander trip.

They travel to Scotland together where they meet other Outlander fans and their host, a handsome Scot named Finn.

Nothing goes according to plan once they start the experience, but no one seems to mind. Relationships are started and rekindled. They band together to pull off a surprise for their hosts, Finn and his sister Orla.

It’s really humorous and I laughed out loud throughout the book. I liked it a lot and highly recommend it. 4 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.

Okay, so when I first read the synopsis for this book, I knew I had to read it since I am going on my Outlander tour in July. Nothing quite so immersive as this one, I mean I won’t be wearing the costumes, just normal clothing, but still, this book was the perfect read as I prepared to go on my trip. And by the end I really was even more excited for my trip!

It was fun to see Willa’s life before she headed to Scotland, all the little celebrity interviews and such were funny. The other characters in her life, and those she met along the way in this story were great. First there was Gabe, her best friend’s brother, who was also being sent on the Outlander experience. The reason that she ends up more into Finn, the hot Scot, was a bit of a surprise, but one that played out well in the storyline.

Then there were all the other people who had signed up for the experience. Their love of the tv show was perfect, and seeing how Wilma had to try to know what she was talking about was fun. In all honesty, I’m not sure I’d sign up for what they ended up doing, I mean, they were basically running a farm, something that would be pretty close to what the people did day to day in the show, well, not all of them, but through some of the seasons and some of the people. Now there was one part where one of the characters mentioned that she was looking for her own Jamie, had even kind of run off from her fiance for this trip because she wasn’t sure if he was perfect enough for her. And the way the other characters explained to her that Jamie wasn’t real, he was fiction, there was no perfect man like that, love was more than just the perfection of that character. That was great.

Throughout the story there was a lot of miscommunication between Finn and Willa, and at times it was a bit frustrating. Especially when there were so many times that the two of them seemed to know just how to connect with the other one, saving the farm, relating to family issues, etc. And the story did seem a little long at times, like maybe some things could have been left out, or not gone on for as long. But the way the story ended, with the grand gesture, and Willa figuring out what she really wanted, with a little help from The Rock, was perfect. And I loved all the extra at the end, as well as the epilogue. I also really liked the author’s note at the end, definitely a lot of fun.

And even with the little discussion about how there is no real Jamie Fraser, I still wish I could meet my own Scottish hero in a kilt when I go on my Outlander tour in a few weeks.

This is all the fun tropes. MC loses her friend. Friend posthumously sets MC up to go on a trip with friends mysterious and hot brother. Both MC and Mysterious brother have to find peace with friend's passing while going through their own trials. In this case, taking a Jacobean trip to work as if they're on the set of Outlander.
It was consistently funny and good natured. It was an enjoyable read.

#arc
#netgalley
#scotlander

This was just okay for me. The romance didn’t really work. Willa was all over the place. Things seemed to move too fast for comfort. The ending was a bit of a letdown as well.

This is a lighthearted romcom, set mainly in beautiful Scotland which puts together a variety of people who are all in some way, looking for a way out of their current state. Sent on a working holiday with a group of Outlander superfans, Willa is desperately hoping that she can make sense of why her friend, has sent her on it in the first place. She is still grieving for her friend's loss. As the story develops, you realise that her dream job in LA may not be as satisfying as she has hoped. Still, she is dogged and determined to sort out people's messes and to make a secure future for herself. She may have rebelled against her off the beaten track childhood, but she does appreciate family and friendship - things she may have missed in LA.

Of course, the set up in the Highlands is not all it seems. What is clear to absolutely everyone is the chemistry between Willa and Finn. Finn has his own issues from his childhood and the dynamic between him and his family is complicated. However, he is loyal and caring. despite the guilt he feels that he may have let them down.There is plenty of humour within the story and a touch of romance which both add up to a enjoyable weekend read.


In short: LA meets Scotland

Willa ends up in Scotland with the brother of her late best friend. She is not sure why she has ended up there or what her friend was trying to achieve. Soon she is settled in and making friends, but what will happen when it is time to return to real life?