Scot Under the Covers by Suzanne Enoch
Subgenre: Scottish romance
Release date: 11 Feb 2020
Publisher: NYLA St Martins
Format: ebook and print
Length: 352 pages
RRP: $4.72 (ebook); $15.99 (print)

The Highlanders are still creating havoc. One has settled and another is about to find his forever love.

Aden MacTaggert is the reflective one. He does really want to marry but according to the conditions of his father’s will, he must have an English bride. His English mother is determined to ensure this happens before his sister marries. Aden is the youngest of the three brothers. He is also the centre of attention in London society, as the big, young, object of interest.

Miranda Harris has had her seasons but has not found the man she wants to marry. Then her brother places her in a position where she has no choice. She has to marry the former naval captain to pay her brother’s £50 000 debt. She discovers that her brother has been manipulated and she is unsure as to how she can get out of this situation.

Aden is attracted to Miranda almost immediately but has to come up with a way to be rid of his rival. Captain Robert Vale is very sure of his position and the fact he will marry Miranda as she is his key into the upper levels of society, by whatever means he can.

Aden and Miranda come up with a plan, but Robert is not cooperating in the way Aden would like so he needs to play the cards differently (pun intended). Aden eventually gets the help of his brother, the laird to be, and his influential mother. Together, they are able to defeat the captain.

I really enjoy a Highlander story. A supposed uncouth Highlander in London society is sight to behold. Aden is determined to have Miranda, and no one is going to stop him. And yes, sometimes the way forward may not be quite appropriate, but love is the ultimate goal.

It is an interesting mix, the Highlanders and polite English society. There are a lot of things Ms Enoch can use to create havoc for the characters to make it a very interesting ride for them and the reader.

I have been enjoying this series and I cannot wait for the third book with the final brother.

reviewed by Heather

A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.

I rarely read historical romance, but I chose to read Suzanne Enoch’s Scot Under the Covers simply because the hero is a Scottish Highlander. I am traveling for the first time to Scotland in June, for a book con, of course, and I’m a little obsessed with all things Scotland right now, so… I had no real expectations, but I had hopes it would be entertaining. From the start when Miranda Harris, a proper English lady puts Aden MacTaggart on notice that she doesn’t like him, I had concerns. I don’t enjoy the enemies to lovers trope, I find the insults and arguing tedious, but I quickly found myself highly entertained by the witty repartee between these two delightful characters. Miranda and Aden are soon to be in-laws when his sister and her brother marry, so they are thrown together often during the social events of the London Season, as well as family events. Miranda finds herself in serious trouble, through no fault of her own, and turns to Aden for help. Their growing relationship was so much fun; I laughed out loud multiple times. Miranda is feisty for a proper English lady, a quality much admired by Aden—a “barbaric” Highlander, himself. The trouble in Miranda’s life is quite serious and I was happy to see that most characters were quick to place the blame and condemn the person responsible, and not Miranda. The plot was suspenseful and well-done, the characters well-developed, bright, articulate, and engaging. Ms. Enoch’s storytelling is well-crafted and extremely entertaining—it was a delight to read!

I’ll be honest, I totally didn’t knew that Suzanne Enoch has a new series out, so when I stumbled across this book, I knew that I had to try it. I’m usually a bigger fan of her Victorian Historical Romances, but who can say no to a hot highlander?

Enoch pays a lot of attention to the details, which brings a really rich experience for the reader. However, I think that if you aren’t familiar with the terminology that Highlander Romances have, then you may find some bits confusing. She doesn’t really explain what the terms mean, so that might require some getting used to. But since I’ve read Historical Romance for years, I didn’t find it an issue for me. I am just mentioning it because I know that there will be some readers who may not familiar with the lingo.

Nevertheless, this romance does feature a lot of other things as well. The secondary cast are important and I think Enoch has plans to give everyone a story at some point. There’s lots of banter and cheer back-and-forth so I’m sure there will be a character that everyone will love. Since I didn’t read the first book in the series, I was a little lost in the beginning. But once I got my bearings, I did enjoy the book. I think I will be going back to read the first book in the series to be caught up.

Miranda Harris was horrified when her brother Matthew informed her that he had a gambling debt of fifty thousand pounds, and in order to pay the debt, he had arranged her marriage to Captain Robert Vale. Vale was a newcomer to the London scene, introduced by his cousin, Lord George, and marrying Miranda would secure Vale’s place in polite society.

Matthew’s intended, Eloise McTaggert, had three impressive brothers, fresh from the Highlands, who had been ordered to marry before their sister, or forfeit their titles. Aden, the middle brother, was less than pleased about his mother’s demands, until he met Miranda. When Miranda confided that she was, in effect, being sold off to redeem her brother’s debt, Aden went into action to free her from the obligation, and while doing so, fell in love with her.

This book was fun to read! I enjoyed Miranda’s determination and Aden’s cleverness, and of course, the expected and desired HEA. I loved Aden’s creativity in resolving Miranda’s difficulties with Vale, and his brothers Niall and Coll’s willingness to back Aden in any situation. I liked the way the characters were developed, and my interest was held throughout.

This is a highly entertaining book.  Brought down from Scotland to find a bride, Aden meets Miranda, a friend of his sister’s.  He’s something of a gambler; she strongly dislikes gamblers, having seen firsthand the damage gambling can do to a family.  Together, they become embroiled in a plot to free her brother from serious gambling debts, that include Miranda as one of the IOUs.  The characters in this book were very well written.  Each had a unique voice and personality that didn’t waver throughout.  It was funny, serious, and suspenseful to watch the many twists and turns the plot took as it developed and kept me guessing to the very end.  I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley.  This is my freely given, honest review.

Scot Under the Covers is a great read for historical romance fans. The main characters are believable and compelling, however, one character outshines the other in terms of likeability.  The Highlander gets high marks. Aden MacTaggert provides excellent fodder for Lady Miranda's initial snobbery. The author does an excellent job of giving the hero a voice that is gallant, strong, cerebral with a hint of vulnerability. The lady is the more typical romantic heroine of the aristocratic class; nice enough, but judgemental, with lots of preconceived notions. She is dangerously close to becoming unlikeable when she meets Aden. The secondary characters are less insightful, the villain is generic and the heroine's brother weak (hard to see how he can redeem himself or why he was forgiven so quickly), the parents clueless. Here too, it is the hero's family that is more interesting, 
Scot Under the Covers has excellent banter and has good tension throughout. The ending is a little rushed and there are many familial ties that are left unfinished, which hopefully will be sorted out in the series. Nonetheless, Scot Under the Covers is an enjoyable summer read.

Scot Under the Covers is the first book by this author that I have had the pleasure of reading. I loved following Aden and Miranda's story as they try to help each other but with their hearts getting in the way.  Having not read the first book in the series, I will definitely be going back to read it as well.

Okay, I’m not sure how I feel about Miranda after reading this. It’s not that I don’t like her but I felt like she super judgy! I mean she didn’t like Aden because he was a gambler but her brother gambled more than Aden ever did. Aden was easy to love. He’s the guy who will take in a stray dog or dance with the girls no one else will. That was something else about Miranda. She refuses to see that Aden’s “bad guy” image is nothing more than gossip. I mean he could have easily refused to help her and I will tell you there are a few times when I certainly would have.

Miranda does redeem herself but she left me with a bad taste in my mouth. That doesn’t mean this wasn’t a good read. It was and even though Miranda struck me as the villain of the story she is not. Her brother is more of villain than she is and I wished he got more than he did.

If you love historical Scottish romance this is a book for you. I love it and as I said enjoyed this book. I just wasn’t all that crazy about the heroine.

I loved watching Aden and Miranda begin as enemies and then change into something much more. It was delicious!

I really enjoyed the plot and the characters in this book and I hope to read more books from the author in the future.

While #2 in this series wasn't page turning to me, it was still a good read. I was disappointed in Aden not being as aggressive as Scots are known to be, he was sort of like a woman in his emotions. The chemistry between Aden and Miranda was more like a friendship with benefits than anything. They kept referring to each other as partners, and they only had sex twice, both late in the book. And the second time, I just skipped through it because the book was basically over. The plot was...not common. Which was good. But I'm not sure men back in the day were totally that spineless to let a stranger hold debts over their heads. I don't know. Maybe. I do however love Scotsmen, so I'm a little excited to read the next in the series.

I'm not sure I've read any books before Suzanne Enoch before, but I'm hoping there are other books about the MacTaggert clan that I can discover.  I thoroughly enjoyed, and was frustrated by, the characters in this book.  I wanted to slap some sense into Matthew for literally gambling away his sister Miranda.  As Miranda enlisted the help of Aden to escape the situation her brother put her in, I cheered for them.  Captain Vale was a truly dastardly villain for the story that you instantly hate.

Miranda Harris is a charming young woman and known throughout Society as a resourceful and proper lady that had rejected many suitors so far. Captain Vale wants to use that cachet, and drove her brother deep into debt in order to secure her hand in marriage. Her brother is nearly betrothed to Eloise MacTaggert, so she tries going to her brother Aden for help understanding the mindset of a man like Captain Vale. It soon becomes far more than that for both of them.

This is the second book in the Wicked Highlanders series. While it obviously makes more sense to have read the first book before this one, we know all of the salient bits early on. The MacTaggert brothers were essentially summoned to England to get English brides before their younger sister marries her fiance in order to get money released to help their estate in Scotland. Niall is the youngest of the three boys, and married their mother's choice in the first novel.

Captain Vale is a callous and narcissistic villain, and it's clear from the outset that we're not meant to like him. There are never any redeeming comments made about him, and over the course of the novel there are even more terrible things we hear about him. In contrast, the more that we learn about Aden, the more we like him. We're greeted to him from the outset betting his brother who can toss a boot into a bucket, and that he can gamble with the best of them. From there, his sense of honor and family come to the fore, and Miranda sees there's far more to him than what she had initially seen of him. I'm not especially enamored of Matthew for how quick he was to throw his sister under the bus to save his reputation with their parents, but he was also gullible and thought that Vale was going to be honorable.

Miranda is no shrinking violet, and she maintains her sense of sarcasm and spunk even in the middle of her despair. She's eager to help Aden however she can with his plans, even though she's terrible at lying and her emotions are generally visible to those that know her well. Aden is more of a cipher to his family, largely because he had been hurt badly by his mother's leaving the family when he was a boy, breaking her promise to go on a trip with him.

This series is just so much fun. Three wild Scottish brothers have been forced by their mother to come to London and find English women to marry, to their horror, before their youngest sister can marry her fiancé. The middle brother, Niall, accidentally fell in love with the eldest’s intended bride in the first book, so he’s safely married off, and in this book we follow the youngest, Aden, as he attempts to resist the charms of his soon-to-be sister-in-law, Miranda…

If you’re looking for rapier-sharp banter between the leads, you are definitely looking at the right book. Miranda and Aden clash wits at first sight, with her disapproving of his reputation as a keen gambler, and him disapproving of her, well, Englishness. The fact that they immediately give up on being polite to each other leaves plenty of space for them to get under each other’s skin, which means plenty of fun for us. I loved them together – they develop a working relationship first, when Miranda recruits Aden’s help to save her from being forced into a marriage with an odious man, and slowly realise that not only do they not hate each other, they’re actually very compatible. The attraction builds quite slowly (for a romance novel!) which is an interesting take, and one that makes the chemistry feel very believable and the relationship feel pretty rock solid.

The plot sounds like it should be a straightforward ‘fake courtship’ trope, but as with It’s Getting Scot In Here, things are a bit deeper and more emotionally tangled than they appear at first sight. The book never stops being fun or funny, but it does have high stakes; if Aden and Miranda can’t work out a way to fix things, Miranda will essentially be sold into marriage with a man who has deliberately worked to entrap her. That’s quite dark, but instead of dwelling on the negative too much, the book uses it as a way to get a Hustle-style con going, with lots of twists that keep you as the reader (and often, the other characters) one step behind, wondering how it’s all going to come off, before revealing with a flourish that it has, in fact, worked perfectly. Aden is so clever – watching him work is genuinely a joy – and it’s clear he’s found a true equal in Miranda.

I really enjoyed the additional glimpses into the MacTaggert family situation, which is extremely messy – everything is well-enough explained that you don’t need to have read the first book, but it’s fun to see a different brother’s opinion of it. I can’t wait to read Coll’s book and get that final piece of the puzzle! We get a few nice cameos from Niall and Amy, the previous hero and heroine, though I would have liked them to be together slightly more on the page, as they’re mostly separate (but seem happy!). One thing I really like about this series is that the hero and heroine don’t feel like they’re falling in love in a vaccuum – they have connections that matter to them, and there’s as much vivacity in the side characters as there is in the leads.

Honestly, if you like a Regency romance with smart, caring leads, a great plot, and an overwhelming sense of fun, then this is pretty much perfect. Five stars!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I had never read any of Suzanne Enoch's other books, but this has me interested in trying them.

I'm giving this book 4 stars because I think for a lot of people it will be 4 or 5 stars. For me it was 3 stars but 90% of the reason revolves around things that just don't work for me personally in a romance.

The writing is great, and despite my not loving it, this book did make me want to read more Suzanne Enoch. It's funny and cute and a little steam. And the characters are great. It even has a villian that I didn't hate reading about. I usually hate villains.

So what didn't work for me? The two main characters simply didn't share the page enough for me. They spent a lot of time apart. A lot. It felt like more time apart than together. And I just like something different than that.

If you are someone who likes a plot driven romance and a challenge to solve, this romance would probably be for you. If you like villains, this book is definitely for you because the villain here was super interesting. If you want a book that centers on the romance and not the plot, this book probably isn't it.

I have voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this title given to me via NetGalley. This book was just amazing. I just lost myself in this story and didn’t want it to end. It was really well written and just drew in you into these characters lives. I look forward to seeing what’s next from this author.

4.5 stars

The MacTaggert brothers have journeyed to London to fulfill the terms of an agreement wherein the brothers must all marry English brides or their mother will no longer fund the family estate in Scotland. In book 1, the youngest brother (Niall) married, but time is running out for the other two brothers – this story focuses on the middle brother, Aden. 

Miranda Harris is less than pleased to learn that while she was away visiting with an aunt, her brother (Matthew) managed to lose 50,000 pounds to Captain Vale. Even worse: the man her brother lost to will accept a different form of payment... Miranda. After Miranda's uncle nearly ruined her aunt’s life, Miranda despises gamblers and is horrified to learn that her brother suffers such an affliction. She certainly has no plans to hitch herself to this captain gambler, but she needs the help of a good gambler to get her out of this mess. Though her first encounter with Aden does not go well, he is charmed by Miranda's fiery spirit, so when she asks for his help to take down Vale, Aden agrees to do so with the goal of gaining her for himself.

The story flows nicely, has plenty of steamy goodness, some witty banter, great supporting characters, and a satisfying HEA. While it is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone.

Great book! Loved the chemistry between the two characters. I would definitely recommend it to lovers of  historical romance.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins for a complimentary copy.  I voluntarily reviewed this book.  All opinions expressed are my own. 

Scot Under The Covers 
By: Suzanne Enoch 

REVIEW ☆☆☆☆
I am a fan of Suzanne Enoch's work and historical fiction in general. I really should learn, however, that I am not a fan of Highlanders at all. Take Scot Under The Covers for example. This story is very well written, thrilling, steamy, entertaining, and the characters are excellent.  Still,  I read it with a bland feeling and just didn't enjoy myself.  This is my fault, not the story. The story is fantastic, but I am the wrong reader.  Fans of highland romance will love it! I will stay away from Highlanders all together in the future.