I was not expecting to love this novel as much as I did. I hadn't loved a previous novel I had read by Ferguson, so I was surprised that she was the same author for this novel. The chemistry between Key and Lachlan was excellent. The race to figure out how to lift the curse was suspenseful. And the reconnection of Key with her grandparents was surprisingly touching. So many really great elements were present in this book. Did I mention the chemistry between Key and Lachlan? I will definitely check out whatever Ferguson writes next!

First of all, everyone knows that the Loch Ness monster is a girl, so that's strike one against this book. It should've been sapphic. This book suffers from the current trend of acting like romance characters aren't allowed to actually like each other. So many romance books have their characters start out on the wrong foot, or with incorrect impressions of each other, or just disliking each other for no good reason. I read to about 40% and the characters were still trying to convince themselves that they hated each other. Even though they clearly liked each other at that point they were still pretending to find the other annoying in a way that was far from endearing. It became too frustrating because it got in the way of them building a genuine connection with each other.

I really wanted to like this book. The premise seemed so fun and unique. It should've been a lighthearted, sweet romance, but the forced and contrived "enemies to lovers" dynamic got in the way. I am fed up with this dynamic and unfortunately I couldn't get past it. Let romance characters like each other beyond physical or sexual attraction! That's what makes a story truly romantic.

I wanted a book I could lose myself in for a weekend afternoon and this one delivered. Lana Ferguson has become one of my favorite contemporary romance authors, but I really love it when her books veer into the paranormal too. This one balances both genres so well, and I can't lie: I appreciated Ferguson going THERE with certain aspects of the monster transformation (because you either go big or go home when your MMC is the Loch Ness Monster). Add in some top-tier banter between Key and Lochlan, plus I'm always going to be riding for a Scotland-set story and the quirky characters therein.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this edition from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

It’s a no for me dawg. Wanted to like it cause I LOVED the fake mate. This wasn’t for me. It was cringe. The story was just alright. The spice gave me the ick. Was in fact not the paranormal romance for me.

DNF at 27%

The story was getting odd, but still had the potential to be a little quirky and enjoyable...but the hero and heroine had absolutely no chemistry.

I have read and enjoyed other titles by this author, but this one was a miss.

thank you for the chance to read this early. While I really like Lana Ferguson's books, this one didn't grab me as much as her other books.

This is so much more fun to listen to, I must say. I love how mainstream Lana Ferguson has managed to make knotting, and even though it's never going to be something I intentionally read, I am going to keep picking up her books. I really enjoyed the characters, the feud, and the general highland flair of it all.

I love a good cryptid story and this storyline was one of the better ones. The setting was picturesque and fun. I loved the storyline and the romance line.

Spice and Language

Thank you @berkleyromance for the free book and the advanced digital copy!

I’ve read a few Scottish books this year, and this was by far my favorite. Filled with Lana’s signature witty banter and delicious spice, this was such a good time.

I loved the found family (literally) for Key and loved learning the history between the families around the loch. The magical and paranormal weaved throughout fit seamlessly into the storyline, almost like the magic being real wouldn’t be weird. If you’ve been thinking about getting into “monster” romance, this would be a perfect toe dip into quite a deep pool lol.

Wasn't quite sure if this was going to be a true "monster romance" or not, and I'd argue that it's not *technically* -- this has more of a light supernatural romance vibe than a true "monster romance", since the "monster" in question is the result of a curse, and he spends almost all of his screentime in his human form/there's only slight monstrous qualities involved in a couple of the sex scenes.

And I gotta say: having Nessie be a) a guy and b) only the latest in a long line of Nessies/Scottish guys afflicted by a generational curse was an interesting take on this particular cryptid. For the most part, this book succeeds, thanks to making the two leads both equally likable AND fleshing out the story with some family drama/conflict and the aforementioned generational curse. I liked that Key had more than just "be romanced by Nessie" going on for her, what with her grief over her Dad, her desire to reconnect with his family/her prickly grandmother, and her need to find a place to belong and rediscover her Scottish roots. And while author Ferguson is American, she does a good job with the Scottish setting/characters, peppering in enough cultural details and dialogue to sound authentic without overdoing it and falling into cringe-y stereotypes or awfully written dialects.

Overall, I really enjoyed the pace and tone of this. There were some genuinely emotional stakes for both characters, and while some of the ending was telegraphed a little blatantly, figuring out those details in advance didn't dampen my enjoyment of the story as a whole. This is one I'd recommend to folks just dipping their toes into monster-based romances, who are okay with a bit of spice but still want more story and character development than pure smut.

This book had me giggling like a kid caught stealing cookies—totally guilty and loving every second. The quirky characters and unexpected twists deliver laughs when you least expect them. It’s like your funniest friend wrote a novel just to prank you with wit and charm. If you want a page-turner that’s as clever as it is hilarious, look no further!

Absolutely love them! This was done so well too. The scene was set perfect and I really felt like I was a fly on the wall in most of the book. Not to mention, you can’t not love a LF book!

Obsessed with this Loch Ness Monster romance! Lana can do no wrong in my eyes, so this was a no brainer recommendation. Will be reading with my book club.

This might be my favorite Lana Ferguson romance so far. Lana's writing in past books have been romance heavy, and sometimes too much for my liking. Adding the Loch Ness elements and the story behind this curse really brought a new a unique flare to this book that sets it apart from her other books.

Ahhhhhh I loved this so much! The writing, the characters, the story. Everything about this was PERFECT. If I could give it 100 stars, I would!!

Thank you to the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4.25/5 ⭐️

Happy Pub Day to Lana Ferguson and @berkleyromance and thank you for the ARC of Under Loch & Key!

From the very first page, Under Loch & Key captivated me! The characters were so well-developed, the plot was engaging, and don’t even get me started on the banter between Key and Lachlan! Equal parts humorous and 𝘩𝘰𝘵. 🔥 The chemistry between them was magical and the spice? Unreal (in the 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 way).

I also loved how unapologetically Scottish this book is! The inclusion of Scottish slang and culture added so much charm and authenticity. It made me feel like I was right there in the Highlands.

The only drawback for me was the ending. The ending felt a bit rushed, predictable, and slightly unbelievable after such a strong setup. That said, this book was such a fun, spicy read, and I’ll 100% be picking up anything Lana Ferguson writes in the future!

LIKES:
👥 Dual POV
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scottish vibes
🦕 Paranormal Romance
💫 Magical realism
🖤 Themes of loss & grief
🏠 Complicated family dynamics
🌱 Personal growth themes

I fear that this one wasn't me for me and I really wanted to love it. I just wasn't meshing well with the writing style, which is totally a me problem. I gave it to 50% before I had to put it down.

I really wanted to like this one (Look at that cute cover) but no. I couldn’t take it.

Keyanna ”Key” MacKay has come to Scotland for two reasons to meet the only family she has left and spread her father’s ashes in the Loch her father always talked about where he insists he was once saved by the Loch Ness monster.

While she didn’t know what to expect by her surprise arrival, she didn’t expects the strong animosity from her grandmother, or oddly even more hatred coming from the annoyingly handsome farmhand, Lochlain Greer.

Key has had enough of the hate but before she returns to America, she finally takes the opportunity to spread her father’s ashes, only to be knocked into the cold and murky water and saved by the infamous monster herself—a monster who turns into one annoyingly handsome farmhand.

They think she is going to leave now, they have no idea just how large Key’s curiosity truly is.

Thoughts
Another example of judging a book by its cover. I anticipated a fun little read and was sorely disappointed.

For the first 25 percent, the book dragged with poor Key being treated poorly by the grandmother she came to meet and Loch, who was angry at her from the start with no real reason or explanation.

I understand the idea of creating anticipation for all the secrets (one of which we know from the cover and description) but here, I might have had more sympathy for Loch if we had more information at the beginning and could be on his side

I had started skimming (which I never do) to see if the story would pick up which it does around 30 percent in but even halfway through the story, I had no connection with any of the characters, not even Key.

When I stop reading to go do housework, then your story has flaws. Once I realized I was only reading to check the story off my list, I knew it was time to abandon it for something else on the TBR.

*thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this title. All thoughts and opinions are my own and were in no way influenced by receiving this copy.

I really thought I was in for a monster romance where she just f***s Nessie and BOY was I wrong. Who knew. I liked the plot of trying to cure Lachlan of his Nessie-ness, that was unexpected. I feel a lot of times with monster romances (as I expected) they’re just fine being the monster and go about their lives. I think this is the first one I’ve read where they actually are trying to cure it.

I didn’t love that our girly pop also ended up with magic powers. It worked really well for the plot don’t get me wrong, but it’s not my cup of tea when the FMC can just magic their problems away.

What the actual FUCK is a brindle.

Why was her name KEY and his LACHLAN?? Brother he’s the LOCH NESS MONSTER. His parents really made that one obvious…

I absolutely LOVED Under Loch and Key. Lana really is bringing it with the paranormal romance. I loved The Fake Mate and I loved this one. I like the added elements of history and in a way treasure hunting. I also loved the depiction of Scotland.