3 reasons I enjoy Pepper Basham’s contemporary romances:
1. They’re funny without being silly
2. The characters are interesting and unique
3. Faith plays an intrinsic role
I could think of more, but that’s a good start, and they represent why I asked for an ARC of Some Like It Scot. (She also writes historical novels, but regardless of author, those aren’t my thing. Seems I like modern amenities in my stories as well as in my life!)
She lives her life on the fly. His heart is double-knotted to home. Can two different souls create a life together?
Popular travel writer and podcaster Katie Campbell roams the world collecting other people’s stories. She’s built a career as “Miss Adventure,” known for saying yes to anything new–country, food, or experience–and predictably finding those adventures taking a downward turn into misadventures.
Offered the chance to explore her ancestral roots through a three-week Edwardian experience, Katie finds herself immersed in the beauty and eccentricity of Scotland. In her period attire, with traditional foods and activities, the opportunities for misadventures are endless, especially with the presence of a maniacal macaw, a jealous co-worker, and an all-too-surly Scotsman.
Reclusive and protective Graeme MacKerrow doesn’t venture far from his island home. A stoic Scotsman, Graeme’s comfort zone has always been family, and after his sister’s death, he’s even more determined to save the MacKerrow ancestral home and keep those he loves close. The sudden intrusion of a six-foot-one American lass, famous for her traveling misfortunes, was far from his plan.
As this world of folklore, community, and woodworkers-in-kilts tempts Katie to discover her own story, could this one grand series of misadventures lead her directly to where she belongs? And would a settled-in-Scot ever risk loosening his grip on what’s familiar to allow a wanderlust writer a home in his heart? How could their very different worlds share the same page of life’s story when “home” is in two very different places? But maybe home–and the future–isn’t quite what either one imagined it would be. Maybe home is less about a place . . . and more about a person.
Let’s start with: I loved this story. The heroine, Katie Campbell, is a 6’1″ American travel writer who’s continually bumbling into scrapes. This allows the rom com part of the story a natural flow. She’s made an entire brand around being Miss Adventure, and three weeks in Scotland ensconced in an ancestral manor house for an “Edwardian Experience” provides plenty of scope for adventure (of the mis kind and other). Start with her not fitting the period gowns provided for her due to her height and curves, and following on with a near drowning (the not-so-funny part), facing her greatest fear (sheep — or is it highland cows?) and Katie is bumbling from one escapade to the next.
Graeme MacKerrow, the hero of the story, is focused on tradition and family. His twin sister has passed on, and Graeme has custody of his precocious young nephew, Lachlan, who worms his way into Katie’s heart nearly immediately. Graeme’s parents and brothers are also very involved in each other’s lives, and his mom takes Katie under her wing when Katie stumbles into her bookshop during a knitting and book club meeting.
Katie’s never felt at home anywhere since her grandparents’ deaths years ago, despite having inherited their North Carolina home. But with all her traveling, is she actually running FROM something or TO something? She would have said “neither,” but it becomes apparent that is not quite so. The “Edwardian Experience” is a three-week stint, and then Katie will be moving on. But for the first time in her life, she wonders if home is perhaps not a place, but a person, and if her person just might be Graeme.
I haven’t mentioned all the times Graeme saves her from one calamity after the other, each humorous and charming, but also forging a relationship with every misadventure. I truly gave a sigh as I turned the last page, and I sincerely hope Graeme’s two brothers get their own stories down the road. I could do with another armchair visit to Scotland with Pepper Basham!
If you enjoy the kinds of stories I do, sweet and funny yet deep, I recommend you pick up a copy of Some Like It Scot. It releases April 8, 2025.
I requested an ARC (advanced reader copy) from Netgalley.
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