I’m sad to see this series come to an end. I’ve loved visiting Highland, Georgia and getting to know some Scots in the South.
A Highlander is Coming to Town is (finally) Holt Pierson’s story. We met Holt in Trentham’s previous two Highlander stories. Holt has made his peace with staying in Highland to run the family farm. Claire Smythe is on the run from something and takes refuge in Highland after the summer games. She’s taken a job as a caregiver for Holt’s neighbor and is spending the time trying to figure out what to do after her upcoming birthday. Because she has a big secret she can’t share with anyone. Although she’s clear upfront that she’ll soon be returning to Scotland right after Christmas.
Inevitably, the sparks between Holt and Claire combust. And as all secrets must, Claire’s come to light. And Claire and Holt’s simple fling is anything but.
I enjoy these books for their simplicity, their taste of Scotland, their humor. Sometimes I need an escape and these books supply that exactly.
A Highlander is Coming to Town is a Christmas story, complete with a winter storm, hot chocolate, and a heartwarming ending. The perfect holiday read. It will be released in late September, so mark your calendars for September 29, 2020.
I highly recommend it!
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I received an advance e-copy of this book via NetGalley, but it did not induce me to leave a review, complimentary or not.
Tag: Laura Trentham
Book Talk Tuesday: An Everyday Hero
There are so many good things to say about An Everyday Hero, Laura Trentham’s latest in her Heart of a Hero series. The story pulled me in from the first page. The characters are believable and I cared about them. The peeks inside the psyche of a soldier and survivor are realistic.
Greer Hadley has moved back to Madison, Tennessee after failing to make it in Nashville. She’s drifting and wondering what to do next. Ally Martinez is a grieving and angry teenager matched with Greer for some court-ordered music therapy. Emmett Lawson is a grieving and angry veteran. He lost more than a leg overseas.
Greer has no intentions of getting involved with Ally nor Emmett, but she can’t let either one drown in their grief.
Emmett is struggling with a heavy dose of survivor’s guilt and isn’t interested in letting anyone get close enough to help. But somehow Greer sees past his anger, calls him on his attitude, and stirs him off the front porch.
I love how Greer and Emmett are almost mirror images of each other. Greer is afraid of failing again, so she solves that by determining never to perform. Emmett is afraid to feel any emotion and is intent on keeping everyone, even his parents, angry at him, as if that is his just penance. Greer and Emmett can see the other’s issues and point them out, but then realize their own shortcomings.
Greer is also making progress of a two-steps-forward-one-step-back sort with Ally. But when Ally has a crisis, it takes Greer and Emmett together to help her.
I loved this story and highly recommend it!
It will be released Feb. 4, 2020, but is available for pre-order now.
I received an advance copy of this novel through NetGalley for review purposes.
Book Talk Tuesday: A HIGHLANDER WALKS INTO A BAR
I love romantic comedy. I love Scotland. So A Highlander Walks Into A Bar had me at its name. And it did not disappoint.
Isabel Buchanan is surprised at the souvenir her mother, Rose, brings home from Scotland: a tall, estate manager with a brogue. Except he’s not really the estate manager, he’s the ninth earl of Cairndow, hiding his true name and identity. Soon, his nephew, slated to become the tenth earl, though hopefully not for a long time, follows him to Highland, Georgia.
Alasdair Blackmoor is concerned about the American woman who convinced his uncle to leave Scotland and Cairndow, so he detours from his business in New York to find out what’s what. Instead of the scheming fortune-hunter ensnaring his uncle whom he expected, he meets Izzy.
Their attraction is immediate. The sparks fly off the page. Their banter is witty and fun.
Alasdair unwittingly sets in motion a complication that he knows and the reader knows will end badly for all. I loved how Trentham resolved that.
A Highlander Walks Into a Bar is a fun and perfect summer rom com and I highly recommend it!
This book will be available July 30, but I suggest you pre-order it now so you can read it ASAP!
–For my friends and readers who prefer their reads to be sweet like their desserts, there is one sex scene.
I received a free advance copy of this book through NetGalley.
Writer of Sweet Small Town Stories of Love and Family 