I received an advance copy of, A Secret Scottish Escape, by Julie Shackman. I really liked this book, I liked the characters and the setting, ive always wanted to go to Scotland.

Sorry but I didn’t enjoy this. I kept wondering when the actual story would start because we spent ages on the backstory, Mac the older lover who died having sex with his ex wife, and who leaves Layla the money which she can then invest in her idea of a music venue. So many characters scattered across the stage before the hero appeared. Or was he the hero? He was kept on the back boiler whilst Layla went through a series of melodramatic events. The mother from hell who had not a redeeming feature to her name. The mysterious and angst ridden ‘Mask’ who refuses to be the soft, touchy freely guy she wants. The ‘who is really my Dad?’’ Trope which goes nowhere. (I mean I could have understood introducing that mystery if it was going to have a dramatic impact on the story - but it didn’t. It was resolved easily. Far too many other characters and problems. Faith the commitment phone and her aspiring love interest Greg and his son. They just kept appearing and quite frankly they were boring. Characters were one dimensional. Hannah the ex wife, Tina the bitchy mother, Mac the deceitful older lover, Hazel the demented sister of poor dead Emily, the immoral would-be-journalist - the list goes on. The only one I liked and who felt real was Layla’s Dad.

I never felt that Layla really came to life for me. She behaved like a teenager rather than a woman of 30. I didn’t buy her grief, nor could I see why she had fallen in love with Mac in the first place.

I am sorry because there were so many good elements in this story. I think dropping the first couple of chapters and starting when Layla decides to buy the boathouse, bringing Rafe into the story much earlier, and developing his character more and focussing on the relationship between Layla and Rafe would work so much better.

This is not a bad book and there was lots that I enjoyed - I just felt it was too busy and would have been better focussing on less, but in more depth. Just my opinion of course.

An enjoyable read with not only romance but a mystery as well. Setting up a music venue after her fiancees death Layla wants her opening night to include a musician known as Mask but Mask has become a recluse

Layla is a good main character with a big heart. I loved her dads ex band members who get back together for the opening night. It’s well worth a read and yes I would recommend it