sadly, this book turned out to be disappointing. it was actually a surprise to me, because the first 60% was great and i was really enjoying the story, but after that it went downhill.

what i liked was the main idea of the book. reading about how layla dealt with the death of her fiancee and finding out that he had been lying to her since the beginning of their relationship and about her deciding to follow her dreams about opening a music venue in her hometown : it was all very interesting. moreover, i did love layla&harry’s relationship. i am a big fan of all kinds of relationships in general, especially between friends and family, so reading scenes with layla and harry was sheer enjoyment. i also did like the beginning of the relationship with rafe, but unfortunately it was one of those things that disappointed me at the end.

if i’m already talking about layla & rafe i must say that i’m truly disgruntled. their story started in a very compelling way and i was very interested to see how the things between them are going to develop. spoiler: they didn’t. i must say that i do not have problems with characters letting other people treat them badly (i know some people can’t stand it, but usually i don’t mind it that much in books), but at some point it started to be really annoying. i really didn’t care if rafe was being rude, but it was irritating that he kept telling layla to leave him alone and didn’t try to have any kind of relationship with her and she was still coming back to him over and over again. plus, i felt like their relationship didn’t have any growth, they didn’t really talk much and they only meet a couple of times. because of that i ended up not caring about them being together at all.

another thing that i had a problem with was layla herself. i don’t know what happened to her after those 60% but she started to get up my nose badly. i do not like people who are nosey and i absolutely despise people who have no respect to other’s privacy. and that was exact layla. the fact that she was gathering all those informations about rafe, kept digging in his past even though he made it clear he doesn’t want to talk about it with her, when she was surfing on the internet trying to find out more about what had happened to him, was asking other folks in town about this strange woman from his past .. i’m sorry but it was literally painful to read. i mean, if someone do not want you to know about their past, you should probably fucking respect that because it’s none of your fucking business.

also, the way layla behaved when this strange woman from rafe’s past appared was so futilely to me. there’s a woman who clearly knows rafe and starts to throw accusations about him murdering someone, she is someone from his past who know him when layla had maybe five/six interactions with him, she does not know anything about rafe, she doesn’t know anything about his past, only that he has a scar on his face and that he did something that he feels guilty about. he wears a mask, doesn’t go out at all, lives away from everybody in town and is rude and tacky. and still when a woman comes and starts telling other people about rafe, layla immediately thinks she’s lying. she stands with rafe and is sure that rafe wouldn’t do that. it was unbelievable to me and didn’t make any sense.

so ! as i said at the beginning this was a disappointment for me. unfortunetely, because it really did start nicely. 2 stars.


- arc provided by one more chapter via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A thoroughly enjoyable piece of escapism. The drama, the romance and the requisite best friend all make for a fairly predictable piece of writing. I read it in a couple of days and took every moment to enjoy it. Nice.

I enjoyed this book so much! I picked this book because the description read like a light and easy read, with a little bit of romance and mystery thrown in. This was exactly as advertised and such a lovely read! I was hoping for something similar to one of Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dmity series, and this was close enough for me; it doesn't have the laughter, but there was everything else; perfect before bed read.

This was not your typical chick lit rom-com, it dealt with a lot of serious issues and had an engaging mysterious plot. Overall I liked Layla a lot and felt sorry for her quite a lot - her mother was awful and I would have happily smacked her one.

Overall an enjoyable read and I am glad to have had the chance to read it.

Layla is looking forward to her wedding, in a few months time, to Mac. He's older, a prominent author, whom she met when she was interviewing him for a feature article. He's away on a trip to London to meet with his agent...

Except he isn't. He didn't leave Scotland. Layla is shocked when she's notified that Mac has died, of a heart attack--while having sex with his ex-wife.

This sends Layla reeling, and initially she's determined to leave Loch Harris, where she's lived her whole life, to start over. After this shocking end to her hopes and plans, she wants to start over, where not everybody knows her and her story. Yet she loves Loch Harris, and Mac has left her an unexpected inheritance. She looks around her village, and sees what an injection of money and imagination could do for it.

Layla decides to buy the old boathouse, whose owner is retiring and whose sons don't want to continue the business, and turn it into a live music venue, hoping to put Loch Harris back on the tourist map.

While she's working on her plans, starting to compile lists of performers to recruit for appearances, she hears about another unexpected development. A very secretive singer/songwriter, who goes by the name Mask, and yes, wears a black hoodie and a black masquerade mask to conceal his identity, has purchased Coorie Cottage, and is living there. He's very famous, and popular, and if he agreed to make an appearance at Layla's new music venue, it will bring exactly the publicity her new business, and the village, needs.

Layla is still feeling shocked and betrayed by Mac's secret affair with his ex-wife while he and Layla were living together and planning their wedding. Mask has some big secrets of his own. In the midst of all this, Layla's mother--who left her and her father when she was very young, and a has been nothing but an occasional, poisonous visitor to their lives since--lobs her own bombshell secret into their midst.

Layla's father, Harry, might not be her biological father.

This is a story all about people, character, and relationships, and the characters are compelling and engaging. Very enjoyable.

Recommended.

I received a free electronic galley from the publisher via NetGalley, and am reviewing it voluntarily.

A Secret Scottish Escape, Julie Shackman

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews
Romance 
Genre: Romance, Women's Fiction

Arrgghhhh, women's fiction Again! Why? Its an outdated category IMO.

Anyway, the book. Its billed as romance but in reality there's very little. In fact for most of the book the male lead doesn't even seem to like Layla.
Layla herself drives very close to the nosey and interfering, rather than concerned neighbour. Its needed for the story, but there were times when, like Mask, I would have been intensely irritated by her actions.
Mask was very rude to her, I was amazed she continued to try to help him. I did understand why when all was revealed of course, but until then he came over as some surly, rude guy.

The plot flows along nicely, there's the tragic death of Layla's fiance at the start, and the awful situation it happened, but it left her free to pursue setting up her dream, which of course involved her dad and his band-mates, and led to another story line with them.
I did feel she managed to set the club up incredibly easy, IRL of course there's be endless council inspections, licenses to sort, building regs and appeals to get round....but book land is different thank goodness. Sometimes I wish real life was more like that, innovation gets stifled by the constant legal issues.....

As the story continues it gets more complex , with another story line popping up. I felt that was pretty real but they way it was resolved felt wrong, I just couldn't see it happening that way after the long while the grudge had been held. Still, as ever others won't bother about that – we all have different opinions.

The romance almost doesn't happen until the end, but the story itself is fun. I would have liked a bit more romance, we get a nice epilogue but for me I needed more in the story itself.

Stars: Three, its a fun mystery but a bit thin as a romance read.

ARC supplied by Netgalley and publishers

Thank you to NetGalley and One More Chapter for gifting me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This romance novel covers some interesting topics; big age gap in couples, betrayal, celebrity privacy, dealing with loss. I know when i list them like this it doesn’t make much sense, but the plot does work. We follow Layla, 28 year old Scottish girl who on the day she loses her fiancé finds out he died while cheating on her with another woman. While i appreciated the entire story i simply couldn’t connect tot he characters. Every time something happens i would think WHY... Up until the end I couldn’t understand anyone motivation.

Don’t get me wrong, this is an enjoyable book! Story ties up nicely, very imaginative. Would I classify it as romance, sure but it also had some mystery elements. So for a quick afternoon read, relaxing book, perfect book.

This was such a great book. The characters, the setting and the storyline had me hooked from the beginning. I will say that I wanted a tiny bit more at the end but other than that, highly recommend.

What a lovely story. Twists and turns all the way. Loved how Layla used the money she did not want to help her community. Mask was a great character and you felt for him. You inagined how he would sound. A perfect ending .You just have to read it

A secret Scottish escape is a gentle read, containing lovely scenery, romance and a bit of mystery!
Layla’s fiancée dies unexpectedly in flagrant with his ex wife, this leaves Layla angry, upset and feeling that she didn’t know her fiancée at all! Rather than wallowing in her own grief Layla takes on a new exciting project that channels her enthusiasm and drive, however along the way a paternity case is questioned, mystery surrounds a new resident, and friendships are made, tested and established!
Perfect escapism in these troubled times!
Thank you net galley for this early read.

I received a free copy of this book on Kindle in exchange for a review for Netgalley. The protagonist is an innovative character with ideas of her own despite disappointments...she moves on after a love that doesn’t work out...ends sadly...she finds a new love and learns about secrets on her family. A quick read...enjoy.

A Secret Scottish Escape was every bit of gorgeous and enthralling the whole way through, with a lovely story of romance, mystery and grief. Layla is definitely a woman who has had a tough time with life and it was about time she took the reins herself. I really loved her concept of creating a music venue, in order to bring the community together and bring back some life in the small town - she was an endearing woman, always wanting to help others in need, whether they wanted the help or not. Speaking of not wanting any help, our mystery man, Mask, was a delightful love interest to add to Layla's story. I was so desperate to find out what had brought this mysterious Australian man to Scotland and why he wore a mask. In the end, his story was incredibly sad and allowed me to understand his character a lot more and emphasise. It was really heart-warming to see two broken characters come together and find happiness between the two, I loved Layla and Mask so much, I was over the moon with the ending Julie had given them.

This was a good read, bit of romance, mystery, lovely scenery. Not the best I've read of this genre, but a good way to spend a couple of hours on a rainy day

Thanks Netgalley an the Publisher. A real feel good read with great characters and set in a beautiful location.

This was a great read and I enjoyed reading the romance with the mystery. Loved the beautifully described setting of Scotland too.

A most enjoyable read. A mystery or two in the plot and a good slow burning romance, all set in a delightful location. I read this book in one sitting as I couldn’t put it down.

Layla's world is turned upside down when the police arrive to let her know her fiance died of a heart attack. Even worse, he died while having an affair with his ex-wife. When she finds out he left her is money, she decides to open a music venue. A good story, with a lot of little side stories swirling around too, including the mysterious guy "Mask". Enjoyable read, and one I recommend.

First, Thank you to NetGalley and Publisher for gifting me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Good story with a cute book cover that pulled me in - it looks like a lot of the romance novels I read ususally.

I liked the book for the fact that it deals with grief, heartbreak and learning to move on after the lowest of lows hits you in the face.
There was a bit too long of a drag on back story and I wish that things got moving a whole lot faster, but in the end, it got wrapped up in a beautiful little bow.
Found the characters a bit on the unappealing side, though.
Mom is just unbearable. She made my want to throw my Kindle against a wall a good few times.

It was like the every day romance really, the story was cute, made the heart smile with some wholesome goodness.

I requested this book purely because I'd helped with the cover reveal and I loved the look of the cover. I'd expected a feel good light hearted Romance but I got so much more as this wasn't what I'd expected at all. Instead I got a story of heartbreak, betrayal, mystery, and a determination to make the best out of a terrible situation.

After the unexpected death of her Fiance, and finding out that he'd been having an affair you'd forgive Layla for becoming a recluse, especially when even more shocking revelations come her way. Instead, Layla shows a strong resolve and an ability to overcome these revelations, all while going out of her way to help somebody else, even when they don't seem to want her help.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, especially since it was from an author I'd never heard of. I ended up finishing it in two days with most of it read in one day since I got too caught up in the mysteries of Loch Harris and its residents to put it down.

A great read and a great setting. A mystery as well as a romance, as Faith falls for the Mask, who is he and who is trying to cause trouble for him?