Getting Hot with the Scot by Melonie Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Published: April 30, 2019
Series: Sometimes in Love #1
From their freshman year in college, Cassie and her friends may a promise to each other that they would take a European vacation five years after graduation. So that's is where they are. Finishing up their trip in Scotland and then London. All Cassie wants out of this trip is to end her dry spell in the bedroom, but as the trip comes to a close, it doesn't look as though that is going to happen. And then she sees the man she's be waiting for. A long-haired redhead in a kilt named Logan Reid. Could it be more perfect? Cassie throws all her inhibitions to the side and goes for what she wants. Will the be just a vacation fling or something much more.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book. I'm participating in a blog tour for this title next week on my blog, so be sure to check it out. There will be an author interview as well as an audiobook excerpt for the book.
First of all, I would just like to say that I wish I had a good group of girlfriends I could travel around Europe with, or even just explore things here in my own hometown. When Cassie embarked on this journey with her friends, in the back of her mind, she was hoping for a romantic fling in a foreign country. She has never been the relationship type and so, a fling is all she needs to get her over this dry spell.
Logan Reid is Scotland's jokster, his show
Shenanigans is gaining quite a bit of attention in Europe as well as across the pond. When Cassie throws herself at him, he is shocked to say the very least, but from that moment forward, she has a hold on him, that he can't seem to shake. Logan is not the relationship type either, but what this woman is doing to him, could change all of that.
From Europe to Chicago, will these two find love they so desperately are trying to avoid, or will they enjoy their fling and go on about their lives?
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Would you look at that? The man is wearing a kilt.
Note to self: Cassie Crow—be careful what you wish for.
The man groaned again and raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sunlight now cutting across the hidden alcove.
“Are you all right?”
“I will be fine once ye douse that blasted light.” He squinted up at her. “Be ye a new chambermaid?”
Chambermaid? She eyed the wide sleeves and open neck of the old-fashioned piratey shirt he wore. “Not sure what kind of weird-ass stuff you’re into buddy, but I don’t do RPG.”
“Weird . . . ass?” His dark red brows drew together as he shaped his mouth around the letters. “Are pee gee?”
“Role playing games. You know, like cosplay or what- ever.” She pointed at him. “Look, you’re the one wearing that get-up and talking like a reject from Macbeth.”
He narrowed his eyes at her finger. “Be ye a witch?” “What did you call me?”
With another groan, he lurched forward. Oh God, what if he was hurt? For all she knew he was a member of some historic castle tour who got lost in a back passageway and hit his head. She leaned down to inspect him for bruises.
He threw a hand out, palm up, warding her off. “Back away, sorceress,” he hissed.
“Seriously?” She slapped his hand out of the way. “Here, let me help you out of there.” Cassie tugged gently on his shoulder. The voluminous shirt was loose, but she could feel—and appreciate—the thick spread of muscle beneath the soft fabric.
Just my luck, I finally run into a hot Highlander, and he’s delusional.
The man waved off her assistance and struggled to his feet, shaking a wild tousle of thick, red hair out of his eyes. Cassie never fancied herself to be a ginger girl, but it worked on him . . . or maybe that was the kilt talking. She eyed the swath of plaid fabric wrapped around his hips and wondered, like any female in her position would, what might or might not be under there. Reluctantly, she raised her gaze and caught him scrutinizing her in return.
“What be these strange breeks ye wear?” he asked, moving in a circle around her.
Cassie swore she could feel the weight of each of his eyeballs resting on her denim-clad backside. Fair enough. After a prolonged moment, she glanced over her shoulder. “Get a good look?”
“Aye.” He swallowed. “’Tis most unseemly, lass.” He shook his head, gaze still glued to her ass.
“They’re called jeans.” She pivoted to face him. “Are you for real?”
He met her gaze, his answer falling from his lips in a deep, rich brogue with trilling r’s that curled her toes, “Aye, lass, I’m real.”
Cassie’s heart hiccupped. Of course he’s real. Unless those shots were stronger than I thought. “Were you at the whisky tasting?”
“Whisky?” His green-gold eyes lit with interest. “Do ye have whisky for me, then? I could use a wee dram. Be a good lass and fetch it for me.”
“Ha! I think you’ve had enough, mister. Is that how you ended up stuck in there?” Even as she said this, Cassie doubted it. She didn’t smell a hint of alcohol on him, though she did pick up other pleasant smells. Mint and clove and man and . . . Stop being ridiculous.
His broad shoulders lifted and dropped. “I dinna ken.” “How long were you in there?”
Another shrug.
Cassie dragged her attention away from the wide curve of his shoulders and leaned past him, inspecting the dark, narrow space behind the bookshelf.
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, panic edging his voice. “Nay, lass. Doona be going in there.”
“Why not?” She inched forward and tried to get a better look.
“It canna be safe.” He tugged on her wrist again, his fingers warm and firm.
Tiny butterflies danced along the path where his skin touched hers. She brushed away the tingling sensation and slipped out of his grip, careful not to snag her bracelet. “Well, you were in there, and you appear to have man- aged.”
“Are ye daft, wench? I was trapped!”
She sniffed, not sure she liked being referred to as a wench, and frowned up at him. “What’s the last thing you remember?”
He closed his eyes and slumped against the shelf. “I canna recall anything afore the moment I woke to find myself crammed within yonder wall.” He blinked and focused intently on her. “The moment I found you, lass.”
Cassie decided she liked being called lass much better than wench, especially when he was looking at her like that. Gazes locked, her other senses sharpened, heightening her awareness of his body and its proximity to hers. She cleared her throat. “Hm. I think it’d be more accurate to say I’m the one who found you.” Telling herself she was only searching for injuries, she reached up and tentatively skimmed her palms along his temples, her fingers trailing his scalp.
“Looking for devil’s horns?” The man cocked one wicked brow at her as he raised his arms to mirror her movements, running his hands over her head and shoulders before brushing his palms down her back. “Ye’ve naught got any fairy wings, so I’d say we’re even. In fact,” he whispered against her hair, standing so close the low burr of his voice became a purr in her own chest, “ye feel perfect to me.”
Like the migrating monarchs her dad studied, the butterflies made a return trip, enveloping her in a fluttery haze. She shivered. Whether it was the Scot or the scotch or both, Cassie didn’t care. He was here and she was here, and damn it all, it was about time she skipped to the good stuff. With a forceful mental click, Cassie turned off her brain, tilted her chin up, and caught his mouth with hers.
He made a low sound in the back of his throat, of pro- test or surprise, she wasn’t sure. But then his hands settled at her waist, and he returned the kiss. His mouth was somehow soft and hard at the same time, and when he slipped his tongue between her lips, she felt more light- headed than if she’d downed every shot of whisky that had been on that tasting list.
Cassie rolled her tongue against his, savoring the delicious contact. He met her thrust for thrust, deepening the kiss until she was swept away on a tidal wave of desire. This. This is what I’ve been waiting for. She clung to him, hands gripping his shoulders, swimming in sensation, drowning in it.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW:
What 'Cha Readin'?: Which character in Getting Hot with the Scot do you feel most connected to? In what way?
Melonie Johnson: I’m going to cheat here and break this into two answers. I feel most connected to the heroine Cassie in the sense that I connect to her passion for literacy. I share her love of the past and her curiosity regarding history. But I feel a very strong connection to the hero Logan as well, mainly his difficulty processing his father’s death and moving through the grieving process, because this book was part of my grieving process. My father died, suddenly and unexpectedly, when I had just begun to write this book. Weighed down by grief, I did not return to this story for over a year. When I finally came back to it, Logan’s emotional journey became, in some ways, a reflection of my own.
WCR: Did you always want to be a writer?
MJ: I always enjoyed reading, and liked to write stories, but the idea of seeking publication and pursuing a career as an author did not occur to me until after my second child was born, when another mom in the baby playdate group I was part of I joined me in giving NaNoWriMo a try. That month of writing woke the muse and lit a fire, and the stories have been simmering ever since.
WCR: Where is your favorite place to write? To read?
MJ: My favorite place to write is a lovely little hotel room all to myself for the weekend. Some snacks, some wine, and lots and lots of words. Where I usually write though is in a nest of blankets on my couch. The blanket nest is a good spot to read too, but my favorite place to read is in my backyard in the summertime, beneath the shadowy canopy of leaves.
WCR: What is your favorite book of all time? What book is your favorite right now?
MJ: Gah, this is the hardest question to answer...I adore the
Irish Century series by Morgan Llywelyn, but in terms of romance, my favorite book of all time is
Flowers From the Storm by Laura Kinsale. My favorite book right now is something rather different, it’s the screenplay for
Sense and Sensibility by Emma Thompson that includes entries from her diaries while working on the film. It’s a fascinating peek behind the scenes.
WCR: What are you reading right now?
MJ: I’m currently reading
Appetites and Vices by Felicia Grossman and finally started
Alyssa Cole’s A Princess in Theory and am looking forward to catching up with all the books in her
Reluctant Royals series. I’m also always listening to audiobooks (really, it’s the way I manage to fit most of my reading time in) and right now I’m listening to
At the Stroke of Midnight by Tara Sivec and have
The Duke I Tempted by my Golden Heart sister Scarlett Peckham queued up next.
To learn more about this book, or any of the books mentioned in this post, click on the covers below:
Mattie and Sadie are sisters. Sadie does her very best to care for Mattie. Their mother is no help. When Matties is found dead, Saide is determined to find her killer and get revenge. When Sadie's car is found with everything, but her inside, her neighbor May Beth gets concerned. The police will not help, so she turns to West McCray, a radio personality with a true crime podcast to help find Sadie. Told from two points of view, Sadie's and West's serial podcast, we find out more about each girl, especially Sadie and what drove her to the point she is. 
