The combination of the title and the tag line on the cover, "Scot rhymes with HOT...", drew me in with expectations of a really fun read. It's a good book but not as fun as I was hoping it would be.

well it was better than the first in the series but not by much.

Giving up on page 193.

I thought I would really enjoy this book. As I read the first few chapters the plot sounded like it would be fun. The heroine, Rowena has been in love with the hero, Lachlan, ever since she could toddle after him. He has always been close with her brothers and brushed her off as an annoying sister. She has enough when she turns 18 and goes to have a season in London, returning for her brothers marriage and moved on from Lachlan.

I imagined Lachlan being a man that is happy Rowena has finally moved on when she returns. I pictured the story pulling him further and further away from that certainty as he looks at her through new eyes and falls in love with her. Expectations....*sigh*....

Instead, Rowena returns, over Lachlan. Lachlan pulls her aside to say that they will never marry and she needs to move on. She damages his pride by agreeing with everything he says instead of fawning over him. Lachlans gigantic cocky ego can’t handle this, and then he proceeds to bother, harass, and force himself upon her until she realizes she loves him. Well, I didn’t reach the point of her loving him but I’m assuming it happens. I stopped reading after they were intimate yet she agrees to marry someone else. 🙄

Honestly I have such a headache from this book. It’s the third in the series I think. I do get the feeling it might be helpful to read in order since so many characters are here and a few scenarios from the past are referenced. I don’t think it affects the story drastically though. I guess I’m maybe just wondering if I would have liked either of these characters if I got to know them a bit in the other books. (Which I don’t even know if they are in there. Has anyone read this series?) Because I don’t like these characters. Not even a bit.

Lachlan comes off as the classic teen movie arrogant football star, strutting around with a massive ego. He never wanted Rowena until she said no and then he wants her BAD. Why? Is that love? No, that’s gross. That’s a conquest. A game. A notch in the headboard of people you’ve won. He doesn’t see her for 3 months, then basically tells her to shove off. Then IMMEDIATELY, like the next day, starts harassing her, kissing her, demanding she allow him in her room to kiss her goodnight, sneaks around her brothers and risks their trust and friendship (they are his BEST FRIENDS and basically family) and takes her virginity in the most boring, eye gouging love scene I’ve ever read. Oh sorry, skimmed, with my eyes partially rolled in my head.

Rowena could have been a likable character. She slaps him during one kiss and I almost cheered. But then she allows it to continue while insisting he means nothing to her. But I just cannot forgive a love scene with someone then purposefully agree to basically marry someone else. That’s not a love scene, it was sex. And it sucked. And I’m done.

Rating- 4 Very Good
Heat- 2.5 Several scenes but not much detail
Overall series rating- 3.5
Troupes- Unrequited love for H, h returns all grown up, H jealous over h being courted by others,

I enjoyed the previous two books in this series, but Mad, Bad, Dangerous in Plaid was so much fun.


Winnie MacLawry grew up in the Highlands surrounded by not just her 3 brothers but by the guy she idolized, Lachlan. She was determined they would marry one day and chased him relentlessly. Since he was 8 years older and loved her like a sister, he tried to walk a fine line between being kind but not encouraging her. Winnie's other wish was to be a true lady and go to London. At the age of 18, that wish was granted ( It was during this time that the first 2 books in the series take place.). Winnie spent 3 months in London and got to have her very own Season. She learned how to bury her Highlands accent. She learned how to converse with proper gentlemen. She learned that she loved plays and poetry. Most of all, she learned that what she felt for Lachlan had been nothing more than childhood infatuation.

Winnie is returning to her home in the Scotland's for her brother's wedding, but she isn't coming alone. She brought her friends along, including several English Lord's. Her brother has also invited some Highland Lords he would like her to consider for marraige. She has more than enough to distract her from Lachlan if her infatuation returns, but she is sure that it won't since Lachlan is nothing like the refined man she wants to marry. Now, if only he would agree to leave her alone. It seems Lachlan was a bit shocked by his feelings upon seeing her again. Now it is him in pursuit of her.

Oh, let us count the things I loved about this book.
1) Yes, it was full of tropes, but troupes don't bother me. I loved the story of a girl returning a changed woman to the guy who never payed attention to her.
2) But here is a way it turned the troupe on its head, Lachlan knew Winnie HADNT changed like she wanted to believe.
3) We got to see the girl who spent years chasing after a man that clearly didn't want her become the one who was strongly pursued.
4) Lachlan's confusion over how he felt about Winnie
5) Highlander contests

2.75-3 Stars!

This one is a difficult one for me to rate. To be honest, I was halfway to skipping it completely and just going straight to [b:Some Like It Scot|23723771|Some Like It Scot (Scandalous Highlanders, #4)|Suzanne Enoch|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1426026217l/23723771._SY75_.jpg|43333399]. I was just never invested in Rowena before this. She was too much a spoiled brat throwing a fit for me to really get behind anything that she did. Even through most of this book, I was still rolling my eyes and wishing someone would smack her. Don't get me wrong, it's fine for people to want to experience something else, but Rowena was literally trying to erase who she was. Instead of a girl who wanted a Season and a chance to experience something other than the Highlands, she was a girl throwing a fit because her family said "no."

Even after they ended up back at Glengask, she was still trying to bury her brogue and dress like a Sassenach and every time someone thought about suggesting something "uncivilized", she'd veto it. That being said, she started growing on me as Lachlan started reminding her that she was a Highland lass. She wavered a bit when things were starting to come to a head and my opinion was still wobbly right up until she started using all those Highland skills to slow down Dermid.

I both loved and wanted to smack Lachlan. Normally, I'm pretty much all in for the "I love my best friend's sibling but I won't do anything because of the friendship" trope. And it was fine up until Lach flat out told Winnie he wasn't interested and then as soon as she's not broken about it, he suddenly sees she's not just the kid following him around. I get that people saying the two of them were going to be married from the time he was 8 years old probably didn't feel all that great, but the fact that until he suddenly didn't have that hanging over his head, he didn't bother to try and see Winnie kind of annoyed me. I will admit to laughing at his little jabs at Samston and Cranach. And the way he seemed to goad Cranach so easily.

"ye're a highlands lass, and soft hands will never do fer ye."

"we dunnae insult another man's property unless we're willing to defend our idiotic commentary with our own blood. keep that in mind ye fool."

"she'd always been surrounded by tall men, and while at times she found their height annoying, on most other occasions she appreciated the protection and comfort their formidable presence provided."

"us scots: always ready to celebrate, and always remembering death's but a poorly spoken word away."

Characters: daughter of the Clan, Clan chieftain
World Building: Highland games, Clan politics
Plot: clan machinations, internal: friends to lovers
Sex: Medium to tepid.
Read another: Always.

Mad, Bad, and Dangerous in Plaid is Enoch’s latest in her Scandalous Highlanders series, and it features the much used (and much beloved) unrequited love trope. Rowena MacLawry has loved Lachlan MacTier for most of her life. However, Lachlan has never returned those affections. He likes her, but as a sister. After returning home to Scotland after her first season in London, Rowena is determined to put Lachlan behind her; she’s ready to give up her girlish fantasies and move on. Unfortunately, Lachlan is in for rude awakening where Rowena is concerned – perhaps he was just a tad too hasty to dismiss her so quickly. What starts as a battle of wills quickly becomes something much more.

Enoch’s latest was an adorable read. The hero and heroine were relatively young, so the antics and angst were very fitting to their ages. Both Rowena and Lachlan initially come across as rather impulsive and indecisive, but Enoch skillfully weaves a tale that goes beyond superficial and immature actions. The plot and ultimate resolution was not unexpected, and what I really liked about Mad, Bad, and Dangerous in Plaid was the fact that both Lachlan and Rowena came to a new understanding about each other. In unrequited love stories there’s always the danger that once those affections are returned the happily ever after can appear disingenuous. This is not the case in Mad, Bad, and Dangerous because both character do some introspection on what they really want. Rowena especially went through some soul searching to determine what she really wanted. When she decided she no longer wanted to pursue Lachlan she was free to actually view him as actual person rather than through the rose tinted glasses of her adolescent infatuation. It is this transformation that enriched this otherwise light, romantic read. It wasn't about one character finally making the other "see" them for what they truly were, it was about two people really evaluating the other on equal terms. There are light and fluffy moments, but by the end of Mad, Bad, and Dangerous readers are given a realistic resolution to the unrequited love trope. Mad, Bad, and Dangerous in Plaid is another lovely romance by Enoch. It was funny, serious, and romantic – all the things that you want to see in a romance and perfect for readers that enjoy a good, well-developed unrequited romance (with a happy ending, of course!).

*Review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.