by Lana Ferguson
Release Date: December 3, 2024
2024 Berkley
Ebook ARC; 416 Pages
ISBN: 978-0593816851
ASIN: B0CW18SRPF
Audiobook: B0CXF7CPKQ
Genre: Fiction / Romance / Paranormal
Source: Review copy from publisher
3.5 / 5 Stars
Summary
Keyanna “Key” MacKay is used to secrets. Raised
by a single father who never divulged his past, it’s only after his
death that she finds herself thrust into the world he’d always refused
to speak of. With just a childhood bedtime story about a monster that
saved her father’s life and the name of her estranged grandmother to go
off of, Key has no idea what she’ll find in Scotland.
Lachlan
Greer is looking for answers
as well, and Key’s presence on the grounds they both now occupy presents
a real problem.
When their secrets collide, it becomes clear that Lachlan could hold the answers Keyanna is after—and that she might also be the key to uncovering his. Up against time, mystery, and a centuries old curse, they’ll quickly discover that magic might not only be in fairy tales, and that love can be a real loch-mess.
My Thoughts
Under Loch and Key is probably one of the first romance books I have read in approximately two years, but I was looking for something different than the usual epic fantasy, non-fiction, and mystery books I usually tend to read, and thought this would be a good light read. And that is exactly what this was. It actually had some of the tropes that I like; solving a curse, riddles, centuries-old secrets, and a romance that wasn't based on the stupid and overused miscommunication trope. Where it sort of lost me was in the execution.
First of all, I enjoyed both of the characters and thought they were fairly mature. The reason I stopped reading romance novels was because of the immaturity and the overuse of the miscommunication trope, but I didn't find it to be true in this book. While the main characters did have their issues, one was guarding a fairly large secret that could destroy him while the other really had no knowledge of her family history, so I found the development of this quite interesting. Even though both characters struggled to true the other, they were willing to work together without doing stupid things, and that is what kept me going. Key kept fighting to get to know her family despite the rough beginning, and Lachlan was willing to let Key into his world and share some of his knowledge.
Where it struggled at times was with the execution. The story did comes off as 'cutesy' and I wanted more 'zing'. To be honest, I didn't always feel the connection between the two characters, other than being friends, but that sizzle, no, not always there. That doesn't mean to say the romance aspect was boring or anything as it wasn't, but when I read a story, I want to feeeeel that connection between the characters. The curse and the history of both Key and Lachlan's family were interesting, but then I love fantasy so this is the stuff I really enjoy. I did think the spicy scenes were well-written and I definitely did enjoy the build-up to the characters eventually getting together, and I will admit to some laugh-out-loud moments, but then there were some parts that slowed down the story quite a bit.
Verdict
Under Loch and Key was actually an interesting story and I did enjoy the family dynamics and the way Key found a new home and friends. I liked the dual POV as it gave me insight into both characters and what they going through personally and it definitely helped with their character development. I did think the grumpy guy and the bouncy girl was a bit over the top and could have been downplayed a little bit, but overall, the story was fun and not a bad choice for my first foray back into romance in quite a while. Personally, I really enjoyed the parts where the characters discovered family secrets and went looking for answers; it was the inner monologues that actually slowed it down for me, not the hunt for secrets. Too much introspection drives me to boredom.
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