This series was worth reading, but I couldn't quite give any of them more than 3 stars. Her Scandalous Brides series is overall stronger. ( )

She's just as spirited as he is brash. Ms. Enoch won me over the minute Catriona was introduced. I enjoy romance novels, particularly historical romance. Any character that is not a damsel in distress. Can take care of herself and is not afraid to voice her opinion is alright with me. Catriona and Munro are a fiery combination. On so many levels they should not have worked. Personality clashes, homeland differences and willful tempers. All of these things stacked the cards against them but proved inconsequential in the end. There is never a dull moment but always a new adventure. I received an ARC of Some Like it Scot by Suzanne Enoch in exchange for an honest review. ( )

****Full Review****

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Munro has played the hulking, big intimidating MacLawry brother, even saddled with the nickname "Bear", all his life and it hasn't bothered him until recently. With his family all married off and doting on their offspring, they can't understand why Munro wouldn't want to experience the same happiness, especially his oldest brother and clan chief Ranulf. Munro only wants to live his life on his terms and when he meets a wildcat highland lass, he finds himself wanting what his family has. Catriona was raised by her father to be the son he never had and only now realizes how much of an outcast that makes her. When her half-sister writes from London asking for help from a betrothal to an ancient duke, Cat takes off to rescue her and avoid her own betrothal. Hiding out on MacLawry land is dangerous but when Munro comes across the sisters, Cat learns that even with all her masculine mannerisms, her heart is all woman when it comes to her feelings about Munro.

Some Like It Scot is the fourth book in the Scandalous Highlanders series and features Munro the youngest brother. In the previous books he makes appearances but stays more to the corners and is mostly described as being quick to temper, ham-fisted, and rough around the edges. Here we see that while some of that may be true, it's not his full story. Being six and half feet tall has Munro giving off the impression of hulking and his family liked playing up his Bear nickname to help make their name fearsome but they generally never searched too hard under his surface to really get to know him. Our heroine's story is very similar; Catriona wears men's clothing, cut her hair short, and goes about doing what is considered "men's activities" for the time. As she was raised this way by her father who was desperate for a boy, she doesn't initially see anything wrong with it, until she overhears people making fun of her. No one ever bothered to see beneath Catriona's surface either and as a consequence she is very standoffish and doubts her own worth.

"I dunnae feel like a proper lady when I'm with ye," she murmured, "but I feel like a woman."

When our leads meet, there is instant attraction from Munro and wary leaning towards from Catriona and while I think some chemistry was missing, their backgrounds make it understandable as to why they would be drawn to one another. They are two people who have felt misunderstood but didn't think it mattered until they meet one another and have a desire for their true selves to be seen, to be loved. I mentioned disappoint in their chemistry and I think it can be traced to their interactions. They have them, in fact most of the book is them facing off, but they overall seemed to lack substance. Their relationship feels like holding air in your hand, not sure anything is there. Catriona spends the vast majority of the book keeping Munro at arm’s length and Munro seems to be intrigued by the woman wearing trousers but I wasn't sure what kept Munro trying to gain Catriona's confidence and what he even wanted to do with it once he had it.

"Ye're nae convenient. Ye take some effort. Ye drive me mad. And there's nae another lass in the wide world who would do fer me now."

As with the previous books in the series Ranulf, the older brother, is the pseudo-villain of the piece but this time we also have the added bonus of the rest of the family, besides Rowena the sister, joining him. It felt like a rehashing of the other stories, Munro and Catriona want to marry but this will bring about clan wars and even though Ranulf's marriage and every other MacLawry sibling had the same problem, they can't possible see a way for Munro's marriage to work. The hypocrisy! It came off redundant and the quickness with the pretty bow solution was extremely convenient and felt a bit lazy. In their own stories these characters have big hearts and their understanding knows no bounds but they completely flip flop as secondary characters in their siblings’ books; it makes it feel inauthentic and forced for angst sake.

The beginning of this was extremely slow and it wasn't until about 40% in that I actually got into the story but there was also some surprising depth. Catriona could have just been another woman who wears men's garb for the sake of being daring and different but in the second half we learn about how her father raised her. Her character took on a whole new meaning and added a huge emotional layer that went beyond a woman in trousers and was almost buried by her many scenes of being stubborn towards Munro. There were also little extremely romantic passages said, almost in passing, by Munro to Catriona that showcase what this author can do. I just wished these little nuggets could have been accompanied by veins that spread throughout and inspired the story more. ( )

I realize I am swimming against the stream here, but I just could not connect with this story. In fact, I haven't finished it and wonder if I will.

Admittedly, the narrator's ability to speak in a Scottish brogue, while typically preferable, was overwhelming for the first hour of listening. I've listened to a lot of dialects, Scottish included, but Ms. MacDonald's was... too much... for me.

Then there's the story. It's premise sounded listen-worthy, but the storyline seemed to go on and on with no real plot twists, or at least not by the time I gave up (halfway through?). The last thing I remember is the Hero's family thought he was in love with the Heroine's sister, who currently was residing at the castle, while the Heroine & Hero were staying in the nearby hovel. Each of the Hero's brothers had stopped by, trying to bribe the Heroine to go away. The Hero was in the process of teaching the Heroine how to wear and walk in a dress... UGH!

Someday in the future, perhaps I'll be ready to give this book a 2nd chance. If I do, I will revise this review; but until then, I can't recommend listening to this book. Maybe try it in paperback first!?! ( )

This is my first read from [a:Suzanne Enoch|23294|Suzanne Enoch|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1274710347p2/23294.jpg], and I am happy to have found another historical author to populate my TBR Pile. While this is the 4th book in the Scandalous Highlanders series, I have not (yet) read the first 3. While I know there is a lot of character cross over from the earlier books, I did not feel lost or left out much, so don't be afraid to jump in if you haven't read the earlier books. In a way I am kind of glad that I didn't read them first, as I may have felt differently about our hero in this story.

Our hero is Munro MacLawry, known as "Bear" due to his size and gruff demeanor. I absolutely loved him. Although he presents himself as somewhat of a ham-fisted brute, there is much more to Bear than meets the eye. He is quite smart, caring and protective of his family. It's just a shame that no one in his family has looked past the exterior to really get to know this youngest sibling.

The heroine in this story is unfortunately awesome. What do I mean by that. It is unfortunate that her father wanted a son and raised her to be a boy. This goes past your typical tomboyish heroine... Catriona MacColl dresses as a man and does everything a man can do. Her only concession to femininity is her long red hair... that she doesn't know how to style other than in a ponytail. Because of the way her father raised her, everyone (even her own clan) sees her as odd, mannish, and laughs at her behind their hands. My heart really went out to Cat - its not that she wanted to be mannish, she just didn't know any other way to be. But my favorite aspect of Cat was that once her and Bear got together, she stayed to fight for him. She did not run away like so many annoying heroines are wont to do. Every time an opportunity presented itself for Cat to run, and she refused, I cheered out loud.

For me, the biggest villains in this story were Bear's family. They treated Bear and Cat poorly, and they didn't quite redeem themselves in my eyes. This is kind of why I am happy I read this 4th book of the series first. It will be interesting to see how I feel about the family when I go back and read their love stories. They were really unfair to Bear from the outset by trying to force him to do something that none of the older siblings were willing to to themselves. Of course in the end, Bear and Cat get their HEA together... but is it at the cost of his family?

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher, St. Martin's Press, in exchange for an honest review. 4 stars / 2 flames. ( )