Book Review :: Wild Scottish Knight by Tricia O’Malley

Wild Scottish Knight by Tricia O'Malley
ISBN: 1951254848
Series: The Enchanted Highlands #1
on 4 April 2023
Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Goodreads

Opposites attract in this modern-day fairytale when American, Sophie MacKnight, inherits a Scottish castle along with a hot grumpy Scotsman who is tasked with training her to be a magickal knight before the Kelpies wreak havoc on the people of Loren Brae.

The knight was supposed to be a man.

Not me, Sophie MacKnight, a marketing associate from California.

This must be a practical joke that the Scots play on visiting Americans. Because otherwise I’ve inherited a haunted castle in Scotland, along with one irritatingly sexy Scotsman, who would be delighted if I turned tail and ran.

Frankly, I thought I would fly here, sell the heap of bricks, and head back home to a life that I…well, I was comfortable with at the very least. Instead, the people of Loren Brae are in trouble, and it appears that as the new owner of the castle, I’m next in line to reinstate the magickal Order of Caledonia. Which means, first, I have to learn to believe in magick. And secondly, I have to train to become a knight.

And my trainer? None other than Lachlan Campbell, the grumpiest man I’ve ever had the annoyance of meeting. It’s a toss-up who is pricklier, Lachlan, or his kilted Chihuahua, Sir Buster. Not only does Lachlan think that I can’t hack it, but he also resents my claim on his castle.

If only he didn’t look so devastatingly hot in his kilt.

Now, I’m stuck proving myself to him, all while trying to figure out how to help my new friends in Loren Brae.
Sparks fly as our swords meet, and we battle our rising attraction for each other.

Who will win in this (Highland) game of love?

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What is Wild Scottish Knight by Tricia O’Malley about?

In Wild Scottish Knight by Tricia O’Malley, Sophie MacKnight suddenly inherits a Scottish castle, much to her dismay. When she flies from her home in California to see what the deal is, she not only discovers that her castle might be haunted but there’s a grumpy Scotsman who seems to come with it.

Sophie’s first instinct is to just sell the place, but if she wants to inherit the large sum of money that was promised to her, she needs to stay at the castle for a year. This means getting along with the infuriatingly annoying (and hot) Lachlan Campbell, getting to know the locals at Loren Brae … and tackling the fact that she’s a magickal knight who needs to sort out the kelpie problem in the village.

My thoughts on Wild Scottish Knight

Wild Scottish Knight was not quite what I expected. I think I completely missed the magick element in the book synopsis when I was finding an audiobook to listen to, and I thought it was just a rom-com set in a Scottish castle (which I absolutely love). But once I sort of wrapped my head the fact that we were in more of a fantasy story than I was anticipating, we were back on track.

“That’s the beauty and frustration of it. Magick doesn’t explain or ask to be understood, it just is. It doesn’t care if you accept it or not. Magick doesn’t try to fall neatly into little boxes in your mind. Magick exists because everyone needs to hold on to the possibilities of what-ifs. In a world where we are told no more often than not, magick is the hope that whispers sweetly in our dreams.”

Anything that involves Scotland, I’m here for (did you see that 2021 movie A Castle For Christmas? Loved it). So the Scottish element of this story was a lot of fun (and shout out to the narrator for Lachlan – brilliant voice), and definitely had me wanting to go back to Scotland like, asap.

I enjoyed Sophie as a main character, and she was sassy and funny, and there were definitely some funny moments throughout the story. Her love of spreadsheets was excellent and relatable, and it was nice to see her bringing her marketing skills from her flashy Californian job into small-town Scotland. Lachlan was your typical grumpy leading man, with a Scottish accent, of course, and it was a treat to see their relationship grow over the course of the book (even if it started off rather strained).

I enjoyed the storyline for the most part, although it was a very classic storyline with kelpies thrown in, with similar points of drama as you might expect from a book with that synopsis. But I did enjoy it and I think I’ll pick up the next one in the Enchanted Highlands Series, Wild Scottish Love. 

I’d love to know though – have you read Wild Scottish Knight by Tricia OMalley? What did you think?