Men in Kilts (Paperback)

Despite a man less than forth coming about his true feelings, a neighbor who wants to bury the hatchet - in Kathie’s head, a son-in-law to be from hell, and smelly sheep, love finds a way. Then Kathie has to face a Scottish wedding from Hell, with her domineering mother and Iain’s first wife making it the wedding event of the year.

Katie writes about Scotland with a true voice. Being a Scot, I often have the cringe at some of the mistakes of Yank writers when they use Scotland as a setting. She keeps it true, right down to the sheep and the realities of business side of it.

I laughed, I cried. Don't think it gets any better!

Keep them coming, Katie! They are a sparkling delight!

Anyway, once they arrive at the farm - only three chapters into the book - all we are left with is boredom for the reader. Events and characters which were of no interest whatsoever to this reader. We have the stereotypical one-dimensional vindictive ex-girlfriend, and the equally one-dimensional jealous son. And we have sheep. Lots of sheep. Described in tedious detail, as is the occupation of farming them.

This is supposed to be a comedy? Well, some of it is admittedly farcical, but not farcical in the sense of being humorous. No, it's farcical in the sense of 'some editor actually let this rubbish get published?' We have three whole pages of ridiculous, over-the-top hysterics derived from the fact that Americans call trousers 'pants' while the British (and the Irish and the Australians and other great chunks of the English-speaking world) consider 'pants' to be underwear. Is there an American alive who doesn't actually know this?

Oh, and what about the romance? What romance? To this reader's eye, Kathie (the heroine, whose name bears a very strong similarity to that of the author) hears a Scottish accent, puts it together with her mental fantasies of Scotsmen derived from her love of Scottish romances (no doubt written by Americans who have probably never visited the place) and the Highlander film/TV series, and falls in lust. Now, what might have been interesting would have been a novel based on Kathie's experiences of living in the highlands of Scotland, without her cable TV, without broadband Internet, without takeout food at the dial of a telephone, without a Starbucks and a WalMart on every corner, without a power shower, air-conditioning, double-glazing, draught-proofing, wide roads and all the conveniences of modern American city or town living. How long would her lust for a busy sheep-farmer really last under those circumstances? And yet, other than a trip in the mud, we don't see Kathie having any problems adjusting to her new life. Cooking on an Aga rather than a modern stove? Doing without a microwave? Having the locals treat her with genuine suspicion because she's from foreign parts, rather than the silly plot with the ex-girlfriend stirring hostility, which is what we got. That might have made a better novel.

As it is, the 'romance', such as it is, is completely unconvincing. We are told that Kathie fell in love with Iain, but not shown, and we aren't shown *why* she would fall in love with him. The realities of day-to-day life with a farmer are glossed over, such as what Kathie does with her time while he's out all day in the fields - and how she copes with very early starts in the mornings. And as for Iain himself, what he sees in Kathie is something we will never know. Her inanities aside, she seems to cause him nothing but problems, and other than the sex it's hard to see what he might have got out of it.

Reading this book was a big mistake... Katie McAllister is now on my 'never again' list.

wmr-uk