Harper’s Highland Fling (Lizzie’s Feel-good Scottish Highland Escapes #4) by Lizzie Lamb

ABOUT THE BOOK

After a gruelling academic year head teacher Harper MacDonald is looking forward to a summer holiday trekking in Nepal. Her plans are scuppered when her wayward niece, Ariel, leaves a note announcing she’s running away with a boy called Pen. The only clue to their whereabouts is a scribbled footnote: I’ll Be in Scotland.

Cue a case of mistaken identity when Harper confronts the boy‘s father – Rocco Penhaligon – accusing him of cradle snatching her niece and ruining her bright future. At loggerheads, Harper and Rocco set off in hot pursuit of the teenagers, but the canny youngsters are always one step ahead.  And, in a neat twist, it is the adults who end up in trouble, not the savvy teenagers.

Can Cupid convince Harper and Rocco that they have found their soul mates?

Fasten your seatbelt for the road trip of your lifetime –

It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

MY REVIEW

You can’t beat an enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy with a prissy and demanding schoolmarm and an overbearing and bothersome mechanic. Especially as they ride hundreds of miles on a motorcycle and an old Land Rover with a leaky roof to chase down two wayward teens on their way to Scotland.  It’s a cross-country laugh fest!

Harper MacDonald, successful headmistress of three schools, just wants to be on her walking vacation to Nepal, but her niece has run off with a local boy without a heads up. So as she tracks down the boy’s insufferable father, Rocco Penhaligon, at the local garage, the sparks fly and their first impressions are set. How dare the father imply that it is all her niece’s doing, though she knows Ariel has a penchant for getting into mischief. Rocco thinks Harper’s a mad old spinster and he constantly goads her and winds her up every chance he gets.

Rocco can’t believe his son would just go off like that without telling him, and now he has to suffer the company of a haughty goody-two-shoes. As he gets revenge for Harper’s disdain by forcing her to ride on the back of a motorcycle, what starts as animosity turns into a battle of wits, then a need to find out what makes this beautiful headstrong woman tick.

First impressions are not always what they seem. In the case of Harper and Rocco, it is a battle of wills that leads them to believe the worst of each other, but the tension eases and the comradery begins to form a united front to find the teens. The chemistry is very strong and as they gradually give in to the U-S-T (Unresolved-Sexual-Tension) as Rocco’s friend Morwenna puts it, they start to think about their future. They both have sacrificed their lives for others and it’s time they started living for themselves. What better place to be than Rocco’s grandparent’s home in Plockton, Scotland, which sounds like a wonderful place, by the way.

Ms. Lamb has a way of bringing her characters to life with their trek across the U.K. I can just imagine Harper placing her hands on her hips and tapping her toe as she deals with students, her family, and especially the handsome and playful Rocco.  I also love the idea of the Penrith Pirates motorcycle gang and their friendship with Rocco and his best friend’s widow, Morwenna, who is a wonderful supporting character.

I love and recommend this delightfully funny and heartwarming story about two headstrong and lonely people who find love in the strangest of places. 

Thank you to Ms. Lamb for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review. 

Lizzie’s Feel-good Scottish Highland Escapes Series

1. Tall, Dark & Kilted (2012)
2. Scotch on the Rocks (2015)
3. Girl in the Castle (2017)
4. Harper’s Highland Fling (2020)
5. Dark Highland Skies (2023)

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

After teaching her 1000th pupil and working as a deputy head teacher in a large primary school, Lizzie decided to pursue her first love: writing. She joined the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writers’ Scheme, wrote Tall, Dark and Kilted (2012), quickly followed by Boot Camp Bride. She went on to publish Scotch on the Rocks, which achieved Best Seller status within two weeks of appearing on Amazon and her next novel, Girl in the Castle, reached #3 in the Amazon charts. Lizzie is a founder member of indie publishing group – New Romantics Press, and has hosted author events at Aspinall, St Pancras and Waterstones, Kensington, talking about the research which underpins her novels. Lizzie romance Take Me, I’m Yours, set in Wisconsin, also achieved BEST SELLER status >travel>USA. Her latest novel – Harper’s Highland Fling – has been declared her ‘best one yet’ by readers and reviewers. In it, two warring guardians are forced to join forces and set off in hot pursuit of a runaway niece and son. She has further Scottish-themed romances planned and spends most of the summer touring the Scottish Highlands researching men in kilts. As for the years she spent as a teacher, they haven’t quite gone to waste as she is building a reputation as a go-to speaker on indie publishing, and how to plan, write, and publish your debut novel

Lizzie lives in Leicestershire (UK) with her husband, David.

She loves to hear from readers, so do get in touch . . .

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