Review: A Highlander Walks into a Bar

A Highlander Walks into a Bar by Laura Trentham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was really looking forward to reading "A Highlander Walks into a Bar" by Laura Trentham because it sounded like exactly the type of book I would love. I did end up liking it, but maybe not quite as much as I expected. I struggled through the first 20% or so, mainly because the first chapter felt like a massive information dump, and I would have preferred to learn about the characters through their actions along the way instead of being told so much up front. It also seemed to me that some of the thoughts and feelings the characters expressed early in the story were premature and unrealistic, especially on Alasdair's side. There didn't seem to be enough of a basis established yet for either his romantic relationship with Izzy or his judgment of the town. For example, at one point Alasdair thinks to himself that the Highland festival organized by Izzy and her mother has the "same sense of community" as the town of Highland. How could Alasdair possibly know anything about either the festival or the town when he had been there for less than 24 hours and only visited a single coffee shop for about five minutes? He spent a bit of time with Izzy and Rose at Stonehaven that day, but it's impossible to form an accurate opinion of an entire town based on a few hours spent with only two of its residents.

All of that said, I'm glad I stuck with the book because it did get better. I really liked Alasdair and Izzy as a couple, and Gareth and Rose were pretty cute together too. Really, my only complaint is that Alasdair seemed to resolve the situation involving his company and Stonehaven a little bit too easily. His co-worker, George, didn't seem like the type of guy to give up entirely just because his first plan was thwarted. It's entirely possible that Alasdair's boss told George to back off, though, so maybe I'm overthinking it.

At any rate, I will definitely plan to pick up the next book in the series, which, based on the events of this book's epilogue, will likely feature Izzy's friend Anna and Alasdair's friend Iain. Anna was a likeable secondary character here, and the brief introduction we received to Iain in the epilogue was intriguing. Hopefully they will make for an interesting pairing!

*ARC provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

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