Review: Scotland or Bust

Scotland or Bust by Kira Archer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Can't see how many pages, but feels like a novella.

Harrison Troy is flying home from New York to spend the Summer with his family, it wasn't entirely clear to me whether 'home' was Scotland or England, he wears a kilt (for Outlander purposes) but is repeatedly referred to as English - whether that is the author not understanding the nuances of being English, Scottish or British I don't know. His private plane is out of action, none of his friends can lend him a plane and the airline he has chosen to fly with doesn't have the modern first class pods so he is forced to sit next to a total stranger (first world problems encapsulated). His seat mate is Nicole (Nikki) Franklin, an unlucky-in-love accountant who has thrown up everything in order to realise her dreams of travelling Europe. The start of the book reminded me of Managed, Harrison is terrified of flying and Nikki takes his mind off take-off with a steamy kiss. When they land in Scotland/England Harrison discovers that his assistant has quit and so he offers Nikki eight weeks work at his family's castle.

What follows is a madcap/ slapstick caper in which Harrison's zany family frustrate his attempts to get the family travel business into the black by running Outlander-themed holidays. I'm not a fan of the zany and Harrison's grandmother in particular (talk of fornication outside wedlock and entering jousting competitions) was (in my opinion) unfunny and unnecessary, indeed most of Harrison's family appeared merely there for the zany and had no real interactions with Harrison or Nikki.

I did enjoy this but I have to say, as an Englishwoman, the idea that you could half the time taken to drive from the Scottish border (assume for the sake of argument, although I believe Outlander is set in the Highlands) to London Heathrow is frankly ludicrous. It's 313 miles from Gretna Green to London Heathrow which would take just under 5 hours via motorway, the idea that you could drive a minibus at 120 miles an hour constantly is simply ridiculous. Also, has no-one pointed out to Kira Archer that there are five terminals at Heathrow, some of them quite some distance apart?


Nevertheless, if you can overlook the geographic ambiguity, this was a pleasant, low angst romantic comedy - ideal beach reading.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.


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