Review of “Highland Hideaway”

First book of July already complete!! I’ve been so excited to read this one, I’ve had it for a couple weeks now and couldn’t resist anymore. My obsession with why choose has started!!!

Highland Hideaway by Lily Gold is a why choose romance, where the FMC ends up with all of the MMC's instead of picking just one. Everyone gets a happy ending, no one gets hurt (in the end) and includes lots and lots of spice. This book follows Summer Faye, a fashion influencer who is going viral and being "canceled" for a video someone took of her crying over some lipstick. It's stated early on that she has struggled with ADHD her whole life, which is what led to her having to drop out of college and struggle in every aspect of school, as well as her personal life.

I very much enjoyed the representation for ADHD and mental health related struggles from Summer's perspective. I could relate to her so much in terms of what she deals with and her relationship with her mom at times. It was so refreshing to see it portrayed more than just "oh look! A squirrel!!" It's so much more (speaking as an undiagnosed girlie, by the way, although I'm pretty positive), and the way Summer handles it was just so...real. 

When she goes to Scotland to a luxury resort to film some content, they tell her the reservation has been revoked due to the contract they had with her, and if she did anything "controversial", the deal would be withdrawn. So, she finds herself searching for an Airbnb, landing on none other than Lochview, the home of our three main male characters: Alec, who owns and runs the far, Cameron, who keeps up with the Airbnb reservations and also works on the farm, and Fraser, a shepherd on the farm that immediately has my heart. 

Now...in terms of the MMC's...I have some problems. All three men are so different and obviously have vastly different personalities, which come out in the ways they interact with Summer, and especially each other, but they don't grow at all throughout the book. I went to find reviews of the book to see if someone had the words for what I felt, and someone referred to them being emotionally stunted and shut down. And I whole-heartedly agree. From when we meet Cameron, I was so excited for his journey and becoming this grumpy farmer who goes soft for a woman, but he didn't change at all. He was still as short and grumpy with Summer in the end as he was in the beginning.

The only MMC I actually liked was Fraser. He had depth, personality, and he was the absolute sweetest to Summer. The nicknames??? My heart!!! Alec was my least favorite. He was just an ass. I understand he had a LOT of trauma to work through, but that doesn't excuse him shouting at Summer and telling her he doesn't want her at the farm anymore and not only hurting Summer in the process, but also Cameron and Fraser. That entire scene broke my heart and I never wanted her to go back to Alec, no matter what. I did enjoy his character up until that point, which really sucks, the same way I also liked Cameron's character and hoped he would break out of that shell. Nope. Sad sigh.

I did like how each MMC had a tragic backstory and their own struggles revealed throughout. From Cameron being injured in the same accident that killed Alec's dad, to Alec being blamed for his father's death by his father himself, as well as his mother's death, and holding that in for years, and Fraser dealing with depression and using alcohol as a band-aid and how he still has days that aren't great. I wish we got more of his backstory, after a while, it felt very Alec-focused, I would have loved more Cam and Fraser.

As for the spice, my gawd!!! The scene where they don't use protection and from Alec's point of view, him pointing out the feeling of Fraser's cum on himself while inside of her, HOLY SHIT!!! I had to reread that like five times. I do wish there was a bit more between the guys, but that's just my thoughts. With Cameron wiping away Alec's tears and in the end, him asking if he'll be the husband-in-law UGH, I would have loved more between them than just anger and angst and broodiness. 

Overall, I didn't have many technical issues with the writing, aside from Summer's boobs being brought up out of no where. "That squirrel touched my boobs" please. Stop. So fucking cringe. It's A SQUIRREL!!! It's not like it meant to. At least three different times, her boobs were mentioned out of nowhere and it was, as I said, insanely cringe. Also the overuse of "er" and "aye" was really getting to me. I understand this is Scottish men and an English woman and maybe it's just my American-ism's coming out, but it is what it is. Below is my overall rating.