ARC Review: The Highland Fling by Meghan Quinn

“The Highland Fling had a wonderful setting and characters that made good use of the grumpy/sunshine trope.”
~ Under the Covers

Recommended Read!

Bonnie has fallen on hard times. She’s trapped in a rut; newly single, newly unemployed, and she and her best friend, Dakota, are being evicted from their apartment. All Bonnie wants to do is find her passion in life and prove to her parents she’s not a complete failure. But clearly life has other plans for her. So when Dakota finds an online Help Wanted ad, seeking two friends who are willing to run a coffee shop in Corsekelly, Scotland for six months, the friends see this as their chance to start over. But Bonnie wasn’t planning on the culture shock. She wasn’t planning on finding a purpose in Corsekelly. And she definitely wasn’t planning on the grumpy Rowan MacGregor and his muscles, his accent, his tattoos, and his grip on her heart.

The Highland Fling was such a fun contemporary romance. The whole premise of the plot just felt freeing and, honestly, enviable. Who wouldn’t take up the chance to leave the hard times behind and move across the world to find your passion? And Quinn has a wonderful way of painting the idyllic Corsekelly. Everywhere from the cottages, to the coffee shop, to the market and pub were easy to envision because of how well Quinn described the town.

Bonnie was well-written and very relatable, feeling lost while simultaneously believing she is better than her bouts of bad luck. She was the perfect foil to the quiet, grumpy Rowan. Though as fun as Bonnie was, I have to say that Rowan was my favorite character, and not just because of his physical description and accent. Rowan had his own history of family issues, and as Bonnie peeled back his layers, we were able to see why Rowan was such a grump to Bonnie’s sunshine. Rowan was just as dynamic as Bonnie, which I absolutely loved. When Bonnie meets Rowan, he is stoic and quiet; by the end of The Highland Fling, we see emotion and vulnerability. As much as I loved and envied Bonnie’s character, it was Rowan’s character growth that really moved me the most. Quinn also created a multifaceted cast of supporting characters with their own personalities, strengths, and back stories. While this was Bonnie and Rowan’s story, I loved that they weren’t the only ones to work through their issues to find their passion.

The Highland Fling had a wonderful setting and characters that made good use of the grumpy/sunshine trope. Quinn’s descriptions of the town and its denizens draw readers in, but they will keep turning the page for Bonnie and Rowan’s journey. With minimal amounts of steamy scenes but plenty of character, fans of contemporary romance as well as rom-coms will want to check out Bonnie and Rowan’s relationship in The Highland Fling.