I was so thrilled to get my hands on a copy of this audiobook! I've been dying with curiosity to read it. Anyway, The Scottish Boy is a queer historical romance between Harry de Lyon, a newly knighted country squire, and Iain, his prisoner turned squire. It's set in the 14th century and I am not remotely an expert on that period, so I have no idea about its historical accuracy, but from my layman's point of view, Alex de Campi seems to have done a good job of evoking the period (in broad strokes, at least). I liked the details about historical politics and about jousting, weapons, clothing and food etc. Also, I had no idea that medieval artificial insemination was a thing? I have got to find out more about the history of midwifery!

I loved how the relationship between Harry and Iain developed! I was, admittedly, a bit iffy about it at first, considering the power imbalance between them and the circumstances of their first meeting. I guess you could call it a meet ugly? Harry participates in a raid on Iain's home in a backwoods Scottish keep, in which his mother and servants are murdered and Iain imprisoned by the story's villain, Lord Montagu and his minions. Harry is horrified and doesn't actively participate in the violence and tries to be kind to Iain as they transport him to England, but as he himself acknowledges, he was complicit. His youth and naivety at the time, guilt and acknowledgment of his own complicity somewhat mitigates his culpability (it would be hard to root for him otherwise), but it was still a little uncomfortable to read. Harry is also pressured by Montagu to keep Iain imprisoned on his estate, on pain of losing it to the more powerful baron, so in a way they're both trapped. I'm not sure if that's better or worse? In any event, de Campi manages to pull off a believable progression in their enemies-to-friends-to-lovers relationship, which is impressive, given their deeply inauspicious start. And they are sweet together; even in their sex scenes, which were fairly explicit, in case that's an issue for other readers.

Both Harry and Iain feel fleshed out as characters and there are a few other standouts, like Alys, Harry's friend and alternative 'love interest'. She was great, please give me more politically astute women finessing her way to the life she wants to lead! There's a major asexual character and a few characters of colour who are important to the plot, both of which I love to see. In the first case, it's rare to see an asexual character in romance, let alone a historical romance, so good for Alex de Campi for going there. And it's also brilliant to see a medieval historical fiction that doesn't whitewash history. People immigrated and travelled! Before the 19th century! I may not know much about the period, but I know that! On the other hand, Harry's vassals have a touch of the 'Happy Slave/Serf' about them. They're all likeable, particularly Annie, Harry's motherly housekeeper, and it's all very cosy with their 'one-big-happy-family' vibe, which makes for a nice comfort read but is probably not historically accurate. Does it also perpetuate an idealised vision of the period's oppressive class system? Probably. That said, 'The Scottish Boy' isn't trying to be a hard-hitting work of historical realism and, to be fair to de Campi, Harry's closeness with his vassals and his responsibilities to his estate is a major source of conflict in his relationship with Iain (he must keep Iain prisoner or risk losing his estate to Montagu), so playing up the camaraderie between Harry and his servants etc. is justified for narrative purposes.

A few of the big plot twists in terms of Iain's identity and the resulting drama were fairly predictable, at least for me, but I still enjoyed the angst. And the last third took a major turn I was NOT expecting but enjoyed immensely. It gets a bit Game of Thrones for a second there, and I loved that we also get a bit of And Then There Were None and The Scarlet Pimpernel as the plot progresses. Thank you, Alex de Campi, it was a wild ride!

Finally, kudos to Richard Pearce for his fantastic performance as narrator! He had just the right earnest tone throughout that really suited Harry, as our main viewpoint character. His character voices and accents were also excellent; I especially loved Iain and Annie's Scottish and West Country accents (though the former is an interesting choice, given it's established that Iain mostly speaks in courtly French, but I enjoyed it anyway) and his Montagu had a great sinister rasp. He also doesn't attempt a falsetto for any of the female characters, which I appreciate. Sex scenes in audiobooks are a bit touch-and-go, but Pearce did a decent job, kind of speeding up to create a sense of urgency, I suppose? Not particularly sexy, but it was fine, and your mileage may vary, anyway.

Overall, The Scottish Boy was great, easy listening that I would absolutely recommend to fans of queer and historical romance (as long as you're not a stickler for absolute historical accuracy).

I listened to the audio version and skipped over the sex scenes which are frequent and graphic. I found myself skipping too much. Without the sex scenes, there is a good story in this novel, but I got tired of looking for it. I listened to about 65% of the book, which is very long, even on double+ speed. I would rather spend my time listening to something else.
The story started out well and Iain's story is intriguing. However, I really hated Harry. Harry is Iain's master. Iain was taken as a slave and given to Harry as a personal servant. Of course, Harry falls in love with him and is obsessed with him. He also cannot understand why the man he keeps as a slave is not his friend. At one point, Iain tried to escape, and Harry had someone break his leg as punishment. Then he cuddled Iain during the night and assured him he would not let anyone else hurt him, at least not at that time. This was so bent and perverse, I almost gave up on the book. This is probably a realistic depiction of slavery in the Middle Ages. However, Harry still did not understand why Iain was not his friend and did not love him. Harry came across as a self-centered, entitled aristocrat who kicked Iain like a dog and expected love from him. This represented the lowest point of the story. Iain seemed to be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, which could have been an interesting twist to the plot. But no, Iain was actually falling in love with his captor /master.
The "love" developed too quickly for me, especially from Iain's perspective. The story lacked romantic tension. I did not like the characters. I felt sorry for Iain, but quickly became disgusted when he fell in love with Harry.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

This was a pretty engaging read overall. I enjoyed the setting and adored the main characters. Sometimes the sex scenes felt like overkill but still worked. The narrator was perfect for this as well!

Wow, this book has left me stunned.
The love story between the two boysis slow and tender. The author took her time to show the development of their friendship and their feelings. At times it felt a little to long and I wished for a little faster pacing. But then I think that this very slow pacing was actually was created all the emotion. The times in which Harry longed for Iain, full of desperation, also left me desperated. All the tender love filled me up with oxytocin until I was in love with both of them. Thank you!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

o 2 ½ Stars rounded up to three
1333, Sir Harry de Lyon wants to prove himself in war. He rides north with an English baron, and they capture a boy, but no one will say why they went out of the way to capture this boy. The baron gives Harry the boy and told to convert him to the English side.
This LGBT enemies to lovers’ historical fiction has one of the most beautiful books covers I have seen. I received this book as an audio book, and I enjoyed the narrator. The plot was wonderful, with two people on opposite sides falling in love. Sadly, the rest of my thoughts on the book is that it did not live up to what I expected. The relationship between the main characters just didn’t feel right and I really found myself not really rooting for them. The romance seemed forced and sadly lacked chemistry. Overall, if you like historical fictions and LGBT books, give this book a try, but be open minded.

4 1/2 stars

I was drawn to The Scottish Boy because I'm a fan of historical fiction - - with a particular weak spot for historical romances. This gave me a bit of both. I like that it broke away from the predictable trope where the knight would have a woman as his prisoner and they'd soon fall into bed together. Nope...this time it was a man falling in love with his squire/captive. The attraction that built between them touched on many levels. It was definitely physical, but they also grew to care deeply for one another.

It took a while for Harry to grow on me. I understand that he was young and had lost his parents. He truly was figuring life out as he went. But some of the mistakes he made were infuriating. Iain is his captive in theory but Harry trains him as his squire. It's a rough start but eventually Iain submits to the duty and accepts he can't run. Where would he go?

The story has a strong basis in history - albeit the historical accuracy is loose and fast. That doesn't bother me because I'm not reading for a lesson, I'm reading for entertainment. However, I realize it could upset others. In addition, the author doesn't shy away from the intensely physical nature of Harry and Iain's relationship. Again, I thought it was well done, but I know that's a matter of personal taste.

Overall, I found this audiobook to be a real treat. For me it was even better to listen to it because of the accents that could be utilized to enrich the story.

Thank you to NetGalley for this audio review copy. I voluntarily chose to listen and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

I don't like DNF'ing books, and I feel even worse because this is an arc, but the powerdynamic of this book is making me too uncomfortable to continue. I'm currently at 27% and I just don't want to continue.

I was interested in the time period this book is set in, and I liked the idea of a romance between people from different sides of the English/Scottish war.

I was not prepared for this slave/master relationship. Harry is our English "Master" and he is such a frustrating character. He was part of the army that has slayed Ian's family and servants. (though of course he himself didn't actually do anything, because he is good. He has Ian in chains. He has him prisoner. And yet he doesn't understand why Ian doesn't like him. He gives him basic human decency, like food. He's not violent. Why can't Ian just be super grateful and loving and understand how amazing he is? ... uhm... yeah, no. You killed everyone he knew, took him with you in a literal cage, and keep him chained like a dog, he has absolutely no reason to even talk to you. If anything he's too kind.

Then there is this horrible prejudice that Harry constantly shows to Ian, because he's Scottish. He constantly calls him savage/wild/ etc. He's super surprised Ian can speak French and Latin, and anything he can do is amazing, because how could a Scot possibly do anything?

The romance feels incredibly forced. Harry has another character break Ian's leg with a mallet. Literally. (But of course he didn't know what would happen so he's innocent...) Ian doesn't know Harry didn't know, but still, despite his leg not even having healed they end up having sex. His leg got broken for running away, and yet somehow having his leg broken is the point where Ian says, okay maybe I should just sleep with Harry because he's actually a really nice guy? I don't get it.
And only a little later we get the next sex scene and there's just no chemistry at all.

I could have seen this as Stockholm syndrome, but even for that, the shift is too sudden. Ian goes from running and escaping to falling for Harry within pages. It's just too unlikely. It feels gross, the way Harry has literally all the control, and can do whatever he wants with Ian. And Harry never even acknowledges it and only complains that Ian doesn't see how good Harry is to him. Ian at least knows he's a captive. It felt icky. I'm sorry. I don't like this at all.

The audiobook is decent. The narrator gives Ian an accent, despite it being established they are speaking in French and that Ian is fluent, which bothered me a bit. Other than that, it was fine, nothing incredible, not awful.

I'm sure many people will like this book, as can been seen from all the high ratings, but the powerbalance and the lack of romantic development (It's really just, well we're both horny so why not?) make this book something I don't want to force myself to finish.

So the story of this book is definitely 5*. I was a little concerned at the beginning that we were going to get a full on history lesson, however that very quickly turned into a very interesting and emotionally intriguing story. I loved the character development over the course of the book, which covers several years. While feeling quite young at the beginning, the characters definitely feel like adults at the end, which I really appreciated. I did feel emotionally connected to the relationships and feel like I went on the emotional roller coaster with Harry.

The reason I'm not giving this book 5* was just because, frankly, there was too much sex. It got repetitive and boring. It took me by surprise the first time it happened because I didn't think it was that kind of book....I enjoyed the first few scenes, but then I just didn't need more. Especially the time by the lake when just as you thought it was finally over and we could crack on with the story, they start back at it again! Literally taking out 50% of the sex scenes would have massively improved it for me.

However overall I felt this was an extremely enjoyable read and I will definitely investigate other books that this author has written. The audio was also well narrated.

I absolutely loved The Scottish Boy. I read the physical book late last year, and it was a treat to be able to listen to it on audiobook as well. Alex De Campi did a brilliant job with this historical enemies-to-lovers romance.
The story is full of well written battles, tender moments, heartache, and suspenseful twists. All of the characters are incredibly well written, and the two main men, Harry and Iain, are both strong dynamic characters who each carry their own weight and secrets throughout the story. Their relationship is poignant and intense, and I loved watching their relationship progress from enemies to friends to lovers… to enemies and to lovers again. I can’t say much for historical accuracy, as I don’t know much of the time period which this book takes place… but as a reader I really enjoyed the details of the settings, the battle gear, and the events that transpire. It’s well written enough that the historical accuracy is irrelevant and I absolutely felt like I was back in 1300’s England. The audiobook was wonderfully enjoyable to listen to. The narrator, Richard Pearce, did a wonderful job with the voices of Harry and Iain, as well as the supporting characters. I loved listening to his accents, and it was easy to tell the characters apart and feel their individual personalities through his narration.
 Whether you choose to listen to The Scottish Boy on audio, or read it in paperback, you won’t be disappointed.

I started this book and thought , oh this an interesting historical fiction/romance concept, but about 10-15% in the wheels fell off. It ended up not being my cup of tea.

Once the Harry/Ian romance started, I felt like the book turned to repeat. The romance scenes were too numerous and a bit tacky as well. They overwhelmed the whole plot. I think my interest would have been kept if a huge section of the middle of the book would have been reduced to a couple romantic scenes. The only reason I was able to finish was due to the narrator having a soothing voice.

What I did like was the concept of enemy to friend/partner. The storytelling style was nice as well.

Overall I think the concept was good, but the plot execution fell short.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy of this Audiobook for my honest review.

Thank you to @sagaegmont @netgalley for the ALC in return for my honest review.
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My thoughts…
🔥🌶 🧖‍♀️ I have not read a historical fiction this hot, spicy and steamy! I thought the narrator was good. He did well in narrating the characters, with their different accents. The anticipation of the war between the Scots and the English was really interesting. And, in between the political tensions and the brewing war was the enemies-to-lover romance between Harry and Iain. Their relationship was a really, super slow-burn filled with hot longing. This book is long. It had violence and explicit sex scenes. The start was slow and bumpy. After the first quarter the pace sped up. The ending was satisfying enough.

This book was immersive and engaging. I loved the setting and the twists and turns in the story. This is a very spicy gay historical romance, and that plot was weaved into the history wonderfully. The narration was great, even with a variety of accents.

Set in the 1300's this is an enemies to lovers romance. Harry had never been in a relationship and Iain who had plenty of experience. It is a slow burn read and also quite long but the narrator was brilliant at bringing the characters to life. This has such a great storyline to it of friendship, love and the feelings of being gay in a world where you would be hung, drawn and quartered if found out. Very enjoyable and very entertaining

2.5 - 3 stars

Headlines:
Men not boys
Romp-fest

Sigh, I have a lot of thoughts about this book and I'm sad they're not hitting the expectations I had. The premise for The Scottish Boy was great and it started off really well, with a plot that had traction and potential. Iain was the wiley, captured wildling and Harry was the nobleman of sorts. These 'boys' were young adults.

The plot had a sort of loose A Knight's Tale theme but with a gay relationship and lots of sex (full emphasis on the sex). I am reluctant to ever judge if there is too much sex in a book, that's subjective, but for me, the constant romping overtook everything else, the plot suffered and I just got bored by it. The initial connection and hatred between Iain and Harry was really compelling and their push and pull kept me reading but I cannot lie, I wanted more depth to the plot.

The book itself felt a little overlong, 500+ pages, 15 hours on the audio. From an audio perspective, the narration was solid and definitely enhanced the experience. This was a single POV, from Harry's perspective but with good dialogue and accents.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the audio review copy.

Newly knighted Sir Harry sets out to prove himself on an elite, secret mission after his mother's death. When his party comes across a feral Scottish boy no one will tell him why it's so important to take the boy as a prisoner, or why the boy can speak fluent French and read Latin. Iain is a mystery that Harry is determined to solve.

I have a copy of The Scottish Boy in paperback but was really dragging my heels. Although it has a fascinating premise it is big and the subject matter dense. I just could not bring myself to pick it up. Thank goodness for netgalley and Saga Egmont Audio for allowing me early access to the new audiobook narrated by Richard Pearce.

I don't think I've ever read a historical novel that felt so contemporary. It was extremely accessible in the way it was written and how it presented its characters. I wonder if I would have interpreted the characters a little differently if not for Pearce's very distinct voice. While I didn't very much enjoy his Harry as the voice didn't necessarily seem to match the character, I thought his Iain was absolutely fantastic (the accent, the wildness, the character arc).

Overall I thought The Scottish Boy was gorgeous and completely addictive. It reminded me a lot of Captive Prince, so I would highly recommend it to fans of CS Pacat.

What an incredibly lengthy, slow build of a book. If you stick around for the 15 hours, then the pay off is worth it. In my opinion, at least.

Harry is a knight in charge of a Scottish prisoner who is cold and mean and violent and also just a boy, the same as him. Their relationship starts off rocky, as you might expect between two people from opposite sides of a war. It is a slow, tedious build, forming from distrust and anger to friendship and tenderness. The author has an incredible talent with forming this slow and timid relationship.

I enjoyed the English backdrop and the side characters as well. I even enjoyed the slow and unhurried pacing of the plot.

If you like books about war and knighthood and violence and history but also queer romances, then this is for you. Cannot wait to pick this up in bookstores and recommend them to all my book reader friends.

This was a huge, long book! About fifteen hours. I managed to fly through it in a week.

It was interesting, seeing Harry and Iain’s relationship develop slowly and bit by bit against the backdrop of a brewing war between the English and the Scots. The trust and camaraderie is slow to form, as the two are so different in both personality and background. Yet the author manages to form a connection between these two, something that slowly unfurls into a tentative bout of yearning and longing. Thus begins the romance between two boys from opposites sides of a war.

I really enjoyed the narration. The beginning is a bit slow and rocky, but the pacing later on makes up for it.

This book as explicit gore, violence, and sexual situations, so beware of that before picking this up.

Spicy spicy!

Harry, a lowly country squire, becomes a knight, a party to murder and the caretaker of a mysterious Scottish boy, Ian, all at once.

Ian is less than pleased to be in the care of a English knight and takes every opportunity to try to run away, inflicting damage along the way.

After Ian is badly injured by a neighboring knight (who was a part of the murderous group who kidnapped Ian) there’s a shift in their relationship and something starts to bloom.

Over the years there are victories, fear of judgement, losses, jealousy, tragedies and separation. Can the two find a way to live peacefully together?

4.5 stars! I really enjoyed this book. What it somewhat lacks in historical accuracy it makes up from in the emotions, romance, and spice! Harry and Iain were such well fleshed out characters. Their enemies to lovers soft romance was so sweet and heartbreaking. The twists were fun and the addition of Alys (possibly ace?) was great and I really loved her making the best situation for herself in a world where women didn't always have the most power. Overall this book is some fun political drama of royals, a soft romance, enemies to lovers, smutty, and emotionally heartbreaking and I loved every minute of it.

I would also like to add that I listened to this book as an audiobook and the narrator did a lovely job!

This is such an enjoyable read.
I love the time period it’s set in and it’s one you don’t come across too often, particularly when it comes to MM romance. I love the couple and it’s a surprisingly intricate gripping plot for a romance.

I’d already read the physical copy but listening to it on audio added even more to the experience. Such a perfect narrator for this. Just fabulous.