Sara's latest release which tells the story of Killian and Sylvie, a marriage of convenience, and a brutally honest story of trauma, betrayal and, most importantly, love against all odds! I think it goes without saying that I fell in love with this book and Killian Barclay is in my top 10 book boyfriend list. Without giving too much away I absolutely loved the way Sara handled the characters different traumas and the real effect this can have on someone, without shying away from the stark reality of how a person copes with the trauma. It is there in all its beautifully messy glory and I absolutely loved this honest and raw account. If you're a fan of grumpy MMC's, a little bit of kink, and marriage of convenience trope this will tick all the boxes for you!

4.5/5⭐️
2.5🌶️

Thank you to Sourcebooks UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to ARC read this book.

I ATE this book up!! Sara Cate just does not miss🙌

Killian Murphy is a grumpy Scottish billionaire who just wants to be left alone to fester in his misery when a crazy American girl (Sylvia Devereaux) breaks into his house with absolutely no cares about the consequences.
These two enter into a marriage of convenience and things get very heated between grumpy x grumpier. The animosity and hatred is stifling at Barclay manor until they realise that there is a very fine line between hate/lust and eventually love.

“In truth, I did fall recklessly in love with him. The hate I once felt never went away - it just changed”

- Forced proximity
- Marriage of convenience
- Age gap
- Grumpy x Grumpier
- Billionaire MMC

The Scottish MMC and placing is done really well in this book. As a Scottish reader, this being done poorly is a big pet peeve of mine, however I thoroughly enjoyed this and can’t wait for the next in the series!

I enjoyed other books by Sara Cate so I was very excited by this one and the spice was right up my street.

Not the first Sara Cate novel I have read but definitely my favourite. Other than a typo where Sylvie was "Sophie" (assume it was a typo as there is no Sophie mentioned anywhere else in book?), the chemistry between Sylvie and Killian really crackles and there is enough interesting back story with family drama to give these characters enough complexity to make this an interesting and spicy read. Very satisfying ending too, not what I expected!

Despite having a few of this author's books on my tbr for a long time, this is the first one I have actually got round to reading and I loved it so much! Forced proximity and marriage of convenience with a grumpy scottish billionaire? I clicked request on this so quickly. I absolutely loved the progression of their relationship from hating each other to being unable to stay apart. At first, Sylvie comes across as an entitled woman who only cares about spending her parents' money, while Killian appears arrogant and heartless. However, both characters are deeply misunderstood, and I loved watching them open up to each other throughout the story, revealing their vulnerabilities. The spice was exquisite and I can't wait to read more from this author in the future.

Thank you so much to the author, netgalley and Sourcebooks UK for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts expressed here are my own.

3/5 Stars

Thank you to Sourcebooks UK and Netgalley for providing me with an arc.

I truly did love Sara Cate’s salacious players club and the first two books in the Goode brothers series but this one and her most recent goode brother book fell short to me. I liked this one more than the goode brother book and did actually believe in the couple but it took me 50% of the book to start to like them. For the first 50% of the book and even a bit past that these characters are so unlikeable to me and it is only once we start to learn a bit more about them that they did grow on me a bit.

Sylvie and Killian are insanely unlikeable for the first while of this book and while there is a reason for it, some of it just still felt unrealistic to me. Mostly I would have punched a man if he called me a cow? I also just didn’t like most of Killian’s family because though they think they are doing good for him they are very ignorant to their aunt’s goal to harm Killian. I do believe these two stay together which is more than I can say for her last book and I think they HEA was very well earned. I wish we got to see Killian’s pov during their time apart but still I liked the third act of this book and think that it was well done. Also this book compared to her other ones is really tame all things considered.

One thing I will warn about as it is not in the content warnings is there is a brief mention of what I am considering child sexual exploitation of the fmc when she was 16 by her parents. It is briefly mentioned once and never again which I wish it had been discussed more but it was not in the content warnings when it probably should have been.

I am still processing my feelings about this book and while I think I overall liked it, it did fall flat for me compared to SPC series.

I generally either like or love Sara's books, but this one was tough for me. I don't mind having a bad first impression of one of , but I also had a bad first impression of the MMC and I truly could not get invested into either of the characters or the relationship. While generally eventual build up and smut could fix that for me, and maybe it was my mood, but I didn't feel it here. I'll still always try a Sara Cate book though even if this one didn't work out for me.

A completely bonkers plot (pun intended) but somehow it really works. The energy of the storyline is completely addictive and you get blown along whether you want to or not. The premise is a fake marriage being set up in order to sneakily steal a house away from the occupant and new husband, the deal being the marriage has to last a year without either party cheating and then the wife will sign the house away to his mad and bitter old aunt. Yes absolutely nuts and hopelessly implausible but yet absolutely enthralling and compelling. The main characters are larger than life and bursting with personality, past issues and sex drive but the whole thing knits together beautifully. Actually loved this and surprised myself.

This is my first book by this author and won’t be my last! At first I wasn’t sure, both the main characters are difficult to like to begin with but became easier as the story developed. I was surprised by the depth of the story, the dealing with issues of panic attacks & agoraphobia are done sensitively. And it was refreshing to see this represented from a male perspective.
And erm the spice was spicing!

It’s hard to enjoy a romance and root for a couple to get their HEA when you dislike one or even both characters… this was my problem!
Sylvie was childish, erratic and spoilt, for me, just not likeable to begin with. Killian is a typical grumpy character but is an alcoholic bully and a recluse, it felt like there wasn’t much on page to get to know him or get to like him.
Marriage of convenience with forced proximity living in secluded Scottish castle could have provided so many humorous scenes and opportunities for this relationship to evolve and the characters to grow.
They evolved in a spicy way and yet towards the end just the turning of a few pages and they seemed to have found a future with maturity, I’m not entirely sure why or how they got there.
The book is easy to read and overall is fun, maybe if I didn’t dislike the characters I wouldn’t have finished with just a meh.

I received this book as an ARC and provide an honest review

I will never not read a sara cate book. 5/5 *’s for another one of a banging book - no pun intended. sara crafts such relatable and real characters that we learn to love throughout the book and this one is no exception. Killian is a scottish recluse who has wild american sylvie move in and upturn his life for the better!! i loved the highland landscape and scenery in this book and they also made me feel a little hot in my skin!!
can’t wait for the next instalment!

In the beginning I did think it was a little hilarious because they were both big ol’ spoilt brats lounging around in a fancy mansion basically drinking and dropping grapes into their mouths (you get the vibe) but then the story kind of pivoted and became a lot more moving and emotional. If I’m honest, based on the beginning I wasn’t expecting that amount of emotional depth but I really enjoyed it!

It was a little like the start of the book and the end of the book were two completely different books and I’m not saying this was a bad thing at all, it was just surprising. I was expecting it to be a lot spicier than it was - I mean don’t get me wrong there was a lot of spice but from what people had said I was expecting the spice to be spicier if that makes sense? It was much more tame than I thought it would be (still hot though).

I love a little drama and this book has it in spades, so if drama is your thing this might be the book for you. Overall, it was a fun, easy read and I’m glad I’ve finally picked up a Sara Cate book!

I would recommend it if you love banter that verges on straight nastiness, two very grumpy MCs and an unexpectedly emotional journey.

❤️Thank you to Sourcebooks UK for the ARC

🌟: 4/5
🌶: 4/5 (bdsm, exhibitionism, partner swapping, impact play and bondage)
Genre: new adult romance
POV: dual

Trigger warnings: agoraphobia, panic attacks, car accident, parental death, cheating (not between MCs)

Tropes:
✨ marriage of convenience
✨ fake dating
✨ enemies to lovers
✨ forced proximity
✨ age gap
✨ my wife
✨ touch her/him and die vibes

Sara Cate is known for her steamy dark romances and this softer version of that hits all the same. This story definitely had more of an emotional/trauma focus than the hot/steaminess. But don’t get me wrong, that spice was still woven into the story beautifully.

Killian is a grumpy Scottish recluse known for throwing kinky sex parties at his manor he inherited when his parents died. But his family want him out the house. He hasn’t left in years.

Sylvie is a girl wandering through life with no direction, recently cut off by her rich artist parents. They neglected her growing up, her scars of abandonment run deep.

After breaking and entering into his house to find her ex’s heirloom typewriter, she’s caught red handed by Killian. After escaping with a smashed phone, weeks later she’s surprised by a knock on the door from Killian’s sister. Marry him for 1 year, sign the house over to his Aunt and get 10 million dollars. WHAT!!

Guess what? She takes the deal, she has nothing to lose. And he was an arrogant brute anyway… gosh the nicknames they call each other in this book are ferocious 🤣 definitely enemies to lovers

Forced proximity, a beautiful trope, of course they are going to see what’s hidden behind each other’s hard exterior.

The agoraphobia representation !!! I’ve not read a book with it so prominent before, it’s a personal topic so I really felt the empathy for Killian. Anxiety and panic attacks are truly debilitating.

Thanks to netgalley and sourcebooks UK for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was in such a slump before picking this up, and I'm so glad I started it when I did. Grumpy, Scottish mmc, stubborn and fiesty fmc, light bdsm vibes, forced proximity, marriage of convenience, enemies to lovers, age gap, I mean, the while tropes list reads like my ideal shopping list!

When I say I could not put this down, I mean I was using toothpicks to keep my eyes open as I read into the early hours!

I am so in love with Killian. The poor tortured soul just needed someone to really see him and help rather than manipulate him into something he wasn't ready for. My heart bled for him and Sylvie for all they experienced at the hands of people who were supposed to love them unconditionally.

And the "my wife" vibes *swoon*

“Don’t you say that to me again, Sylvie Barclay. I don’t care about some stupid fucking contract. I love you. With my whole fucking chest, I love you. So don’t give me any of that shite about not being your real husband, because I’m right here. And I’ll never fucking leave you, not like they did.”

Thank you so much to Sara Cate, NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review. I will be dreaming of my very own Scottish Killian for a long time!

Sara Cate can do no wrong! I was addicted to this book right from the first goddamn line! 😍 and the fact that it’s a Scottish billionaire romance 👏🏼👏🏼 yes please

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5 stars

Sara Cate is my absolute favourite author, she always creates books I love and this book was no exception! I loved it so much. Killian Barclay was adorably grumpy and his story was so heartbreakingly beautiful. Sylvie was entitled and strong willed, her resilience against her grumpy husband made the banter and the story so much more entertaining. Their chemistry and spice was addictively steamy and so perfectly kinky 👀 It was everything I wanted and more. So definitely please give it a read when it releases on December 3rd!

If there’s one thing you can count on, it’s that Sara Cate never misses! This book was sooo good!

I have never read a Sara cate book that I didn’t love and I don’t think that will ever change! My favourite trope is Marriage of convenience so going in to this I knew I was going to love it and I was not wrong!

Killian and Sylvie were such a fascinating couple to watch fall in love, watching the extreme hate that they had for each other at the start of the book morph into an incredible love made such a good story that I had the best time reading!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for an eArc of this book!

Keep Me 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 - Sara Cate
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶🌶🌶🌶

"I just need you, mo ghràidh."

I was so lucky to be accepted as an ARC reader for this simply beautiful, Scottish romance. And ket me tell you, it DID NOT disappoint! 😍

My first read by Sara Cate was Praise and, although this is a completely different vibe, the spice is still there. Not quite on the same level as Praise definitely was, but nonetheless, there was still some of that Sara Cate kink in there. 🥵

I read this book in 2 hours, I was simply THAT HOOKED!!

From the get go you're sucked right into Sylvie and Killian. You fall in love with their characters, their story and their understanding of one another.

What was Sara Cate thinking when she gives us the picture of a sexy, broody Scotsman though?! 🤤 I'm in love.

I've found it hard to find a book that let's me fall in love with romance again but, this was definitely the book to pull me out of my dark romance cave and read something lighter!

Honestly, there is nothing i do not like about this book. The cover is beautifully fitting, the MC's and their stories are perfect and the ending is just *chefs kiss*. This is rather tame for a Sara Cate book BUT, it still had everything we need for the perfect romance/erotica book!

I am so grateful for the chance to read this early and it will NOT disappoint you! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🤍

I loved this!! I have completely read the series in the wrong order but It hasn’t made a difference on how much I love it!!
This is a super spicy romance by one of my favourite authors and I enjoyed it thoroughly!!

Keep Me by Sara Cate offers a romance that’s gentler than expected, especially for readers anticipating a darker, edgier story. Marketed as “dark” erotica with BDSM elements, the novel instead leans toward emotional themes, with only brief explicit scenes. The story follows Killian, a brooding Scotsman grappling with personal demons, and Sylvie, a privileged New Yorker with family issues, yet their connection lacks the raw intensity Cate’s fans might anticipate. The setting feels underutilized, and occasional Americanisms in Killian’s dialogue weaken the intended Scottish atmosphere.

While Cate’s writing is skillful, the characters themselves are harder to connect with. Sylvie’s immaturity and Killian’s isolated lifestyle make them less relatable, and some plot points—like his family’s unusual approach to managing his issues—feel contrived. Though it may disappoint readers seeking the depth of Cate’s Salacious Players Club series, Keep Me could still appeal as a lighter introduction to her work.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC