Kilted Lover delivers a delightful and heartwarming romance that sweeps you away to the majestic Scottish Highlands, specifically, one of my absolute favourite royal residences, Balmoral. Lady Alice Walpole, tired of disastrous dates and a life of superficial glamour, is banished to Balmoral to "clean up her act" after a particularly public faux pas. What she finds there is so much more than punishment; it's a chance for genuine self-discovery.
The author skillfully weaves a sweet romance with thoughtful discussions on difficult topics, notably mental health, which is handled with sensitivity and respect. Alice's journey of growth is truly endearing. While the premise is undeniably fictional and escapist, the core themes of finding your worth, forging authentic connections, and embracing a healthier perspective resonate deeply.
Balmoral, with its rugged beauty and storied history, provides the perfect backdrop for Alice's transformation. The descriptions of the landscape are vivid and evocative, making you feel as though you're right there alongside her, experiencing the tranquillity and charm of the estate. And it's no secret that Balmoral holds a special place in my heart; its unique blend of royal grandeur and natural splendour shines through in every page.
Fraser Bell, the Piper to the Sovereign, is a refreshing contrast to Alice's London world. His preference for tartan over tuxedos and horses over social gatherings makes him an instantly appealing character. Their initial reluctance to interact blossoms into a genuine connection, and their romance unfolds naturally, without feeling rushed.
The supporting characters, Sophie, Jimmy, and Mrs. B, form a lovely close-knit circle that adds depth and warmth to the story. They are integral to Alice's journey, offering friendship and support that she desperately needs. Alice and Fraser are both flawed and relatable, and their individual struggles make their eventual happiness all the more satisfying. Kilted Lover is a charming and uplifting read that will leave you with a smile. It's a perfect escape for anyone who loves a good romance, a touch of royal intrigue, and the breathtaking beauty of Balmoral. I highly recommend it!

The best Megan Clawson book yet! Regally Blonde/Kilted Lovers (title is showing as both right now!), is a romcom set mainly at Balmoral. Lady Alice Walpole, niece of the King, is bored of life in London. The parties are full of boring posh folk, the topics of conversation are shallow and she is hounded by the press every time she steps out of line, or even appears to be doing something newsworthy. She is caught partying a little too hard with her latest crush, Atticus, and her parents decide to send her to Balmoral for the summer until the media forget what happened. There she meets a cantankerous housekeeper called Mrs B, a chatty maid called Sophie and her mornings begin with a bagpipes wake up call from Piper Fraser Bell.

The setting for this one is obviously still regal, but unlike her last two books, we do not return to the Tower of London, but the altogether more scenic Scotland. And with that comes gorgeous scenery, swimming in lochs and riding off on horseback, which really gives this story a few more dimensions, I loved the characters, particularly Sophie who is everything you'd want a true friend to be. Yes, the romance is all a bit 0-100 in a few chapters, but at least they all loveable and the character growth from Lady Alice becoming Ally makes the suspension of belief worthwhile.

There's a lot of talk about mental health, coping with the stigmatism around depression and defining self worth, which really gives this book a bit more oomph than just a romcom. A great read, with loveable characters, a great location and plenty of heart. Oh and a cameo from Theo in Love at First Knight too! I just hope we get to see Sophie pop up again.

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon for a free ARC in return for an honest review.

Finally, a romance set in Scotland, with a decent chunk of Scottish culture sprinkled throughout! I've never read a book that has felt more like the royal equivalent of the movie 'Wildchild' - suffice to say, a joy to read! Let's get right into it...

Firstly, I thought the opening was absolutely gorgeous. I loved the immediate comparison of classic fairytales to the royal reality, it carried a level of self awareness that promised this wasn't going to be a fluffy, head-in-the-clouds romance. I also appreciated that it challenged the sexism embedded in classic romance narratives, once again setting itself apart from the cliches from the start.

Lady Alice, who I will be calling Alice from this point onwards because we're cool like that, is such a funny and brave FMC. She is like the royal equivalent of Bridget Jones. She's such a hopeless romantic, but this is counterbalanced with her pessimism which eventually subsides as the story continues. She's also a brat, in the best ways, and this is the element of her personality that reminded me the most of Poppy from the movie 'Wildchild'. There were also so many moments where Alice's humour shot right through the page. Her joking that the bagpipes sounded like a 'chicken's battle cry' got me in the giggles. Also her mentioning that the only classical music she had listened to being 'the Bridgerton soundtrack cover of that one Pitbull song' really made me laugh - she was unintentionally hilarious!

Alice did have a lot of depth to her character and we got to see a real range of emotions from her which isn't always the case with romance books especially when the focus is on the love. It was pretty moving and even a little bit depressing to read about Alice's sadness and loneliness at Balmoral. I really felt for her and it was nice to get a glimpse underneath her cool girl, badass exterior. It was equally refreshing when her sadness evolves into depression and we see some mental health representation in our FMC - yay!

Despite really liking Alice at the beginning, she did start to grate on me as the book went on. Maybe this is saying something about how well rounded and true to form Clawson's characters are but Alice did border on annoying for me at times. Firstly, it felt a bit ironic that she was so upset about people loving her quietly when she was doing just that to Fraser and even kissed him in secret. At times, she did feel a little 'pick me' and I didn't feel the compassion towards her that I would've liked to. It was also really frustrating to watch Alice dig herself into holes and make silly decisions when I really felt she was capable of making better ones.

As the plot progressed, I also found myself doubting Alice's judgement and her whole reality which was difficult especially as this was a single POV book. She'd gotten it so wrong with how Atticus felt towards her, which you know one strike is okay everyone makes mistakes and has lapses of judgement. But her completely getting the wrong end of the stick about Sophie's feelings who she was with day in, day out? That was frustrating for me.

When she did eventually stop behaving in ways that sabotaged, her actions started to feel disingenuous a kind of shallow. When she supports her local community, I feel like she only does it because she feels bad about how she treated Fraser and Sophie rather than actually caring for the causes she's supporting. It also felt like she was only giving back to her community so Fraser and Sophie would think she's a good person and forgive her ('something to remind me exactly why I am doing all I have done since leaving Balmoral').

Alice's dynamic with Fraser was also brilliant from the jump. They had great chemistry but also a really satisfying friction of banter between the two of them, This push/pull throughout made the slow burn so wonderful and rewarding to read. I liked that we get to see them build the foundations of a friendship with the romantic attraction flickering in the background it made their love feel real and authentic. Fraser can be really cruel at times ('you don't know a single thing about love') but he really does soften up as the novel progresses and becomes pretty committed to making things work with Alice.

There was so much character development and what was more impressive is that even characters who weren't super integral to the plot had their own slice of growth. I re-read one of my notes from the beginning and did gasp because I described Atticus as 'deliciously charming' when by the end of the book he is not only the opposite of both delicious and charming but he's undoubtedly the most irrelevant character in the whole book - development!

Despite the book following some classic ARCs and tropes that are found in romance books (this isn't a criticism, I think it's impossible not to), I must say there was a surprising amount of unpredictability to this book. Because the FMC who drives the plot is so determined and bold, we don't see her behaving in ways that would put her in the box of 'damsel in distress', but her decisions are still romance driven to a degree because of her character and internal drive to experience love. In the first 10% of the book, Alice and Atticus get together which felt a bit fast for me. The POV was executed so well, that I really believed Alice's perspective and didn't see any holes in that relationship until a bit later on which I think shows a really strong foundation of storytelling.

The relationship, or lack thereof, between Alice and her mum was particularly heartbreaking and did create some nice tension that would've usually been placed elsewhere whilst adding so much to Alice's character.

Sophie was such a likeable and sweet character, it felt like she was the ultimate people pleaser with such a gentle heart. I thought she was the most endearing and perfect contrast to Alice's wild/daring side and also contrasted the abruptness and chaos of Alice moving to Scotland remarkably well.

There were a couple things about this book that did rub me the wrong way though. Firstly, Alice's transition from being on a train to Scotland and then being in the train was so confusing and abrupt it really influenced the momentum and continuity for me. 'Only when the car purrs to a halt do I take much notice of my surroundings. I hardly remember getting off the train at all.' came directly after we read Alice's thoughts whilst she's still on the train. I'm not sure if the abruptness was intentional but it was frustrating to me. Also, the 3.5 horse ride journey that Alice is made to do after she gets off the train felt wildly unnecessary and unrealistic. She is royalty! Why are they making her ride a horse in this century for so long, if she's newly arrived royalty?! Makes no sense to me.

Another plot point that felt unrealistic was the whole sequence of her confronting Atticus. I believed she would've done it, but the logistics around it really distracted me from the tension and suspense of her finally confronting him. Firstly, it felt unrealistic that she would be able to find his workplace in corporate London - there would've been so many office buildings and companies in said buildings and she magically stumbles upon his office? Unrealistic. Even when she does get help from clues about how to find Atticus, these also feel unrealistic. Once she's in Atticus' workplace building, she enters the lift and there are buttons on the lift with the names labelled - I have never experienced a lift with labelled buttons but maybe I am uncultured, who knows. I respect that this was a clue to help make the plot feel more realistic but unfortunately for me it ironically did the opposite.

Similar to the train ride to car sequence feeling discombobulating and confusing, I felt the same about when we realise Atticus has moved on. We find out after Alice's character does, so we see her reaction but we don't know what she's reacting to. I feel like this could've been executed well but the way it was structured and stitched together just made it feel like we were watching something behind a curtain rather than a level of suspense and rumination being built in the readers head. Also, on her way back to Scotland, I realised there was no mention of her eating or sleeping for 14 hours?! This is insane, the girls gotta eat.

Also, I did find this kind of funny but also so out of character that I was more in shock than anything. Why do we get a scene where Fraser is topless?! He hasn't really been sexualised at all, this is a pretty closed door spice level book, and he doesn't really walk around topless but there's a scene at his house where he's around her and he's just topless...for no reason. Haha why? It felt so random and out of place.

This is arguably more of a constructive criticism than irritation, but I really wanted more imagery and descriptions. Clawson painted some really lovely imagery ('the sky is beginning to blemish in bruises of purple and gold, like a peach left too long in the sun') and I wanted more of it but it felt few and far between.

In conclusion, a great Scot based romance with depth for days, The character development and originality was impressive on this one, but there were so many plot points that I found either confusing or frustrating so it's a 3/5 from me!

This book was such a fun, feel-good escape! "Kilted Lovers" (previously "Regally Blonde") is a charming royal rom-com that had me grinning from start to finish. Lady Alice Walpole, a party-loving royal with a knack for making headlines, gets banished to Balmoral after one too many scandals. There, she meets Fraser, the rugged, no-nonsense piper who’s about as far from her glittery London life as you can get.

I loved Alice’s journey from spoiled socialite to someone who actually starts to figure out what she wants in life. Fraser is the perfect grumpy-to-soft love interest, and their slow-burn romance is sweet and satisfying. The Scottish setting is dreamy—Balmoral feels like its own character, and I could practically smell the fresh Highland air.

While the story is light and predictable in the best way, it also touches on deeper themes like self-worth and mental health, which added a nice layer of depth. The supporting characters, especially Alice’s new friends, are a delight, and the banter is top-notch. It’s like a warm hug in book form—perfect for a lazy afternoon or a rainy day.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

I especially loved this. I love that it wasn’t steamy, spicy, or smutty. This was a perfect escape into a coming of age story. And angus didn’t hurt the eyes either! I kind of wish there has been some turn around for the parents but I recognize that this is stilled in reality more than having an HEA ending for everyone. All in all, 9/10. This was light, funny, and fun. Alice was a treat to read about.

This book focuses on Lady Alice, the great niece to the King, who has been banished to Balmoral for bad behaviour! While there she meets the Piper, Fraser Bell, who would much prefer to play around with the horses and just do his job.
While there, Alice finds herself more and more drawn to this life and realises how truly lonely she is in London. But could romance ever ensue when one wears tiaras and the other Tartan?

This was so good, Megan knows how to write an excellent royal rom-com and this is no exception. I loved that the theme of mental health was explored & the concept of depression and loneliness despite having everything you could ever want. Seeing Alice’s character development was brilliant & I found myself relating to some of her feelings of sadness, while also rooting for her to find happiness and peace. She was cheeky, fun & had so many sides to her that I loved. Fraser was such a loveable character too, and there are plenty more characters you’d just love to know in real life. I’ve loved Megan’s previous books, falling hard for the royal guard & love at first knight, but I do genuinely think this is my favourite of hers so far.

This is my second book by this author, and I liked seeing a little tie back to her other characters which was fun and it’s always sweet to have a little royal romance makes me feel like I could fall in love with a prince and keeps my hopes alive. I also really appreciated the mental health/illness representation. I thought it was really well handled and I will pick up other books by the author again!

I love Megan Clawson’s books!!!

This was a fun read and a great setting! While I will say this was not my personal favorite of her three books, this was a great addition to her works. I think one thing I liked best about this book was her side characters. Having a group of lovable characters and multiple romances in one book made for an even more wholesome story.

Can’t wait for her next book!!

i wanted to like this so much more than i did but the story felt like it had been done before and i had such a hard time connecting with the characters, things moved too fast for me to fully engage with them and understand them

I have read all of Megan's books from the beginning, this is another cute romance and I love it. Its so easy to read and cosy.

This was a good story. Not as light as I initially thought it would be. Topics of mental health/wellbeing and self-worth.
At first the characters didn't pull me in, but once the setting changed to Scotland, the story picked up.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC.

I really enjoyed reading this book, it had that romance elmeent that I was looking for and enjoyed how well everything worked overall. Megan Clawson has a strong writing style and thought it worked well overall. It had that romantic comedy element that I was looking for and was invested in what was going on. I thought the characters worked well overall and was glad I was able to read this.

Do you like men in kilts? Pick up Kilted Lovers by Megan Clawson. This was a great read. I loved it.

✨3 stars ✨

This was a cute romance, and I did enjoy the fact that we saw Balmoral in Scotland (as this author’s other books are set in the Tower of London).

However, the lack of communication between any of the characters irritated me sadly so that’s why the rating isn’t higher. Also, I didn’t really see the similarities with legally blonde (as one of the titles connected to this book is regally blonde) but then the other is kilted lovers?! 🤷🏻‍♀️

If you enjoyed this author’s other books then I would recommend this.

I received an ARC from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

I enjoyed this book SO much. I’ve had this cozy and warm feeling on the inside for the entire read, and of that’s not the best sign of a good book, I don’t know what is. I really liked Clawson’s first book ”Falling hard for the royal guard”, but this one was on another level. You can truly see how the author has evolved in the past couple of years with her reading and characters. Lady Alice is such a good female protagonist, showcasing the reality of depression through the eyes of a extremely public figure who hasn’t felt love for her entire life. When she’s sent to Scotland, her character undergoes such a big change in her way of thinking and accepting herself the way she is. Is beautiful to read. Scotland is of course my dream place, so any book taking part in the highlands is a fave in my book. Especially when the male love interest is in a kilt 😂 Such a wonderful reading experience that I highly recommend to everyone! (No spice in this one, so perfect if you love a ”clean” romance).

Another royal romance from Megan Clawson, this time following Lady Alice, a niece of the King. In a role reversal to Love at First Knight, Alice is the troublesome heiress, sent to stay at Balmoral in the Scottish Highlands in order to keep her out of the public eye.
As well as the inevitable romance, Clawson delves into the struggles of mental health, particularly for those in privileged positions and the public eye. Focussing on depression, and watching Alice unpickle her behaviours and find coping mechanisms, it added a depth to the romance and the growth of Alice's character. Despite being slightly unlikeable at the start of the book, I couldn't help but root for her!
We have a fantastic ensemble of supporting characters, true friends, and it was wonderful to see a small cameo from Teddy Fairfax!
A great addition to Clawson's portfolio!

Funny fast paced perfect to read in one sitting! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

This was pleasantly unexpected! I was a little weary at first, I couldn’t get into it but it picked up in the middle somewhere. Super sweet story that really touches on mental health. Solid characters that were likable with a good foundation. FOUND FAMILY 🫶🏻

Mrs. B, I adore you!

Longer review to come, but Alice and Fraser were great. Interesting and thoughtful story, set in Scotland. First book of Megan’s and I’ll definitely be reaching for her again.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon always for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

I love all things royalty and this is set at the gorgeous royal estate, Balmoral. I love the tale of Alice and Fraser and how two people so far apart in terms of their worlds can find some kind of happiness. This is my first book, and although it is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone. I look forward to many more of Megan's books.

3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review pending write up / to be updated! Thank you to net galley for the opportunity to read this arc ahead of release.