by Laura Trentham
Series: Highland; Georgia #2
Published on February 25, 2020 by St. Martin's Paperbacks
ISBN: 9781250315038
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 320
Genres: Adult, Contemporary Romance, Romance
A Highlander in a Pickup is the second book in award-winning author Laura Trentham's romantic comedy Highland Georgia series, full of love, laughs...and highlanders!
When a gorgeous new man—in a kilt—comes to town, life in Highland, Georgia will never be the same…
Iain Connors is the poster boy for the strong and silent type. Growing up a loner at Cairndow Castle in Scotland with only the cliffs and moors for company, it’s understood Iain will assume the mantle of Cairndow groundskeeper when his father is ready to relinquish it. But his stint in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces has opened up a whole new world—and now, rather than settle down, he accepts an invitation to travel to the States to take charge of the Highland Games. After all, he’s led men into battle, how hard can planning a party be?
Anna Maitland is ready to step up for her best friend Isabel Blackmoor, who can’t run the Games in their hometown this year. Surely Anna, a dance instructor with boundless energy, spirit, and charm, is up for the challenge? What she doesn’t anticipate is a man in a kilt who turns up claiming he’s the one in charge. What’s worse about this Iain? He’s so infuriatingly handsome that she can’t help but fantasize about him whispering sweet-nothings in her ear in his rumbly, sexy brogue. . .
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I remember starting A Highlander Walks Into a Bar and being hesitant about the overall premise, but after finishing it, I not only enjoyed it but looked forward to its sequel, A Highlander in a Pickup!
Where this sequel excelled compared to the first book was definitely the romance. While still a slow burn, I felt like more time was spent developing both the relationship and the individual characters. Iain is just there to do a friend a favor, acting the broody Scot with a sensitive side when he wants to show it. Anna fills a similar role by putting on a strong front, assisted by her stubbornness, but hiding a lot of vulnerability behind the mask. She just wants to prove she can handle things, to herself and her hometown, and Iain is still trying to figure out where he truly belongs.
Oh, and all of this is set to an initial pseudo-enemies-to-lovers situation which is one of my favorite romance tropes, so I was sold on the general premise from the beginning.
If you haven’t read the first book yet, no worries because this one, while falling after the events of A Highlander Walks Into a Bar, stands pretty well on its own. I liked the balance of everyday life with the romance in this book. I felt like we had more opportunities to get to know the town of Highland and some of its more prominent members.
My only real complaint is that I grew annoyed in the beginning at the animosity between Anna and Iain which kicked off some of the initial points of conflict. Their reasons for not working with each other weren’t really good enough to convince me and it ended up coming off forced. As much as I love a good enemies-to-lovers (or maybe, more accurately, rivals-to-lovers), this didn’t ring true to the trope. But after they started working together, things improved and I flew through the rest of the book.
I’d consider A Highlander in a Pickup a solid sequel for the Highland, Georgia series and I’ll be curious to see what happens in the next book.
About Austine
I'm a 20-something research proposal developer with a background in the life sciences and education. Reviewer of books since 2011, amateur photographer by day, and aspiring author by night. I believe animals (and books) are better than people.
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