Best Laid Plaids by Ella Stainton
My Rating: ★★
I received a copy from Carina Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Dr. Ainsley Graham set his career on fire when he went public with the claim that ghosts are real and that he has been communicating with them. Since then, he’s spent his time drinking and floating around as he desires since the world thinks he’s odd. When Joachim Cockburn is sent his way to check out known hauntings in Scotland, Ainsley thinks he’s just another person coming to poke fun at him for his beliefs. What he did not expect was an extremely sexy man to come knocking at the door. Even more shocking, he wasn’t even expecting Joachim when he arrives, so Ainsley puts the moves on him in a case of mistaken identity. What else could possibly go wrong?
This book had me at spooky romance set in 1920s Scotland. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t care for the story. The book told through the rotating perspectives of Ainsley and Joachim. Despite seeing things through their perspectives, I quickly discovered that I didn’t particularly care for either character. Ainsley is arrogant, both flighty and clingy, and doesn’t know what he wants on top of shutting down when he does get what he was hoping for. Meanwhile, Joachim is arrogant in a different sense while closed off and stiff. I couldn’t connect with either of them in addition to not being interested in following them as I continued to read. The romance couldn’t been on fire if the two didn’t keep waffling about each other to the very end.
Honestly, I found myself more interested in the hauntings, which were sadly lackluster. I would say this is a romance with a touch of paranormal. I was really interested in the ghosts along with the other characters, including Ainsley’s sister. I think I was happiest whenever a chapter came along that included a gathering of characters because I didn’t care for the leads.
I wouldn’t say that this is a bad book. I do think that Ella Stainton had something going here, but I just didn’t care for Ainsley and Joachim as characters and the romance didn’t seem all that romantic to me. If you like romance novels that are sex without the romancing, this might be something you’ll like.
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