Mar 16, 20213 min read

High Heels in the Highlands by Liz Hurley

High Heels in the Highlands

by Liz Hurley

Published by Hera

Book 3 in the Hiverton Sisters Series

Clementine’s swapped a London flat for a Scottish castle – but will she get her fairytale ending?

After discovering they had inherited an enormous fortune, as well as the titles of ‘Lady’, the lives of the five Hiverton sisters have never been the same.

While oldest sister Ariana settles in Norfolk, fashion designer Clementine heads to the Scottish Highlands to investigate their newly inherited castle. Not bad for a girl brought up in poverty in a tiny house in East London…

However, Lady Clem quickly finds out that Ruacoddy Castle is falling to pieces, the neighbours – especially grumpy young farmer, Rory – are suspicious of her and the eccentric housekeeper, Ottoline, is still in residence.

But just as Clem starts to embrace her new life in the Highlands, growing closer to Rory and forming a friendship with Ottoline, she stumbles upon a secret in the attic that could destroy the Hiverton family. Can she save the castle as well as her family’s reputation?

And will she ever find a pair of high-heeled wellies…?

RATED: 14+ CATEGORY: MOOD:

Fiction Drawn out

I would like to thank #Hera for sending me an #ARC of #HighHeelsInTheHighlands by #LizHurley via #NetGalley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

High Heels in the Highlands is Liz Hurley's third addition to her Hiverton Sister's series, and centers around Clementine, an act-before-you-think woman, on the brink of success in the fashion world as a designer. When something happens that gets in the way of her success, she retreats to Scotland, to check out a castle in the highlands that her family inherited. When she gets there, she is in for a culture shock, but she is also in for the adventure of a lifetime.

When I was browsing through available arcs to request, High Heels in the Highlands stood out. It has a cute cover, the title is intriguing, and it says romantic comedy right on the cover. A Scottish hottie + comedy? I needed it. Unfortunately, that is where my excitement faded. High Heels in the Highlands gets points for originality, but I found the plot of the story drawn out and boring. I went into this thinking I was getting a romance, and instead got a "chick-fic". 95% of this book is about Clementine making an ass of herself (and not in a funny way, but a brutish way), and her bonding with the caretaker of the castle. The other 5% was her arguing with the man she was apparently interested in. There was no romance (or any that made sense), and the only thing that made me smile (not laugh, mind you, which, again, is supposed to be a comedy) was a part with a sheep. The writing was in third person, present tense, which is rarely executed well, and often, I was confused on what character we were concentrating on, as it bounced around frequently. Specific POV's would have been better.

I wish I could say the characters made up for the story, but unfortunately, I wasn't a fan of them either. Clementine was just plain rude a lot of the time, and her reactions with other characters were exaggerated given the situation. The best part of the book was Rory's character - and for a love interest, he is barely in it. I was left wondering how they could have developed feelings for one another, as the rare moments they were on page together, they were arguing. We get way more of Otto, the housekeeper, and her relationship with Clementine.

High Heels in the Highlands could have been great if Liz picked an idea, and stuck with it. If she wanted a romantic comedy, she should have had way more interaction between Clem and Rory, and more than one comedic moment. Clem could have still found her purpose and direction in life. Many romances pull it off. If she wanted a story of Clem just finding herself, and learning more about herself through the interactions with Otto, she should have done that, under the header of Women's fiction. Because that is what this is. It's certainly not a rom-com.

If you enjoy women's fiction, stories about women taking a hold of their lives, and in the setting of the beautiful Scottish Highlands, you will probably enjoy this book. But if you are looking for an actual romantic comedy, this book isn't for you.