This time of year, I could certainly use a getaway. I can’t escape work at this point, but at least I can live vicariously through my reading. What Happens in the Highlands is a fun escape to Scotland and while a lot of it is pure escapist fantasy, it’s very fun escapist fantasy.

Tightly wound Rose Hensel arrives in Scotland to be in her best friend’s wedding and it’s the first vacation she’s had in ages. She wants to let loose while she’s there and figures a no-strings-attached one night stand wouldn’t be out of order. While out for her friend Katie’s hen night, she ends up spending the night with the very hot best man, Lachlan Calder-Mackinnon. The best way to sum up the aftermath is that it’s awkward – until finally, it’s not.

Rose isn’t particularly looking for a relationship and it seems that Lachlan isn’t either, but one seems to have found them. This is a fairly familiar romance plotline, but it’s well done here. We do get hints of Rose and Lachlan’s pasts, but I wish there had been a little more. I find those details help deepen the characterization a bit and let readers really get to know the leads apart from how they are in their relationship with each other. Even so, Lachlan and Rose work as a couple and I enjoyed watching them bond over the course of Rose’s trip to Scotland.

While Rose and Lachlan are the focus of the story, I loved the glimpses into Rose’s friendship with Katie as well. It’s easy to see why these two are friends, and I enjoyed the dynamic between them. Some of the story’s touches, such as normal Jersey girls Katie and Rose somehow finding their way into the lives of the wealthy Scottish elite, seem a bit improbable, but the author writes with a light touch and the story is quite fun to read.

If you liked early 2000s ‘chick lit’, you might like this romance; the banter between the friends in this book has a similar feel. The author’s tongue in cheek way of playing into ‘hot guys in kilts’ fantasies gives the story a light, humorous touch as well.

The author throws in a villain at the end that seems a tad unnecessary, but otherwise I enjoyed myself. What Happens in the Highlands is a fun romantic comedy that stands well on its own without the additional villain drama, so I wished the author had simply let her leads keep being goofy and romantic with each other. However, it all turns out well in the end and this book ended up being a happy little getaway.