Kilts and Catnip by Zoe Tasia

A cozy romance meets supernatural mystery, Zoe Tasia's Kilts and Catnip presents itself in a promising package but fails to dazzle its readers.

The story begins with Becca Shaw arriving on a remote Scottish isle with her two daughters Jess and Tate. Soon after arriving, Becca is woken in the middle of the night by Jess who says that Tate has been taken by a mysterious boyish figure into the woods surrounding their rented house. As any mother would, Becca rushes out to find her daughter and almost gets lost herself until a ruggedly handsome man in a kilt rescues them both from a danger that seems to be brewing in the woods. Afterword, a series of weird and unusual occurrences on the island begin to happen and leads Becca to look into the island's history and that of its inhabitants. What she eventually finds out will change her and her daughters' lives forever.

Based on its synopsis, Kilts and Catnip appears like it will be a great and engaging read that "is filled with sweet romance, delightful humor, and exciting adventure," but it ultimately is not. The romance is there, though only towards the end and is admittedly endearing, but as for the humor and adventure, it is neither delightful or exciting. Most instances of foreshadowing are not executed well, and this makes the plot very predictable, and the reveals of supposed twists dissatisfying. The plot is filled with uninteresting conversations full of small-talk and the makings of dinner plans, and both are far from entertaining to read. However, though all of its shortcomings, there are some interesting characters and plot points, but they get very little "screen time" within the book compared to the heart of the book's problems, Becca Shaw.

The success of a book doesn't necessarily rely on a likable well-developed main character, but when a book is struggling, it can greatly help its readability. As a character, Becca is generally a flat character and spends the entire book being very naive about everything that is going on around her. She barely questions the odd behaviors of others, including her daughters. Repeatedly, Becca stairs at the truth right in front of her but still needs others to spell these truths out for her to believe it’s fact.

Being the first in what will be a series of novels, Kilts and Catnip only brushes the surface of the secrets of the Scottish isle in which it is set. There are probably those out there who will like this book, but it will likely fall short to bring the majority of readers back for more.

Review by Sarah Hinrichs

Originally posted on Reedsy