The Devil Wears Tartan by Katia Rose is a new adult, enemies-to-lovers romance about breaking free of the past to claim the love that’s waiting in the here and now.
Moira and Kenzie have grown up as mortal enemies, locked in battle in the world of Scottish highland dance competition. From the time they were little girls at competing dance schools they’ve only communicated in icy stares and snide remarks. Their feud took them all the way to the world championships in their late teens, but a tragic accident kept them from competing to see who would ultimately be crowned number one.
Now that both women are in college, they are teaching part time at their respective dance schools. Moira has always been the young woman who lights up any room she enters. The ultimate girl next-door, the community has always embraced her and her family. Kenzie came to the world of highland dance late in the game. As an eight-year-old, she felt she had to try harder and dance better than any other girl in order to claim a place in this tight nit community.
When the local highland dance society announces there will be a competition for a college scholarship, the young women instinctively know this is their last chance to compete and finally establish who is the best dancer.
This time the stakes are much higher. The insults are colder. The glares are…what? Since when did their stares linger on each other’s lips? The energy between them had always been about fierce competition, not the stirrings of, of…love.
As the competition heats up so do their feelings for each other. Moira and Kenzie have been hurt before. They’ve both loved and lost. Can they put their pasts behind them and take a chance on a future together?
Pros And My Favourite Parts
This book made me smile, laugh, and cry. Moira and Kenzie have great chemistry. The hate they have towards each other at the outset of the story is palpable so every scene between them feels charged with feelings they’ve kept simmering just below the surface. This in turn had me at the edge of my seat as they tiptoed around the romantic feelings, they were trying to avoid. Rose does a fantastic job showing how Moira and Kenzie are different, how they drive each other crazy. But it’s those differences that make them fit together like puzzle pieces. Once they recognize and admit their new feelings, the book examines how events from the past can make it hard to break out of old patterns of behavior.
They each have backstories that illuminate what makes them tick, and there’s nothing contrived about them. Rose writes about family dysfunction in a way that brought tears to my eyes. There’s heartache and joy. The relationships the young women have with their mothers and mother figures are full of nuance.
Cons And Heads Up
Not a thing.
The Conclusion
The Devil Wears Tartan was a delightful surprise. I’ll admit it. I thought a romance featuring two women in their early twenties would be cute but wouldn’t pack the emotional wallop I look for. (I know, rather closed minded of me.) Nothing could have been further from the truth. Everything about this story is genuine. I can tell it will be a reread for me – whenever I want a quick fix of all the best emotions romance novels are known for.
Excerpt from The Devil Wears Tartan by Katia Rose
The corners of her mouth lift.
Then we’re laughing together, both of us howling and hunching forward as the truly bizarre nature of our current situation hits us.
We are old now. We’re adults who’ve gone their own ways in the world, who’ve lived and maybe learned a few things, but here we are, back in this town, back to battling it out with each other even though we were supposed to leave the competitions behind.
I know it’s not just about the cash. It’s about that constant pull between us, like life has circled us in the same rubber band, and every step we take away from each other just builds and builds the tension as we wait to see who’ll be the first to snap right back into place.
I thought maybe that band would break for good at the highland games in Scotland, at the final competition we decided would be our ‘once and for all’ moment, but we never got to find out.
The little fireworks of frustration and fury she sets off inside me are so familiar, familiar enough to have me wondering if maybe part of me is glad we never got the chance to snuff them out, because when I’m with Kenzie, it’s way easier to believe everything my dumb ex-girlfriend said about me wasn’t true.
When I’m with Kenzie, I don’t feel boring. The way we circle each other, the way we keep our eyes trained on every move and jump at every opportunity—it all makes me feel like a slinky predator creeping around the jungle, power and purpose radiating out from every step I take.
It makes me feel interesting as fuck.
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Bits and Bobs
ISBN number: 9798434009300
Publisher: Indie Author
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