A review by stephanieam
Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Could not put this book down! The author did a good job of setting Hattie up as this silly, naive, simple sort of character but whose growth was amazing. I appreciated the parallel to Beauty and the Beast, and the relationship development between Hattie and Lucian was well done. They both had positive influences on each other. My only issue came toward the end. Not sure how I felt about the way a large issue was wrapped up. The book is somewhat shorter than the previous two, so I would have liked to see more of what happened leading up to the happy ending rather than just be given a time jump date and have characters mention things to fill in the gaps. There was room to really flesh out some things, and I think it would have made the resolution of the biggest issues between Hattie and Lucian have more of an impact. It felt rushed and kind of was a let down. I had a hard time putting my finger on why I felt a little unsatisfied when finishing the story, and I really think that was it. There was so much build up and hard work to get the two of them together. I think a little more of that was needed given how Hattie wanted to proceed.