Axel Mackenzie, a top magazine photographer, had a dream of owning a small microbrewery in Pittsburgh and finally getting out of the New York rat race. His dream is so close, he could almost taste its malty reality. Now highly leveraged (actually totally skint), he just needs to come up with a wee (actually quite a wee bit) more money to pay off Brendan and it was his. Desperate to get one last assignment for the cash, Axel was ready to do just about anything to get another bit of work at Vanity Place magazine. When he asked Kate what was available and she said a shoot on John Irving, he was thrilled for an instant. Then, his heart dropped to his stomach when he found out it was for the head of the literature section, Ellery Sharpe, and he decided that it would be easier to go without food for a week than to work with her. Not that Ellery wasn't a top professional writer and fun to work with! She was one of the best and was famous for her incisive and passionate prose. Despite their differences, Axel still greatly admired her work and enjoyed the skewering Ellery had just done on the new memoir about Bettina Moore, the head of Pierrot Enterprises, the largest romance publishing house in the world. He knew for a fact that Ellery, who he loved to tease by calling her Pittsburgh much to her chagrin, wouldn't read a romance book if her life depended on it, as she had been his beloved lover five years before. Sadly, the demilitarized zone between them was still pretty wide and raw.

Filled with bluster and emotion, Buhl Martin Black, Vanity Place's publisher turned the tables on both Ellery and Axel. Unbeknown to Ellery, Martin was having an affair with Bettina Moore and she was now seeking her revenge for the scalding review Ellery has written! Black decided to give Ellery a new assignment. Then, he sneakily promised Axel a bonus if he could get Ellery to write a positive article about romance. How was Axel ever to get his Pittsburgh microbrewery now that his Canadian charm no longer held any magic with Ellery? Who could he turn to for help to get Ellery to write a good story now that he only had a week to get the cash he needed? How could Ellery ever get her new dream job if she was caught writing a story about romance readers?

Gwyn Cready has penned a wild and wacky reverse take on the usual romance tale and it is a hoot! As a key part of the story relates to Axel's Scottish-Canadian ancestry. The story is nicely peppered with some quirky Canadian and British customs, along with a few spicy Pittsburgh quips about perogies (also commonly found in western Canada) and beer. With her insider knowledge of the publishing trade, Cready keeps this rollicking and "off- KILT-er" romance on target while Ellery and Axel have to deal with their changing feelings and emotions about romance novels and each other! So, raise a glass and enjoy!