Love, Life and Unicorns: A Sweet Romance

by Francine Beaton, Kathy Bosman (Editor), CA Els (Editor)

What do you do when everything you believed about your past is a lie?
Author Mikayla Martin is the strange woman from Africa who gets misty-eyed at the sound of bagpipes and knows the words to “Flower of Scotland”. She also has a heart without a home. When she arrives in Scotland, she has more hope of finding unicorns and the Loch Ness monster than her birth family.
Stumbling across her own Prince Charming in the woods is an enormous surprise. Not only is he handsome, but he quotes from her favourite children’s stories and princess movies. But despite their mutual attraction, she can’t rest until she finds her family. And she has nothing to offer this lord of the manor. Or does she?
For Gavin Crawford, family is everything. He can trace his ancestors back to hundreds of years, so when tragedy strikes he doesn’t hesitate to trade his career in Her Majesty’s Special Boat Service for cow poop, milking sheds and a title he hates. But there’s a wee bit of a problem. Kayla reminds him of someone special he recently lost. And they both have enough doubts and fears to fill up the pages of a book.
Go up and click Read Now or Buy Now to find out what happens when the mystery of your past and the pressure of the present threaten the future you desperately crave.

279 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 9, 2022

About the author

Having spent decades devouring romance novels, South African-born romance writer Francine Beaton lives in Glasgow with her Scottish husband. She published her debut novel, Eye on the Ball, and the first book in the Taste for Love series in 2018.

Reviews

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a charming book. I have to say that because I feel something like a sister to the main character. I, too, was adopted, but I didn't meet my biological family until I was in my sixties. Unlike Kayla's family, mine had no idea I existed. Like Kayla, I never felt I fit in. I knew I was adopted, but the fiction around my birth family bore little resemblance to the truth. For my sister's and brothers, I was the secret who supposedly died with our grandmother. But she didn't imagine AncestryDNA!

I'd found the love of my life decades before my sister, brother, and I met, unlike Kayla for whom romantic love and familial love arrived almost simultaneously.

I loved the gentle spirit that permeates this book. I appreciated that love came only with intense kisses and quietly getting to know each other so well they could interpret the quirk of an eyebrow or wrinkle of the forehead.

I'm hoping to read more by this author.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Mikayla Martin has come to Scotland looking for answers to her birth, after finding out when her parents die that she was adopted. She meets Gavin Crawford and in a round-about way she will find the answers she is seeking and a love she was not searching for. The story is well written with a very good storyline. I would say to date out of all this Authors stories this is my favorite. The story pulls you in and takes you on a ride with Kayla. I would recommend. I received an ARC of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a good, and enjoyable sweet clean inspirational romance read. The story has a good story line. The characters are good, and they have good chemistry. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Elsabé Welman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was your best by far. The adoption issue very realistic... coming from me having experience in real life. The love story touches the reader, and the turns it takes... excellent. Well done Francine.

[Ramona · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable story about Mikayla Martin who was adopted travels to Scotland to find her familial roots that lead her to Gavin Crawford. This is an endearing story about a woman who feels different and alone as a child finds out she adopted when her adoptive parents died. When she was a child, she dreams she's a Princess who meets a Prince like the Disney movies (Someday my prince will come) in a fantasy land with unicorns. Then she travels to Scotland and meets Gavin. What occurs is a story of hurts, passion and drama in an engaging story.

[Vida Sik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet romance with unexpected depth
What started off as a somewhat sweet but slow encounter between Kayla and Gavin morphed into a story with unexpected depth of emotion. Kayla's feeling of not belonging anywhere resonated with me, and I think her adoption story will hit a nerve with many readers who can relate to her. While she is very naive and innocent when it comes to matters of love, in Gavin she finds someone willing to walk alongside her as she blossoms into the woman she's meant to be.

I love the fact that this is a wholesome romance. This goes to show that you can tell a story filled with deep emotion, helped along by a great supporting cast in their friends and the villagers. I was a bit apprehensive when I came across the Scottish phrases, but they were just enough to make it authentic without losing its audience. And while the blog posts at the beginning were a bit distracting, they added to Kayla's innocent appeal.

This was a book I could not put down—a real page turner—and my yardstick of a captivating romance. Kudos to the author who clearly did her research and created well-rounded characters with flaws and made the setting come alive. I would certainly continue to follow along if the author chose to give some of the side characters their own stories.

[Zeinab Dh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose to read and review this book. I enjoyed it a lot. I love sweet clean romances. It is well written. I liked the interactions between all characters. The sparks are everywhere. I recommend it

[Becky Durstenfeld · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this sweet love story. It was a clean story with no sex or bad language which I appreciated, though the physical attraction between the couple was definitely there. There was just one thing that made me give 4 stars instead of 5 - the couple should have talked about the important things in their lives much sooner in their relationship instead of at the end of the story. She should have told him she was looking for her biological family and he should have told her the story about Lily. I realize the story may have been much shorter had they done so, but still it seemed odd to me.

[Shuvai]

Oh I really enjoyed this sweet romance book. So refreshing and interesting characters that are so captivating.

In her search for her identity Kayla not only found love but a family that included the whole village.

If you are looking for a cleaning, captivating and lovable characters this is the book for you.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Elvira · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a storyline that was entertaining with a bit of mystery and romance between Makayla and Gavin they had instant recognition making it easy to fall in love with them.


I received a copy and am voluntarily leaving my honest review.

[Hayley · Rating 3 out of 5]

~2.5 stars~

This book was very sweet. There was a lot of emotional depth to the characters, and they overcame some very distressing past trauma together through truly encouraging and respecting each other. The ending was satisfying on all fronts, and I left the book with a smile. It was definitely heartwarming.

However, the book was extremely silly. Too silly for an adult novel. The characters came across as stupid and naive, which made it more difficult to connect with them. The book was rather slow, especially the first third. The side characters also didn’t have much personality and didn’t really bring anything to the book.

Overall, this was a very sweet, but ridiculous book. I would only recommend it to those looking for a goofy story with some positive messages.

*I received an ARC of this book. This is my complete and honest review.*

[Texas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Life, Live and Unicorns - My first read by this author and I have mixed feelings about the story. Although well written with good characters and interesting story lines, I disliked the stupid, idiotic reason she wanted to leave him. And to sneak away like a thief in the night without a goodbye to the family that embraced her.

Doubts are fine and understandable, but this train of thought ruined for me what should have been a wonderful love story and discovery of family. 3*

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kayla is so full of imagination with dreams of faeries and unicorns. She goes to Scotland to find out who she is, she finds the answers she looked for and so much more. I loved this sweet romantic story and the way the author described everything. I enjoyed all the interesting characters.

[Tiffany Townsend · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book has a coming of age theme
Had too many narrators for my like.
So that being said, after Layla, Kayla, and Gavin. I stopped reading.
Wasn’t very interesting.
Ended up deleting from my book shelf.