When a forced trip couldn’t be further away from your own world, what would happen?

Synopsis

When the Big C takes her best friend too soon, Willa Jenkins struggles to recapture the joy in her life, and all she wants is to get away from LA’s glitzy party circuit. But superfan Valentina had other plans. For her final, wickedly funny act, she’s packing her bestie off on a two-week Outlander-themed experience at Balcraigie Castle, Scotland.

Expecting a couple of weeks with Valentina’s hot brother Gabe, Willa gets more than she bargained for when she’s put to work doing actual, real-life farm work. Not only that, but to get the ‘full’ experience, she’s paired up with the irritating—and irritatingly sexy—Finn, with whom she will pose as fake husband and wife for the next two weeks.

Willa despairs of Valentina’s terrible trick. But then she makes a discovery. Finn’s family might just lose the castle if they can’t make the experience worthwhile for the other attendees. The stakes are high, but as the days pass and the fake marriage she signed up for starts to feel all too real, could Willa be in for a prize of a different kind…love?

My review

Willa Jenkins is living the life in LA, as her job at a tv – station makes her meet famous people all the time.
However, losing her best friend Valentina took away all the fun in Willa’s life. Yet even now Valentina manages to surprise/ shock Willa, as Willa is being sent off on a two – week Outlander themed experience in Scotland.
But not only that, she is going to spend that time together with Valentina’s estranged brother Gabe.
To get the full experience, all the guests are being put to work, and do actual real – life farm work. And instead of being paired up with Gabe, Willa finds herself fake – married to Finn, whose family own the castle but is also the one person who truly annoys Willa.
But soon Willa also learns that Finn’s family may lose the castle and Willa finds herself offering her help. Will Willa be able to save the castle together with Finn, who turns out to be different than Willa thought? 

So, I am not making myself very popular with my next statement…
I started watching Outlander, but then somehow I found myself giving up. I didn’t get any further than season 1. I don’t know exactly why, but I just didn’t watch it anymore… 

Yet that made me understand Willa a little bit, as she also doesn’t comprehend the whole hype either. Of course, if you are a fan of the show, I totally respect that! Everyone should be able to love whatever show they are watching. And I liked the dedication the other guests had while being on the experience. 

Willa is a woman who is also very focused on her career. She has a very alluring job, yet she wants to keep on stepping up on the ladder. I liked reading how she meets all those famous people, and how she manages to use her Willa – power over them, letting them say and do things they otherwise never would. 

While I liked that force of nature she is, seeing that other side of Willa, the side of a woman who has lost her best friend, and is even a bit at loss without her, broke my heart.
Her pain is somehow the other side of the medal, the darker side of all that glimmer and glamour. Because the bond Willa and Valentina has was truly unique. I laughed reading about their friendship and I think I would have liked Valentina as a friend too.
And we see how caring Valentina was, in so many different occasions. 

I could understand the shock Willa had when she was informed about the themed experience, and also the shock of having it to spend with Valentina’s brother Gabe.
Yet it was sweet to see how, once that first awkward meeting was over, how good they got along.
I have to admit, I thought that story would take that direction, as it would have been a full circle and also just so perfect.
So saying I was surprised at a specific moment, is an understatement. However, somehow it also made perfectly sense… 

Once Willa is ‘married’ to Finn, for me it felt that that was the moment the story truly took off. Because there we get to see a change in character in Willa, where she in fact shows her true colours, or rather, finds them herself.
While things with Finn don’t start well, slowly she starts to see the troubles he is having and with the excuse of their ‘marriage’, she wants to help to save the castle.
And it for sure was great to see Willa at work, seeing how she manages even the impossible! And of course, seeing feelings develop was also a great treat! 

It took me some time to get truly into the story, but that is also because the author takes her time to let us to get to know Willa, the career – minded one, but also the caring Willa. And we see also a shift inside her. We see her change right in front of our eyes. 

This story makes us dream of an Outlander experience, even for people who are not exactly fans. We see the hard work and passion running a castle needs, and we see that it takes a village to make something work.
And also we get to see what a well – meant apology can do.
But most important, we get to see and understand that sometime we need to get outside our comfort – zone, literally in this case, to understand what truly matters and what truly makes us happy. Even it that would take us to a castle on the other side of the world!