A Scottish Love Scheme

If you want a little armchair travel trip to Scotland, this might do the trick...including music, country vistas, whiskey, Scottish burrs, Gordon Setter, tea, rugby, and highland cow lamp!

The story was actually on-point for a Hallmark film as Lily (Erica Durance) takes a mother daughter trip with her mother Cait, played by the lovely Jo Cameron Brown. The trip coincides with Lily's divorce being finalized and her leaving her marketing job at her husband's family's brewery. The plan is to go to Cait's hometown in Scotland to visit her best friend since childhood and see a bit of the Scottish countryside followed by Lily going to Spain to take a photography course and finally pursue her desire to pursue the art of photography. What Lily doesn't know is her mom has a serious illness.

Lily and Cait are picked up at the train station by the childhood friend Mairi Campbell (Juliet Cadzow) and her son the widower Logan, who they stay with. Coincidentally, Logan and his brothers run the family's whiskey distillery that is having a marketing crisis. Mairi asks Lily to help out since she is there and Lily jumps in to help with their new ice wine barrel adventure...and along the way gets reacquainted with Logan and his son Finn.

I, for one love armchair traveling and as such loved this entry into the Hallmark vault. I loved the music and the views of the countryside...and all the Scottish burrs. I liked the story and particularly appreciated the two well meaning age appropriate moms. The whiskey stuff was lost on me as I do not drink. But I did really like delicate handling of an illness of a family member and how it affects those around us. I loved learning about 99's and the Scottish National drink Irn Bru.

7.3 stars.

Scoping out my thoughts, looking in from the outside, honestly I'm not in love with 'A Scottish Love Scheme'. The love factor is very minor, it's more like this should be named 'Girls trek to Scotland'. The girls are a mom and daughter combo, traveling to Scotland to see mom's old friend and family. Mom grew up in Scotland, has a full blown accent, there is no question about that aspect. Daughter (Durant) tags along, meets the old best friend lady and her family, falls in love with one of her three sons. What's not to love about this movie? I don't know, it's a bit too slow and maybe a mite depressing, if I'm being honest. The love portion is too clunky, maybe the leads lack attraction for each other, it's just not very believable.

Lily (Erica Durance) leaves her job at a brewery with the intention of becoming a professional photographer. But first she travels with her mother to Haddington, Scotland for some time with the Campbell family, who run a whisky distillery there. Her mother has ulterior motives for the visit that Lily is unaware of.

Haddington is a beautiful, small town that offers small shops surrounded by plenty of greenery, stone bridges, friendly pubs, and an aged charm. Lily reacquaints herself with her camera, snapping many shots of family and friends in and around Haddington.

Logan Campbell (Jordan Young), who heads the family distillery, spends time with Lily while attempting to alleviate the company's financial problems. Lily offers her marketing expertise, so they develop feelings for each other.

Besides the beautiful scenery, this Hallmark romance includes some wonderful, atmospheric music. If you cannot visit Scotland, this is one way to enjoy its culture and beauty.

I am Scottish and enjoy Hallmark TV movies so I had high hopes for this one but was sorely disappointed. The title was strange and didn't invoke a sense of romance in spite of it referring to the scheming Mums. The story was simplistic and very bland. The casting was poor. I felt there was no chemistry between the leads. Even the cute young son was rather amateurish. The two mothers definitely saved the day.

The saving grace was the location and I'm sure foreigners enjoyed the Scottish accents and cultural traditions they may never have been exposed to before.

I usually enjoy the lead actress in every movie I've seen but I got the feeling she was uncomfortable on this set and either wasn't enjoying her character or the script.

It was poorly directed and edited although well shot. It seemed extremely choppy to me and i couldn't get "into it" for all these reasons.

I realize this is a very person critique but valid non the less.

This one was so disappointing. I loved the idea of middle aged actors, but there was no chemistry between the two main actors. Aside from that, while the plot was something I have loved in so many books, it was terribly translated in this movie. Hallmark has done such a better job with similar plots. I don't know why this bombed...it was definitely more than the actors, as aside from the chemistry, they were fine. I really think they were hindered but the writing. Do better, Hallmark. More detail as IMDB seems to require it...location was nice, I like that Hallmark has middle aged main characters, but do better with writing and plot.