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.

I enjoyed this sweet story, and it was nice that is wasn't the same cookie-cutter Hallmark movie. The scenery was lovely and made me want to visit Scotland. Unfortunately I was not a fan of the main character Lily, who came across as emotionless to me. That may have been because her entire face was immobilized by Botox, and she had literally the same expression when showing surprise, laughter, and sorrow. It was very off-putting and I found it hard to concentrate on what she was saying. I enjoyed the sincerity of the male lead and his son, and there was a lot of chemistry with most of the cast.

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.