I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

I received this digital arc from netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Due to personal circumstances it has taken me a while to read this, so apologies to the author!

Donna is one of those authors that I just love everything she writes. Her characters are amazing - funny and relatable. The stories draw you in and you really feel like you're living in the village amongst the characters too. This book is no different. How I'd love to visit the book barn and have Paige recommend a book for me! I look forward to reading more by Donna in the future.

Easy read loved the flow of the book. The characters were also really well written. I would definitely recommend this book.

I enjoyed this cute Scottish themed romance! The whole book is very well described and makes you feel like you are actually there! These are they types of books I get lost in being apart of the story!

Unpopular opinion: Paige was super annoying! Anyone else? No, just me?

Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth. The perfect opportunity is staring Paige in the face and she blindly continues to make her plans to return back to the big city, not knowing about her job or her place to live. All while she has a child to take care of.

And she seemed so negative and grumpy all the time. I'm not a fan of grumpy characters so I was over this one just as it begun.

Summer in the Scottish Highlands

by Donna Ashcroft

Paige Dougall was raised in the small Scottish town of Lockton, but left it behind when Carl, an event planner, swept her off her feet with his charming good looks. They eloped and moved to London where she also worked events and gave birth to an adorable daughter Grace. Unfortunately, Carl spread his charisma around London with little time for Paige whom he criticized constantly and no time at all for his daughter. Everything fell apart for Paige when she and Carl were in a car accident and he died. When Summer in the Scottish Highlands begins, Paige has spent the last year struggling to establish her career and make a home for Grace. Experiencing stress to succeed has made her work long hours, turn to pills, lose her appetite and cut drastically into time with her darling daughter.

John, a very successful chef who owned his own restaurant in New York, has moved to Lockton to escape his own high stress career. He is currently working as a chef at his twin brother Davey’s pub. John has certainly dropped his standards by serving basic pub food and canned soup. His brother encourages him to up his game saying, “I know you’re trying to keep your life stress-free, John, but there’s a difference between being relaxed and imitating the dead—I think you might have strayed too far in the wrong direction.”

Paige’s employer gives her time to destress while waiting for her house sale to go through. Paige and John establish a tentative relationship and work together to fix up the beloved Book Barn where she used to work. John is encouraged to cook again to get Davey’s pub listed in the yearly book Best Pubs. The two help and encourage each other in their respective projects drawing closer despite knowing Paige will be leaving.

John is drawn to little Grace who is nearly four years old almost as much as he is to her mother. He calls her “princess” and she calls him “prince.” Paige’s mum and da are delighted to have Paige and Grace in Lockton. Their relationship had been strained as they did not approve of Carl.

There are two minor but charming romances and an interesting group of women who welcome and support Paige as she realizes she actually had no friends in the “life” she thinks she has established in London. It’s not hard to predict the conclusion but the pleasure is in watching the relationships unfold and blossom. An added bonus is The Book Barn where Paige follows in her mentor’s footsteps with a gift for finding just the right book for each patron.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Women’s Fiction, Romance

Notes: There is one passage with a little steam, but no graphic descriptions.

Publication: June 4, 2021—Bookouture

Memorable Lines:

Coming home—let’s just say it was the equivalent of taking a can opener to the emotions she worked so hard to contain.

There wasn’t a person alive who the librarian could’t find the perfect book for—she’d often said the right choice had the power to change someone’s life.

“I think it’s one of the things kids are so good at—living in the moment, understanding what’s important. Finding pleasure isn’t about being good or bad at something, it’s about taking time to experience it.”

I really loved this book , I connected straight away to the story and characters. This is a story full of warmth and happiness, a light hearted cozy read that I would recommend to anyone

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I've loved previous Donna Ashcroft books I've read and this one was no exception. The highlands were like another character in themselves and were such a beautiful backdrop to such a lovely story. As someone who works in a library myself I really loved the gift of being able to choose the right book for people thread that runs through the book. Along side a village of wonderful characters, an adorable puppy and a blossoming romance, what more could you want?

This was a brilliant read and is being featured on my blog for my quick star reviews feature, which I have created on my blog so I can catch up with all the books I have read and therefore review.
See www.chellsandbooks.wordpress.com.

Another lovely book by this author as always a warm hearted feel good book with very likeable characters and if it's predictable it doesn't matter as you are immediately wrapped up in the story

I didn't finish this book. I couldn't relate to the characters, and I did not enjoy the writing. I do think maybe I wasn't in the right mind set to read this book? But I was rather bored, and did not finish.

Donna is fast becoming a favourite. Read this book in a couple of days and thoroughly enjoyed it. I remembered most of the characters from some of her other books based in the village of Lockton; familiar characters are always a bonus. Really nice easy read and no real drama before the happy ending for once. Looking forward to returning in the Christmas story!

A great heartwarming story. A nice read to have on holidays. Some lovely chacaters. It would make you want to visit that library.

Summer In The Scottish Highlands by Donna Ashcroft

The Scottish Highlands is the perfect place to be in the summer. Romantic and fun.

What a nice, comforting cozy book. I enjoyed reading this book. Loved the characters. It was a make-you-feel-good book. I recommend it.

Thanks to Net Galley for sending me an advanced reader’s copy for my review.

Another exciting and lovely read by Donna Ashcroft!!!! I absolutely loved that book! I was hooked for first page to the last one! I kept wanting to know what was going to happen next! It's definitely a page-turner! You won't get bored while reading this one! I love everything about it! The lovely settings, the characters, the village gossip aspect, the friendship, the romance, everything! I recommand you this book!!!! 4 stars out of 5 for me!!!

I really enjoyed this light-hearted story. It's all about letting the past go and opening your heart up again--at least it was to me. The other message was that life is meant to be savored and enjoyed, not rushed through on autopilot without any time to celebrate every moment, no matter how seemingly mundane.

The characters were well-developed and believable.

Thank you to Bookouture, NetGalley, and the author for an advanced copy of this book.

Ein wundervoller Sommerroman zum in die Ferne träumen.

Paige reist für den Sommer nach Hause zu ihren Eltern in die schottischen Highlands. Ihr Leben in London liegt in Scherben und so hat sie sich ihre kleine Tochter geschnappt und ist in ihre Heimat geflohen.
Dort freuen sich alle sie wieder zusehen und würden sie am liebsten dort behalten. Aber Paige ist sich nicht sicher, ob sie ihr ganzes gewohntes Leben in London aufgeben kann und will.
Und dann trifft sie Johnny, der als Koch im Restaurant des Ortes arbeitet. Doch kann Paige ihre Vergangenheit hinter sich lassen und sich auf ein neues Glück einlassen?

Summer in the Scottish Highlands ist mein erster Roman von Donna Ashcroft und hat mir einige sehr schöne Lesestunden bereitet. Die heimelige Atmosphäre der Highlands, die netten Figuren, die romantische Lovestory… das alles zusammen hat mir großen Spaß gemacht.

Der Schreibstil der Autorin war flüssig und gut zu lesen. Es hat mir keinerlei Schwierigkeiten bereitet, mich in die englische Originalsprache einzufinden.

Ganz besonders schön finde ich das Cover. Herrlich bunt passte es zu meiner Lese-und Sommerstimmung.

I enjoyed Summer in the Scottish Highlands by Donna Ashcroft. The vivid descriptions of Scotland left me homesick for some good old Scottish air. A great read full of ups and downs. A perfect summer read. Home is definitely where the heart it.

This book has taken my out of my romance novel read slump. I loved this book so much. It was a romance book on a whole other level. I connected straight away to the main character Paige and fell in love with the story. It is a believable tale that makes you so full of warmth and happiness. But will paige get her man in the end? You will have to read it and see. For all those who love to read a heart warm tale based around a library this book is for you. So much praise for the author and I look forwards to reading more of her stories.
Posted review on amazon , goodreads, Instagram and twitter. I will post it further once my phone starts working properly as it has loading issues

Summer in the Scottish Highlands is the second book I have read by Donna Ashcroft and my second outing to the village of Lockton in the Scottish Highlands. We get to experience the beauty of summer in the Highlands with vivid descriptions of the natural and rustic beauty of the mountains, woods and village and we get to see a new romance brewing between two new characters Paige Dougall and Johnny Becker both of whom have come back to Lockton broken, hurt and emotionally damaged, each trying to move forward from a life which was less than ideal both personally and professionally. I loved the camaraderie and chemistry between them and how they help each other heal and find their true purpose. Paige has a 3 year old daughter Grace and she is absolutely adorable ❤️!! All of the remaining supporting characters (both humans and animals) are brilliant. My favourite was Morag Dooley who runs the post office and is the village gossip who makes it a point to know everybody's business. Even at her 70+age she has spunk and an attitude to match!

The book is titled Summer in the Scottish Highlands and previously was titled Summer at Kindness Cottage. Although Kindness Cottage, which is Paige's parents home, plays a part towards her healing, the one place that steals the limelight is the village library called the Books Barn. Paige used to work in this library as a young girl under the mentorship of the previous librarian Aileen before leaving her life at Lockton and eloping with a stranger for a 'promised' better future. Aileen was known as a book whisperer and when Paige offers to help reopen the library and run it till the course of her vacation, she realises that Aileen might have rubbed that talent onto her as well.

This is a delightful and beautiful book with a gorgeous cover picture to match ❤️! Scotland is one country I hope to visit someday and books like this one just whets my hope more.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Bookouture and the author Donna Ashcroft for the e-Arc of the book.