A pretty good "fish out of water" romance about a NYC food writer who throws it all in for a year in Scotland to write a cookbook and try to find herself. I don't love it when romance conflict relies on secret-keeping, and I found the middle of the book dragged a bit. But the food and whisky descriptions were drool-inducing, and mostly made up for the way-too-neatly tied up ending.

3.75 stars ( )

I love a good Scottish romance and Rochelle Bilow delivered just that!

Ruby is in her thirties and has decided to write a cookbook. To do so she has uprooted her life and moved to a Scottish village for a year; looking for inspiration. Here character is sweet, charming, and just wants to find a place that feels like home. Could it be this small Scottish village of Thistlecross?

Brochan has lived in the charming village of Thistlecross his whole life? He is the town's handyman and keeps showing up to repair things at the cottage that Ruby is staying in. He holds tight to the traditions of the village and has a dream of one day distilling his own whiskey.

As the story progresses Ruby searches for "what comes next" and discovers what she wants from life and makes some delightful new friends with the colorful locals of Thistlecross. But not all is as it seems, Ruby also discovers the secret plans the mayor has to turn her beloved pub into a cheesy American chain restaurant. Thistlecross is struggling and selling the pub to bring in revenue from the sale and tourist might be the only way to save the village.

I found the characters delightful and charming. I loved that the story was about a single woman in her thirties that is ready to go on an adventure in Scotland and make a go of writing a bestselling cookbook. Though she wasn't looking for love, love found her in a tall, ruggedly handsome, bearded Scotsman. I listened to the audio book and yes the narrator does a good job with the Scottish accent. The pacing was well done and kept me eager for more. The language was descriptive and the spicy scenes were tastefully done; 4 peppers on my scale. I thought there was also good character growth for the main characters, both learning about love and loyalty to one another and family! ( )

Ruby, a New York food writer, quits her job and rents a cottage in the Scottish Highlands. Her plan is to stay a year while she writes a cookbook, but writing doesn’t go as expected, and Ruby finds herself falling in love -- with the local pub, with cooking for others, and with a Scot.

I enjoyed the scenery, the portrayal of a community, and the evocative descriptions of cooking. I was amused by some of the self-deprecating humour. My opinion of the romance is less straightforward. I liked the characters together, but this sort of miscommunication obstacles don’t appeal to me. And perhaps it was something about the pacing, too, the way we’re told about but not shown some of their conversations?

Anyway, it was okay, it didn’t make me regret the visit-via-fiction to Scotland.

Her thoughts hadn’t crystallised into emotions yet. For some people, emotions came first. For Ruby, it was the thoughts. And often, she got so busy writing and cooking and researching and doing dumb things like moving to foreign countries on a whim that the thoughts just swam around in her head forever as baby feelings. And everyone knows babies are exhausting.

( )

Ruby Spencer has quit her job as New York City food writer and moved to the small town of Thistlecross in the Scottish Highlands. Her plan is to spend the next year living in a small cottage next to the local pub, The Cosy Hearth, and write a cookbook. What Ruby doesn't plan on is meeting the ridiculously handsome Brochan, the local handyman. She also learns that The Cosy Hearth is at risk of being sold and turned into an American chain restaurant. As Ruby falls in love with Brochan and Thistlecross, she'll find herself torn between protecting the charms of the town as it is with figuring out a way to keep it from financial collapse.

A charming romance with a couple first novel wobbles. Bilow does a brilliant job of evoking life in a small Scottish town and inspiring the desire to immediately head to the Highlands. As a food writer herself, Bilow also writes exquisite descriptions of Ruby's cooking and food she eats. The wobbles come through about midway through the novel. While Ruby and Brochan have a slow burn attraction, once they get together some of the chapters about them as a couple have some inconsistent tone and style issues. It's not a deal-breaker but it did keep the book from being an unqualified hit for me. Still recommended but be prepared for those wobbles. ( )

Thirty-five-year-old ex-food writer Ruby Spencer leaves Manhattan for a year in tiny Thistecross, Scotland, to write a cookbook and figure out how to be present in her own life. There, she finds Grace, manager of a tiny, operating-at-a-loss family pub, and handy, hot Brochan, as well as friendly Mayor Anne - who is working on a deal to turn the Cosy Hearth into an American-tourist-friendly Scottish-themed (but not authentically Scottish) restaurant. Over the course of a few months, Ruby questions her own feelings, both for Thistlecross, which feels more like home than New York ever did, and for Brochan. She also learns more about his and Grace's history with the Cosy Hearth, and Brochan and Anne's history. There's an HEA, of course, for all concerned.

Quotes

...Ruby found it hard to show up in the way you're supposed to when starting a relationship. (31)

Eventually, the fresh wounds in her heart scabbed over, but instead of healing, they started to calcify. (37)

I walked away from the only thing I've ever been good at and now I have no clue who I am. (111)

She had forgotten how messy life gets when you really show up to it. (228)

"I feel like every decision I make could be the wrong one...or the right one. How do you choose a place to live if you don't have a career? How do you know if a place is trying to choose you?" (252)

"The way the trees look as though they are reaching for each other...But of course they aren't. They're only growing, on their own terms, next to each other. When they find each other, it's by accident. That is what makes it beautiful." (296) ( )