A Scottish Summer Escape by Ellie Henderson
Series: Rowan Bay #2 Publisher: ChocLit
Publication Date: March 18, 2026
About the Book
❤️ Enemies-to-lovers
❤️ Second-chance
❤️ Small-town
❤️ Forced Proximity
❤️ New beginnings
After losing the career she built her life around, Flora Fraser retreats to her grandmother’s lakeside cottage in Rowan Bay for the summer.Rowan Bay offers peace, kindness . . . and Brodie Robertson.Brodie is infuriatingly self-assured, impossibly charming, and far too rooted in village life to fit into Flora’s temporary plans. Their first encounters spark with friction — and he always seems to be around when things go wrong.For Flora, it can’t get worse — until she and Brodie find themselves working together. What begins as a battle of wills slowly deepens into attraction, one that becomes harder to resist with every day.As summer unfolds, mornings spent swimming in the loch, evenings filled with laughter and long walks under starry skies, begin to heal parts of Flora she thought she’d lost. Rowan Bay feels less like a refuge — and more like home.But Flora has always believed her stay to be temporary. And Brodie belongs here.When the time comes for Flora to leave, both must decide whether this was simply a fleeting escape — or the beginning of something that could last beyond one perfect summer.
Rating:
This book was both enjoyable but a bit slow for me in the pacing department. The story follows Flora, who heads to her grandmother’s home in Rowan Bay for the summer after losing her job. Her plan to be there for a summer reset slowly shifts when she meets Brodie, the local handyman who seems to help everyone in the village and also volunteers with the loch rescue squad. Their relationship builds gradually as the summer unfolds, creating a sweet, slow-burn romance.
The romance itself was heartwarming and charming, but I struggled a bit to fully connect with the characters. Both Flora and Brodie felt somewhat underdeveloped. There were moments where they seemed to realize important things about themselves but instead of being explored more deeply, they were glossed over pretty quickly. So, I found it a little hard to fully lose myself in the story.
That said, the overall vibe of the book was very cozy. I enjoyed the scenes of Flora helping her grandmother and settling into summer life in Rowan Bay. The other villagers were great additions to the story, and the quieter moments with Iris added warmth to the story. All of this made the setting feel comforting and inviting. The romance is definitely on the sweeter side, with a friendly slow-burn and closed-door/off-page spice.
One thing that did catch me off guard was the inclusion of a POV storyline from Grandma Iris. While I enjoyed it, it felt a bit unexpected in the middle of a romance focused on Flora and Brodie, and it also kind of broke me out of the story whenever it popped in. I otherwise liked the dual POV from Flora and Brodie overall.
This is the second book in a series, and I didn’t read the first installment, so it’s possible there were some connections or character background that I was missing, so some things might be missing the mark for me because of that. Overall, it was a cozy and pleasant read and definitely put me in the mood for some summer sunshine and warmth.
Ellie Henderson lives near the sea on the east coast of Scotland and is a regular visitor to the Isle of Arran on the west coast of Scotland. When she's not writing she runs creative workshops in the community. Ellie also writes psychological fiction under the name Lorna Henderson.
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