I am delighted to be taking part in the blog tour today for Surprises on the Scottish Isle by Lilac Mills. My thanks to Rachel Gilbey at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to take part and to the publisher for my digital copy of the book, which I have reviewed honestly and impartially.
Will they get a second chance at first love?
When newly divorced Tara McTaigh spots an advert for a studio to let in Coorie Castle’s craft centre, she packs up her Edinburgh life and moves to the Isle of Skye, eager for a fresh start.
Little does she know that the castle’s estate manager, single dad Calan Fraser, is the man who broke her heart back at university. Thoroughly done with romance, Tara decides to ignore Cal and focus on building her business – creating dollhouses to commission. But Duncoorie is a small community, and the two keep bumping into each other…
Just as she is starting to open her heart once more to Cal, a change in his life puts everything on the line. When a surprise storm threatens Tara’s safety, will Cal realise in time that love is worth the risk?
I haven’t read anything by Lilac Mills before and now I am wondering why because this book is just fabulous. Everything I look for in a location romance with some cherri es on the top.
It might seem like a book with a familiar second-chance-at-love trope, and it is, but it is done so brilliantly and with such warmth and charm and intimacy that this will instantly become your favourite book with this plot line.
Both of the central characters here are perfect. Tara, forever damaged by the heartbreak of losing her first young love, isn’t sure she can ever trust anyone enough again to really give them her heart fully, which is why her marriage is ending in divorce. What is it going to take for her to get past the hurt. Calan I really related to. Always trying to do his best for everyone else at the expense of his own happiness, it never quite seems to work out, but he still isn’t learning the lesson. But putting your child before yourself is surely the right thing to do in every circumstance, isn’t it? I felt this so hard, having been a single parent for the last almost 14 years and the author does a marvellous job of capturing the constant dilemmas you have to face.
The best part about this book though is the location. set on the beautiful Isle of Skye, at the fictional Coorie Castle, with it’s craft centre and cafe, the author makes the most of the beautiful setting. The reader gets to experience Scotland’s beautiful scenery, unpredictable weather, v varied wildlife and wonderful people through the eyes of the characters. The book will have you packing your bags for Skye immediately and wishing that the place the book was real. I want to go and learn to build dolls’ houses and make pottery at Coorie Castle craft centre and meet Mhairi and Jinny and Gillian and Mac. The place has wormed its way into my heart.
I am so excited that there is soon going to be another book in this series; I can’t wait to go back.
Surprises on the Scottish Isle is out now in ebook and paperback formats and you can buy a copy here.
Please do visit some of the other blogs taking part in the tour as detailed below:
About the Author
Lilac Mills lives on a Welsh hillside with her very patient husband and incredibly sweet dog, where she grows veggies (if the slugs don’t get them), bakes (badly) and loves making things out of glitter and glue (a mess, usually).
She’s been an avid reader ever since she got her hands on a copy of Noddy Goes to Toytown when she was five, and she once tried to read everything in her local library starting with A and working her way through the alphabet.
She loves long hot summer days in the garden, and cold winter ones snuggled in front of the fire, but whatever the weather she’s usually writing, or thinking about writing, with heartwarming romance and happy-ever-afters always on her mind.
Connect with Lilac:
Website: https://www.lilacmills.com
Facebook: Lilac Mills Author
Twitter: @LilacMills
Instagram: @lilacmillsauthor
