ROWAN BAY – Book 2
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.
❤️ Enemies-to-lovers
❤️ Second-chance
❤️ Small-town
❤️Forced proximity
❤️ New beginnings
A Scottish Summer Escape by Ellie Henderson, Book 2 of the Rowan Bay series, is published by Choclit (A Joffe Books company) on 17 March 2026 and you can find out more about the book, and the series on Amazon, Goodreads and Storygraph
I am excited to share my review of A Scottish Summer Escape by Ellie Henderson as part of the Virtual Book Tour hosted by Zooloo’s Book Tours which takes place 17-23 March 2026. Check out the Book Tour Schedule and follow along to discover what other early readers have to say about the second (stand alone) book of this series set in Scotland. Thank you to the author Ellie Henderson, publisher ChocLit (a Joffe Books company) and, of course Zooloo’s Book Tours for inviting me to be a part of this event and for providing a digital edition of this new novel to read and review.
Ellie Henderson
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.
🔗 Connect with Ellie
Website elliehendersonbooks.com
Facebook @EllieHendersonBooks
Instagram @elliehbooks
My Review
There are some books you enjoy, some you love and then there are the books that completely steal an entire day of your life – and when you close them you immediately feel slightly dazed, slightly emotional, and completely, utterly happy. A Scottish Summer Escape is that kind of book.
After falling head over heels for book one, I was more than ready to return to Rowan Bay but nothing quite prepared me for just how deeply this story would pull me back in. I started reading after lunch, fully intending to be sensible. That lasted about three chapters. The world fell away. Meals were postponed. Time disappeared. Every time I thought, “I’ll stop after this next chapter,” the writing would wrap itself around me again and I’d be lost for another hour. That is the magic of this author’s storytelling.
The writing feels so natural, so beautifully effortless, that it never once feels like you’re reading something constructed. It feels lived-in. It feels true. There’s a flow to the prose that is almost invisible – no jarring moments, no confusion, no stepping back to work out who’s who. Everything is crystal clear and perfectly paced, allowing you to simply sink into the story without resistance. It’s immersive in the gentlest, most powerful way.
Rowan Bay itself feels like somewhere your heart recognises before your head does. It’s warm without being saccharine, comforting without being unrealistic. The sense of community is written with such tenderness – people who notice, people who care, people who show up. As a reader, you don’t just observe it, you feel part of it. It’s the kind of place that feels safe. The kind of place that quietly heals you while you’re not looking.
Emotionally, this book is just beautiful. The romance unfolds with patience and authenticity – nothing rushed, nothing forced. The feelings build in a way that feels organic and earned. There are moments that made me laugh out loud, moments that made me cringe in recognition, and so many soft, lingering scenes that had me smiling at the page. And when the emotional moments land, they really land. The tears (very justified tears!) felt cathartic rather than dramatic. Every emotion feels grounded and real. And then there are Iris’s rescue parrots – Sidney and Scrumpy – who absolutely deserve their own round of applause. They are scene-stealers in the very best way. Their perfectly timed phrases and uncanny ability to echo the emotional temperature of the room are both hilarious and oddly profound. They add such a unique layer of warmth and lightness to the story. Every time they appeared, I knew I was about to smile. They’re not just comic relief, they’re woven into the emotional fabric of the home and somehow make everything feel even more alive.
What truly sets this book apart, though, is how authentic it feels. The relationships, the dialogue, the small quiet moments, they all ring with sincerity. Nothing feels exaggerated for effect. It’s romantic without being overly sweet. Emotional without being manipulative. Gentle without ever being dull. That balance is incredibly hard to achieve, and it’s handled here with such quiet confidence.
The only bittersweet note for me is knowing that although I live only an hour or two from where this story is set, I will never quite find Rowan Bay or bump into its wonderfully kind residents. That realisation genuinely made me a little sad. Which only highlights how vividly this world has been created. When a fictional place feels tangible enough to miss, you know the author has done something very special.
I closed the final page feeling full of warmth, of contentment, of gratitude for stories that remind us how powerful gentle love stories can be. And, of course, I am already impatiently waiting to return again. If you are looking for a story that will sweep you away completely, wrap you in community and kindness, make you laugh, make you sigh, and maybe make you tear up just a little — this is it. Rowan Bay has my whole heart.
#AScottishSummerEscape #EllieHenderson #RowanBay
#ChocLit #JoffeBooks #ZooloosBookTours #bookreview #booktour
See About My Reviews and Review FAQ for full star rating explanations and review guidelines. This review may also appear on my social media channels and selected book platforms. All links were correct at the time of publication. DISCLOSURE: I received a review copy of this book via Zooloo’s Book Tours. As always, my thoughts are honest and my own. This review is original content. Please credit and link back if you wish to quote.
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