Ruby Spencer is a food writer in Manhattan who is done. She’s done with dating men from the city. She’s done with the dream job that she once loved but is now burned out from. She’s done with the noise and the striving and the busyness and all the running that hasn’t been getting her anywhere. So she drank some wine, put up a map of Scotland, and threw a dart at it. Before she knew it, she had sold everything that couldn’t fit into her luggage and ended up in the small village of Thistlecross.

She had a plan for her time in Scotland. Ruby was going to write a cookbook. She has rented a cottage next to a pub, and the woman who rented the cottage to her, Grace, is offering her the use of the kitchen at the pub to create her recipes. In exchange for a break on the rent and for her work visa, Ruby will be helping Grace cook and bake, which she is looking forward to. After spending so many years writing about food, Ruby wants to get into a kitchen and make good food again.

Ruby expected to find a quiet place to think, fresh ingredients to work with, lots of local color and intriguing stories of the history of the village, and some good whisky. What she didn’t expect to find was a place where she could stop and listen to her thoughts. She didn’t expect to find a place that would infuse her soul with warmth and peat and friendliness. She didn’t expect to find a place that would heal her soul, or that would open her heart, or that would make her feel like family.

Ruby never expected to fall in love.

But Brochan showed up with his Scottish brogue and his beard and his mysterious past. He fixed what was broken in her cottage and added some thoughtful, artistic elements that made Ruby take notice. He was kind. He could have a genuine conversation. He loved her cooking. And he took her to see his favorite parts of the country.

But when village politics threatens to take away all the precious genuine Scottish things that Ruby has fallen for, how hard is she willing to fight for her new life? Will she find a way to keep her new life, or will she lose everything she thought was real to a counterfeit experience and the secrets hidden within it?

Ruby Spencer’s Whisky Year is a romance that gives readers a chance to fall in love with the Scottish Highlands. There is a lot of poetic talk about food and drinks, and amazing descriptions of all the beauty that the Highlands have to offer. The slow burn romance adds a lot of spice, but since these characters are well into their 30s, they go into this relationship with intention and open eyes.

I am a sucker for just about any book set in Scotland, so I was invested right away. I liked Ruby a lot. She was smart and grounded, even if she did give up her dream job for a chance to spend a year writing a cookbook in Scotland. Brochan does seem a little too good to be true, but he’s not perfect. And the heat that develops between Roo and Broo is steamy. I think romance readers will enjoy this, as will fans of foodie fiction and those who are smart enough to understand the magic of a Scottish setting in a story. Pour yourself a glass of whisky—the good stuff—or a cup of tea, if that’s more your style, and find yourself transported to Thistlecross to fall in love.

Egalleys for Ruby Spencer’s Whisky Year were provided by Berkley through NetGalley, with many thanks.