A feel good romance novel. Young woman leaves her ancestral home in Scotland to pursue a career in fashion in NYC. When she inherits the family home instead of her brother, she returns home to to restore the castle to its former glory. And of course, our heroine falls in love with the family gardener. Nothing special about this, just a quick read

This was so good! I adored it so much!! This kept me entertained from the first page to the last.
I just reviewed Coming Home to the Highlands by Lisa Hobman. #ComingHometotheHighlands #NetGalley
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Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. Below are my honest thoughts on this book.

Olivia left her home in the Scottish highlands to pursue a career in fashion design in NYC. Following the passing of her mother she is summoned back to the Highlands where she learns that she has inherited her family’s ancestral seat. This causes animosity between Olivia and her brother Kerr as he was the rightful heir to the estate. As per her mother’s wishes Olivia must spend 2 years working to improve the Drumblair Castle, then she may return to her life in NYC.

I wanted to love this book, I really did. There was so much potential for the idea. I had a couple of issues with the book. First, the main character Olivia is constantly gaslighting herself for how she feels and is always invalidating her own emotions. Olivia is never willing to go after what she wants, and constantly allows the people in her life to bully her into situations she doesn’t want to be in (such as becoming engaged to a man she just reconnected with and has no chemistry with, despite saying over and over again how she’s only willing to marry for love).

Second, the conclusion felt extremely rushed. For more than the first half of the book, there is anger, resentment and animosity between Olivia and her brother Kerr, only for it to be resolved in under a page of interaction. The resolution between Olivia and Kerr felt incomplete and forced. As well with Olivia and Brodie (the love interest) coming together, it was a slow burn for most of the book and it would have been nice to see a little bit more of them as a couple.

TW: this book contains mentions of domestic violence

There is nothing not to love about this book the location was so beautiful, the chateavter well written and really likeable. And the storyline was so engaging.