Cover Image: Ruby Spencer's Whisky Year

Ruby Spencer's Whisky Year

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Member Reviews

"Ruby Spenser’s 'Whiskey Year' offers a simple, slightly steamy, and light read with a picturesque Scottish backdrop. Despite a myriad of tropes scattered throughout the story, the premise unfolds as an enjoyable escape.

With a rating of 3 out of 5 stars, this book is best suited for those seeking an easy beach read to get lost in, appreciating the blend of romance, culinary pursuits, and Highland charm."

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I saw romance and Scotland and aspiring cookbook author and was immediately intrigued by this one, but unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations.
Ruby goes to a small town in Scotland to write a cookbook and inexplicably falls into insta love/lust with Brochan. They start calling each other Ru and Bru. Bru has some daddy issues, there’s an underperforming pub she has to save, and also there’s a lot of very cringy dialogue coming from everyone, but especially Ruby. I found her to be extremely unlikable, which is unfortunate because the setting is lovely.

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I had extremely high hopes, but this one just fell a little flat. It was extremely predictable. It wss very hard to believe they were in love. Just not my favorite book.

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I loved this book! While it featured a lot of traditional tropes found in the genre, I thought it was a really fun read and definitely had me looking forward to traveling back to Scotland!

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I was expecting a different type of book when I picked this up, but that's more of my issue than the book's. I love highlander romances, especially contemporary ones, so when I came across Ruby Spencer's Whisky Year, I knew I had to add it to my TBR. But Bilow's fiction debut is more of a contemporary novel with a romance subplot than a "pure" romance novel. This is more so a "coming of age" novel but with a main character in their late 30s which I've never encountered before, which was a bit refreshing to read. Ruby is just looking for her place in the world and has to come to terms with the fact that it may not be what she imagined originally. This novel wasn't bad in any capacity; it just wasn't what I was looking for from it. However, once I shifted my initial expectations, I quite enjoyed my time reading.

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

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Gosh this book was a breath of fresh air and kept me giggling. Ruby's ditsy personality was a little over the top at times, and I think I would have enjoyed her a little more as a character if she had been more grounded. However, the feel of this book was absolute cozy Scottish perfection. I really enjoyed curling up with this book and feeling like another resident of this small town watching the story play out. If you're looking for a quick, cozy read with a little spice and hunky, broody, Scot...this is definitely the book for you.

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There was a lot to like about this book. The setting was evocative, the characters were well rounded, and the dialogue was crisp (without the awkward dialect that often comes in books about Scotland). Unfortunately, the plot fell flat for me.

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rating 3/5

first of all can we take a minute to apreicate the cover? its so cute and just screams cozy romance. and thats kind of excalty what this book is. it's just a cozy romance set in the scotish highlands about a food critic that needs. a break from hectic Manhattan and ends up in a small town and of course falls for a brooding and grumpy Scot. and while it was cozy, it just didnt wow me. it dragged a little bit in certain areas. it's kind of one of those books that i dont regret reading, but it's def not a new fave.

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I don’t know what to say besides saying that we all want to move away and go to Scotland for a new chapter. Like how can I make this happen? I’m seriously questioning. I’m jelly that Ruby could start a new chapter, especially in Scotland.


Besides me getting jelly, Ruby is finally doing something for herself when she moves away and starts a new chapter in Scotland. It’s frightening at first since it’s only her in this new town. But Ruby is determined to start fresh and begin something, anything.


While she begins her new chapter, she comes to realize how much she misses being herself. She always had a plan, even though it never made her happy. She was playing it safe, going through the motions, and never taking chances. Now, she has the time to find out what makes her happy professionally and personally. And it doesn’t hurt that she catches Brochan's eye.


I won’t go into too much of Ruby and Brochan's blooming romance. I want to focus more on Ruby's journey within herself. But I will say that their relationship may start off rocky, but they form closer.

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I tried my best to become involved in this story as I'm a sucker for a burly Scottish lad and small cottages. It is a very slow burn story and I just could not become attached to Ruby. She had a great plan, but was lacking details and planning and I couldn't become interested in her plight. I did give it the 100 page read and put the book down out of boredom.

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Ugggghhhhh one way ticket to Scotland please!

Thanks to NetGalley / Edelweiss and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for a review.

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I felt like Ruby Spencer’s Whisky Year tiptoed too far into women’s fiction territory for my liking and was not the fun Scottish romance I was looking forward to. It seemed like a story of two people (and a town) trying to figure out their lives and their identities. The Scottish setting was picturesque and the side characters were sometimes charming, but the romance was not very compelling and took a backseat to the many other plot points. Would recommend it more for someone looking for a slow-paced cozy women’s fiction read.

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When Ruby impulsively moves from NYC to a small town in Scotland for a year with goals to write a cookbook, she never expects to fall in love with Brochan - or the local pub.

I really like this! I enjoyed that Ruby was older, but you’d think older main characters would just talk to each other. The small town Scottish settings was amazing. I listened to the audiobook, and it was so good.

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So I really enjoyed some aspects of this book, and some parts were just fine.

I loved the overall vibes of a small Scottish village, the cooking, the gardening, the close friendships that Ruby develops with the town.

I didn't enjoy how many times characters lied by omission. It was just like everyone would only tell partial truths and never a full story. There were several aspects of the main conflict that really didn't need to be part of the main as they were just so trivial.

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Was there a review bomb of this book? Lots of 2 and 1 stars (on Goodreads) that for a book that was fairly well written and at least original in plot seems...odd.

You have a mid-late 30 something old woman who moves to Scotland to write a cookbook, finds love, a home, and herself. Considering the tonnage of romances continually published that are the same freaking story (early-mid 20s, is a creative, lives in NYC, terrible ex-bf, etc), this is a breath of fresh air. Especially with the heroine NOT in her 20s or even early 30s.

(A very small quibble is Bilow keeps pointing out Ruby has curly hair that is always in a braid. She mentions it a lot to the point of being annoyingly noticeable.)

I'm not saying this is Pulitzer winning stuff but it's a really good read (I do recommend the audiobook), decent sex scenes, and a lovely story of learning that who you are was with you all the time. I just don't get the super hate.

I'm giving this four stars because I would totally read more Bilow if she desides to write more fiction.

(Bilow's website, however, looks like it was influenced by twee IG designers.)

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Every time I read about a heroine picking up her entire life and moving to Scotland and finding like the perfect guy, not going to lie I always spend at least a couple of hours browsing "how to move to Scotland" because I want this to be my life lol. But jokes aside, I loved this. I think that the scenery gave me a little bit of "leap year" vibes but the story was obviously different. I really loved the characters and I think that I loved them just as much separately as I do together which is rare. Overall, I had so much fun reading.

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Definitely a slow burn romance here, which if that's a trope you love, no judgement. Ruby makes some really frustrating choices that make it hard to root for her. The best part is all the lovely descriptions of food and the Scottish setting.

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I think I’ve read this premise — woman leaves life in the US to go live in Scotland and finds true love — in several contemporary romance novels. I figure I’ll get sick of it someday. That day is not today.

I loved the pop culture references! I enjoyed Ruby’s character. The book was cute and felt well balanced between the development in our FMC and the romantic elements of the story.

The lying, even though it was by omission, was frustrating. Also, the conflict between main characters seemed to just… go away? There wasn’t much active resolution and then things were okay. I’m glad we got a happy ending but wonder if there could have been more time/plot resolving it.

Enjoyable listen that got me through a long commute!

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***3 Stars***

This book immediately caught my eye with it's cover and title, also who can resist a man with long hair and a beard amiright?!?! I'm always going to be game for books set in Scotland because I dream of one day going and visiting a pub with everyone knows your name vibes but also the Whisky is grade A. That being said, I feel terrible that I just didn't fall in love with Ruby and Brochan's love story. This is a Grumpy/Sunshine + a bit of instalove on behalf of our male lead. Ruby has decided to pin a country (any country) on the map and go there, she has a cookbook to write and needs inspiration/change of scenery. The Scottish Highlands is where we travel and here is where this story delivers! the author did well with creating the atmosphere we all think of when imagining Scotland and paired it with a charming cast of characters literally in a pub! Ruby has just moved into this cottage and will be working in the Pub's kitchen. The cottage she's living in needs a bit of repairs and that is where our love interest makes his appearance.

Tall, dark haired, broody and won't shy away from complimenting our female lead, Brochan is very easy to swoon over. He has some baggage surrounding his father but it seems like in the romance department he's ready to find his lobster and Ruby has caught his interest. Our girl Ruby also has some baggage however hers is more surrounding her previous relationship. This is where I struggled where I struggled, the insecurities that played out in her interactions with Brochan as a result of what I see as unhealed wounds were not a fun time. Although I could see where she was coming from, after a while of her insisting something was more than it wasn't...I got turned off of her. Brochan isn't without fault, I didn't love that he withheld some info with regards to a previous relationship he was in...more like who he was romantically linked to. These issues definitely played a part in my enjoyment, I want to root for the ship and I just couldn't because I didn't believe these two were ready. Perhaps if the ending was slowed down a bit and healthy dialogue exchanged, then I could've bought into these two being together. Again, where this story really shined was the small town vibes, side characters and the descriptions of food paired with whisky! 3 stars for enjoyability, I'd give this author another go.

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