This was a beautiful, heart-wrenching and heart-warming read that has you in a whirlwind of emotions right from the get go! Rosie and Mitch were a gorgeous couple to follow & I was so invested in the story of Rosie's Grandmother, I loved it and flew through it!

ITA
Prima di tutto, un immenso grazie a NetGalley per avermi concesso l’opportunità di leggere in anteprima questo libro!

Tropes
Enemies to lovers
Fresh start/healing journey
Small town romance
Family Secrets

Rosie Winters sembrava avere tutto: una carriera brillante come autrice di romance e un matrimonio che credeva perfetto. Ma quando il destino le strappa via il marito Joe in un tragico incidente, il suo mondo crolla completamente. Come se il dolore non bastasse, una lettera anonima le rivela una verità che le spezza il cuore: Joe l’aveva tradita per anni, e quella sera fatale era in ritardo proprio perché si trovava con l’altra donna.
Distrutta e incapace di scrivere ancora storie d’amore in cui non crede più, Rosie fugge verso l’unico posto che le offre ancora un po’ di pace: la casetta della nonna nelle Highlands scozzesi, a Rowan Bay. Il suo piano? Sistemare tutto per vendere e sparire definitivamente. Ma le Highlands hanno altri progetti per lei…
Quando scopre di essere osservata da qualcuno, Rosie si rivolge al guardiano del faro locale e incontra Mitch, un uomo affascinante ma altrettanto tormentato che ha sostituito il vecchio Barclay. Inizialmente, Rosie respinge ogni tentativo di avvicinamento perché l’ultima cosa che vuole è complicarsi ancora la vita. Ma mentre esplora i segreti della nonna e si imbatte in personaggi intriganti come Reece e Ruth, inizia un percorso di guarigione che non aveva previsto.

All’inizio, lo confesso, Rosie mi ha fatto un po’ storcere il naso. È scontrosa, chiusa in se stessa, e sembra determinata a respingere chiunque cerchi di aiutarla. Ma è proprio questo il suo fascino! La Shackman ha creato una protagonista vera, con tutte le sue imperfezioni e le sue ferite. Rosie è una donna che ha perso la fede nell’amore e nella sua stessa identità di scrittrice romantica, eppure sotto quella corazza di dolore pulsa ancora un cuore creativo e resiliente. Vederla rinascere pagina dopo pagina è stato incredibilmente gratificante.

Mitch è tutto quello che si potrebbe desiderare in un protagonista maschile: misterioso quanto basta per incuriosire ma abbastanza gentile da farci innamorare. È giovane, attraente e porta con sé un bagaglio di dolore che lo rende il perfetto complemento per Rosie. Non è il classico salvatore, ma piuttosto un’anima ferita che trova nella protagonista la possibilità di guarire tanto quanto lei trova in lui.

Quello che mi ha colpito di più è come la relazione tra Rosie e Mitch si sviluppi con i tempi giusti, senza colpi di fulmine.

Julie Shackman riesce a farti sentire a pieno l’atmosfera marittima di Rowan Bay con descrizioni vivide. Altro aspetto positivo è la profondità emotiva dei personaggi, dove ogni sentimento è reso con una delicatezza e una profondità che ti fanno dimenticare di star leggendo una storia inventata.

ENG
First and foremost, a huge thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in advance!

Tropes
Enemies to lovers
Fresh start/healing journey
Small town romance
Family secrets

Rosie Winters seemed to have it all: a brilliant career as a romance author and a marriage she believed was perfect. But when fate tears her husband Joe away in a tragic accident, her world completely collapses. As if the grief weren’t enough, an anonymous letter reveals a truth that breaks her heart: Joe had been cheating on her for years, and that fateful night he was running late precisely because he was with the other woman. Shattered and unable to write love stories she no longer believes in, Rosie flees to the only place that still offers her some peace: her grandmother’s cottage in the Scottish Highlands, in Rowan Bay. Her plan? Fix everything up to sell it and disappear for good. But the Highlands have other plans for her…
When she discovers someone has been watching her, Rosie turns to the local lighthouse keeper and meets Mitch, a charming but equally tormented man who has replaced old Barclay. Initially, Rosie pushes away every attempt at connection because the last thing she wants is to complicate her life further. But as she explores her grandmother’s secrets and encounters intriguing characters like Reece and Ruth, she begins a healing journey she hadn’t anticipated.

At first, I’ll admit, Rosie made me roll my eyes a bit. She’s gruff, closed off, and seems determined to push away anyone trying to help her. But that’s exactly what makes her compelling! Shackman has created a genuine protagonist, complete with all her imperfections and wounds. Rosie is a woman who has lost faith in love and in her own identity as a romance writer, yet beneath that armor of pain beats a heart that’s still creative and resilient. Watching her come back to life page by page was incredibly rewarding.

Mitch is everything you could want in a male protagonist: mysterious enough to intrigue but gentle enough to make us fall in love. He’s young, attractive, and carries his own burden of pain that makes him the perfect complement to Rosie. He’s not the typical savior, but rather a wounded soul who finds in the protagonist the possibility of healing just as much as she finds it in him.

What struck me most was how the relationship between Rosie and Mitch develops at just the right pace, without any love-at-first-sight moments.

Julie Shackman manages to make you fully feel the maritime atmosphere of Rowan Bay through vivid descriptions. Another positive aspect is the emotional depth of the characters, where every feeling is rendered with a delicacy and depth that makes you forget you’re reading a fictional story.

3.5 stars! This isn’t my typical genre but I had a lot of fun. This is a story about finding yourself after hard losses and big change. I enjoyed the setting of the beach town in Scotland. Overall, a very enjoyable read!

A bit predictable to start off with a slightly stereotypical trope with the husband but overall it was a heartwarming story of moving on, finding new love and honouring the deceased following the Rosie, an author, and Mitch, the lighthouse keeper.

I might be a bit biased since we share a name, but I liked the FMC and how she handles everything. Especially trying not to need help and doing everything herself. Once she starts to accept help, she allows Mitch into her life and her heart.

Mitch is the quintessential love interest with the mysterious past he doesn't want to divulge, but when he does it opens the way up to the relationship developing. What I liked about Mitch was that he had a complicated backstory. He was kind, sensitive and a gentleman.

Rosie and Mitch are a good couple and I'm happy to have read their story. Overall an enjoyable read - 4.5 stars 🌟

Thank you to @rachelsrandomresources for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve read a few now by Julie and have really enjoyed the easy pace and great stories/characters she’s written, and have to admit that to begin with I didn’t like this main character at all. I know she’d been through a really tough horrid time, but she was so whingey for the first 1/3 of the book!

Rosie had it all, the adoring husband, best selling romance books and a very comfortable life. Then tragedy struck and she lost it all, some by choice. She ran away to her grandparents cottage in rural Scotland leaving her life behind and letting her grief swallow her. But, as usual, life had other ideas and bought her Mitch, the new lighthouse keeper. Try as she might to ignore him, this just didn’t happen.

There was loads of drama in this, and a ton of over thinking at the start (the main reason I didn’t like her!) but that gives way to a cute enemies to lovers kinda troupe and some surprises along the way. I read this in a day and my opinion was totally changed by the end, and I saw Rosie for what she was - a grieving widow who thought love no longer existed.

My thoughts:
A heartbroken romance writer…
A mysterious lighthouse keeper…
A wonderful cast of supporting characters…
A beautiful setting of the coastline of Scotland…
The story of Rosie and Mitch is heartwarming and beautiful.
Overall, author Julie Shackman delivers a sweet, feel good read.
Perfect for your summer reading list!

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Rosie Winters has had her heart broken and her belief in romance destroyed in one fell swoop. The only problem is that she is a best selling romance writer. How does she continue to write when she no longer believes in romance?

The story was predictable, but also very enjoyable. The setting is inviting and the characters mostly delightful.

I didn't really like the main character when I first started the book, but she grew on me over time. At first she seemed overly materialistic. I loved Bronte (and later, Kane). Lovely additions. I also loved the description of the Scottish landscape. The story about the grandmother was interesting too. I liked Mitch and the ending was well written. I do have a couple of gripes though: 1. The author has obviously never stayed in a Premier Inn before. I did not recognise the description of her room at all. Red? Purple me-thinks. 2. I do hate reading in various books about the dogs being tied up outside shops. It is not safe to do that, and not nice for the dog either, so for writers like Shackman to be adding in this detail is not helpful. With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

We meet Rosie, she is a writer of romance stories. She has published quite a few books and readers love her stories.

She’s begun writing the next book. When Rosie attends an awards evening on her own, her husband is running late and will join her at the event. But, that doesn’t happen as before the main event tragedy strikes

Rosie can’t get over her grief of how everything changed so quickly, her hopes and dreams for them all gone. She is so sad that she can’t continue with her book, especially after she receives a letter, shattering her world even more.

Leaving everything behind, she wants to be alone and goes to Rowan Bay, the cottage where her grandmother lived, who passed away six months before. Rosie needs to get it ready so that she can sell it. But on arrival, that’s the last thing she thinks of to do.

She wants to be alone so that she can grieve and make peace with everything that’s happened. But, when she sees someone watching her in the cottage, She knows she needs help and so contacts the lighthouse keeper, her old friend has retired from his duties there and someone new has taken his place.

The story was about those who were creative, like herself and her grandmother who left behind her art and some secrets. It had plenty of twists and turns.

I loved how Rowan Bay was described and Rosie's dog, Bronte.

I highly recommend this book.

A Scottish Lighthouse Escape by Julie Shackman is a romance with plenty of anti-romance involved. Rosie Winters is a successful romance writer, in the midst of the release party for her newest novel. Her husband, Joe, as usual, was late. Sadly as he was running to get there, he didn’t look and got hit by a truck. Dead instantly. Rosie didn’t know how she would cope. Actually she didn’t cope very well. But things got worse several months later, when her agent received a letter, with pictures, the woman saying she and Joe had been in a relationship for three years. He had been running late for her party because he’d been with her. That was the final blow. She threw some things in a carry all and set out for Scotland and her grandmother’s cottage. Along the way she made the few calls she needed to, including her in-laws, filling them in on the situation. Her friend, Barclay, had looked over the cottage well. Everything was in order; there was even food in the refrigerator. But she was grumpy. To everyone.

Barclay was the lighthouse operator but now he was leaving town with his lady love. The new lighthouse operator was young and very good-looking. She was grumpy to him, too. Well, now we know where this is going, don’t we? Rosie finally found her way out of her grief and hurt and started to live again. She discovered her grandmother’s art, much more extensive than she had realized and determined to mount an exhibit. Mitch, the good-looking lighthouse operator, was eager to help her. The reader stayed with Rosie as she worked through her hurt. It was emotional and hurt. She couldn’t write. She was done with romance. There is plenty going on in this book. Plenty of backstory, locals, and incidentals. Good plot. The exciting thing about romance is always the happy ending. It makes the story all that much better, knowing where it’s going.

I was invited to read A Scottish Lighthouse Escape by Harper Collins UK-One More Chapter. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #HarperCollinsUKOneMoreChapter #JulieShackman #AScottishLighthouseEscape

beautiful, sweet, heartwarming romance with a strong and definite connection and some interesting plotting. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

This is yet another charming instalment in a series I turn to whenever I need a true escape. I can see the sweeping Scottish landscapes, smell the salty sea breeze, and feel the warmth of the fire crackling in a quiet cottage. There’s something deeply comforting about the close-knit communities, the gentle humour, and the friendships that feel stronger than the fiercest coastal winds.

At its heart, this is a story about rediscovering love—not the fairy-tale kind, but the kind that slowly grows in the quiet aftermath of heartbreak. That feeling when the ground has disappeared beneath your feet, when the world keeps turning and you’re not sure how to move with it. So you retreat—to Scotland, to a grandmother’s cottage, waiting for life to apologise.

But it doesn’t. And instead, you’re forced to step outside, to reconnect, and to finally face the emotions you buried long ago.

Gentle, heartfelt, and full of soul—this book is like a lighthouse itself: steady, comforting, and quietly powerful.

I feel like this book started so strongly and then just lost its way slightly in the middle, I loved the previous book I had read by this author so maybe that made my expectations a little too high. This is a good book with some stunning location descriptions but for some reason I just couldn’t bond with the main male character.

🩷 Blurb -
Rosie spent her summers at her late grandmother’s coastal cottage in the Highlands and knows it’ll be the perfect place to wallow for a while. Even better that there’s a gorgeous lighthouse and dolphins in the bay.
What Rosie didn’t expect was to bump into the new lighthouse keeper, Mitch. Despite her recent heartbreak, Rosie finds herself fascinated by the mysterious Mitch. As they spend more time together, is it possible that he needs Rosie every bit as she needs him…
❤️ Review -
This was such a beautiful and heartwarming novel. Everything about this book was perfect. The story was easy to follow and had a great cast of characters. The place settings in the book sounded beautiful. I loved Rosie and Mitch's characters and I wanted them to have their happy ending. I highly recommend it and I look forward to reading more by the author.
💝 Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for my arc copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for the advanced reader copy!

I was so excited about this since I’m a sucker for the Scottish settings, but it was really hard to enjoy. The writing wasn’t flowing and didn’t capture my attention. I’m usually swooning at the romance and the Scotland descriptions, but that feeling was missing for this one.

A lovely story of overcoming grief and guilt to find a way to live again. Rosie is a great character and I enjoyed her story.

🌟🌟🌟🌟 A Cozy, Feel-Good Read

This is a charming story set on the beautiful Scottish coast. The author does a great job bringing the setting to life.. The main character’s journey of healing and starting over is heartwarming, and the romance is sweet. It’s not a perfect read (some parts drag a bit), but overall it’s cozy, uplifting, and just what you want in a feel-good escape. Great for fans of small-town stories with a touch of mystery and a whole lot of charm.

Thank you NetGalley & HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, for sending this book for review consideration.

2.5 ⭐️ A Scottish Lighthouse Escape by: Julie Shackman is Publishing July 30, 2025 with HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter

Okay, so I'm going to be very honest in that it was really hard to decide on what I wanted to rate this book. It is one I kept putting down not really wanting to read but still wanted to finish. I loved the location and setting. I was beautiful described and I wish I could visit it. I love the coastal small town/village vibe. I wasn't shocked about Joe, saw it coming from the instance he was introduced. While the characters all had promise I couldn't connect enough to them. I got the feeling of what the idea and wanting was there was something that didn't click for me. It is a good story and I like the premise of it but unfortunately, I personally wasn't a fan.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the ARC copy allowing me shares my honest thoughts.

Rosie Winters a romance novelist, has her wonderful life turned upside down and runs away to Rowan Bay where so spent holidays with her grandparents, before they passed away.

Hiding away from all that she has known, along comes the new lighthouse keeper, Mitch, that sends her thoughts and heart into a frenzy!

Can they both forget their pasts and trust each other?

A heartwarming story of loves lost and found!

Rosie Ward is a romance writer, using her grandmother’s maiden name as her pen name, Rosie Winters. She has published six romance novels and has started her next novel. When tragedy strikes Rosie is left grieving and cannot finish her next novel.

She travels to Rowan Bay in the Scottish Highlands to spend time in a cottage that had been her grandmother’s. Her grandmother died six months earlier and Rosie needs to sort out the cottage.

Rosie just wants time alone to grieve but someone is watching her cottage, and she reaches out for help from the new lighthouse keeper.

This was a romance about writers, artists, secrets and families. Lots of twists and turns.

I loved the descriptions of Rowan Bay and the antics of Rosie's dog, Bronte.

Thank you NetGalley and One More Chapter for a chance to read and review this E-Book. Opinions expressed are completely my own.