The cover of this book is absolutely gorgeous!!
It was a bit hard to follow at first and a few geographical facts were incorrect but I otherwise very much enjoyed it!
Great chemistry between characters and a bit of spice!

“Windswept” really feels like an appropriate title because that’s certainly how I felt about the plot. It seemed to blow from one place to another at various points.

On its most basic level, the romance between Sabine and Alden is nice, there’s just a lot that happens that feels out of place and really confusing given the whole setup. The initial sex scene with a completely random person we never see again feels like whiplash, since we are given quite a lot of backstory and setup for someone who gets left behind two pages later. As does the sexual assault scene - for a small town in the middle of a snowstorm, why does Alden not recognize any of the perpetrators? Why is this happening at all? It doesn’t get addressed much aside from serving as a reason for Alden and Sabine to talk during the night. Alden’s ex-girlfriend shows up for approximately five pages and brings such a minuscule blip of drama that you’re left wondering why she was even there, aside from a line later (that still feels undeserved, given that Sabine and Alden had known each other for a month at that point). It just gives the entire book a rushed, un-anchored feeling of a collection of scenes that feel like three different ideas for a book merged together into one.

There are a lot of good points about being sucked into an abusive parents’ orbit, about setting boundaries and connecting with family, about taking chances when you can and being open to new opportunities.

If it were a more cohesive story, it had the potential to be quite good, but as it is, it doesn’t have the impact it wants because everything skims along so quickly through a number of emotional story beats that don’t get time to breathe.

This novel made me want to drop everything and books flight to Scotland. I loved Sabine’s character and her growth through the help of Thea. Don’t even get me started on Alden and how much I loved her character and her entire family. I lived that this romance was not full to drama and angst but support and understanding. The plot wasn’t driven by the relationship. It was so great! I will reread this again and enjoy every minute of it!

I enjoyed being swept away (lame, I know) by this enchanting and sexy novel. I enjoyed following along an adventure with a small town romance feel. Would recommend.

I struggled a wee bit at the start, in the first few paragraphs but as soon as conversation started I was settled. Fortunately conversation started quickly. (3%.) Also possibly because my head was ready to explode at the idea of arriving in a foreign country with no accommodation booked….. It is explained and logical in the book but totally out my way of doing things. (With enough notice and planning I could do spontaneity, I just choose not to!)
That thought was quite quickly put out my head as the next scene was slightly different than I expected. I’m not 100% sure it was set up so that it flowed.
One of the problems with being from where a book is set, or nearby, is that linguistic attempts to bring local flavour don’t always land well. Also if the book is written by an American, but it is a Scot talking (or their thoughts, and the words that would be used,) aren’t native, it is a distraction. As was the drink driving. (Anyone not local, I would imagine, can ignore these!)
I’ve got quite a lot of niggles, because of reality, however I’m still reading and interested.
There was a jeopardy scene, that I honestly wasn’t sure how it would go, I was quite tense but again I’m not sure it fitted with what went before, perhaps that was the writers plan, more disturbing because it didn’t fit with what went before? Also afterwards, it wasn’t really dealt with. This is a small place, everyone seems everyone’s best pal from school or ex or neighbour….. These bad actors stood out, should have stood out, and been dealt with.
There are some lines and scenes I’m loving, tho I’ve now started telling myself that it is set somewhere else, to try and get out my way!
““I think people don’t understand that we put boundaries in place not to shut people out, but to try to keep them in our lives.” Love that line!
There is a cancer preventative mastectomy in the storyline and, totally on me, this retrospectively made me uncomfortable with the character having been referred to by people as lad. (This is sort of referenced later, but I still wasn’t with it. For me that part didn’t work, which is a shame because I loved the tattoo idea.) Possibly me, but I’m reading and this is my opinion.
I found myself invested in the ending, tho’ I could have done without the supernatural intervention.
The final intimate scene also didn’t work for me. Too masculine. Again, personal taste.
Rounded up to a three from a natives point of view. Three probably if it was set elsewhere.

When her beloved aunt dies she leaves an unusual bequest to Sabine Rowan. She can get a minimal inheritance and stay in New Orleans caring for an alcoholic mother or she can leave on short notice and live abroad for a year and gain a much larger inheritance. Less than 24 hours later Sabine arrives in Scotland. A post it note in her aunt's writing has her catching a train to the small Highland village of Muir Rothesay. Arriving during a snowstorm a local pub owner welcomes her help in getting meals out to people in need. She meets Alden Wallace, a certified historic preservationist and handsome butch.

The book starts a little rough for me. An intimate scene comes from out of nowhere and seems out of place. And anyone who has visited Edinburgh Castle knows it is not next to the sea, but over 3 miles inland. The story got better for me around the 20 percent mark when Alden entered the picture. I love the Highland cows. We cheered every time we saw them when driving in Scotland. The village is warm and welcoming except for the two men at the train station. Didn’t love that scene either. In a town as small as described Alden should probably have known them. But I will overlook those moments for comfortable love in the Highlands and a little magical surprise from her aunt. I liked how the story came together and especially the ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes for the ARC and I am leaving a voluntary review.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Sabine put everyone first she moved back home to take care of her mother who in my opinion isn’t really a mother to Sabine or her sister Colette. When Sabine aunt Thea pass away she leaves her with an impossible choice a choice that can change her life. Sabine although hesitant decides to follow her aunt advice and goes to Scotland something her and aunt always talk about while there Sabine does have some troubles but eventually meets a kind man name Morgan and eventually his daughter Alden who particularly doesn’t likes Americans. While there she feels her aunt is leading towards something when she happens upon a lighthouse she wants it not knowing it’s going to lead to changing her life. I enjoy this read I like the bond Sabine has with her sister and I love the romance between Sabine and Alden even though it’s was a bit quick to say I love you I didn’t mind it because this was more about finding out who you are and where you belong.

In a very short summary, this book follows Sabine, a theater set creator in New Orleans. Her recently deceased aunt gives her the opportunity to accrue a small sum of money by staying in New Orleans, or receiving a large sum of money upon the agreement to live in Scotland for the duration of one year. Sabine is faced with a choice between staying her abusive, alcoholic mother or venturing on to something much scarier, moving across the world. When she makes her choice to leave, she's met with the trials and tribulations of being a foreigner in a new country. But that all changes when she meets Alden, the Muir Rothesay native.

I have say, this book was really something. I've spent my fair share of time in Scotland, and the way the author captures the whole vibe there is spot on. Her characters were very well done. Sabine's character was totally relatable and full-bodied. You can tell the author put in the hours to make them feel real. Even Alden, not being the main character, got a lot attention in her story, and that made the whole relationship dynamic much more relatable. The story itself was also very well done! I liked how the main character decided to stick around in one place. It's something that happens when you travel - you find a spot that pulls you in, and you just hunker down there for a bit.

But here's the thing that bugged me: the lack of simple accuracy. Just as one example, the author claims that Edinburgh Castle is right on the edge of the ocean. That is simply geographically inaccurate. The castle is approximately three miles from the ocean, so the character could not have possibly seen the waves crashing below her. Plus, if you're not a UK citizen, you can only stay for a max of six months without a Visa. This would have made the duration of 1 year criteria a bit difficult for Sabine. I think a little more familiarity with these details would have made the story feel a little more realistic.

All in all, though, I really enjoyed the book. It had that well-roundedness I appreciate, and it leaned into familiar lesbian tropes that we all love. I mean, if you're not going to follow those tropes in a sapphic novel, then what's the point, right?

I really wanted to like this book, the blurb sounds fun, but I decided to stop reading after 33%. Everything just felt very unfinished, scenes added together without much explanation and cohesiveness, and after a third of the book I still feel like I don't know any of the characters that well (especially the love interest, the blurb made me think she would appear much earlier, especially because it's a dual POV story). I think the story could profit from a few more rounds of editing before it will be readable nicely. I could have powered through the book and list all the little things I think should be edited. But I dont think that is the task of an ARC reader but that of a beta reader or editor. So I'll just write a few thoughts I had so far. (Some details I left out because they were spoilery, you can find them in my storygraph review linked below).

For the positive: i did like the idea for the storyline (it is nothing we haven't seen before, especially in straight romances, but it's always nice to get a sapphic version). Also the writing style was good, and easily readable.

And now for the things I didn't like (these may all be small things, but they just added up and even after 1/3 of the book I was not at all invested in the story or the characters, and stopped as described above):
- The way the situation is set up seems super unrealistic. We get told her aunt loved Sabine very much, but then she gives her a choice that is actually not really a choice and thus forces her to upend her life. Also it is very weird how she justifies to leave her job without telling anyone.
- The only purpose and caracter trait of all side characters we meet seems to be to be charmed by Sabine, and willing to help her, and be always quirky and happy. That does not seem very realistic.
- Scotland is depicted by mentionig every cliché about it (small village in the Highlands! Every side character speaks in a charming Scottish accent! Whiksky! Cows standing in the middle of the street!). don't get me wrong, a lot of romance books live of clichés and I do like it most of the time. But here it just got annoying very quickly.
- Alden only appears around 30% into the book, and very quickly I didnt like her. - She feeds a chese sandwich to a cow! 1. You should NEVER give food to animals that are not your own and that you don't know. You never know what could make them sick. Which brings me to 2. You should NEVER feed a grown cow processed spicy dairy products. They are herbivores with a delicate digestive system, so you could make them sick with this. - she removed the seatbelts in her car and when Sabine asks if that is'nt illegal she says something like "we're not in California, but in the Highlands". 1. they never talked about where Sabine is from, so why California? 2. The Highlands are still a part of Scotland, where seatbelts are mandatory and there are heavy fines if you don't wear them. This again is the point of clichés I made before, like "the Highlands" are some wild and uncivilised place where everyone does what they want.
- The completely out of nowhere kinky explicit sex scene 20% into the book. I don't say it's not okay to have a kinky explicit sex scene, but it was super weird and no discussion of limits happened before the scene. I didn't understand what it was supposed to add to the story, as the character is never mentioned again the whole book (even though I didn't finish, I searched for the name).

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/a1a6b7fc-4dec-44e9-a3da-a1eca8fdb690?

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

i'm actually obsessed w this, it was refreshing and def exactly what the romance genre needs. i love the story, our MCS. overall it felt a lil rushed, but i did thoroughly enjoy and will read other books by this author

Sabina Rowan is a an artist and works for the theater designing sets. She is stuck in New Orleans taking care of her alcoholic mother for 3 years until she loses her aunt and is given the opportunity of a lifetime, but has to make a decision in 3 hours. She ends up in Scotland where her life changes for the better.

Enter Alden Wallace, who is a architect and historian that restores old buildings. She lives in a small town in Scotland where her parents live as well. She runs into Sabine and doesn't think much of the American, they are thrown together and feelings grow, but don't really see it.

I loved the setting and seeing Sabine explore Scotland, but I had a hard time connecting with how their relationship happened. It moved too quickly, there was no development and I wasn't invested in their relationship. It seemed to cut and dry.

This is my first book by this author and I enjoyed the writing and the setting as well as the surprises in the book. Overall, it's not a bad book, but not sure I could recommend it.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

"Windswept" is a captivating tale that draws you into the lives of its characters, particularly the sisters Sabine and Collette their family and then Alden and her family as well. Throughout the story, I found their journeys to be deeply engaging and enjoyable. The author skillfully portrays their struggles and personal growth, making it easy to feel a connection to their experiences.

The narrative is not without its surprises, as unexpected twists are cleverly woven into the plot, adding depth and intrigue to the story. These unforeseen developments kept me eagerly turning the pages, eager to see how the characters would navigate their challenges.

However, my enthusiasm was somewhat dampened by the book's conclusion. After being immersed in the beautifully detailed and flawlessly flowing narrative, the ending (last 10%) felt abrupt and lacking in resolution. It was as if an important conversation took place off-screen, leaving readers wanting more closure and insight into the characters' futures.

Despite this disappointment, "Windswept" remains a worthwhile read due to its engaging storyline and well-crafted characters. While the ending may leave you wanting, the journey is undeniably enjoyable. I would recommend giving this book a chance, but be prepared for a somewhat unsatisfying conclusion. Overall, it's a 4-star read for its strengths in storytelling and character development.

Overall, I enjoyed the plot and unexpected twist. Sabine moves to Scotland to honor her aunt. She embarks on a journey of self discovery. Sabine meets Alden restores historic homes in Scotland. My only critique is I felt the romance between them wash rushed. The author does a great job with the chemistry and heat.

Thanks NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the ARC.