Half-Light Harbor (Scottish Isles 1) by Samantha Young-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 23, 2025

I went to Scotland looking for answers about my past. The last thing I expected was getting trapped on a private island with my stoic, brooding, gorgeous contractor.

Ramsay McRae is a man with secrets. He prefers the company of his dog to people and silence to any semblance of politeness. He says I’m too young, too sweet, too innocent.

Only he doesn’t know the truth. That I’m haunted by a crime that tore my life apart two years ago. I’ve come to Half-Light Harbor not just to start over, but to bring the monster who killed my parents to justice.

The last thing I need is a tortured Scot distracting me from my mission. But when his restraint snaps and my walls crumble, the results are explosive.

We say it’s only a no-strings-attached affair. A temporary moment to burn out this fire between us.

However, when my search for the truth brings danger to my door, it’s Ramsay stepping in to protect me. But it might be the secrets from his past that tear us apart forever…

•••••

REVIEW: HALF-LIGHT HARBOR is the first instalment in Samantha Young’s contemporary, adult SCOTTISH ISLES erotic, romantic suspense series, a spin off set in the author’s Adair Family and The Highlands interconnected series. This is American hotel heiress Tierney Silver, and former UK Royal Marine / wood worker Ramsay McRae’s story line.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Ramsay and Tierney) HALF-LIGHT HARBOR follows American born but Scottish descendant Tierney Silver as she moves to grandmother’s beloved Scotland in the wake of her parents’ murders and discovering her fiance’s affair. With the hope of setting up a bed and breakfast, Tierney moves to the Isle of Glenvulin, Scotland where she will fall in love with a man who will break her heart. Former UK Royal Marine (Special Forces) , recluse, woodworker and all around brooding hero Ramsay McRae doesn’t do relationships, people or friends but Tierney Silver is about to place herself directly into the orbit of our story line hero, a man who is willing to do anything to protect the woman with whom he will fall in love but both Tierney and Ramsay have dark secrets and dangerous pasts, and in this, both refuse to reveal the truth , or acknowledge the threats, or possible perils to everyone else.

The world building focuses on the rebuilding and preparations for Tierney’s new B&B, as Tierney’s ex demands her return; a friend back home struggles in her own relationship, and a journalist looking into Tierney’s parents’ murder uncovers a dangerous path of murder and greed. Ramsay McRae has his own twisted tale of dangerous secrets, and our hero is determined to remain as isolated from the world as possible.

The relationship between Tierney and Ramsay is one of immediate attraction but, once again, Ramsay doesn’t do relationships and in this exclaims their ‘affair’ is only temporary but as the love begins to dawn, and both of their pasts are single minded in destroying their lives, Ramsay is about to push away the woman that calls to his heart. The $ex scenes are impassioned and provocative without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and animated, secondary and supporting characters who will become the large extended family Tierney has always wanted. We are introduced to contractor Quinn and his ex Taran, Cammie, Tierney’s ex fiancé Hugh Inchcolm, her best friend London and fiancé Nick, investigative journalist Perri Wilcox, and several locals who live and work on the Isle of Glenvulin. Quinn and Taran’s story line is next.

HALF-LIGHT HARBOR is the story of secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, power and control, money and greed, family and relationships, acceptance and love. The richly layered and character driven premise is intriguing, dramatic, and haunting; the romance is spicy and seductive; the characters are sassy, complex and edgy.

copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Samantha Young is the New York Times,  USA Today  and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of adult contemporary romances, including the On Dublin Street series and Hero, as well as the New Adult duology Into the Deep and Out of the Shallows.  Every Little Thing, the second book in her new Hart’s Boardwalk series, will be published by Berkley in March 2017. Before turning to contemporary fiction, she wrote several young adult paranormal and fantasy series, including the amazon bestselling Tale of Lunarmorte trilogy. Samantha’s debut YA contemporary novel The Impossible Vastness of Us was published by Harlequin TEEN in ebook & hardback June 2017. Play On is an adult contemporary romance and the first in a brand new series set in Scotland. Villain is a companion novella to the New York Times bestselling romance HERO.

Samantha has been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award 2012 for Best Author and Best Romance for On Dublin Street, Best Romance 2014 for Before Jamaica Lane, and Best Romance 2015 for Hero. On Dublin Street, a #1 bestseller in Germany, was the Bronze Award Winner in the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2013, Before Jamaica Lane the Gold Medal Winner for the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2014 and Echoes of Scotland Street the Bronze Medal Winner for the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2015.

Samantha is currently published in 30 countries and is a #1 international bestselling author.

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