Among the Heather (The Highlands 2) by Samantha Young-review tour
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 5, 2023
He’s a disgraced actor. She’s the daughter of Hollywood royalty. Both are hiding in the Scottish Highlands, but despite their antagonistic attraction, they can’t seem to hide from each other…
North Hunter has worked hard to step out of the shadows of his orphaned upbringing into the limelight of Hollywood. He never imagined a dark moment from his childhood returning to destroy everything he’d built. Devastated, he finds comfort in the isolation of an exclusive members-only club in the Scottish Highlands, even if the club comes with a prickly estate manager who sets his blood on fire.
As the eldest daughter of a Hollywood legend, Aria Howard has learned the hard way that people will use her to get to her father. When her last relationship ended badly, Aria fled to Scotland. Running Ardnoch Estate provides distance from a life that has never fit comfortably. But when defamed Scottish actor North Hunter disrupts her sanctuary, Aria is on the defensive. The cocky actor is the last thing she needs, and despite their searing attraction, Aria is determined to dislike him.
But one night of drunken forced proximity with North leads Aria to share insecurities seeded by her horrible ex. When North offers to prove her ex wrong by taking Aria to his bed for a no-strings distraction, they begin an affair neither expected. However, their fiery liaison leads to a deep emotional connection that unsettles them both, and North will have to break down more than Aria’s trust issues if they’re ever to have a future together. He’ll need to protect her from a past that just doesn’t want to stay buried… or lose something far more essential to his existence than his career.
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REVIEW:AMONG THE HEATHER is the second instalment in Samantha Young’s contemporary, adult THE HIGHLANDS erotic, romance series-a spin off from the author’s ADAIR FAMILY series. This is Scottish actor North Hunter, and American Hospitality Manager for Ardnoch Castle Arielle ‘Aria’ Howard’s story line. AMONG THE HEATHER can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where. You do not have to have read the Adair Family series to follow.
Told from dual first person perspectives (North and Aria) AMONG THE HEATHER follows the building but acrimonious relationship between our story line couple. For close to two years Aria Howard treated Scottish actor North Hunter as nothing more than the bane of her existence. Nobody knew why, yet it was blatantly obvious to everyone else. The arrival of Aria’s younger sister Allegra forced Ari to look deeper into her attitude and actions, firmly convincing herself that North was nothing more than a friends with benefits but both Aria and North had personal stalkers, and with it came the fear of the unknown, and threats to the significant others in their lives. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Aria and North, and the potential fall-out as both stalkers make good on their threats to our story line couple.
The world building focuses on Aria’s inability to let go of the past. As the eldest daughter to the entertainment industry parents, Aria struggled with issues of self esteem, in the face of her mother’s constant criticism, and her father’s numerous trips from home. Believing she was unworthy, Aria battled between head and heart, having suffered at the hands of her previous boyfriends. Meanwhile North Hunter’s life was destroyed as a child when he was placed in foster care upon the death of his parents. A childhood accident became an entertainment industry scandal, a scandal from which he hid in the Scottish Highlands.
The relationship between Aria and North begins acrimoniously as Aria is completely indifferent to our story line hero. Her actions are questionable; her disdain and contempt a case of mistaken belief but in doing so she hurt the man with whom she would fall in love. A heartfelt acknowledgement of love would bring our couple together but issues of trust were forever at the forefront. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.
As a spin off series, the secondary and supporting characters are numerous and familiar. We are introduced to North’s best friend and writer Theo Cavendish, housekeeper at the exclusive Ardnoch Estate, Sarah McCulloch, as well as Aria’s sister Arielle, and their parents -Hollywood legend Wesley Howard, and supermodel Chiara Bellucci Howard. The requisite evil has many faces. Theo’s story is next.
AMONG THE HEATHER is a story of family and relationships, trust and understanding, power and control, betrayal and vengeance, acceptance and love. The character driven premise is emotional and impassioned; the romance is passionate and heart breaking; the characters are broken, determined and in the case of Aria Howard, at times difficult to like.
Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one BEYOND THE THISTLES
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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