{"id":80856,"date":"2025-10-23T08:11:56","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T12:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=80856"},"modified":"2025-10-23T08:11:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T12:11:56","slug":"release-arc-review-half-light-harbor-scottish-isles-1-by-samantha-young","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=80856","title":{"rendered":"Release & ARC Review: Half-Light Harbor (Scottish Isles, #1) by Samantha Young"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Half-Light Harbor by Samantha Young is live!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

A heroine starting over, a broody but protective alpha hero, traumatic pasts, drama, secrets, danger and suspense, with a scene-stealing dog, and the most beautiful love story all set in the remote Scottish Isles. This is the start of a brand new series from Samantha Young, I adored every moment of it, and it\u2019s a fave for 2025!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Amazon<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Blurb<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019m too young, too sweet, too innocent.<\/p>\n

Only he doesn\u2019t know the truth. That I\u2019m haunted by a crime that tore my life apart two years ago. I\u2019ve come to Half-Light Harbor not just to start over, but to bring the monster who killed my parents to justice.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

We say it\u2019s only a no-strings-attached affair. A temporary moment to burn out this fire between us.<\/p>\n

However, when my search for the truth brings danger to my door, it\u2019s Ramsay stepping in to protect me. But it might be the secrets from\u00a0his<\/em>\u00a0past that tear us apart forever\u2026<\/p>\n

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Add to Goodreads<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Review<\/strong><\/h4>\n

5 huge stars!<\/b><\/p>\n

A heroine starting over, a broody but protective alpha hero, traumatic pasts, drama, secrets, danger and suspense, with a scene-stealing dog, and the most beautiful love story all set in the remote Scottish Isles. This is the start of a brand new series from Samantha Young, I adored every moment of it, and it\u2019s a fave for 2025!<\/p>\n

Desperate for a fresh start after the tragic death of her parents and suspicions of foul play, Tierney packs up her life in New York City and heads to a small island in Scotland for a fresh start. She plans to settle there and starts renovating a B&B, and she quickly finds her place in the small town.<\/p>\n

Ramsay is a big broody local who is part of the team renovating Tierney\u2019s B&B, and from the moment they meet, sparks fly. There\u2019s a thirteen year age gap (he\u2019s 40, she\u2019s 27), and he\u2019s a withdrawn bachelor with no plans to get into a relationship, but he can\u2019t seem to stay away from the new arrival in town, and the tension between them absolutely sizzles!<\/p>\n

OMG, the chemistry between Ramsay and Tierney is SO good! The build-up is fantastic, and every little moment between them bursts with expectation. The sexual tension is palpable, and the anticipation had me madly flipping pages.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not fucking you in this bed.\u201d
\nFrustration ripped through me. \u201cThen you\u2019re going to have to bear witness to me getting myself off because I\u2019m about to explode over here.\u201d
\nI was just as surprised as he was by my forthright words.
\nHis lips curled at the corners. \u201cI think I can help you out with that.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And, let me tell you, it is so worth the wait. The romance is steamy and intense, and the big broody alpha turns out to be a controlling dirty talker in the bedroom *fans self*, and watching for those secretive little tender and vulnerable moments had me literally clutching my kindle with glee.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have a \u2018me problem\u2019. You just want a domineering bastard in your bed.\u201d He took a step toward me. \u201cDomineering bastard at your service and happy to oblige.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We love watching the big, broody ones fall, and Ramsay falls hard! His protectiveness when danger comes for Tierney is absolutely sensational. But they both have big secrets, and there\u2019s a lot they have to deal with. My heart hurt for both of them, but it\u2019s the most incredible ride.<\/p>\n

Of course I also fell hard for Ramsay. His quietness and brush attitude hides so much, and he is obviously dealing with some pretty huge stuff from his past, but his softness with beloved dog, and eventually with Tierney, melted me. And Tierney is a fabulous heroine. She\u2019s been through so much, but she\u2019s kind, smart, brave, sensible, playful and a bit of a smartass, and she has the biggest heart. She handles everything that comes her way so well and I cheered for her through every up and down that she faces.<\/p>\n

The suspense aspect of the book is so well done. There\u2019s quite a bit going on, and the story is so cleverly crafted. There are scenes that had my heart pounding, and, of course, we get to see Ramsay be all badass and protective which just made me love him even more!<\/p>\n

There is a close group of friends who are absolutely fantastic and the found family is well established. They\u2019re funny and sweet, and support our couple through their troubles, and the set ups are there for future books with some irresistible backstories, and I am so freaking excited to continue on with this series!<\/p>\n

This book grabbed me from the very beginning, and I struggled to put it down. I devoured it and finished it in a day. I was instantly swept up the small town in the Scottish Isles, and happily lost myself in this new world. I haven\u2019t been able to stop thinking about it since<\/p>\n

Such a fantastic read – 5 stars!<\/p>\n

An Advanced Reader Copy was generously provided by the author for an honest review.<\/i><\/p>\n

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Scottish Isles<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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\"\" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>\"\"\u00a0 \"\"<\/h4>\n

Half-Light Harbor (#1) <\/strong>(Ramsay & Tierney)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

Drifting Dawn (#2) <\/strong>(Quinn & Taran)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

Twilight Tides (#3) <\/strong>(Murray & London)
\nTo be released 16 July
\nPre-order:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

Midnight Mooring (#4)<\/strong>
\nTo be released 29 October
\nPre-order:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Meet Samantha<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Samantha Young is a New York Times,\u00a0USA Today<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Wall Street Journal<\/em>\u00a0bestselling author. She\u2019s been nominated for several Goodreads Choice Awards. Samantha writes adult contemporary and paranormal romance, YA urban fantasy and YA contemporary fiction and is currently published in 31 countries.<\/p>\n

She resides in Scotland.<\/p>\n

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Facebook<\/a>\u00a0 | \u00a0Website<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0| \u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0| \u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Pinterest<\/a>\u00a0 | \u00a0Amazon<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0| \u00a0Goodreads<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0| \u00a0Bookbub<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Check out our\u00a0Author Spotlight<\/a>\u00a0for more reads by Samantha Young!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Half-Light Harbor by Samantha Young is live! A heroine starting over, a broody but protective alpha hero, traumatic pasts, drama, secrets, danger and suspense, with a scene-stealing dog, and the most beautiful love story […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":5,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,50,9,29],"tags":[59,48,203,1622],"class_list":["post-80856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","category-favourite","category-romance","category-steamy","tag-arc","tag-review","tag-samantha-young","tag-scottish-isles"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Half-Light-Harbor.jpg?fit=200%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-l28","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/79426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}