Samantha Young – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read

Samantha Young – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.ilovenovels.com Wed, 13 May 2026 18:53:34 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 http://www.ilovenovels.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/favicon.png Samantha Young – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.ilovenovels.com 32 32 Drifting Dawn (Scottish Isles #2) Read Online Samantha Young http://www.ilovenovels.com/drifting-dawn-scottish-isles-2-read-online-samantha-young Wed, 13 May 2026 18:53:34 +0000 http://www.ilovenovels.com/drifting-dawn-scottish-isles-2-read-online-samantha-young Genre: Alpha Male, Contemporary, Erotic, Suspense Authors: Samantha Young Series: Scottish Isles Series by Samantha Young
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Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 105748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)

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After eighteen years, I’ve come home to the Scottish island of my childhood. It’s the place I vowed I wouldn’t return to so I never again had to see the man who broke my heart into a million pieces.

Yet family has inevitably brought me back, and avoiding my ex, Quinn McQuarrie, is proving impossible when he insists on digging up the past every time we meet.

Quinn is now a single dad, the local contractor, and the person the entire town is rooting for to get his happily ever after. The problem is, he wants me to be his HEA, and I just want to move on. When Quinn sees my plans to save the town’s volunteer lifeboat service as an opportunity to work together, I’m stuck with him. And, unfortunately, I soon realize there’s no denying that the chemistry we share has only grown more intense with the passing of time.

I know Quinn wants more than just a physical relationship, but it’s all I can promise with so much hurt and distrust between us.

However, when strange disturbances escalate to harassment, our lives are turned upside down, and Quinn proves he will do anything in his power to protect me. Even if it means losing each other before we ever get our second chance

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Prologue

Quinn

The Hebridean Islands, Scotland

October, This Year

The colorful row of buildings on Main Street grew more visible as the small ferry cut through the water toward Leth Sholas. Relief, as well as urgency, thrummed through me as I took in the coastal front of my hometown on the Isle of Glenvulin. The red-painted hotel and pub, the Fisherman’s Lantern, the blue-and-yellow home of the Leth Sholas Bakery & Tearoom. The harbor bustled with fishing crews.

But it was the pink-and-white building next to the bakery where my gaze fixed.

Macbeth’s Pages & Perks. Our local coffeehouse and bookstore. Now owned by Taran Macbeth.

The love of my fucking life.

The thought elicited a spearing pain under my sternum that I still wasn’t used to, my hands tightening around the railing as our boat bobbed across the water, drawing us nearer to home.

I was grateful the weather was calm enough to allow travel back to Leth Sholas—colloquially nicknamed Half-Light Harbor—leth sholas translated to half-light in English. Ramsay and I had driven from our current location on the Isle of Thistles, where we were assessing whether we wanted to take on the job of fixing mistakes made by another construction crew at the site of an upcoming whisky distillery and an adjoining hotel. The island’s real name was Isle of Scaris, but many decades ago a previous owner had planted an entire field of thistles in a boggy marshland beneath the bridge that connected it to the mainland. Wild thistles were the first thing you saw as you approached the island, so the nickname had stuck.

I co-owned the construction company alongside my business partner Ramsay McRae, and this job, if we took it, would mean living on Scaris four days a week. It was tough being away from home that much, for all of us. The compensation, however, meant I couldn’t say no without great thought. My crew would be glad for the work. I tended to take on jobs that were seasonal but paid well enough to cover my men financially for the entire year. Staying on Scaris would allow us to work faster, and I was confident we could finish in six weeks, but it would be risky considering winter weather was heading our way, which could complicate back-and-forth travel.

That’s where my mind should be. Weighing the pros and cons. Logistics, plans.

Yet all I could think of was Taran.

There were days I missed my kids so badly, it burned like indigestion. When their mum, my ex-wife Kiera, moved them to the mainland, to Oban, it destroyed me. I saw them every other weekend and we alternated holidays. Now my oldest, Heather, had left for university.

It was a gaping wound not having them here.

To then be away from Leth Sholas, from her …

Like the six-foot-four ninja he was, Ramsay McRae suddenly appeared at my side as the boat pulled into Leth Sholas’s harbor.

“I’ll say it again.” My friend’s voice was just loud enough to be heard over the water and the boat engine. “You have to live your life as normal. Last year you would have taken this job.”

I scowled. “Aye? Eoghan is still out there on bail. It might have been quiet for a while, but I still don’t trust him. How did you feel last year when Halston Cole sent that prick after Tierney? How would you have felt if you were forced to be away from her for four nights a week when all that shit was going down?” I referred to Ramsay’s girlfriend, the American owner of Leth Sholas Guest House, an old Victorian building that sat atop the hill above Main Street that we renovated last year.

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Hart Street Lane (Return to Dublin Street #3) Read Online Samantha Young http://www.ilovenovels.com/hart-street-lane-return-to-dublin-street-3-read-online-samantha-young Sun, 01 Feb 2026 09:24:06 +0000 http://www.ilovenovels.com/hart-street-lane-return-to-dublin-street-3-read-online-samantha-young Genre: Alpha Male, Contemporary, Erotic, Sports Authors: Samantha Young Series: Return to Dublin Street Series by Samantha Young
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Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 115308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)

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A steamy fake engagement romance from New York Times Bestselling Author Samantha Young.

Faking it has never been so hard…

Breaking up with my fiancé wasn’t on my agenda this summer, neither was hiding the truth from everyone, including my colleagues at Pennington’s department store. But that tiny evasion gets me into trouble when I’m forced to play bride-to-be for our new marketing campaign. If my boss finds out I’ve lied to her, it won’t just be my reputation on the line; it’ll be my job.

Enter my new bestie, Baird McMillan. Professional goalkeeper, professional heartbreaker, and now my professional fake fiancé. Baird’s public escapades have gotten him on the wrong side of his football club’s new owner, and he needs to prove he’s settling down. A fake engagement is a win-win for us both.

There’s just one problem. It turns out there’s nothing fake about the explosive connection Baird and I share.

I may not have been looking for love, but every moment with Baird tempts me to reach for it. Yet just as I start to believe a future together could be a real possibility, our pasts come surging back with a vengeance. And with it, those who will do anything to destroy our chance at forever

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

PROLOGUE

MAIA

It was past seven, and I was already late to get home for no-doubt the healthiest takeout my fiancé Will could find. My assistant Eli had left an hour ago with the rest of our team, including our boss, Christina. I was ready to be done for the day. Therefore, the sight of Becky Carruthers sashaying my way in her six-inch heels filled me with agitation.

Just five seconds. If she’d been five seconds later, I’d have already gotten on the lift and escaped.

She gestured with an impatient, demanding flick of her wrist, and I stupidly looked straight at her, losing my chance at plausible deniability.

“I’m surprised I caught you. You’re usually well gone by now.” Becky halted in front of me and thrust her tablet into my face.

Since her observation was deliberately incorrect, I forced the irritation out of my tone. “Problem?”

I loved my job as the senior fashion buyer at Pennington’s, one of the oldest department store chains in the country. Since Pennington’s Edinburgh was the flagship store, we were the cogs and wheels of the entire company, making all inventory and marketing decisions for our website and the four Pennington’s stores across the UK. The offices were on the two floors above the large bookstore next to Pennington’s, and we had direct access to the department store from there.

It was fun and exciting to stay on top of trends and travel for the Big Four. I flew out to Paris, New York, London, and Milan for fashion month at the end of September, early October, to see fashion collections and trends before they made it to the retailer level. I made selections and predictions based on our customer data, and we were then sent samples that I got to muse and mull over with my fashion buyer assistant Liza and my boss Christina, who was head of buying. Eli was my personal assistant, but they were interested in working their way up, so I encouraged them to offer opinions too. Our profit margin suggested my team had an excellent eye. There had been several seasons where an item had gone viral from Pennington’s, kicking off a national trend. I even enjoyed negotiating with suppliers, managing our budget, and collaborating with marketing on promotions.

That is … I used to enjoy collaborating with marketing.

Becky was hired as marketing manager eighteen months ago, and she was driven to the point of driving me insane. If it were up to Becky, we’d all work sixteen-hour shifts and have no life at all. That was fine. Kind of. However, her passive-aggressive suggestions that I didn’t work hard enough and that I was relying on my wealthy fiancé for financial stability were not fine. Becky was full of snide comments I had to pretend I didn’t hear for the sake of professionalism. Not to mention that since Becky’s arrival, Liza had become somewhat frosty and aloof with me. Sometimes downright rude, and since I was her boss, I should call her out for it. But the situation had made me paranoid. Especially considering our relationship was fine until Becky entered the picture.

“Head office just gave their go-ahead to an idea Nadia on my team came up with.” Her lips pinched, and I knew she was pissed that Nadia had come up with an idea she hadn’t.

I glanced over the email. It was confirmation that the marketing department had been given the green light and a considerable budget to proceed with their new marketing campaign. Apparently, to boost the company’s social media presence and bring them into this decade, Nadia had suggested running a campaign following an engaged couple through their wedding journey. Pennington’s would supply everything for the hen night, stag do, ceremony, and reception, homeware for their new home together, and a luxury five-star honeymoon. The couple wouldn’t have to pay for a thing, but they’d have their lives splashed across Pennington’s socials for months as the campaign unfolded.

It was actually kind of genius.

“Well done to Nadia.”

Becky grimaced, and I shifted uncomfortably at her jealous annoyance.

“Just let me know what you need. Happy to source whatever. I bought several gowns from Vienne’s upcoming bridal collection for the store, and there are stunning options for the campaign. Anyway, we’ll talk tomorrow. I’m late for Will.”

Becky’s gaze flickered to the elaborate diamond engagement ring Will had slipped onto my finger at around the same time Becky joined our Edinburgh store. “What a luxury it must be not to have to worry about working yourself into the ground because you have a fiancé with an amazing job.” She tilted her head as she repeated a comment I’d heard from her almost every week since she started working here.

I gave her a tight smile. “We still have our own flats. No one else pays for my life.”

She blinked, clearly surprised I’d responded. “Oh. That’s a little defensive. I didn’t mean to hit a nerve. Anyway.” She stepped closer, and I visualized drawing a crazy mustache on her face so I wouldn’t call her a passive-aggressive cow. “I think you and Will are the perfect couple for the campaign. I already ran it by Hilary, and she agrees.”

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Half-Light Harbor (Scottish Isles #1) Read Online Samantha Young http://www.ilovenovels.com/half-light-harbor-scottish-isles-1-read-online-samantha-young Wed, 29 Oct 2025 22:15:51 +0000 http://www.ilovenovels.com/half-light-harbor-scottish-isles-1-read-online-samantha-young Genre: Alpha Male, Contemporary, Suspense Authors: Samantha Young Series: Scottish Isles Series by Samantha Young
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Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 109368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >114

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

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

But to see her was to love her;

Love but her, and love for ever.

—Robert Burns, Ae Fond Kiss

Prologue

Tierney

The restaurant was crowded. People were squeezed together like strands of multicolored dry spaghetti shoved into a jar as they waited for a table to become free.

A guy at the next table was on his phone loudly berating a colleague for a screw-up at work while his lunch date studied her menu, mortified. On my other side, two women spoke over each other as they discussed their latest failures in the dating scene.

“I mean, if your penis is pierced, you’re basically advertising that you’re good at sex!” the brunette yelled over the noise of the other diners to her friend. “Well, I have a severe case of buyer’s remorse. I was scammed!”

Once upon a time I might have laughed at that with London, but I felt crowded by all the people. And outside the restaurant windows, Manhattan was abuzz with foot and road traffic. There was noise and lights and smells and feelings everywhere.

So many feelings I could barely feel my own.

My chest grew uncomfortably tight, and I breathed a little sharper, a little faster to alleviate it.

“You’re not happy,” my best friend, London Wetherspoon, said.

I tried to focus on her pretty face and drown out the surrounding chaos. “Am I supposed to be?” I asked.

She flinched. “That’s not what I mean. No one is saying you need to be over your grief. I only mean … you’re not happy here.”

She was right.

The itch to leave New York had started long before the death of my parents. But family was what mattered most to me. My parents were here. London was here. And, I reminded myself because I constantly needed to remind myself, Hugh was here. Hugh, my boyfriend of eighteen months.

He’d seen me through losing my parents. A lot of new partners might have bailed at having to support someone through something so big so soon.

I wasn’t very present with him these days.

But he didn’t seem to mind.

Maybe I should mind that he didn’t seem to mind.

“You’re the only family I have left,” I told London truthfully.

She reached across the table to cover my hand with hers. “And I will always be your family. Even if you need to be somewhere else to be happy.”

“Somewhere else?”

“Scotland.” She gave me a melancholy smile. “I know you’ve missed it since your grandmother died. You should go. Even if it’s just to visit for a while. Get out of the city. Figure out what you want.”

The thought of Scotland scored a new ache across my chest, and it was the first positive spark I’d had in a while. I’d been numb for months, going through the motions, not doing anything. Sure, I could afford not to do anything, but that didn’t mean I should mindlessly laze about.

For four years, I’d worked as the general manager of a five-star hotel on the Upper West Side. It was a boutique hotel, not part of the Silver Group. However, my parents’ reputation and standing in the hospitality industry snagged me the job. At the time, I was the youngest general manager in New York. But I’d kept the job because I was damn good at it.

Until the two people who mattered most to me died in a helicopter crash.

I returned to work two months after my parents’ funeral, and I made a lot of mistakes. Losing my shit at an entitled guest was the final straw for my boss and he “let me go.”

Now I was aimless.

Lost.

Yet the thought of Scotland cut through the noise.

“What about you? What about Hugh?”

London rolled her eyes. “Who gives a fuck about Hugh? As for me, I’m here, babe, whether I’m sitting across a table from you or an entire salty ocean.”

Gratitude was the second positive emotion to pierce my numbness that day. “Scotland.” I nodded. “I’ll think about it.”

My best friend smiled. “That’s all I ask.”

After lunch with London, I was supposed to go to a job interview with the Silver Group. The CFO, Ashlyn Waters, had reached out to invite me to interview for general manager at their hotel in Midtown. It was a favor to my parents, I knew that.

Despite the kindness behind the offer, I couldn’t make myself go.

Now that London had planted the idea of Scotland, the thought of burying myself in another job here in Manhattan made me more numb than usual, which was saying something. Instead, I returned to the apartment that belonged to Hugh. The truth was Hugh was different from any guy I’d dated. Confident, more forthright. Arrogant. He was a nepo baby too. Son and heir of one of the biggest automotive brands in the world. Now Hugh was CFO of the electric vehicles division, and once his father stepped down, he hoped to become CEO.

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Bitten by Destiny – True Immortality Read Online Samantha Young http://www.ilovenovels.com/bitten-read-online-destiny-true-immortality-read-online-samantha-young Sat, 30 Aug 2025 08:42:07 +0000 http://www.ilovenovels.com/bitten-read-online-destiny-true-immortality-read-online-samantha-young Genre: Alpha Male, Fantasy/Sci-fi, Paranormal, Vampires Authors: Samantha Young Advertisement

Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >95

English rockstar Elijah Webb is more than meets the eye. Being different might have made his childhood hell, but as an adult it’s opened doors to fame and fortune … and the supernatural underworld. Now that he knows all about the creatures that go bump in the night, Elijah’s pretty sure he’s a warlock. Powerful than most, but a warlock, nonetheless.
What else could he be, right?

Vampire Echo Payne is more than happy to infiltrate Elijah’s life to uncover whether the rockstar is one of the seven fae-borne prophesied to open the gate to Faerie. Having encountered one of his kind before, she knows he’s fae as soon as they meet. Her adoptive father, William, might want her to kill Elijah, but Echo has other plans now that she knows William is the monster who destroyed her family. She plans to end William Payne’s reign of terror and save her sister from the same fate she herself endured. But Echo needs Elijah’s help. Who cares about the blazing attraction that flares between them? Not Echo. She needs his fae gifts, not his addictive kisses.

When Elijah discovers Echo’s deception and the truth about what he is, he wants nothing but to protect his human parents. To do that, he has to trust the sexy vampire he can’t help but wish wanted him as much as she wanted revenge. Together they will travel across continents to help the other protect those they hold dearest and in doing so discover how deeply entwined their destinies really are…

For a peaceful future together might just be in the cards if Echo can let go of the past. But to win it, they will have to join forces with the other fae and their mates. It will take all of them to bring down their enemies. And if they fail, no one can save the human world from the darkness of Faerie

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

PRONUNCIATIONS

Niamh – Neev

Kiyo – Kee-yo

Irish Gaelic (Connacht dialect)

Fionn – Fee-on

Aine – Awn-ya

An Breitheamh – Un Bre-huv

An Caoimhnóir – Un Keev-neer

Mo Chroí – Muh Kree

Mo Ghrá – Muh Graw

Aoibhinn – Ay-veen

Caoimhe – Kee-va

Diarmuid – Dear-mid

Samhradh – Sow-ruh

Solas – Sol-as

Geimhreadh – Geev-ru

Réalta – Rail-tuh

Earrach – Err-ack

Fómhar – Foe-var

Éireann – Air-un

Scottish Slang

‘nae’ on the end of a word is the equivalent of ‘’nt’, the contraction of ‘not’.

Didnae – Didn’t

Dinnae – Don’t

Scottish Gaelic

Ceannsaichidh an Fhìrinn – Cyown-seech-ee in yeer-in

Mhairi – Var-ee

For my readers, who patiently waited until I could find the right words to bring Thea, Conall, Rose, Fionn, Niamh, Kiyo, Elijah, and Echo’s story to a conclusion I hope is worthy of them.

With love and gratitude.

Sam xo

PROLOGUE

Something infiltrated her dreams, an annoying buzzing.

Echo grunted into her pillow, squeezing it around her face to drown out the noise. Even with the silk pillowcase smothering her nose, the dark, coppery tang of blood and peaty whisky filled her nostrils.

She stiffened.

I don’t own silk pillowcases.

The hair rising on the back of her neck, Echo lifted her head slowly and opened her eyes to the dimly lit room. When she was still human, she and the girls from her boarding school snuck out one night and got drunk in the woods. The next day, her mouth felt filled with cotton wool, her body weighted with rocks, her stomach weak, and an invisible person had taken up residence in her head with a large drum they wouldn’t stop beating.

Fragile.

She’d felt fragile.

Echo hadn’t experienced fragility since the ritual that turned her into a vampire when she was twenty years old.

Until now.

Which could only mean one thing.

There was blood on the cream silk pillowcase that didn’t belong to her. The blood or the silk. Glancing to the side, she saw her phone on a nightstand next to a half-empty glass of whisky.

A little moan at her back filled her with dread.

Pushing herself onto her knees, horror filled her to see blood splattered all over the sheets. And lying beside her was the worst bed partner imaginable.

Roark Bakker.

Born with a silver spoon in his mouth seventy years ago, he was entitled, spoiled, and ambitious. Echo genuinely hated the son of a bitch. To get closer to William, he’d been hounding Echo for six years to become his mate.

Revulsion filled her as she looked at the sleeping vampire. He was handsome in slumber. Or he might have been if she didn’t loathe him so much. Plus, he was covered in blood, dried around his mouth and chin.

The owners of the blood that decorated Roark and the bedding were curled up on his other side. Twin humans. Barely legal from the look of them.

Echo suddenly remembered the events of the last few nights.

Her investigations had only confirmed the files Niamh Farren had given her three weeks ago. Destroyed by the realization her father was truly a monster, Echo was feeling particularly destructive when Roark came to visit. She’d let him take her to his favorite club.

Their nights together since had been filled with nothing but getting drunk on human blood, chasing it with whisky, and fucking until dawn. She looked down at her naked body and saw the dried blood splattered across her breasts and in her hair.

Her stomach turned.

“Cream silk sheets? Really?”

“I like to see the blood. I buy new sheets every week.”

She remembered sneering at Roark even in her drunken state as they stumbled into his bedroom with the redheaded twins they’d met at the club … and two young men.

Echo’s eyes darted around the room. Naked, blood on their necks where their now-healed puncture wounds would have been, were the two men she’d picked up. They were wrapped around each other in sleep. Last night, she’d let them devour her before she’d literally devoured them.

Seeing the steady rise and fall of their chests, Echo could only be glad she’d had enough control to not cause them any permanent damage.

Self-recrimination filled her. Automatically, her first thought was what would her father think of her reckless behavior? Then she remembered what had led her to her bender in the first place. What did it matter? Nothing mattered now. Everything she’d been raised to believe was a fucking lie.

The annoying noise that had woken her earlier chirped again.

It was her cell phone ringing.

She reached for it, swaying with her hangover, and almost dropped the damn thing at the realization it might be her father calling. But then she saw Odette’s name on the screen.

Odette.

How could she have forgotten Odette in all this? Stupid, stupid! She answered, turning from the wretched sight of Roark. Echo shuddered. “Hey, little darling.” Her voice sounded croaky even to her ears.

Her sister’s voice was not only a balm to her pain, but a big reality check. “Where have you been? I’ve been calling for two days!”

Remorse filled her.

How could she forget Odette?

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A Royal Mile (Return to Dublin Street #2) Read Online Samantha Young http://www.ilovenovels.com/a-royal-mile-return-to-dublin-street-2-read-online-samantha-young Mon, 30 Jun 2025 19:08:31 +0000 http://www.ilovenovels.com/a-royal-mile-return-to-dublin-street-2-read-online-samantha-young Genre: Alpha Male, Angst, College, Contemporary, New Adult Authors: Samantha Young Series: Return to Dublin Street Series by Samantha Young
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Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 116759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >121

A steamy enemies-to-friends-to-lovers romance from New York Times Bestselling Author Samantha Young.

It’s hard to stay in the friend zone when the attraction is this hot…

Going into my senior year of university at war with a member of the British royal family wasn’t in my carefully laid plans. Sebastian Thorne might be the grandson of a princess, but it’ll take more than a royal pardon to get me to forgive him for pretending to be someone he’s not.

But Sebastian is determined to be my friend. Even if it means signing up to a psych experiment just to get me to talk to him. Who knew a sincere apology and him saying my name in that posh English accent would make me weak in the knees?

This year was supposed to be about my dissertation and graduate school. Only, Sebastian has thrown my ordered world off kilter. He makes me bolder, more confident. A braver version of me.

Yet every lingering glance and stolen touch has me realizing one thing…

I’m falling for my best friend.

There’s just one problem. Sebastian has demons, ones that make him determined to keep me in the friend zone no matter the cost.

And even when temptation sends his walls tumbling down, the beauty we’ve found might not survive against the will of powerful outside forces

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

CHAPTER ONE

LILY

Edinburgh, Scotland

Cars and black cabs continually moved up and down Leven Street. My gaze wandered from the street to the shops opposite the flat, to the Victorian apartments above them that mirrored the one I stood within. My fingers twitched on the curtains as I attempted to dispel the melancholy hovering over me.

Bruntsfield has been my home for two years. After a year in university accommodation, Madison, my freshman roommate and best friend, and I moved into this flat near the Meadows, a park close to the main campus. We were a quick walk to the library and the Dugald Stewart Building, which housed my psychology classes. The flat was old with a crappy heating system, several broken sash-and-case windows, and a stubborn mice problem. But it was airy and roomy, and it held within it two years of memories. Some extremely happy. Some not so much.

But it was home.

And it was my final year here with Maddie.

A soft object connected with the back of my head, bringing me out of my musings. A sharp glance over my shoulder informed me the object was a cushion and my attacker was Madison.

She grinned unrepentantly from her spot on the sofa next to Sierra. “Hey, daydream believer, I’ve been calling your name.”

I turned, settling against the windowsill. “Sorry. What’s up?”

“It’s our first night back at uni. We need to celebrate,” Sierra, our podcast cohost, piped up in her American accent. She was a full-time international student at the University of Edinburgh, originally from New Hampshire. We’d met in one of my English lit modules in freshman year before I made the switch to psychology. Sierra wanted to work her way up to becoming a developmental editor at a publisher when she moved back to the States.

“Teviot? For old times’ sake,” Madison suggested.

Sierra and I glanced at each other before immediately shooting our friend’s idea down with a cacophony of increasingly emphatic nos.

Maddie raised her hands in surrender. “Jesus, it was only a suggestion.”

Teviot was part of U of E’s student union. It was housed in a beautiful, Gothic-style building on the main campus at Bristo Square. It had a nightclub inside and a couple different bars, including the Library Bar and Teviot Lounge Bar. Sierra and I considered Teviot primarily for freshmen. Also, a wee bit gross. There were much-needed plans in place to redevelop the entire building.

“I guess we’re too cool for Teviot these days,” Maddie continued sardonically in her Geordie accent.

I snorted because I’d never been cool a day in my life. “It’s not that. It’s freshers’ week and it will be teeming with eighteen-year-olds. Let’s go somewhere less freshmany.”

“Somewhere less freshmany requires paying full price,” she reminded us.

“We could go to BrewDog.” Sierra shrugged. “Student discount.”

A twenty-minute walk later, we were in the busy bar on Cowgate, a long way from our first-year uni accommodation. Lucky for us, a table of people were leaving as we came in and we grabbed their booth. The girls strode off to order drinks at the bar while I protected our spot. Indie rock music pumped through the room, loud enough to be heard but low enough you could still have a conversation. In fact, the loud hum of discussion and laughter overpowered the music. Because we’d nabbed the table before a server could clean it, it was sticky and the earthy smell of hops permeated the air.

“You’re doing it. I can feel it,” Maddie said as they returned, sliding a pint of pale ale toward me.

I frowned. “What am I doing?”

“You’re missing this already.” She gestured among us all. “You’re being all sad and mopey when we have an entire year ahead of us.”

Sierra nodded. “Don’t you think I’m the saddest of us all? When I leave, I’m heading back over that great big ocean. Maddie’s heading back to Newcastle, which is only a few hours away, so you guys can see each other whenever you want. I doubt we’ll see each other more than every other year or so, maybe not even then.”

My heart ached at the thought. “I’m going to miss you. So much.”

“No!” Maddie yelled dramatically, causing heads to turn our way. She made a face at the onlookers and shooed them. “Back to your own business, people.” Turning to us, she narrowed her pretty blue eyes. “We are not doing this. We are not spending our senior year missing one another before we even leave. We’re going to enjoy the shit out of this year and each other.” Maddie raised her glass. “Promise me.”

Sierra and I shared one last melancholy smile before I made a concerted effort to shrug off the sadness. Maddie was right. We knew Maddie would be returning to Newcastle with her MA in architecture to work at her dad’s firm. We knew Sierra would travel back to the States, hopefully to one of the publishers she’d already started querying. But that didn’t mean we should waste the time we had together worrying about our impending separation. I raised my glass, along with Sierra, and we clinked it against Maddie’s with an “I promise.”

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On Loverose Lane (Return to Dublin Street #1) Read Online Samantha Young http://www.ilovenovels.com/on-loverose-lane-return-to-dublin-street-1-read-online-samantha-young Sun, 02 Mar 2025 13:36:29 +0000 http://www.ilovenovels.com/on-loverose-lane-return-to-dublin-street-1-read-online-samantha-young Genre: Alpha Male, Contemporary, Sports Authors: Samantha Young Series: Return to Dublin Street Series by Samantha Young
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Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 119005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >124

The #1 International bestselling author of On Dublin Street is back with this witty, emotional and steamy fake-dating sports romance in which ambitious entrepreneur, Beth Carmichael, meets her match in the grumpy football captain who moves into the apartment above hers.

Imagine my surprise when my new neighbor turns out to be one of Scotland’s most famous (and hottest) professional footballers, Callan Keen. I’m even more shocked to discover that the brooding player is still holding a grudge for something that happened (or didn’t happen) between us years ago.

Too busy trying to take my social media management company to the next level, I don’t have time for this gorgeous blast from the past. Or at least I shouldn’t. Yet whenever I see him, I can’t help but engage in a battle of wits with the grump upstairs.

When a huge client opportunity arises, circumstances force me to enlist Callan’s help. I require a fake date and Callan needs me to facilitate a meeting with my dad to further his own business interests.

The deal between us should be simple. Except, of course, the blazing chemistry we’ve shared since the moment we met. We can’t deny it, we can’t control it, and soon we’re agreeing to six weeks of no-strings-attached, mind-blowing, steamy shenanigans.

I told myself I was too smart to catch feelings. But when Callan finally finds out the truth about our past, he becomes the guy I used to know. And that man is way too easy to fall for.

The problem is that Callan has vowed to never let another person close enough to break his heart again.

It just might prove impossible to show my stubborn Scotsman I’m worth the risk, especially when old wounds are re-opened and threaten to wreck any chance of a future together.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

CHAPTER ONE

BETH

Edinburgh, Scotland

Iwas hungry, I was sweaty, I was late, and there were three incredibly sexy men blocking my way up to my flat with the ugliest sofa I’d ever seen.

“If you say pivot one more time, I might have to end you, mate,” the one with his back to me huffed. He had broad shoulders, a tapered waist, tattoos all down one arm, and a man bun.

“I’m just trying to ease the tension with some humor,” defended the one stuck in the middle with his back squashed between the wall and the sofa. He had a North American accent.

With a million tasks running through my mind, I hadn’t really registered the shiny black Land Rover I’d parked next to in the private car park on Loverose Lane. I’d also failed to fully process the moving truck partially blocking the entrance to my apartment building as I read a text from Cara about rehiring an influencer for one of our author clients.

Instead, I’d replied to her, then swiped my key card over the machine mounted on the wall beside the large, glass entrance doors, and they unlocked. One of the reasons my parents were more than happy to help me with the deposit on this flat was because of the security here. Key card access only, CCTV on the entrance, not to mention they were a mere ten-minute walk from my place. My parents still lived in the townhouse I’d grown up in on Dublin Street.

The swanky new apartment complex situated on the corner of Loverose Lane and Dundas Street had a lift on the ground floor. But I’d just come from the gym and wanted to keep my blood pumping, so I’d decided to take the stairs. My one-bed flat (because one bed was all I could afford in the heart of Edinburgh city) was four flights up. As I climbed, that’s when I heard the loud voices echoing down the stairwell. Men’s voices. Arguing.

As I turned the corner, I discovered why.

Three men were currently trapped on the section between the first and second floors with a three-seater navy and yellow floral sofa between them.

A glance at my phone told me I had exactly an hour to shower and eat before I was expected at the Leith food bank where I volunteered every Friday afternoon. We relied on donations of food from the public so we could distribute groceries to those who really needed it. Lynda, the manager, also relied on her volunteers to keep to their scheduled hours.

“Maybe if we lift it over our heads, we can get it around this corner.”

My annoyed gaze drifted to the man who stood at the other end of the sofa facing me. Light pouring in through the long rectangular window behind him lit his dark hair in a halo, and it took me a second to make out his features.

I felt a little jump in my chest as recognition scored through me.

Callan Keen.

Captain and top midfielder for Caledonia United, Edinburgh’s Scottish Professional Football League team that was giving the most successful teams, Dalmarnock Thistle and Kingston United, a run for their money. Now, how did a non-football fan like me know who Callan Keen was?

It wasn’t because he was too sexy for his own good and plastered over more ads in Scotland than one footballer had the right to be. Or that he’d played for Scotland in the world tournament thingie last year.

No.

It was because we were old acquaintances.

He was the son of the man who betrayed my father.

And he was in my apartment building, moving an ugly sofa precariously up my stairwell.

Horror filled me.

The penthouse apartment above my flat had been up for sale for two weeks when it sold last month.

Either Callan had bought that flat or one of the other two men with him had, and I would bet my beloved all-electric MINI Cooper that they were footballers too.

Which meant a Pro League footballer was moving into my building.

Great.

Irritated beyond measure at the thought of the parties and shenanigans that were about to ensue in the one place I could relax, I crossed my arms over my chest. “And why, oh why, are you carrying that monstrosity of a sofa up a stairwell when we have a generous-sized lift in this building?”

“Fuck!” Man Bun’s hands slipped on the sofa as he startled and whipped his head around. The other two yelled as they reached out to steady the piece of furniture. Man Bun grappled for hold as he craned his neck to study me. He was almost as attractive as Callan, with his warm, dark brown eyes and tan skin. Said eyes roamed me, and his mouth quirked into a flirty smile. “Hi there.”

“Well?” I threw my hands up in exasperation as my gaze zeroed past him and onto Callan.

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Forever the Highlands (The Highlands #6) Read Online Samantha Young http://www.ilovenovels.com/forever-the-highlands-the-highlands-6-read-online-samantha-young Thu, 19 Dec 2024 11:51:00 +0000 http://www.ilovenovels.com/forever-the-highlands-the-highlands-6-read-online-samantha-young Genre: Alpha Male, Contemporary, Suspense Authors: Samantha Young Series: The Highlands Series by Samantha Young
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Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 109783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 549(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >115

He’s her brother’s best friend. She’s totally off-limits. But when life takes an unexpected turn, she’s the only one he wants at his side…

Fyfe Moray raised himself. His only real family is his best friend, Lewis Adair. For that reason, Lewis’s sister Eilidh is totally off-limits. Fyfe is in deep denial about their intense attraction. Thankfully, Eilidh is a famous actor living in London while he runs his cyber security company from the Highlands. They’re worlds apart. Until one day, Eilidh reaches out asking for a lifeline and Fyfe can’t bring himself to turn her away.

Acting isn’t what Eilidh Adair expected. As a kid, she wanted to be just like her famous uncles. But the double-edged sword of fame cuts deeper than expected. Afraid to admit she’s made a mistake, Eilidh is spiraling. The only person who knows the truth is Fyfe, but her childhood crush has developed into a love he won’t return. Yet when she comes home intent on starting over, Fyfe can’t seem to stay away. His confused feelings might just be the end of them. Until a woman from Fyfe’s past abandons the baby daughter he never knew he had.

Now a single father, Fyfe needs support. He just never expected Eilidh to be the one he needed most. Fyfe can’t believe how quickly he falls for his child and how rapidly his world view changes. He’s ready to admit the truth: he’s madly in love with his best friend’s sister. And Fyfe’s done wasting time.

But someone else believes Eilidh belongs to them. Someone who has been watching her far longer than she realizes. Just when she thinks she might have everything she wants, Eilidh finds herself caught in the crosshairs of a person intent on destroying everything she holds dear.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Prologue

FYFE

Eleven years ago

Ardnoch, Scotland

It wasn’t unusual for me to wake up and find my mum passed out on the kitchen floor. Well … it didn’t happen all the time because she was hardly ever home, but when she was, it usually ended up with her passed out.

I took her in for a second. Face down, limbs sprawled, taking up all the space in our tiny kitchen. Her nose was pressed against the peeling linoleum and loud snores escaped her mouth as it opened and closed in sleep.

Years ago, Mum had been pretty. I’d seen photos. But for as long as I could remember, her skin was dry, wrinkled before her time, and a dull gray. Her hair had also thinned. Brown like mine, but greasy and limply draped across her sharp cheekbone. That’s what more than your fair share of alcohol did. And drugs. Whatever she could get her hands on.

Her slight frame took up so much space in the kitchen because it was a tiny room and she was tall. Her thin top had risen, flashing her bra. Her skirt or jeans or whatever she’d been wearing was gone. She was in nothing but a pair of ratty knickers, and she only had on one of a pair of cheap heels.

Sometimes I felt so fucking weary and old, right down to my bones.

I lifted my glasses off my nose to rub the sleep out of my eyes. When I pushed the frames back into place, I glanced at the clock. If Mum didn’t give me any trouble, I could get her sorted before I had to leave for school. I couldn’t miss school. Not for her, not for anyone. I’d realized a long time ago that I was going to use my brains and education to get me the fuck out of Ardnoch. To get me away from … this.

It was hard to call which way this would go. Sometimes Mum fought like a tiger when you tried to rouse her. In rare moments, she was quiet and pitiful.

Hoping for the latter, I moved into the room and got my arms underneath her. This year I’d started to shoot up in height, so with her slight weight, it was easy enough to haul her into my arms.

My heart started to race when she grumbled under her breath, but she merely reached for me in her sleep and slung her arms around my neck to hold on. I carried her to the bed she rarely slept in.

As I was pulling the covers over her, she spoke. “Thank you.”

I looked up and found her red-rimmed eyes on me. I got everything from my mum. Hair and eye color, height, and though no one would believe it, my intelligence. Mum had gotten into St. Andrews University and was studying to be an engineer when she fell pregnant. She told me bitterly (and often) that it happened on a drunken night out with some random bloke whose name she couldn’t even remember. Her mum had insisted she come home and have me, and that was the worst thing that ever happened to my mother.

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Northern Twilight (The Highlands #5) Read Online Samantha Young http://www.ilovenovels.com/northern-twilight-the-highlands-5-read-online-samantha-young Sat, 31 Aug 2024 08:14:42 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/northern-twilight-the-highlands-5-read-online-samantha-young Genre: Alpha Male, Angst, Contemporary, Suspense Authors: Samantha Young Series: The Highlands Series by Samantha Young
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Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 102731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >107

She’s the girl he left behind. He’s the boy she tried to forget. But after seven years apart, one passionately reckless night will tie them together forever …

As teenagers, Callie Ironside and Lewis Adair were inseparable. So much so, Lewis still can’t work out where it all went horribly wrong, or why he’s spent the last seven years in London away from the love of his life.
Callie knows exactly where it all went wrong and while she tried to move on—learning pastry techniques in Paris and dating French men—returning home to Ardnoch to work in her mother’s bakery only reminds her of the future she lost with Lewis.
But when a visit to London brings them unexpectedly together, the passion, pain and animosity between them leads to a one-night stand. For Lewis, it’s the beginning of winning Callie and his life in Ardnoch back. For Callie, it’s a mistake that’s shaken up the devastating heartbreak she fought hard to forget. However, Lewis is determined to fight for her, and proves it when their night together results in more than just unresolved feelings.

As they come to grips with impending parenthood and the mistakes they’ve both made, Callie and Lewis will not only have to decide to fight for a love that has endured so many years apart, but a mysterious adversary who seems intent on destroying the future they’re building together.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Prologue

CALLIE

EIGHT YEARS AGO

Caelmore, Scottish Highlands

“Are you okay?” Lewis asked as I lay wrapped up tight in his arms.

A thrill of giddiness thrummed through me at the feel of his strong, naked body. Lewis’s striking blue-gray eyes were filled with tenderness and awe. Sometimes I couldn’t believe he was mine. Not just because he was the most beautiful boy I’d ever seen in my life, but because that beauty ran deep. Lewis was kind, attentive, smart, and funny.

And he belonged to me now, as I belonged to him.

That night we’d given each other our virginity.

No one else would ever have that from either of us.

The very thought of Lewis with another girl sent a bolt of panic through me, and I crushed it by kissing him fiercely.

“I’m more than okay,” I answered breathlessly when we finally broke the kiss.

He slid a hand around my nape and brushed his lips across my mouth. “I love you so much, Callie Ironside.”

“I love you too.” Feeling him pulse against my stomach, I giggled. “Again?”

He grinned, dropping his forehead to mine. “Ignore it. You’ll be sore.”

A twinge throbbed between my legs. “We can do other stuff.”

Lewis groaned. “I want to … but we need to get you home before my dad or yours finds us.”

We’d taken to sneaking into Lewis’s parents’ guest annex at the side of his house. So far we hadn’t been caught, but Lewis was sure our luck was going to run out. A glance at the alarm clock on the nightstand told me it was nearly midnight. Usually, I told little white lies to my parents that I was at a friend’s house sleeping over, but I hadn’t tonight because I hadn’t expected to have sex with my boyfriend.

If anyone had been leading the physical side of things, it was me. Lewis was a perfect gentleman. I’d told him weeks ago I was ready to have sex, but he said he didn’t want to rush me. Tonight we’d snuck into the annex to fool around, but things escalated quickly, and I wasn’t sorry for it.

Lewis wasn’t merely my boyfriend. He was my best friend. Since I’d moved to Scotland with my mum when I was ten years old, Lewis had been an important part of my life. He’d taken me under his wing because he sensed I’d been through something. And when I went through something even more traumatic, he was right there at my side. Ever my protector.

As we got older, we shared our pasts with each other. I knew that Lewis and his wee sister Eilidh had lost their mum and had been through a terrifying home invasion experience a few years before my arrival. We, unfortunately, had trauma in common. But fortunately, having my best friend understand a horrific moment in my life had made me feel less alone and not as scared.

Lewis was protective and affectionate, and he always had my back.

I’d known since I was thirteen that I wanted him to be the kind of best friend I kissed every day. It had taken him a little longer to catch up. He’d been afraid of ruining our friendship. But when I’d started dating our classmate and Lewis’s friend, Michael Barr, everything changed. Lewis was jealous and hurt and finally admitted he wanted me to be his girlfriend. Poor Michael got caught in the crossfire, and when I broke up with him to date Lewis, he stopped talking to both of us.

However, I was happy to report that he and Lewis had gotten their friendship back on track this past year. Michael was dating Lana, a girl in our year who lived in Golspie. All was well again. In fact, we had a nice friendship group that made school fun. Lewis’s best friend since first year, Fyfe Moray, was now one of my close friends, too, and even more so since he’d started dating my friend Carianne.

Maybe we’d end up all getting married at the same time and raising our kids together. The thought filled me with excitement for the future. I wanted to work at my mum’s bakery in Ardnoch, maybe take over running it when she was ready to retire, and live there for the rest of my days. After living my first ten years in LA, I could, hand on heart, say I never wanted to live anywhere but my wee village in the Scottish Highlands.

Lewis wanted to be an architect like his dad, so I imagined him working for his dad’s firm in Inverness and us building our house here in Caelmore on the edge of Ardnoch where the rest of his family had built their homes.

A perfect, simple, happy life.

I smiled dreamily at the thought and felt Lewis’s chest vibrate with his laughter.

“What’s that look for?”

I grinned harder. “Just really happy.”

His expression softened. “I’m glad. Me too.”

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Skies Over Caledonia (The Highlands #4) Read Online Samantha Young http://www.ilovenovels.com/skies-over-caledonia-the-highlands-4-read-online-samantha-young Mon, 20 May 2024 22:10:37 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/skies-over-caledonia-the-highlands-4-read-online-samantha-young Genre: Alpha Male, Contemporary, Erotic, Suspense Authors: Samantha Young Series: The Highlands Series by Samantha Young
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Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >105

He’s a down-to-earth highland farmer. She’s the rebellious daughter of Hollywood royalty. They might seem like they’re from different worlds, but that won’t stop them from engaging in a marriage of convenience…

It’s been five years since Jared McCulloch’s grandfather Collum passed away and he inherited his farm in the Scottish Highlands. After his grandad saved him from his past life, Jared is determined to honor Collum’s legacy. But not only has a series of bad luck put him in danger of losing the farm, his estranged father is disputing the will. In a desperate situation, Jared realizes he’ll do just about anything to save the land.
Even marrying Allegra Howard, a woman he’s avoided at all costs.
A woman who tempts him beyond reason.

There’s only one place that makes Allegra Howard feel safe; one place that feeds her artist’s soul. Allegra wants to settle down in Scotland and expand her business. But there’s a hitch: immigration intends to return her to US soil.
Panicked, Allegra finds the one person just as desperate as she is. The same person she’s lusted after for years. In exchange for marrying her, she’ll invest financially in Jared McCulloch’s farm.

However, living together only forces them to acknowledge their searing mutual attraction. And with it comes an undeniable emotional connection Jared’s not sure he’s ready for.
Yet, blurring the lines of their arrangement is the least of his concerns when someone begins terrorizing the farm.
Allegra and Jared came together to save what matters most and now that might just be each other. And unless they can figure out which of their pasts has returned to torment them, they could lose their chance at a real future together.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Prologue

Allegra

Five years ago

Ardnoch, Scotland

Ispotted him as soon as I strolled into the Gloaming. I froze, blocking the exit.

There were many appealing things about Scotland. Its beauty was a feast to my artist eyes. The musical brogue that changed from place to place. The fact that I could hang out legally in a bar at twenty years old if I wanted to. And the men.

At least the men here in the Highlands.

They were growing them damn nice here in the Highlands.

Like him. Sitting at the bar. Laughing with the pub’s hot bartender and co-owner, Arran Adair, whom I’d already met.

A traditional old building in the middle of the Highland village of Ardnoch, the Gloaming was exactly what you imagined a Scottish pub to be. Low ceilings with dark wooden beams, a roaring hearth on one wall, booth seating covered in a smart tartan fabric skirting the edges, with a few cute tables and chairs here and there. The pub was attached to the rest of the hotel and restaurant, and from the look of the architecture, it was the oldest part of the building.

I loved its atmosphere. As an artist, I was more focused on glasswork, but I liked to paint too. Mostly landscapes. I was not a Renoir by any means, but moments like this almost made me want to pick up a paintbrush. The pub was busy, but not as crowded as I knew it could get during the summer.

A large dog laid out by the fire, soaking up the heat on this dreary September day. People were smiling and talking, all the while nursing their drinks as chart music drifted out of the speakers on low volume.

My attention returned to Arran and the delicious man he conversed with. Arran owned the Gloaming along with his brother Lachlan, who also owned a private members-only club for TV and film professionals. It was situated in his family’s converted ancestral castle and estate on the outskirts of the village. My father, legendary film director Wesley Howard, was a club board member. We had a beach house on the estate, and my big sister Aria was the club’s hospitality manager.

Whenever I could get away from school, I visited. With Aria here and, well, just Ardnoch’s whole vibe … this place felt way more like home than Malibu ever had. Even Rhode Island where I attended the School of Design didn’t hold my heart like this place. I couldn’t explain why it so appealed to me.

But views like the one at the bar certainly explained some of it.

He was broad-shouldered and I could see the ripple of his biceps straining against his dark T-shirt as he leaned into the bar. Laughter lit up his face, and I felt an answering swoop of attraction low in my belly. I aged him at between five and ten years older than me, with dark hair cut short at the sides and long on top. I watched him a few seconds longer as he scrubbed a hand over his dark, neatly trimmed beard before saying something that made Arran laugh in return.

The man’s answering grin was so sexy, I swear my knees trembled.

Yes, please.

Although I had no time for a guy in my life right now. I’d had my fair share of trauma these last few years, I was unsettled in life, and unsure of where I was going. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t have fun occasionally, and the guy at the bar made me want to have a whole lot of fun. I was supposed to be meeting Aria and her friends here in a little while, but I could fit in flirting before that.

Crossing the room, I hopped up easily on to the bar stool next to the hot mystery man. Our eyes met and I sucked in a breath. The stranger had the most beautiful jade-green eyes I’d ever seen. I wanted to capture the cool, pure color in my art.

For a moment, I think I gaped until his eyes flared before warming. Shaking myself, my answering smile was flirtatious before I looked at the bartender. “Hey, Arran. Can I have a club soda, please?”

Arran nodded in greeting, a knowing twinkle in his eye. “Of course. How are you?”

“Good. You?”

“Aye, always.” He winked at me. “Allegra, this is Jared. Jared, this is Allegra.” The helpful Scotsman moved to the end of the bar to make my drink.

Feeling the mystery man’s gaze, I turned to meet it. Wow. Those eyes. I just couldn’t get over them. “Hey. Jared.”

A smile quirked the corner of his gorgeous mouth as he held out a large hand to me. “Nice to meet you, Allegra.” His voice was deep but smooth. His accent was a little more pronounced than Arran’s, and I wondered if he was from another part of the country.

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Through the Glen (The Highlands #3) Read Online Samantha Young http://www.ilovenovels.com/through-the-glen-the-highlands-3-read-online-samantha-young Tue, 27 Feb 2024 19:57:22 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/through-the-glen-the-highlands-3-read-online-samantha-young Genre: Alpha Male, Contemporary, Suspense Authors: Samantha Young Series: The Highlands Series by Samantha Young
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Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >96

He’s a cynical, world-weary Londoner. She’s a shy Scot. They might seem like opposites, but a few weeks in the Highlands will bring them together in ways they can’t imagine…

Theo Cavendish is the second son of a British viscount, and he’s spent years running from the aristocratic world he grew up in. Betrayal and loss taught him lessons he’s not quick to forget. As an award-winning screenwriter and creator, Theo prefers to throw himself into the world of film and television. He moves from one project to another, never really letting anyone truly know him.

As a housekeeper at the exclusive Ardnoch Estate, shy Sarah McCulloch feels invisible most days. No one really knows her, and they definitely don’t know she’s a bestselling crime writer. She dreams of seeing her series on screen and believes only one person can develop it for television. On the day she quits the estate for good, she shares her secret with club member, Theo, and asks him to consider her books.

Sarah never expected him to say yes or to show up on her doorstep ready to write with her. Or that weeks spent locked up in her cottage would lead them to form an intense but undeniable connection. A bond that Theo is not sure he’s ready to accept, even though he can’t bear to be without her.

However, when they finally venture out of their bubble, Theo finds he’ll have to battle more than his own demons to protect Sarah from hurt. For he has another fan, one intent on bringing the darkest elements of his most famous script to life. And unless he can figure out this real-life antagonist’s next move, Theo could be in danger of losing Sarah forever.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Prologue

SARAH

Ardnoch Castle, Scotland

October

The castle seemed hushed. Not just because it was evening at Ardnoch, but because many of its members had returned to their film and television projects a few weeks ago. Summer was their season off, and we saw many members descend upon the estate only to depart in droves come September.

They’d been gone for a month and the castle had grown gradually quiet, just as I liked it. Not that it matters, I thought as I hurried down the carpeted corridor toward Theodore Cavendish’s room. I technically no longer worked here. It was the end of an era. But it was time.

Before I left, however, I was going to use my proximity to the rich and famous to get what I wanted.

Drawing to a stop outside of Mr. Cavendish’s door, I sucked in a breath and pushed down the sudden swarm of fluttering nerves in my stomach. Seriously, I felt a wee bit sick.

Fueled by a newfound confidence in myself and a promise I’d made to my now-deceased grandfather, I didn’t turn away. I would not run from this opportunity. Even if it meant putting trust in someone I wasn’t even sure I liked. Mr. Cavendish wasn’t just a droll, flirtatious son of an English viscount. The cynical bitterness within him might be my ruin. How did I know these things about someone I’d never actually spoken to?

I was very observant.

Because I was shy and introverted, some people assumed I lived in my own world and didn’t pay attention to what was going on around me. It was the exact opposite, actually. I paid close attention. I watched people. I read them. Attempted to understand them. And realized that because of the last three decades of doing just that, I had a pretty good gut instinct.

Years ago, when someone was threatening my boss Lachlan Adair and terrorizing the estate, I’d come under fire as a suspect because of the bad blood between my grandfather and the Adairs. The fact that I blushed in his presence because I found my boss attractive didn’t help matters. Yet, I’d forever be angry with myself for never voicing my suspicions. I’d always suspected the real culprit. The actor Lucy Wainwright.

Everyone thought she was a sweetheart, but she’d often been erratic toward me when I cleaned her room. One moment she was kind and generous and the next yelling at me for some misdemeanor for which I wasn’t to blame. I’d also observed her from a distance and noted her intense preoccupation with Lachlan. Moreover, I saw her talking with her partner in crime, Fergus Ray, more than once and thought their interactions odd and cagey.

I didn’t speak up because I thought no one would listen to the opinion of a shy housekeeper. How I regretted that after they kidnapped Lachlan. Thankfully, Lachlan’s now wife Robyn and my grandfather were there to save his life.

So, aye, I had good instincts about people. And my instincts told me to be wary of Mr. Cavendish, even if he was my first choice.

I raised my fist to knock on his door but before I could, it flew open and the man himself jolted to a stop.

“Fuck!” Mr. Cavendish clasped a hand to his chest in fright. His alarmed expression immediately darkened to a glare. “I almost defecated in my trousers, thank you very much.” His Eton upper-crust British accent made even the most disgusting sentences sound charming.

Uncomfortable under his glower, my cheeks grew frustratingly hot. As did the sight of him up close. Theo Cavendish was annoyingly attractive. Tall, at least a few inches over six feet with a swimmer’s build, he wore clothes well. Like a model. Even just in his current sweater and jeans, he looked like he’d stepped off a photo shoot. The sweater molded to his taut physique and accentuated his broad shoulders. His pale gray-blue eyes complemented a face that was almost too pretty due to his full, pouty mouth. The sharp angle of his jaw and cheekbones, along with his designer stubble, attempted to make him a little more rugged.

I knew I was probably gawking, but thirty-one years down the line and I still hadn’t quite figured out how to act around handsome men. I think taking the job at Ardnoch was an attempt to make myself immune to them. After all, it was a members-only club for film and industry professionals, and a lot of the members were good-looking. Including the behind-the-scenes people like Theo, who was a screenwriter and director.

However, it didn’t make me immune and instead, I’d shrunk further into my shell, allowing my old insecurities and traumas to dictate my introverted behavior. Or so all the podcasts I’d listened to on therapy and mental health told me.

“May I help you?” Theo snapped impatiently.

There. I saw and heard it in his voice. His contempt.

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