The Highlands Series by Samantha Young – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read

The Highlands Series by Samantha Young – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.ilovenovels.com Thu, 19 Dec 2024 11:51:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 http://www.ilovenovels.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/favicon.png The Highlands Series by Samantha Young – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.ilovenovels.com 32 32 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)

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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.

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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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A Highland Christmas (The Highlands #2.5) Read Online Samantha Young http://www.ilovenovels.com/a-highland-christmas-the-highlands-2-5-read-online-samantha-young Sun, 21 Jan 2024 18:55:28 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/a-highland-christmas-the-highlands-2-5-read-online-samantha-young Genre: Alpha Male, Contemporary, Novella Authors: Samantha Young Series: The Highlands Series by Samantha Young
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Total pages in book: 20
Estimated words: 19091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 95(@200wpm)___ 76(@250wpm)___ 64(@300wpm)

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Single dad Dr. Haydyn Barr will do anything for his son, Michael. Having raised him alone since he was a baby, every decision he’s made has been for his child. So when Michael decides Kenna Smith is the perfect new nanny for him, Haydyn finds he can’t object, even though he’d decided to reject her application as soon as they met. After all, being undeniably attracted to his kid’s nanny isn’t the temptation he needs in his life.

After a traumatic year, Kenna Smith is looking for a safe place to land, and no place feels safer than with Haydyn and his son. Michael is affectionate and easy-going, and Haydyn is the kind of father she wishes every child had. However, Haydyn also seems determined to keep some distance between them. She knows it’s because he’s afraid of their chemistry. Kenna just doesn’t know if it’s because attraction is all he feels, or if, like her, it’s turned into something much more complicated than desire.

However, when Haydyn allows Michael to spend his first Christmas with the mother that’s newly re-entered his life, he finds himself all alone. Upon discovering Kenna is also going to be lonely in a cold rental during a snowstorm, he insists she stay with him.

Snowed-in together on Christmas Eve, the temptation is just too much and they give in to what’s been sparking between them for months. But come morning, they’ll have to decide if what they have is just for Christmas… or forever.

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

Prologue

Haydyn

Five months ago

Ardnoch, Scottish Highlands

As soon as I opened the door and saw Kenna Smith standing on the other side of it, I immediately thought, No way in hell. It was bad enough interviewing people to replace Jean, a woman Michael adored and who’d made our lives easier for the last ten years, but there was no bloody way I was hiring an attractive young thing who’d get the whole village yammering.

A few years back, all anyone could talk about was the gorgeous American nanny Thane Adair had hired. The one who was thirteen years his junior and living on the property. I usually wasn’t privy to local gossip, but the parents wouldn’t shut up about it at school events, plus Thane’s son Lewis was in my son Michael’s class.

As it was, rumors turned out to be true that Thane was carrying on an affair with his nanny. He married her.

I would not put Michael in the position of having his father and new nanny gossiped about.

Kenna beamed up at me from the doorstep. “Dr. Barr?”

I felt a flutter in my belly at the sight of that gorgeous smile. Aye, this definitely wasn’t happening. The next ten minutes would be a waste, but it would be unprofessional and illegal to shut the door in her face because she was gorgeous. “Kenna Smith?”

“That’s me.” Sunlight captured gold striations in her chestnut-brown eyes and I was struck dumb for a second. I’d never seen such beautiful eyes. Her smile dimmed. “Is … oh, have you already filled the position?”

Tell her yes. I cleared my throat and stepped back to allow her entrance. “No, please come in.”

Years ago, just before Michael started school, I’d decided I wanted to bring my son up in a village much like the one I’d grown up in near Aberdeen. After searching for plots of land to build a house, I found one on the outskirts of Ardnoch. It meant a two-hour round-trip commute to the university where I worked, but the village was everything I wanted for Michael. It had since turned into a bit of a tourist trap when local gentry and ex-Hollywood actor Lachlan Adair turned his family’s estate into a members-only club for the Hollywood elite, but it was still a quaint and friendly place to raise a child.

Despite the fortune few knew about, I’d built a modest but luxurious three-bedroom home on the village outskirts. It had everything Michael and I needed.

“Your home is stunning,” Kenna opined, eyes wide as she took in our open-plan living area. Kitchen, dining, and living space all in one with floor-to-ceiling glass windows to the front, overlooking our private driveway and the trees surrounding it. Sliding doors behind the kitchen led out to the back garden. It wasn’t a huge space out there, but we were surrounded by picturesque woodland.

“I had an interior designer do everything,” I admitted as I gestured for her to take a seat on the couch. “Tea, coffee?”

“A coffee, please. Milk, no sugar.” She gazed around. “The designer did a great job. They really captured that modern midcentury look.”

My mouth tugged up in amusement as I moved into the kitchen to make the attractive brunette a coffee. “You sound like you might know a thing or two about design.”

“Oh no, not really. I just love home renovation shows.” She chuckled and the husky, throaty sound caused heat to flare where it shouldn’t.

Damn it.

Time to hurry this up. I quickly made her a coffee and sat across from her once she’d taken it from me. I was careful not to touch her in the exchange, though I noted her elegant long fingers and even longer legs as she crossed them. As she sipped the coffee, I saw a flicker of nervousness in her eyes that her cheerful friendliness was doing an imperfect job of hiding.

I knew from her application that Kenna was twenty-seven years old, had a qualification in childcare, and had been an early years’ practitioner for five years. She’d moved on to working as a nanny but only had one previous employer for that on her résumé. I’d called her in for an interview, anyway, because I’d only had four people apply for the position. It wasn’t easy to hire a nanny in rural Scotland.

“So,” Kenna spoke before I could, “may I ask why you’re looking for a nanny?”

Who was doing the interviewing here? I straightened in my armchair, greedily taking in her stunning face. She wore very little makeup, from what I could tell. A bit of mascara, maybe. Her olive skin was naturally tan, and she had a healthy flush to her cheeks that didn’t look manufactured. I didn’t think I had a type, but if I did, Kenna Smith was it.

Pointless, pointless interview. Still, I answered, “I hired Jean when Michael was a baby. She was a widowed nanny looking for a fresh start, so she moved out to Ardnoch to be with us. However …” I smiled, happy for her, even though we’d miss the hell out of her. “She met someone on a dating app. Together, they’ve found a new lease on life. They want to travel.”

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Among the Heather (The Highlands #2) Read Online Samantha Young http://www.ilovenovels.com/among-the-heather-the-highlands-2-read-online-samantha-young Fri, 15 Dec 2023 11:43:35 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/among-the-heather-the-highlands-2-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: 105
Estimated words: 98965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)

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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 defense. 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.

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

Prologue

ARIA

Ardnoch Estate, Scotland

July

Sitting on my porch, sipping my morning coffee, I gazed out at the North Sea. Waves gently lapped at the shore below, seagulls squalled in the cloudless sky above, and I felt … content. If not happy, then content. The heat wave that hit the rest of the Western Hemisphere had found a home in the Scottish Highlands too. The early-morning sun turned the waters of the North Sea a Mediterranean turquoise along its shallow depths toward the beach. A slight breeze offered a cool caress against what was an unusually warm temperature for this time of the morning. Thank goodness my father had thought to fit the house with air conditioning, despite being advised it was pointless in this part of the world. If he’d listened to that advice, I wouldn’t have slept last night.

Last summer, my first as hospitality manager at the exclusive members-only club in the Highlands, was a roller-coaster ride of weather. This summer, the film and television professionals who paid a fortune to have access to one of the most secure estates in the world had spent much of it outdoors because of weeks filled with sunny days. I’d never seen so many members take advantage of our private beach or require security to protect them as they enjoyed guided tours of the Highlands. Not to mention, the use of the spa doubled. In fact, I’d hired extra seasonal staff this year, more than Ardnoch had ever required.

Ardnoch Castle was meant to buzz with life and energy … but, honestly, I wanted Hollywood to return to work. I longed for September to arrive so they’d hurry home or onto their next project in whichever corner of the world it took them to. As long as it wasn’t here.

The estate could never be like LA, but fill it with people from LA and it became uncomfortably close.

Glancing at the elegant Rolex my mother had given me for Christmas, I quickly threw back the last of my coffee and hurried into my house. It was technically my parents’ house, but I lived in it year-round while they (mostly my mother) visited for the summer. Spotting Mamma’s jewelry scattered over the breakfast nook, I hurried quietly through the downstairs. I didn’t want to wake her.

My mother had descended upon Ardnoch weeks ago, and even though I was busy at the castle with work, she still wore on my last nerve.

Grabbing my purse, phone, and car keys, I tiptoed toward the front door so the sound of my heels wouldn’t echo upstairs.

“Buondì, coccolona.”

My mother’s husky voice stopped me in my tracks. I’d inherited that sultry huskiness, but not the sultry Italian accent that went with it. Taking a deep breath, I turned and watched Mamma descend the staircase like she was on a photo shoot. Her silk robe billowed open, flashing her long, perfect legs. Dark hair that she’d been dyeing since she was thirty to cover premature gray was tied up in an artfully messy bun as she frowned at me. Because of the fillers she had injected into her lips every few months, it seemed as if she was perpetually pouting. To be fair, she usually was.

“Morning, Mamma,” I answered, straightening instinctually. My entire life, my mother, the supermodel, had drilled it into me to keep my shoulders and spine straight.

“No daughter of mine will have a hunchback.”

“Coffee?” she asked as she stepped down into the hallway and crossed the distance between us.

“There’s some in the kitchen.”

Her dark eyes narrowed. “You’re leaving? Again?”

I sighed inwardly. “Mamma, you know I work here.”

“All you do is work. Do you not get a break?”

“Summer is our busiest time. You know that.”

“I’ve hardly seen you.”

Biting back a response, I took a second to control my irritation. Snapping at Mamma only led to days of drama. However, I found it ironic that my mother wanted to spend time with me only after I became an adult and no longer needed her in the way I used to. As a child, I spent a lot of time with nannies and overworked personal assistants. My dad was Wesley Howard, legendary movie director, and he spent a lot of time away from home when I was a kid. My mom, a famous Italian supermodel, was always off in some exotic location shooting for a magazine or an ad campaign.

When they were home, I wouldn’t say they weren’t involved because they were. My parents did their best to show that they loved me and my sister, despite how busy they were. But the truth of the matter was, they didn’t raise me. And when Allegra unexpectedly came along when I was ten years old, I—and not our absent parents—raised my younger sister.

I’d sacrificed going to the college of my dreams and stayed home in Malibu to commute to the University of California in LA so I could be there for my little sister. After my first two years at UCLA, my mother retired from modeling. With her home, I’d suggested I transfer and head to the East Coast. Mamma had such a dramatic meltdown at the thought of me leaving that I stayed for Allegra’s sake.

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Beyond the Thistles (The Highlands #1) Read Online Samantha Young http://www.ilovenovels.com/beyond-the-thistles-the-highlands-1-read-online-samantha-young Tue, 09 May 2023 20:48:32 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/beyond-the-thistles-the-highlands-1-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: 119
Estimated words: 112762 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >119

He's a brooding bodyguard. She's a single mom on the run. And in a town this small, they can't hide from their fierce attraction...

It’s been a long time since Walker Ironside left behind Scotland and the memories that haunt him. Yet after years of traveling the world as a bodyguard, Walker misses his homeland enough to return. To a village in the Scottish Highlands that plays host to an exclusive members-only club, Ardnoch Estate. If not happy, Walker is content working with the elite security at the club and maintaining his bachelor lifestyle. What he doesn’t need is distraction in the form of the enticing but too-young newcomer, single mother Sloane Harrow.

Sloane never imagined she’d get pregnant at sixteen. Or that a decade later she’d escape from California with her daughter, Callie, to start over in the Scottish Highlands. Hidden and safe from Callie’s dangerous father, Sloane is satisfied with their new lives. Her daughter is happy. Sloane has a stable job, a quaint cottage, a passion for baking that might just be turning into a business, and a huge crush on brooding security guard Walker Ironside. Unfortunately, the grumpy Scot seems immune to Sloane’s charm, but she can’t help but try to seduce him with cupcakes and baked treats whenever the opportunity arises.

However, when someone arrives in Ardnoch intent on destroying Sloane’s life, Walker is the first to step forward to protect her and Callie. Even if it means giving into temptation and awakening his own demons. Because in doing so, Walker faces failing not only to shield Sloane from her past, but to safeguard her against his own.

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

“Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,

The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.”

—Robert Burns, My Heart’s in The Highlands

Prologue

SLOANE

Fourteen months ago

If I told anyone I was sick of palm trees and sunshine, they’d think I wasn’t in my right mind, especially since I was someone people described as having a sunny personality. However, I’d been sick of the monotony of endless summer since I was fourteen. My dad afforded me the sweet taste of travel as a kid, and it had made me long for something different. To be anywhere but in LA.

You know what they say—the grass is always greener. Literally. Grass in my part of town dried up. Not just because of drought, but because no one around here had time or resources for such things as lawn maintenance.

I’d never wanted to be anywhere else more than I did as I stopped outside my apartment door and saw the eviction notice posted to it.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I whispered hoarsely, pinching my nose to stop the sting of tears.

An overwhelming powerlessness threatened to seize hold of me. I fought through the panic tightening my chest, thinking of the little girl on the other side of the door. Had she seen this? Or had Juanita shielded Callie from the truth? Dread settled in my gut. My Callie might appear shy and quiet, but she was sharp as a tack and missed nothing. It made trying to shield her from the crappiness of our circumstances extremely difficult. But I was determined.

Bracing myself, my stomach roiled as I snatched the eviction notice off the door.

Today I was fired from the receptionist job I’d lied my way into. A colleague who’d had it in for me from the beginning looked into my claim that I’d worked as a receptionist for another casting agency. She knew someone at said agency, and they told her they had no record of me ever working there.

So, I got fired, even though I was more than competent at my job. Yeah, I knew the lie was wrong, but when you’re a single mom, you’ll do just about anything to make enough money to put a roof over your child’s head. The irony of being fired from a casting agency for lying on my résumé was not lost on me. The agency lied on people’s résumés all the time.

I’d spent the rest of the afternoon using most of the gas in a tank I couldn’t afford to refill, following up on ads I found on my phone for positions. Out of ten, one—for a receptionist at a beauty salon—offered me an interview. I took it, even though they paid way less than what I’d been earning, and I was already behind on my rent.

Exhibit A: Eviction notice.

Even renting in Crenshaw, in one of the cheapest studio apartments I could find, where my kid didn’t even have her own bedroom, I was behind on my rent.

Because my useless, scumbag ex forgot we existed half the time.

In a perfect world, he would forget we existed, period. His reputation preceded him, and the man I’d stupidly had sex with at sixteen and gotten pregnant by had become someone so dangerous, I barely recognized him.

I’d never regret my Callie.

I only wished her father was someone different.

Someone I didn’t have to track down and beg for money, even though knowing where that money came from made me nauseous. But for Callie, I’d not only throw pride out the window, I’d throw my morals out too. I’d do anything for her.

So I called Stacie.

It was a short, snippy call. Afterward, I took a deep breath, opened the apartment door, and walked into the studio. During daylight hours, it was light and bright and airy. Even with our twin beds crowding half the space, we tried to keep it as nice as possible.

I buried my worries and grinned at my kid like I had none.

“Mom!” Callie dropped her book and launched herself off her bed, hurrying across the apartment to throw her arms around me.

Love and determination filled me as my daughter rested her head against my chest and I wrapped my arms around her. Bending, I pressed a kiss to the top of her blond head. When she was a baby, I’d felt overwhelming love for her, but I’d felt overwhelming terror too. I was only a kid myself. What did I know about raising a daughter? The love had grown to impossible depths over the years, and the terror became manageable, sharpening in moments like this.

Callie pulled away to stare up at me with the only beautiful thing her father gave her—big, gorgeous blue eyes.

I smoothed her hair off her face. “How was your day, baby girl?”

“I won the class spelling bee. Ms. Francis thinks I should join the school team.”

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