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Highland Dew
Two women, one whisky, and an opportunity of a lifetime.
Ellen Bryce Andrews has a dream job as West Coast Sales Director for Global Distillery and Distribution, but the money and prestige start to lose their luster when the nonstop demands of the job start to overwhelm the rest of her life.
Fiona MacDougall, the only child and heir to the MacDougall and Son whisky legacy, finds her career as a teacher in Edinburgh derailed when she is forced to return home to care for an aging and addled father, and a distillery that is shuttered and in disrepair.
When Bryce embarks upon a journey to Scotland to divine a hidden gem among the small-batch distillers to set as the cornerstone for a new International Distribution Division, she certainly doesn't expect to find it at the end of a weed-choked driveway. But her discovery may come to nothing if she can’t find a way to tame the spitfire named Fiona, and join forces with her to recreate the lost family recipe and resurrect the family business.
Ellen Bryce Andrews has a dream job as West Coast Sales Director for Global Distillery and Distribution, but the money and prestige start to lose their luster when the nonstop demands of the job start to overwhelm the rest of her life.
Fiona MacDougall, the only child and heir to the MacDougall and Son whisky legacy, finds her career as a teacher in Edinburgh derailed when she is forced to return home to care for an aging and addled father, and a distillery that is shuttered and in disrepair.
When Bryce embarks upon a journey to Scotland to divine a hidden gem among the small-batch distillers to set as the cornerstone for a new International Distribution Division, she certainly doesn't expect to find it at the end of a weed-choked driveway. But her discovery may come to nothing if she can’t find a way to tame the spitfire named Fiona, and join forces with her to recreate the lost family recipe and resurrect the family business.
340 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2018
5 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
March 23, 2018
Highland Dew was what I needed to escape the work week filled with the usual day to day stressors. Sometimes a book transports you to other lands without having to deal with airports and hotel reservations. I loved the opportunity to wander the highlands of Scotland and sit in cosy pubs tasting the local single malt selections from the comfort of my own home. Add in a slow burn romance and I was all in.
Barrett Magill brings us a sweet whiskey infused story of a chance encounter between a burned out sales manager for an international distillery distribution company and the daughter of a once brilliant local distiller. I am not a whiskey drinker (ill advised excessive consumption of Canadian Rye in my youth) yet I found myself drawn into the craft of single malt distillers. I loved the wee mysteries and corporate intrigue as counterpoint to the developing relationship between Bryce and Fiona. Their romance is fade to black but that takes nothing away from this engrossing tale.
I like when a book makes me happy, teaches me something and transports me out of my everyday. A lovely read I highly recommend.
ARC received with thanks from publisher for review.
Barrett Magill brings us a sweet whiskey infused story of a chance encounter between a burned out sales manager for an international distillery distribution company and the daughter of a once brilliant local distiller. I am not a whiskey drinker (ill advised excessive consumption of Canadian Rye in my youth) yet I found myself drawn into the craft of single malt distillers. I loved the wee mysteries and corporate intrigue as counterpoint to the developing relationship between Bryce and Fiona. Their romance is fade to black but that takes nothing away from this engrossing tale.
I like when a book makes me happy, teaches me something and transports me out of my everyday. A lovely read I highly recommend.
ARC received with thanks from publisher for review.
March 29, 2018
Bryce Andrews is a sales director at a whisky distribution company that is looking for new craft single malt for the American market. She's sent along her colleague Reggie Ballard to Scotland in search of an original crafted whisky. By chance she finds a shuttered family distillery that once produced the outstanding single malt 'Highland dew'. The problem is that the owner is ill and his daughter, Fiona McDougall, isn't interested in pursuing the family business. Can Bryce help them develop 'Highland dew' to its potential and, at the same time, explore her feelings towards Fiona?
This book had so much potential in both the exploration of Scotland and one of its most famous produce, the Scotch. Scotland is renowned for its beautiful landscapes and old towns. Even though the author describes them in a picturesque way, her depictions somehow get lost in the amount of information provided about roads, villages, hotels, etc. The same happens with the description of the different types of whisky, for me, it was an information overload about flavours, tasting and distillery methods. I'm sure that someone interested in the subject will appreciate it but I'm afraid that's not me.
Additionally, I didn't care much about the subplot related to Bryce's colleague Reggie and didn't find that it justified writing from her point of view. Establishing just the point of view of both main characters might have helped in keeping the focus on the distillery search and the romance. With respect to the romance, I didn't feel the chemistry between Bryce and Fiona and I think the 'fade to black' intimate scenes didn't help either.
Overall, an ok read if you are interested in whisky. 3 stars.
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
See all my reviews at
www.lezreviewbooks.wordpress.com
This book had so much potential in both the exploration of Scotland and one of its most famous produce, the Scotch. Scotland is renowned for its beautiful landscapes and old towns. Even though the author describes them in a picturesque way, her depictions somehow get lost in the amount of information provided about roads, villages, hotels, etc. The same happens with the description of the different types of whisky, for me, it was an information overload about flavours, tasting and distillery methods. I'm sure that someone interested in the subject will appreciate it but I'm afraid that's not me.
Additionally, I didn't care much about the subplot related to Bryce's colleague Reggie and didn't find that it justified writing from her point of view. Establishing just the point of view of both main characters might have helped in keeping the focus on the distillery search and the romance. With respect to the romance, I didn't feel the chemistry between Bryce and Fiona and I think the 'fade to black' intimate scenes didn't help either.
Overall, an ok read if you are interested in whisky. 3 stars.
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
See all my reviews at
www.lezreviewbooks.wordpress.com
March 22, 2018
Highland Dew is more than a romance, it is a love letter to whisky and to Scotland. Reading the book is a sensory experience; the taste of the whisky and the beauty of Scotland are reflected on every page. The romance is a sweet slow burn between two well-matched women. There are some wonderfully lovable secondary characters, along with a couple of hatable characters to provide texture and drama. A fantastic read that has me reaching for the bottle of scotch and wishing Scotland were closer.
March 31, 2018
*SPOILER*
I was given the book to read by the author, I have not been paid by them or the site for reviewing this book. I have been lucky enough to meet the author and we have discussed Scottish heritage and whiskey in the past, so she wanted to know what I thought of the book.
The overall story is very good, I liked the flow of the dialogue between all the characters, sometimes in books, authors can get hung up on over describing scenes, this was not one of those books. You do get a good picture of the Scottish countryside and weather, although I would have liked to have seen something in there about all the midges at certain times of the year. I found the idea behind the storyline believable and having been to a few distilleries accurate of those aspects of the business.
I do have one small gripe about part of the dialogue and that is that some of the Scottish characters speak as though they are American. When Bryce visits Braehead distillery, Dusty Hamilton (the owner) proclaims to have graduated high school before working full time at the distillery. He has a son, which I would think puts his age at around 40ish, and as far as I know, we don't have high schools here in the UK. We just leave school at 16 or 18 depending on what exams you want to pass. We also have one of the main characters Fiona, describing her father as ornery, this to me is an American term, not Scottish and both seem out of place in the book. I appreciate that the book is written by an American author, and maybe the majority of people reading the book will be American, but small little corrections to the text would have meant these things didn't jump out at me.
I liked the character of Reggie and loved that we had a character we could not hate but despise like a good Alexis Carrington wannabe with her underhanded ways of doing business.
I didn't quite understand the issue with Bryce's family as we never really delved into that or her past relationship that haunted her as much as it did. There are a few funny moment with Bryce's driving which did make me laugh as I know several Americans who do not like roundabouts, bends or curbs, especially with added uncertainty of driving on the opposite side of the road. LOL!
I would definitely recommend the book to anyone who wants to read a nice gentle romance and learn a little about whiskey in the process. I really enjoyed reading this as it took me back up to Scotland the land of my ancestors. As a little addition to other editions of the book, a small glossary might be an idea, so people know how to pronounce some of the Gaelic.
I was given the book to read by the author, I have not been paid by them or the site for reviewing this book. I have been lucky enough to meet the author and we have discussed Scottish heritage and whiskey in the past, so she wanted to know what I thought of the book.
The overall story is very good, I liked the flow of the dialogue between all the characters, sometimes in books, authors can get hung up on over describing scenes, this was not one of those books. You do get a good picture of the Scottish countryside and weather, although I would have liked to have seen something in there about all the midges at certain times of the year. I found the idea behind the storyline believable and having been to a few distilleries accurate of those aspects of the business.
I do have one small gripe about part of the dialogue and that is that some of the Scottish characters speak as though they are American. When Bryce visits Braehead distillery, Dusty Hamilton (the owner) proclaims to have graduated high school before working full time at the distillery. He has a son, which I would think puts his age at around 40ish, and as far as I know, we don't have high schools here in the UK. We just leave school at 16 or 18 depending on what exams you want to pass. We also have one of the main characters Fiona, describing her father as ornery, this to me is an American term, not Scottish and both seem out of place in the book. I appreciate that the book is written by an American author, and maybe the majority of people reading the book will be American, but small little corrections to the text would have meant these things didn't jump out at me.
I liked the character of Reggie and loved that we had a character we could not hate but despise like a good Alexis Carrington wannabe with her underhanded ways of doing business.
I didn't quite understand the issue with Bryce's family as we never really delved into that or her past relationship that haunted her as much as it did. There are a few funny moment with Bryce's driving which did make me laugh as I know several Americans who do not like roundabouts, bends or curbs, especially with added uncertainty of driving on the opposite side of the road. LOL!
I would definitely recommend the book to anyone who wants to read a nice gentle romance and learn a little about whiskey in the process. I really enjoyed reading this as it took me back up to Scotland the land of my ancestors. As a little addition to other editions of the book, a small glossary might be an idea, so people know how to pronounce some of the Gaelic.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2018
This was a sweet romance set in Scotland and included some local wording. It is a very well written book about finding love. The descriptions of the landscape allowed you to picture where they were.The characters are well developed, and the storyline flows from the pages. You saw the main character's work ethic and commitment to the community. You also saw the protagonist thay you loved to hate. If you are looking for a feel-good tale of lesbian love with a happily ever after, check out this book.
I received the book in exchange for an honest review
I received the book in exchange for an honest review
April 9, 2019
I really enjoyed this book. Great characters, good guys, bad guys, a hint of mystery and community building. I really would like to see more of Bryce and Fiona.
Edit:
I just noticed that I first read this book exactly one year ago. I finished it a day faster, but it was just as enjoyable as the first reading.
Edit:
I just noticed that I first read this book exactly one year ago. I finished it a day faster, but it was just as enjoyable as the first reading.
March 22, 2018
Lovely story that moves you from wherever you are to the wonderful country of Scotland. From exploring the country to tasting whisky to seeing the amazing growing attraction between Fiona the daughter of whisky maker and Bryce sales director for the US. Add a little of unknown from parties involved in the story and you end up with an amazing reading experience.
May 11, 2019
Meh... it was okay. The drama that Reggie adds was truly unnecessary as the main characters, Bryce and Fiona, already had to deal with the unknown and distance. Reggie didn't make sense at all.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 29, 2018
Disappointed.
I read great reviews on the book. Bought it, read it, and was surprised at how much i didn't enjoy it.
The writer seemed to try to over complicate the story line quite a bit, and, for a romance novel it lacked romance.
It was an okay read, not quite sure what the secondary plot with the co worker was for as it seemed superfluous.
Sorry, but I didn't enjoy the book.
I read great reviews on the book. Bought it, read it, and was surprised at how much i didn't enjoy it.
The writer seemed to try to over complicate the story line quite a bit, and, for a romance novel it lacked romance.
It was an okay read, not quite sure what the secondary plot with the co worker was for as it seemed superfluous.
Sorry, but I didn't enjoy the book.
April 1, 2018
The story is a very slow paced romance, starting with the story of Bryce Andrews who works as west coast sales director for Global Distillers and Distribution, she has worked hard all her life and harder to achieve her present position in the company, but she got to the conclusion that despite loving her job as much as she does, she needs a change. This change opportunity comes when after a whisky trade show that gives her the chance to revisit Scotland and the region known as the “whisky trail”, she and her co-worker Reggie Ballard must find a new completely original whisky for their international distribution division.
Here it is when the real journey begins; they visit separately several small distillers in order to find their holy grail. Bryce is enjoying greatly her time there, finding in the quiet lands of Scotland the change she needs and in the search of her goal and almost by sheer luck she discovers a struggling distillery, which owners are stressed critically to keep it, mounting debts and no product produced in a while. Bryce gets to meet a disoriented father and a fierce daughter who has left her teaching position to return home in a large ditch effort to check on her father and to save the distillery. Fiona McDougall is the only child and heir of the MacDougall & Son legacy, the problem….she never took the time to get the business.
It’s interesting how things develop from the moment Bryce and Fiona met, how they start working together to resurrect the family business and for Bryce to make her wish come true, while finding that special and unique whisky to fulfil the company’s goal. It is a very competitive market; therefore the journey ahead isn’t an easy one and they navigate through unscrupulous people, treason, and a whole lot of adventures in the way, at the end, discovering their way and answers together.
I liked the story and the “whisky trail”, not only because I like this spirituous beverage very much, but because the description of the places and the implications are very detailed, the thing I didn’t like that much is the very slow pace of the romance, for my taste, takes too long and is rushed at the end, I really would have liked to read more about their relationship development. In general is a good story though.
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Here it is when the real journey begins; they visit separately several small distillers in order to find their holy grail. Bryce is enjoying greatly her time there, finding in the quiet lands of Scotland the change she needs and in the search of her goal and almost by sheer luck she discovers a struggling distillery, which owners are stressed critically to keep it, mounting debts and no product produced in a while. Bryce gets to meet a disoriented father and a fierce daughter who has left her teaching position to return home in a large ditch effort to check on her father and to save the distillery. Fiona McDougall is the only child and heir of the MacDougall & Son legacy, the problem….she never took the time to get the business.
It’s interesting how things develop from the moment Bryce and Fiona met, how they start working together to resurrect the family business and for Bryce to make her wish come true, while finding that special and unique whisky to fulfil the company’s goal. It is a very competitive market; therefore the journey ahead isn’t an easy one and they navigate through unscrupulous people, treason, and a whole lot of adventures in the way, at the end, discovering their way and answers together.
I liked the story and the “whisky trail”, not only because I like this spirituous beverage very much, but because the description of the places and the implications are very detailed, the thing I didn’t like that much is the very slow pace of the romance, for my taste, takes too long and is rushed at the end, I really would have liked to read more about their relationship development. In general is a good story though.
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
November 16, 2022
The progression is insanely slow due to the book's complete over description of absolutely everything. A character that appears on page for 5 seconds? You get a detailed description every time. Most scenes, dialogues and plot lines don't seem to lead anywhere: they're there to fill the book, but they have no real point to them and often time don't have any connection to the plot at all.
Take the entire bit with Reggie for example: it takes up a huge part of the book, but it's totally anti climactic. It has absolutely no point: it doesn't impact the plot or the characters at all, it just takes up time. Were it removed from the book, it would've changed absolutely nothing except make it a bit shorter.
Also: why the hell do we get entire chapters from Reggie's POV? It adds absolutely nothing to the story except - again - stretching it out to an arbitrary target length. It's so boring... she's an uninteresting character, has no motivation for doing what she does and is basically irrelevant in the grand scheme of things: why does she get so much time!?
Heads up: this also very much isn't a romance story. The romance plot line is almost non existent and is basically irrelevant. The characters are practically in love at first sight, develop their relationship mostly off-page in the last third of the book and have absolutely 0 chemistry - mostly because 98% of their interactions are about the Whiskey business. The book in general is all about the Whiskey business and Scotland, but there's 0 romance to it.
Take the entire bit with Reggie for example: it takes up a huge part of the book, but it's totally anti climactic. It has absolutely no point: it doesn't impact the plot or the characters at all, it just takes up time. Were it removed from the book, it would've changed absolutely nothing except make it a bit shorter.
Also: why the hell do we get entire chapters from Reggie's POV? It adds absolutely nothing to the story except - again - stretching it out to an arbitrary target length. It's so boring... she's an uninteresting character, has no motivation for doing what she does and is basically irrelevant in the grand scheme of things: why does she get so much time!?
Heads up: this also very much isn't a romance story. The romance plot line is almost non existent and is basically irrelevant. The characters are practically in love at first sight, develop their relationship mostly off-page in the last third of the book and have absolutely 0 chemistry - mostly because 98% of their interactions are about the Whiskey business. The book in general is all about the Whiskey business and Scotland, but there's 0 romance to it.
March 30, 2018
If you ever want to know anything about whisky distilling or the distribution of, this is your book. It actually is a well written book with a good solid story line throughout. It felt a little choppy here and there, if this was a romance book, it took almost half the book (or a little more) to get to the "I didn't know you had feelings for me too". The romance part felt rushed and anti-climatic. Other readers raved about it, but for me, not so much, You'll just have to read it...
May 13, 2018
The setting of this book being in Scotland drew me in right away. Not only did Magill do a fabulous job with the scenery but she seemed to capture the soul of the Scottish people. The relationship between the characters of Bryce and Reggie is something of an enigma that will keep you guessing until the end. The relationship that develops between Bryce and Fiona ages just like a fine scotch. This book was truely a pleasure to read.
December 20, 2018
Book was rather straight forward with no real surprises. I much preferred the author's Damaged series. I have read those several times and they never fail to satisfy me. This book, while teaching a bit about the distillery processes, allowed me to skip from chapter 17 to the next to last chapter without letting me feel i missed anything.
April 20, 2018
Excellent!
I loved Highland Dew. It’s a cross between a travelogue and a romance with whiskey industry insider information. What’s not to love. Loved Bryce, Fiona and the rest of the family.
I loved Highland Dew. It’s a cross between a travelogue and a romance with whiskey industry insider information. What’s not to love. Loved Bryce, Fiona and the rest of the family.
June 18, 2018
You can taste the whiskey in this well written novel of international business mixed with a little intrigue and romance.
July 7, 2018
Excellent
Excellent reading. A couple of the story lines were a bit disjointed but overall a great read. Interesting history of scotch whiskey.
Excellent reading. A couple of the story lines were a bit disjointed but overall a great read. Interesting history of scotch whiskey.
June 4, 2022
Great. Stayed with me.
July 6, 2019
Not Much Romance. Many Typos. Conveys Beautiful Scotland But Lacks Character Development.
This was a difficult book to finish. Many times I wanted to put it down and just walk away, but convinced myself that eventually it would be worth the time to read it start to finish. I’m not exactly regretting that decision, but the book never took hold with me and I cannot recommend it.
After reading the blurb, I purchased this novel due to the connection with Scotland, and it did prove to be a bit of a Scotland travelogue. Unfortunately, it also proved to be a bit heavy on the details that didn’t seem matter. For instance, while the descriptive landscapes are very well captured and conveyed, the repeated detail on the highways and driving them was off-putting. For example, stating a highway name, many highway names, added nothing to the story ( ex. A725, M9, A9, A941, B9015, A95, A82, etc ) and felt like filler information.
My second problem is that this book (I read it on a Kindle) is rife with typos and editing errors. Each time one occurred I was pulled from the story, had to re-read to make sure I was reading correctly, and then try to find my way back into the plot. ( ex. “She smiled at the memory the the grand old building that resembled an ancient castle, including large turrets.” I’m guessing that should have read “of the grand old building..” but it clearly does not. Another - “It’s a grey and rainy here, no ...”. Again, either a word is missing (perhaps a grey and rainy “day” here) or it’s just a confusing sentence. And more, “She put a mix CD in and the opened her water bottle” … I guess that should be “then” opened her water bottle”). I found no less than 10 different times that the editing and typos pulled me out of the story. Those listed here are for the author, so she might update the Kindle version.
Another issue I encountered was some of the dialog felt stilted, with conversations written without contractions. Only Mr.Spock speaks that way, and it lent a forced and broken feel to the character interactions. Those same character often spoke "normally" so I'm unclear why the formal interaction, without contractions, were written.
Ultimately, I truly missed the romance in the story. It’s there, but it’s stated rather than shown, and I found absolutely no chemistry between the two lead characters. They’re barely written on the same page together and spend more time apart than getting to know one another. While I truly enjoy a slow-burn love story, that still requires character interactions.
Additionally, while the characters of Bryce and Fiona are somewhat interesting on their own – though we don’t ever learn much about either of them - the character of Reggie was rather confusing. She is written very erratically – with actions and motivations appearing at random and with no consistency. It’s almost as if she was tossed in as an afterthought to generate conflict.
Overall, two stars for the Scotland tour and the information regarding Whisky distilling. I cannot, however, recommend this book in general.
This was a difficult book to finish. Many times I wanted to put it down and just walk away, but convinced myself that eventually it would be worth the time to read it start to finish. I’m not exactly regretting that decision, but the book never took hold with me and I cannot recommend it.
After reading the blurb, I purchased this novel due to the connection with Scotland, and it did prove to be a bit of a Scotland travelogue. Unfortunately, it also proved to be a bit heavy on the details that didn’t seem matter. For instance, while the descriptive landscapes are very well captured and conveyed, the repeated detail on the highways and driving them was off-putting. For example, stating a highway name, many highway names, added nothing to the story ( ex. A725, M9, A9, A941, B9015, A95, A82, etc ) and felt like filler information.
My second problem is that this book (I read it on a Kindle) is rife with typos and editing errors. Each time one occurred I was pulled from the story, had to re-read to make sure I was reading correctly, and then try to find my way back into the plot. ( ex. “She smiled at the memory the the grand old building that resembled an ancient castle, including large turrets.” I’m guessing that should have read “of the grand old building..” but it clearly does not. Another - “It’s a grey and rainy here, no ...”. Again, either a word is missing (perhaps a grey and rainy “day” here) or it’s just a confusing sentence. And more, “She put a mix CD in and the opened her water bottle” … I guess that should be “then” opened her water bottle”). I found no less than 10 different times that the editing and typos pulled me out of the story. Those listed here are for the author, so she might update the Kindle version.
Another issue I encountered was some of the dialog felt stilted, with conversations written without contractions. Only Mr.Spock speaks that way, and it lent a forced and broken feel to the character interactions. Those same character often spoke "normally" so I'm unclear why the formal interaction, without contractions, were written.
Ultimately, I truly missed the romance in the story. It’s there, but it’s stated rather than shown, and I found absolutely no chemistry between the two lead characters. They’re barely written on the same page together and spend more time apart than getting to know one another. While I truly enjoy a slow-burn love story, that still requires character interactions.
Additionally, while the characters of Bryce and Fiona are somewhat interesting on their own – though we don’t ever learn much about either of them - the character of Reggie was rather confusing. She is written very erratically – with actions and motivations appearing at random and with no consistency. It’s almost as if she was tossed in as an afterthought to generate conflict.
Overall, two stars for the Scotland tour and the information regarding Whisky distilling. I cannot, however, recommend this book in general.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews