Rowan Bay Series by Ellie Henderson

One snowy village. Two guarded hearts. A Christmas they’ll never forget. After a year of burying her heartbreak in endless work, Jessica Stewart returns to her childhood home in the Scottish village of Rowan Bay. She hopes the Christmas lights and familiar faces will help her rediscover the woman she used to be. She doesn’t expect Reuben Campbell. Once her brother’s infuriating best friend — the boy who teased her endlessly — Reuben is now a ruggedly handsome architect with an easy charm... moreOne snowy village. Two guarded hearts. A Christmas they’ll never forget. After a year of burying her heartbreak in endless work, Jessica Stewart returns to her childhood home in the Scottish village of Rowan Bay. She hopes the Christmas lights and familiar faces will help her rediscover the woman she used to be. She doesn’t expect Reuben Campbell. Once her brother’s infuriating best friend — the boy who teased her endlessly — Reuben is now a ruggedly handsome architect with an easy charm. And he’s suddenly everywhere Jessica turns. As the village prepares for Christmas, Jessica and Reuben find themselves sharing frost-bitten walks, fairy-lit evenings and gingerbread house disasters. The spark between them is impossible to ignore and Reuben’s steady presence begins to melt the walls Jessica has spent so long building. But Jessica came home to escape complications — and Reuben, for all his warmth, is hiding heartbreak and secrets of his own. As Christmas approaches can two people with every reason to resist each other finally give in to a second chance neither saw coming? less

After losing the career she built her life around, Flora Fraser retreats to her grandmother’s lakeside cottage in Rowan Bay for the summer. Rowan Bay offers peace, kindness . . . and Brodie Robertson. Brodie is infuriatingly self-assured, impossibly charming, and far too rooted in village life to fit into Flora’s temporary plans. Their first encounters spark with friction — and he always seems to be around when things go wrong... moreAfter losing the career she built her life around, Flora Fraser retreats to her grandmother’s lakeside cottage in Rowan Bay for the summer. Rowan Bay offers peace, kindness . . . and Brodie Robertson. Brodie is infuriatingly self-assured, impossibly charming, and far too rooted in village life to fit into Flora’s temporary plans. Their first encounters spark with friction — and he always seems to be around when things go wrong. For Flora, it can’t get worse — until she and Brodie find themselves working together. What begins as a battle of wills slowly deepens into attraction, one that becomes harder to resist with every day. As summer unfolds, mornings spent swimming in the loch, evenings filled with laughter and long walks under starry skies, begin to heal parts of Flora she thought she’d lost. Rowan Bay feels less like a refuge — and more like home. But Flora has always believed her stay to be temporary. And Brodie belongs here. When the time comes for Flora to leave, both must decide whether this was simply a fleeting escape — or the beginning of something that could last beyond one perfect summer. less