My rating: 4/5 stars
ARC received by Samantha Young and House of Hearts in exchange for my honest review.
Samantha Young is one of my favorite authors and one of the storytellers who sticks so much to her heritage and homeland. Even if she is writing about her characters, Scotland is present in her narrative, with so much passion and love, that you feel like you belong there, within that landscape.
“Drifting Dawn” is her second book from the Scottish Isles series, a second-chance romance, full of anger, grief, but also love and longing. It’s the story of Quinn and Taran, focusing on their relationship as kids and then moving forward to 18, after they broke up. The storyline is mixing between past and present, for us to understand what really happened between then and how each contributed to this outcome.
First, I want you to understand that I dive into the story without choosing sides, because both Taran and Quinn were teenagers, not knowing exactly how to handle serious stuff and not being fully aware of the consequences. Both did mistakes, both handled things wrong and some decisions were triggered by traumas from the past, which were not addressed properly and healed.
I liked both Quinn and Taran. Quinn did his best as a father of 2, but failed as a husband because of his feelings for Taran, so his marriage ended. I am always amazed by this second-chance romance, how much the feelings last, and how powerful they still are despite time passing. When Taran comes back to town because of her mother’s illness, something in him changes. He is the one who is more determined to have her back, and many wounds are reopened. Taran is afraid of getting hurt again, handles grief very hard, and I really understood her position, but just wanted things to be ok between them.
There is a lot of back and forth, a lot of grief, anger, and miscommunication, but when you see both perspectives, you understand what went on, and you want them to talk and settle things out. My heart hurt for Taran, and I understood her. I felt her fears, her grief, her trauma from the past, and the lack of compromise in her relationship with Quinn, and I loved how determined Quinn was and how he made his little alliance with his kids to win Taran over. It was not easy, and Taran put up a fight, giving mixed signals and driving us a little mad with this, but she had her motives, so I didn’t judge. The healing process is based more on closure and forgiveness, but there are some steamy scenes you cannot miss.
The mystery included in the plot was awesome and not predictable at all, and I added salt and pepper to a Romance that could have only focused on the love story. This is what I love about Sam and about her plot construction: she wants to build complex ideas and put them into action.
I really love this series, it has immense potential, the couples are amazing, and I already figured them out, which is amazing as well because I know the plot will be fun and intense and full of the kind of Romance I enjoy.
Ramonisme 