Review by Kelly Jarvis: Highlands New Year by Amy Quick Parish

In this stand-alone sequel to Amy Quick Parish’s novella Highlands Christmas: Wishes Come True, readers are returned to Scotland to revisit Melissa, a recent divorcee who has inherited a home overseas and fallen in love with the Scottish lawyer who handled the dissolution of her marriage. In this installment, Melissa’s friend Caitlin comes to visit for Hogmanay, the Scottish New Year, and the women plan a getaway to the Isle of Skye. When a snow storm interrupts their plans, Melissa is stranded at home with her new love interest (the divorce lawyer Colin), while Caitlin rides out the weather in a cozy inn on the banks of Loch Ness with Colin’s sister Lindsay. There, they meet two rugged Scottish men with connections to Caitlin’s hometown of Boston.

This short novella features three sweet, budding romances set against a wintry Scottish backdrop, and those who love folklore will find delight in its pages. The characters celebrate Burns Night and take part in the Highland Games. They describe the daft days between Christmas and New Year’s and talk of Scottish superstitions and traditions like first footing, a belief that the first visitor to cross your threshold in the New Year sets the tone for months to follow. They plan to visit famous landmarks like the Loch Ness, The Old Man of Stor and The Fairy Glen, and they tell stories of kelpies, selkies, and water horses as they sip whisky around peat-scented fires.

This short book gives readers a bite-sized taste of Scottish culture and a sweet, romantic escape into folklore. If you are looking for a light-hearted reprieve from the holiday bustle, and if you enjoy a man wearing a kilt, Amy Quick Parish’s book Highland New Year is for you! You can find it here.

Kelly Jarvis is the Contributing Writer for The Fairy Tale Magazine. Her work has also been featured in A Moon of One’s Own, Baseball Bard, Blue Heron Review, Corvid Queen, Eternal Haunted Summer, Forget Me Not Press, Mermaids Monthly, The Chamber Magazine, The Magic of Us, and the World Weaver Press Anthology Mothers of Enchantment: New Tales of Fairy Godmothers. Her first novella, Selkie Moon, comes out in 2025. You can connect with her on Facebook (Kelly Jarvis, Author) or Instagram (@kellyjarviswriter) or find her at https://kellyjarviswriter.com/