Spotlight & Giveaway: Ruby Spencer’s Whisky Year by Rochelle Bilow

Posted February 17th, 2023 by Sara @HarlequinJunkie in Blog, Spotlight / 33 comments

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Rochelle Bilow to HJ!

Hi Rochelle and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Ruby Spencer’s Whisky Year!

Grab a dram and cozy in!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Ruby Spencer is having a not-quite-midlife crisis and moves to Scotland for one year to push the reset button on her life. Once she arrives, she falls in love with the community, the town pub, and of course, the local bearded handyman. As Ruby realizes it’s never too late to start over, her cozy new life in Scotland is threatened by an American chain restaurant—and secrets from the past.

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

“I’m falling for you, Roo. I want you. I want you so much I would set the world on fire just so you could warm your hands.”
“That’s a little dramatic, don’t you think?” Ruby squeaked, but she was pleased he had said it, all the same.
“Fine, I’d set the world on fire so you could toast marshmallows.”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

The book was inspired by Outlander, but it aims to question the Scottish stereotypes many Americans hold.
Scottish music is AMAZING. If you search Spotify for “Brochan’s Favorites,” you’ll find a list of the male MC’s favorite songs.
In researching the book, I learned a lot about scotch. A LOT. Now my home collection of bottles is nearing 20!

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Ruby’s shameless attracted to Brochan’s physical appearance (and I can’t say that I blame her). For Brochan, it was a little deeper from the jump; he witnessed her attempting to use an electric drill for the first time, and loved her willingness to try new things.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

Oh, yeah! In the scene where Ruby and Brochan first say, “I love you,” she gets a little frisky in the woods and goes down on him. I wanted to write that scene in a way that made clear what was happening, but wasn’t explicit or overly detailed:

“Now that the words had escaped her, they felt wonderful. She said them hungrily and loudly, letting them swell and fill her mouth until she couldn’t take any more inside her, and he couldn’t bear being held so sweetly. Brochan steadied himself with his hands on Ruby’s crown and she pressed her legs into the earth to ground them both. The moon, almost full, shone through wispy
clouds and bathed them both in light. A tawny owl called, announcing his place in the trees. The breeze rolled past their bodies, stirring up the scent of their sweat. And there, on the floor of a
small forest in a tiny town in the Highlands of Scotland, she accepted everything he had to give her.”

Readers should read this book….

if you’re craving a “warm hug” of a story.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I just finished the first draft for my next novel with Berkley Romance; this one is set in Maine, and features a professional chef who’s returned to her hometown for one summer and one summer only…

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: A Print copy of Ruby Spencer’s Whisky Year by Rochelle Bilow

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Book Info:

When a thirty-something American food writer moves to a Scottish village for one year to fulfill her dream of writing a cookbook she finds more than inspiration–she meets a handsome Scotsman she can’t resist in this charming debut romance.

Ruby Spencer is spending one year living in a small cottage in a tiny town in the Scottish Highlands for three reasons: to write a bestselling cookbook, to drink a barrelful of whisky, and to figure out what comes next. It’s hard to know what to expect after an impulse decision based on a map of Scotland in her Manhattan apartment–but she knows it’s high time she had an adventure.

The moment she sets foot in Thistlecross, the verdant scenery, cozy cottages, and struggling local pub steal her heart. Between designing pop-up suppers and conversing with the colorful locals, Ruby starts to see a future that stretches beyond her year of adventure. It doesn’t hurt that Brochan, the ruggedly handsome local handyman, keeps coming around to repair things at her cottage. Though Ruby swore off men, she can’t help fantasizing what a roll in the barley might be like with the bearded Scot.

As Ruby grows closer to Brochan and the tightly held traditions of the charming village, she discovers secret plans to turn her beloved pub into an American chain restaurant. Faced with an impossible choice, Ruby must decide between love, loyalty, and the Highlands way of life.
Book Links: Amazon | B&N |

Meet the Author:

Rochelle Bilow is a food and romance writer who previously worked as the social media manager at Bon Appétit and Cooking Light magazines. A graduate of The French Culinary Institute, she has also worked as a line cook, a baker, and a wine spokesperson. Her first book, The Call of the Farm, a swoony farming memoir, was published in 2014. Raised in Syracuse, New York, Rochelle now lives in northern Vermont.
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