Review: The Summer Skies

The Summer Skies by Jenny Colgan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Morag's family, more specifically her grandfather, runs a small airline ferrying people between remote Scottish islands. She has the flying bug, but her interest is larger passenger jets criss-crossing Europe, until a tragic accident puts her and the pilot on leave pending an assessment of their ability to continuing flying. Although she loves the remote islands, Morag's heart is definitely on the mainland and she has no intention of taking over the airline when her grandfather retires. Although Morag passes the tests with flying colours, and snags a date with the HR consultant assessing her to boot, she knows deep down that she is scared to take control of an aircraft and decides that she will take a sideways promotion, eschewing piloting European short-haul for being co-pilot on long-haul aircraft.

Before she takes her final test, in a flight simulator, Morag is called back to the Scottish Highlands, her grandfather is ill and she is needed to hold the fort. Even then, Morag manages to take the co-pilot role, ferrying locals to and from the larger islands and extreme sportsmen to the remote islands until a forced landing on a remote island and a freak storm leave her stranded with what might be the grumpiest ornithologist on earth.

This had an unusual, one might even say unorthodox, start. In fact I couldn't believe it was a Jenny Colgan novel because it was so far from what I've come to expect from her. And yet that isn't fair because she also covers some hard-hitting emotional issues in her other books, its just that they are wrapped up in the cosy small-town vibe that I forget it's not all home-made brownies, cute sheep, and lashings of ginger beer.

It's got romance, a goat, beautiful scenery, a hen party, home baking, flying family, and discovering what home really means. Oh! It's a Jenny Colgan book after all LOL.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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