16 Christmas Books Set in Scotland

Book Summary

After finding a priceless antique book in her great aunt’s attic, Mirren Sutherland stumbled into an unexpected career as an antiquarian book hunter. This Christmas season, she’s been hired by the young laird of a Highland clan to search for a book that may or may not exist. Desperate to save his family’s estate, which includes a vast, crumbling castle, Jamie McPherson is hoping that the family lore proves true and that somewhere in the castle’s collection is a rare book so valuable it could solve all his problems.

On her train journey to the Highlands, Mirren knows it’s no coincidence when she bumps into a rival book hunter named Theo. He always seems to turn up anytime a treasure needs locating.

Shortly after Mirren and Theo arrive at the castle, they are snowed in by a blizzard. Together with Jamie, they begin trying to piece together the clues left by Jamie’s grandfather, the former laird of the castle.

Book Summary

Laura, who is training to be a neurosurgeon, has only met Callum, from whom she is renting a flat, three times. The first was at a wedding Laura doesn’t remember, the second was at a baby shower Callum doesn’t remember, and the third time was unforgettable.

First, Laura walks in on Callum while he is naked, and shortly after, his parents walk in to see them both. They immediately assume Laura is Callum’s girlfriend and invite her to join them in the Scottish Highlands for Christmas.

Callum is under a lot of pressure to settle down and take over the family dairy farm, so he and Laura come up with a plan to pretend to be a fake girlfriend. Hijinks ensue when Laura’s best friends show up pretending to be her family, and then Callum’s ex arrives on the scene.

Book Summary

Fred loves her mum and her eccentric aunts, but she’s always felt out of place in her small hometown. That’s why she’s not looking forward to going back to Pine Bluff, Scotland this holiday season. But a bad breakup and an eviction have left her no other choice.

As soon as she’s home, her mother ropes her into helping with the family Christmas Cracker business. She decides that burying herself in work and staying distracted might be just what she needs. But things get complicated quickly when she reconnects with her old best friend, Ryan, who she now notices makes her heart flutter, and then she finds an unexpected spark with a charming journalist named Warren.

These connections help Fred open her heart to the idea of love, but she’s also forced to confront some hard truths. Can she make herself happy without ruining the holiday for those she cares deeply about?

Book Summary

Millie was engaged to Harry, who she thought was her perfect match. But when he finds out they’re expecting a baby, he suddenly wants out. She’s heartbroken but determined to be a great mom.

Eight months later, and now very pregnant, Millie travels to the Isle of Skye in Scotland for the wedding of her best friend, Jules. She’s staying in Lifeboat Cottage, the same accommodations as Jules’s brother, Dexter, with whom she’s been friends since college.

When she receives a call from Harry that leaves her reeling and doubting her decisions, Dexter will try to convince her that she deserves better. But will she listen?

Book Summary

Scottish legend says that wishes made at the standing stones during Christmas come true, but Maisie Barron doesn’t buy it. Nonetheless, this small-town girl makes a wish out of frustration. Little does she know it will lead to a catastrophic event that will threaten the upcoming Christmas Book Festival.

Weston Smith is a burnt-out American professor desperately in need of a vacation to relax and recharge. After planning a trip to Scotland, he finds himself on a real-life mission to woo the girl of his dreams, thanks to the enthusiastic meddling of a group of elderly book club members.

Snowed in and with an undeniable attraction, can Maisie and Weston save the book festival?

Book Summary

Amelia’s life is going according to her plans. She recently married Declan, and they’ll be starting their future together in London after a honeymoon in Italy. But things fall apart quickly when she loses her job as a marketing executive and returns home to a note from Declan requesting a divorce.

Suddenly, there is nothing tying her to London, so Amelia decides to accept a job offer that allows her to escape to the Scottish isle of Arran. Her new life on the island starts off about as well as things back home when a passing van drenches her.

The driver of the offending van, however, is another story. He’s so handsome that he makes Amelia’s knees weak. She’s certainly not looking for romance after what she’s just been through, but she finds herself drawn to Fergus anyway.

Book Summary

When Izzy inherits a castle in the Scottish Highlands, she knows the castle will have to make money to be sustainable. It would make a great B&B after some much-needed TLC. But before they can do any work, her eccentric mom has promised the rental to a famous author. 

They must race to get the castle guest-ready before their big holiday arrival.

Book Summary

Lucy works for a marketing agency that is facing layoffs after losing two major accounts. So, she decides to take matters into her own hands and track down the CEO of a sportswear company, Ross Miller, hoping to sign them as a client, which will save the jobs before Christmas. Lucy finds his family home in the Scottish Highlands, which she assumes is the site of an idyllic family holiday. 

However, not all is as it seems. Ross fears confrontations with his father, and his sister Clemmie has a major secret. On top of that, all three siblings dread the prying questions of their mother and grandmother. 

When Lucy arrives at the house before Ross, the family assumes she is his girlfriend. Soon, Nanna Jean is campaigning for great-grandchildren! Before anything can be set straight, Lucy finds herself snowed in and part of the Miller family Christmas.

Book Summary

Suzanne can’t wait for all three of her adopted daughters to arrive home for the holidays. She’s dreaming of the perfect cozy Christmas, but tensions are running high.

Workaholic Hannah didn’t come home last year. She knows she can’t avoid spending the holidays with her family again, but she’s panicked at the thought of them learning her life-changing secret.

Beth is a stay-at-home mom having a personal crisis of her own. She’s torn over whether she is ready to return to work.

Posy is ready to make a change, but her parents depend on her so much. Change is risky, and so is falling for the handsome new neighbor.

Book Summary

Rose didn’t expect to be spending the holiday season working in a pop-up Christmas shop, but the one thing she expected even less was to be offered an event planning job by a brooding Scotsman.

Ever since his wife left him and his daughter on Christmas Eve, Alistair has hated Christmas. So he is not thrilled to learn that his extended family is planning to visit his Scottish estate for the holidays this year. He knows he’s going to need help with the planning if he’s to pull it off. When he meets Rose at a shop selling tinsel and baubles, he offers her the job.

Rose gets to work right away, Christmas tree shopping and party planning. Soon, Alistair can hardly recognize his estate amid the mass of ribbons and twinkling lights. Even the family goat is in on the festive spirit.

The more time Rose spends with Alistair’s family, especially his 12-year-old daughter, the more she begins to melt the ice around his heart.

Book Summary

Friends Shelley, Lena, and Pearl are tired of all the holiday preparations falling to them. Each of them has hit her limit, so they decide to escape for the five days before Christmas. It’s time for their families to take up the grocery shopping, cooking, and prepping. Meanwhile, they’ll be sipping prosecco in the Scottish Highlands.

It was the perfect plan, right up until the moment they got snowed in 500 miles from home. Realizing they might not make it back in time for Christmas makes each woman face the truth about her reasons for needing to escape. For one, it’s a fiancée with an obnoxious family, for another, it’s a son’s new girlfriend taking over the house, and for the third, it’s simply feeling taken for granted all year round.

Book Summary

Brooklyn, a book restoration specialist, and her husband, Derek, a security expert, are on a Christmas trip abroad when they get a frantic call from a friend. Claire is in Scotland and has gotten engaged. She wants Brooklyn & Derek to fly in for a quick wedding and to investigate the mysterious disappearance of twelve rare books from the castle library.

When they arrive at the castle, the case of the missing books is just the beginning. Another guest is poisoned, and then another is killed with an arrow. They must now race to find the missing books and the killer.

Book Summary

Melanie has had a terrible year at work and in life, culminating in her boyfriend, Finn, dumping her at her own sister’s engagement party. When he arrives at her doorstep two weeks before Christmas, asking for a favor, she wants to punch him rather than help him, but his proposal is interesting.

His mother, whom Melanie loves, is obsessed with hosting the perfect Christmas in Scotland. But that involves Finn and Melanie being together again. Since her own parents will be out of town during the holidays, Melanie agrees to fake-date her ex in front of his parents under one condition. She gets to dump him in front of his parents at the end of the trip so he can experience the same humiliation she did.

Book Summary

Maren Kelly is far from her Ohio home this Christmas. It is her mom’s dying wish that she experience the magic, mystery, and whimsy of Scotland, but now Maren and her friend Penny are lost in the Scottish Highlands and stuck in the blizzard of the century. They are lucky to be rescued by the dashing Duncan Campbell, but his mannerisms seem to be straight out of the seventeenth century.

Duncan takes them back to his castle in Highglen, a quaint village that feels somehow familiar to Maren, as does Duncan himself. The castle, it turns out, is stuck in 1647. Ultimately, Maren will have to decide whether to return to her own time or stay in the past forever.