The latest Scottish-set romance from Jenny Colgan makes for easy, comforting and engaging summer reading, writes Kirsty McLuckie

The Summer Skies is a standalone novel from the prolific Jenny Colgan, and as such it is a good introduction to her genre of sweet modern love stories, set in idyllic locations. Here she bases the story on the North East Coast, near Thurso, and imagines an archipelago of tiny islands served by a single elderly plane, flown for decades by a family of pilots, the MacIntyres.

Morag is the youngest, and having learnt to fly at her grandfather’s knee, when the story begins she is working as a commercial pilot, based at Heathrow. With a job offer in Dubai and a charming but staid new boyfriend, Hayden, her life seems mapped out for the first time. A near miss incident, however, and her grandfather’s illness necessitates a return to her home town of Carso to fill in for a week, flying the regular short hop routes serving islanders, farmers, tourists, mountaineers and ornithologists.

During a brutal storm, a medical emergency necessitates a forced landing on the tiniest island, Inchborn, where she has to seek refuge during a power outage with the only inhabitant, Gregor, a brooding scientist from Glasgow, holed up there alone for months to record seabird data. Over the couple of days they are forced to live together, will she develop feelings for this reclusive man, so at home in the beautiful setting, attuned to its wildlife, and with hints of a tragic past?

Well, of course she will, particularly when she realises he is also an excellent cook, looks very good stripped down for an impromptu swim and has tamed a sparrowhawk. Compared to poor, dull Hayden, who is a bit paunchy, wears chinos and works in HR, there seems little wiggle room left for any will-she-won’t-she regarding Gregor.

You could say that her flights might have unexpected diversions and turbulence, but here the narrative has few. Then again, Colgan has a great ability to engage with her readers, and her character Morag speaks directly to us, with plenty of self-deprecating humour.

The author declares in the foreword: “This is not a book about a pilot”, but actually the level of detail about the knowledge needed to fly planes is impressive and the text comes alive with the descriptions of the beautiful islands from the air. Colgan is also extraordinarily good at describing food – there are mouthwatering descriptions of unctuous stews and buttery tattie scones. The romance is also sweetly described and ultimately satisfying.

Minor characters, such as the passengers on the short flights, add colour, but again there are few surprises. The hen parties drink prosecco with inflated lips while climbers compete to be macho. It all adds up to a very easy, comforting and engaging summer read, light as a feather.

The Summer Skies, by Jenny Colgan, Sphere, £14.99

Book review: The Summer Skies, by Jenny Colgan