Reviewed by Emma Crowley
When thirty-seven-year-old Liz Parsons first sets eyes on the cosy, whitewashed cottage perched on the edge of the loch, she feels the knot in her chest begin to unwind. After a terrible tragedy and sudden break-up, she’s looking forward to putting the past behind her and focusing on her new job running the tiny Loch Cameron Whisky Distillery, nestled between the highland hills.
With the villagers welcoming her with open arms, she meets ruggedly handsome distillery owner Ben Douglas and feels inspired by his passion for the history of the local area. Although Liz and Ben have very different ideas for the future of the business, their hectic days spill over into long walks exploring the wild landscape, and Liz feels lighter for the first time in months.
When Ben confesses he is considering selling his family’s legacy, Liz is desperate to change his mind. The small community relies on the distillery for jobs and tourism, and she can’t let her newfound friends lose their livelihoods.
But just as she hears whispers in town that there’s more to Ben’s story, she receives a letter at the cottage that could change her future. The thick paper and faded postmark are a heart-wrenching reminder of the life she left behind.
Can she trust Ben with the shocking truth about her past? Or will she be forced to pick up the pieces of her broken heart and run away from Loch Cameron forever?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of A Secret at the Cottage by the Loch to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
A Secret at the Cottage by the Loch is the second in the Loch Cameron series by Kennedy Kerr and what another fabulous story it was. At the end of my review of The Cottage by the Loch, I had mentioned that I hoped there would be another book to come as I had adored the setting, the characters and the plot and thankfully my wish came true. There is no need to have read book one as there are only brief mentions of the main character who previously featured so this can easily be read as a standalone book. In fact, I would have loved to have a little catch up with the main character I was already familiar with, just to see how she was getting on but really that’s me being a bit selfish.
Right from the opening chapter, I felt at home and as if I was returning to something familiar and comforting. Yes, the plot may have been done before in books in this genre and it doesn’t stray from the conventional rules associated with said genre but yet it’s what I know and love and when it’s does well, as in this case, I really love it and soak everything up. It also helps when the author has written a strong female character that you can identify with. Yes, she has her troubles but you admire her all the more for them as she attempts to overcome them and build a new life for herself.
This time around we are introduced to Liz. All she has ever wanted was to have a baby and she has been through the mill with her partner Paul, attempting numerous rounds of IVF all of which have failed. She herself feels like a failure yet she can’t cope with the torture of never having her own child. Paul has reached his breaking point and can’t handle the heartbreak and anguish anymore so he decides to leave Liz. She is devastated as she can literally see all her hopes and aspirations going down the drain. There is anger and guilt there too on her behalf. So now she must make a brave new start. She changes her life completely by accepting a job as sales director of the Loch Cameron distillery. She leaves her life in the city and escapes to the tiny Scottish village of Loch Cameron. I loved how she was welcomed with open arms. It’s like once you settle into the community they just surround themselves around you and will offer friendship, support and guidance to those that need it.
Once again, the setting is gorgeous and you can clearly visualise the loch, the mountains and the countryside. Liz rents Gretchen’s cottage by the loch as Gretchen is now in a nursing home and she starts her work in the distillery. She is introduced to those that work there especially the owner Ben. Liz has experienced so many failures and her hopes have been dashed time and time again but I admired how she picked herself up and was determined to do her best in her new role at the distillery. She didn’t let her personal and emotional state get in the way of what she was tasked to do. That’s not to say that she forgot about everything she was going through. It lingered there eating away at her and she thinks of what could have been if IVF had been successful. Liz can sense that Loch Cameron is somewhere she can recover from the trauma, loss and heartbreak that she has experienced but she also relishes the challenge of sorting out the distillery which is not making money and has been poorly managed.
Liz was a powerhouse when it came to her work and she had years of experiences in sales and marketing. I think it helped her in her recovery and her journey to a new and better life that she had such a big job in terms of overhauling the sales side of the business. She had such great insight and instincts and was full of new and inspirational ideas. She was confident, hardworking and successful and you get the sense that she desperately wished that her personal life would balance out and be on a par with her professional life. That she was incomplete in terms of her life plan without having a child and now her dreams seemed even further from reality than ever before. I think that’s why she worked so hard to try and turn the fortunes of the company around because it was taking her mind off what could have been but on the other hand as she possessed such brilliant qualities and dedication when it came to work I thought she would have done what she did no matter what she was going through.
I loved the aspect of delving into the past to come up with a new and impressive marketing strategy. It linked women who lived in the village in the past to the present and I loved how it all unfolded as an air of mystery was created with some surprising revelations ensuing. None of which felt far fetched but instead helped bring everything full circle in terms of several of the characters that featured. Liz needed peace and closure in order to find her hearts true desire and I got the sneaky feeling that she thought perhaps Ben could be the one that could start to change her mind when it came to love and emotions. Initially, following the break up with Paul, I thought that Liz is done with everything and will just focus on her career but there was a connection with Ben. He shows her around the area and details how he came to have the distillery and I thought they were forming a lovely friendship which perhaps given time could develop into something more.
Unfortunately Liz listens to gossip and what she hears about Ben really turns her off. Her attitude towards him changes and he can see this. I really thought Liz had completely jumped the gun and she should have confronted him and sought out the truth instead of hastily forming a rash judgement. In turn she made Ben suffer and the chemistry between them seemed to evaporate. At some points I could see why Liz was so offended by what she learnt as it connected back to her own experiences in some ways but still finding out the truth from the source would have been a much better option for her in my opinion.
Whether Liz turns the distillery into a successful business once again or if she can find true love and happiness well you will only discover those answers if you read this wonderful, heart-warming and feel good story, I enjoyed every minute of A Secret at the Cottage by the Loch and read it in great big chunks. If time had allowed I would have read it in one sitting as it is that readable. Hopefully, Kennedy Kerr, is hard at work on another book in this series because she has struck on something special with the setting of Loch Cameron and its residents.
No comments:
Post a Comment