Reviewed by Emma Crowley
Tara Ballantyne hasn’t been home to Loch Cameron since her childhood sweetheart and fiancé Ramsay Fraser suddenly broke her heart. She’s certain the secret she’s kept ever since is why he left without saying goodbye. But when her mother Dotty has a fall, Tara knows she must return to help her family with their guesthouse.
Dotty has never been able to understand why Tara left the village in the first place. And on an errand for her mother at the local farmer’s market after another row, Tara is stunned when she runs into Ramsay. His deep, achingly familiar voice sends butterflies spinning through her stomach as they make plans to catch up. Could now be the moment to tell him her secret?
Then Tara sees Ramsay holding the hand of a little girl with a crooked smile just like his. Even if Ramsay still holds on to the other half of Tara’s gold pendant, it looks like he’s moved on for good. And she still can’t confess what she did all those years ago…
But seeing Ramsay again makes her mother light up, and Tara realises Dotty has missed him too. And as she comes to understand her mother more than ever before, Tara wonders if she’s been running away for all the wrong reasons. Will Ramsay always be the one who got away? Or if Tara finally opens up, will she find happiness in the village?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of Keepsakes from the Cottage by the Loch to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
Keepsakes from the Cottage by the Loch is the sixth book in the Loch Cameron series by Kennedy Kerr. Don’t worry if you haven’t had the pleasure of reading any of the previous delightful books as they can all be read as standalone stories. It’s more so that the location connects the stories rather than the characters. Although now and again old familiar faces do pop up but very briefly. These books are lovely, gentle, relaxing reads and I find them perfect to read in between more of the heavier historical fiction that I read huge amounts of. This new book has a glorious, sweeping cover with a prominent picture of the loch which does play a major part in the main character Tara’s life. It’s where she has always gone to for peace and solace in times of stress or to relax and read a book. Many a happy hour has she spent by the shores of the Loch and it’s where she feels grounded and where she can centre and calm herself when things get too emotionally rough for her.
Now more than ever she will need this safe space as she returns to the Scottish Highlands and the small village she called home, Loch Cameron. Her mother Dotty (the local village gossip but really she does have a heart of gold) has fallen and broken her leg and is therefore unable to run the inn. Her father Eric couldn’t do it by himself and really it needs a woman’s touch to keep things going. Tara forgoes her planned summer holiday adventures on her time off from her school in Glasgow where she is a primary teacher and travels back to Loch Cameron. Tara was selfless in putting her plans aside and especially seen as she hasn’t ventured back to the village in the last ten years unless strictly necessary and even then only for very brief visits. There is trauma and hurt in Tara’s past which she still carries the burden of today. Loch Cameron although her home place is at the root of all this. Yes, it’s over a man. Ramsay being said man and Tara’s heart and future plans were torn in two the day he upped and left the village and walked out of her life leaving the briefest of notes and never to have been heard from or seen since.
It’s evident from the outset that the relationship that Tara and Ramsay had a really strong relationship where they meant everything to each other. Friends since school which led to something deeper and they were champion dancers destined to do great things but that all fell apart when the time for university came around. Yet, deep down there is a severe anxiety surrounding Tara that something she did was to blame for Ramsay leaving. I desperately wanted to know what this was and I was constantly on alert and reading between the lines as to what this could have been. Most of the story is told from Tara’s perspective so I firmly came down on her side but it’s only as Dotty reveals things to Tara relating to Ramsay and his turbulent upbringing that things become slightly clearer and I started to have some empathy for Ramsay. But still the finer details weren’t revealed until the last moment which in turn had me guessing up until the final few chapters. I can say that the reveal certainly wasn’t a let down. In my opinion, I would have liked just one or two chapters from Ramsay’s perspective though as I really got into Tara’s head and understood her thought process and how she as feeling and I would have liked to have been able to do the same for Ramsay.
Tara is not very happy with her job in Glasgow. She loves the children but the staff and the way the school is run is not making her thrilled to go to work every day. Time away and focusing on the inn gives her some perspective. She is independent but emotional and when she bumps into Ramsay again after all the years of no contact. Well it puts her in a tail spin that’s for sure. You can sense the anger, hurt and dismay and many more emotions rushing to the surface and all the old memories come flooding back. She does what any woman would do and tries her best not to have to meet him again. Just what is he doing back in Loch Cameron? Will she ever find out what caused her dreams to come crashing down? The guilt that she has been holding on to for so long really needs to be let go. As previously mentioned I desperately wanted to know what was the cause of the guilt and was it really justified or was it all in her head?
I really warmed to Tara as a character and loved when she met with the local teacher Emily. Here is where the slight historical element to all the books in this series came into play. Tara discovers her Great Aunt Agnes once taught in the school and she herself had her own story to tell which gives Emily the courage and resilience to keep going in the present. I found that the historical element was very much underplayed this time around in this new story and I was left thinking does it really need to be there in future books? Mostly because I very much feel the present day storylines are strong and would be well able to stand on their own. I understand the connecting the past with the present and helping a character out but six books in I found the connections nice enough to read about but tentative. Previously there were stronger links. I don’t mean this in a very negative wat rather just that I would have happily read about Tara and Ramsay without the need for the inclusion of Agnes’ brief storyline.
Ramsay has an anxiety and a darkness in him and he punishes himself. For what one wonders, and will this continue forever? The love and respect Tara and Ramsay both had for each other was still there in spades. It was so clear for the reader to see but Tara played an avoidance game and you couldn’t blame her for that. Through her time in Loch Cameron and connecting with the women in the Crochet Coven as they liked to call themselves Tara starts to feel more at peace and accepted. Is what she has being missing from her life in Glasgow right there in Loch Cameron for her to take? She needs to be resilient and face her demons and reclaim the person she once was instead of holding onto the guilt from the past. But when she learns something about Ramsay it puts her into a tailspin and once again changes her perspective. The reader is left hoping with fingers crossed that they will actually sit down and talk and clear the air and the many misunderstandings.
I loved Keepsakes from the Cottage by the Loch. It’s an engaging, wonderful read with characters you can empathise with. The location and descriptions are once again stunning and you are left wishing that you could visit Loch Cameron in real life rather than through your imagination. I hope there will be more books to come in the future featuring Loch Cameron as it’s a special place with equally special people who have captured the hearts of many readers including mine.
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