Another gorgeous, intuitive and tender delivery by Kennedy Kerr! A Gift From The Cottage by the Loch is a beautiful heart-warming story. It flows from page to page and kept me totally engaged in eager anticipation. In many ways, returning to this setting of Loch Cameron in Scotland was like re-visiting an old friend or a number of them! As there are many familiar faces in book four that I met in the earlier renditions. This picturesque village offers a heavenly escape, where nature surrounds and lures its guests into a sympathetic embrace. It is a perfect place to heal and for new beginnings. Something our protagonist desperately needs.

Bel is a warm trusting person dedicated to a job she does not like and to a partner who really is not the best choice for her. At the opening of the novel, life takes some wicked turns. She discovers on the same day, she has lost her job and her partner. For when she comes home early, she learns Andy is not alone in their home. The betrayal hits her hard and she flees the scene with a few belongings and heads to her sister’s place in Scotland. Even though they have not seen each other in a while, older sister Sally welcomes her with open arms. Since her home is under construction, she sets Bel up in a cottage owned by the Laird—a kind man we have met in previous books of the series. How long will she stay? She is unclear. She just needs somewhere quiet to figure out her next steps.

The village of Loch Cameron contains lots of breathtaking beauty, fresh air and gossip. Yes, small towns usually have a few good juicy stories they pass around. But Bel is not expecting her cottage to come with a gardener, especially one that has an attractive man. Christian, seems kind enough but we discover he is in a motorcycle ‘gang, though he and this group are not what they seem. In fact, his name somewhat reflects his actual extra-curricular activities more appropriately than the the gossip flying around about him. But Bel is attracted to him and not sure why. Is it that she is drawn to bad boy men? To add a bit more conflict in the mix, a man from Bel’s past arrives. And tries to rekindle a passion they had. But Bel is not sure whether she can trust him again as he really broke her heart. Has he sincerely changed or is he a manipulator, putting on the praise in thick dollops to get what he wants?

There is a touch of spiritualism in the story with Bel having dreams about her late father who is like a guide for her, providing advice. She misses him terribly and he leads, reassures and comforts her during her darkest, most confusing moments. How long will these visions last? Long enough to set her on the right path.

This story is about finding yourself, gaining confidence, getting past the striving for acceptance, being who you are, going after your dream job—one that makes you happy. And in the romantic realm? Learning the difference between base attraction and lasting love—learning to trust and finding your true match. Bel’s awakening to love, building new romantic relationships, sifting the good from the bad comes after the failing of her long term relationship. A relationship faulty from the start so when the cracks appeared and outside influences trickled in— the worst happened— leaving Bel exposed and blindsided by her partner’s infidelity. She vowed never again to be fooled or repeat such an experience.

Once Bel removed herself from her home setting, away from the wrong man and job, she is able to blossom in Loch Cameron. She is offered her dream business opportunity, in a glorious location with a close knit community. Then temptation comes long (as previously mentioned): two men appear on the scene, one from her past— all stars and sparkle— and the other— an earthy toned man connected to gardens and a motorcycle ‘gang’. In both cases, things are not as they appear and the ‘true’ man wins out.

Yes, this novel at its core is a story of female friendships and sisterly connections where women support each other through thick and thin. It covers relationships that have been misunderstood, too. But it is also about love—what is the real deal and what is just smoke and mirrors. And through it all, wonderful Bel blossoms in herself with some help from her father, sister and sister-in-law, friends and a wad of ‘old letters’ between two women found in her salon. This village echoes with the cries of broken hearts. But healing comes when past stories are uncovered and the persons involved are honoured in the end. Something bright, bold and beautiful springs from the thorns of chaos—as all good things do in Loch Cameron. This is lovely, lingering romantic fiction with a positive outcome. The very best kind. 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for my review copy.

What do you do when you lose your job and find your partner is having affair with someone right in your own house?
Bel decides she needs to just leave all behind her and go see her sister. Can she overcome everything and begin her life over again? Will she find true love?
This was a beautiful, sweet and heartwarming read with a bit of mystery thrown in.
As always, author Kennedy Kerr keeps us engaged with fabulous characters.
Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

A brilliant, emotional story. I loved this book and read it in one sitting. I loved the descriptions of the scenery and could imagine it. The characters were so warm and welcoming. A perfect afternoon read. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Sweet read that will have you riding the rollercoaster of emotions! This story is a wonderful reminder to love yourself first and not let anyone hold you back from living your best life especially when it comes to your career. Breakups will happen and not all men or women are honest about who they are, but you need to live your life as honestly as you can so that you can be as happy as you can. This sweet story is filled with angst that will tug at your heartstrings yet leave you smiling. If you haven't read the series, I do recommend starting with the first book and working your way through as you will get to know the townspeople and supporting characters in the story much better that way as they will make a showing in each book which cements their personalities and character quirks more completely. You could absolutely read this as a stand-alone book, but you might feel you were missing backstory on the characters surrounding the main characters of the story. This author does such a fabulous job of creating characters that are so believable that they come fully to life on the page. This has quickly become one of my favorite series that I can't wait to get my hands on the book each time I see one about to publish!

If you like women's fiction with a dash of romance set in a small fictitious Scottish village, then this book is for you. I did enjoy #AGiftfromtheCottagebytheLoch. by Kennedy Kerr. I found the main character, Bel, to be a very empathetic one. For the past eight years, Bel has been stuck in a dead-end job and an unhappy relationship. Still, when she loses her job and finds out her partner has been cheating on her, all in the space of a few hours, it is devastating.

I can fully understand why she would pack up and runaway from that situation. I also found the dynamics between Bel and her older sister Sally to be fully believable, too. As the oldest, Sally always seems to think she knows best and doesn't seem to fully realize how her advice and often bossy behavior makes Bel feel less that capable at making her own decisions or running her own life. The descriptions of the location for this fictitious village and the cottage where Bel finds refuge are also lovely and make me long to visit Scotland again.

The main reason I gave this book a 3 out 5 star review were because I found the connection between Bel and her ex to be a bit inconsistent in the story. At the start of the novel, she refers to him as her husband and talks about their honeymoon period. Later in the story, when they finally talk about what happened, they mention not ever getting married. Unless Bel is referring to him as her common-law husband because they were together so long, this is somewhat confusing, leaving me wondering why this wasn't caught in the editing stages. Another thing that I would have liked to see is more development of the letters and their importance to the story earlier when Bel finds them. From the blurb for the book it seemed the letters would play a more integral part in the story and in the relationship that develops between Bel and Christian. However, there isn't that much of a mystery about who the letters are written by or who to. In fact, Bel figures this out with some online searches of the people's names and then figures out most of the rest after a couple of conversations with people near the end of the book. It would have been more intriguing if it had taken Bel a bit more digging to figure them out or if she'd spent more time researching what became of the two people in the story. Instead, she reads them, thinks about them, sort of tries to find some parallels between them and her own life and then talks about them with a couple of characters and figures it all out. That was a little anticlimactic for me.

However, the way Bel grows and learns to be self-reliant again, made this book an enjoyable read overall. I also found the scenes where she remembers the father she lost and dearly loved to be some of the most touching moments in the book. Those and the relationships and connections she makes as Bel begins to rebuild her life are what kept me reading. I would consider reading more books in the series. I realized that this book was the fourth one in the series after I began reading it. But that did not detract from the story as each book is able to be read without needing to read earlier ones in the series for the story to make sense.

If you like women's fiction that contains light romance then I can recommend this one. I appreciate the publisher #Bookouture and #NetGalley for allowing me to read an ebook ARC of this novel in return for this honest review of #AGiftfromtheCottagebytheLoch.

Particularly loved the hidden letter subplot💌
4.5🌟stars

This novel was a great addition to Kennedy Kerr's Loch Cameron series. I loved the way things turned out. And the fact that the female lead made mistakes along the way and eventually took full ownership of them. It's a really engaging story of finding refuge, opportunity for change and love in a friendly, new environment. And I appreciated that the romance skipped the steam.

Bel, the contemporary heroine, gets hit by two shocks in one unhappy day and flees from Essex to small Loch Cameron to figure out her life. She finds Sally, her judgmental sister, Sally's peacemaker wife and a great small community of supportive strangers. Establishing a foot in the community, she finds new romance, a chance to set up her own business and an intriguing, dusty stack of letters from decades past.

Bel's romantic and career journey kept me glued to the book but the tragic story behind the letters Bel finds elevated this romance for me.

Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

This is such a beautiful story. Bel's life implodes all at once one morning. She loses her job and finds out her partner is unfaithful. She goes to her sister, who lives in Scotland, and ends up living in a little cottage by the Loch. Slowly but surely she starts to reclaim the person she's supposed to be - with a wrong turning here and there! But, she gets there in the end, building a new, better life for herself, a better relationship with her sister and learning about the passion of true love through some old letters she discovers. She also realises the difference between lust and true love, and to never judge a book by its cover. Sweet, heartwarming and a lovely read.
Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Bel runs to her sister in Loch Cameron after she finds her husband cheating on her. She rents a cottage there as her sister Sally and partner Bess are having work done in their house. She then discover Christian the gardener who's doing work at her cottage

I love the Loch Cameron series and have previously read the 3rd book in the series so I couldn't wait to go back to Loch Cameron. This book doesn't let you down in anyway and I can't wait read book 4 in the series.

This book we met Bel, a gorgeous woman who loses her job and boyfriend all in one day. Finding herself driving to Scotland she meets Christian, a man who might just steal her heart if it wasn't for Nate.

A journey of discovery awaits her as she follows her heart and becomes the person she was meant to be.

The first book I've read by this author and after a very relaxing read, it certainly won't be the last. A story of lochside Scotland. I did find the lead character to be very silly at times but the storyline was quite strong and I enjoyed the book.

I love this series, and this book was no disappointment by any means. Loved the plot, the characters, the uplifting way the books make me feel.

When Bel Tipton catches her husband cheating on her, the devastating betrayal sends her running to her sister Sally in the beautiful village of Loch Cameron. Bel needs Sally’s warm laugh and sage advice now more than ever, and she knows curling up with her on the sofa and gossiping late into the night will make her feel whole again.
Bel did not expect her rented cottage overlooking the loch to come with handsome gardener Christian McDougal, and she’s determined to be unmoved by his flirty smile and broad shoulders. The last thing she needs is another man she can’t trust. But when Bel sees an empty storefront on the high street for rent, it’s Christian who notices how her eyes light up. He encourages her to set up a business in the village and she realises he’s everything her ex was not.
Then Bel hears a rumour in town that Christian is not all he seems….this is where it starts getting reallllly good! DO NOT START THIS UNTIL YOU CLEAR YOUR SCHEDULES AS YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PUT IT DOWN!!!!…

Feel good romance great for anytime. Holding on to what doesn't work because it feels safe, taking a chance and maybe making some mistakes along the way, and connecting to what is real. Finding yourself and what is really important - with romance along the way.