The Cottage by the Loch

The cottage stood alone on a rocky outcropping at the edge of the loch. Standing in the garden amongst the wildflowers, she felt the weight of the tattered envelope in her hands. Maybe there was something keeping her here in Scotland, a secret waiting to be uncovered…
New Yorker Zelda Hicks has just lost her mother, and the only thing she knows about her father is that he was from Scotland. So a work trip to the Scottish village of Loch Cameron couldn’t be better timed. Maybe a break in the beautiful rolling hills of heather will help her reconnect with her roots and recover from her grief.
Then, on a walk around the loch one bright morning, she comes across a tiny, tumbledown cottage, nestled on the edge of the forest. The elderly owner, Gretchen Ross, invites her in for buttery shortbread, and after learning that Gretchen might lose the cottage that has been in her family forever, Zelda vows to help her. She didn’t bargain on butting heads with the handsome, blue-eyed laird Hal Cameron in the process. Zelda can’t seem to forget Hal’s shy smile and she soon learns they might have more in common than she first thought.
But when Zelda discovers a bundle of old letters hidden in the back of an antique wardrobe at the cottage, they lead her back to the mysterious Hal. Pushing Zelda to examine her own family history, the letters reveal a secret that the community has kept hidden for over a generation. Hal says he wants to help Zelda, but just as she begins to open up, she learns he isn’t being entirely honest either… Can Zelda trust him, and finally come to terms with her own past, or will uncovering this secret force her to leave Loch Cameron for good?

• Contemporary Fiction
• Women Fiction
• Romance