[.ca] Waterfall Glen (ISBN 193281583X)

Interesting Contemporary Romance Solving a Historical Mystery:
Feeling like `life was passing her by' Kate Brodie was surprised when a Western Union cable came to the door of her Sausalito, California souvenir craft shop. The cable indicated that she would be inheriting an estate in Glen Cranoch, Scotland from a distant relative she'd never heard of before. After speaking with the Scottish solicitor of the pros and cons of keeping the estate and anxious for an adventure Kate was more than ready to travel to Scotland to claim her property. From the moment she entered the Glen it was love at first sight for Kate as she gazed upon the magnificence of the unspoiled mountains, lochs, and waterfalls. The castle, Greystane, in spite of the run down condition felt precious to her but after a meeting with the solicitor, the realities of the situation revealed that it would take enormous wealth to refurbish as well as maintain. Faced with the proposition of selling Greystane now or eventually losing it down the road, Kate met a potential buyer whose plans to turn the Glen into a ski resort eradicating the harmonious natural beauty of the Glen were as abhorrent to her as the prospective buyer's obnoxious personality. Turning to enigmatic Cameron Fraser, another long lost descendent, and residents of the Glen they hashed plans to put to rest rumors of a family curse and turn the estate into a self-supporting operation. Soon a series of accidents are suddenly making themselves newsworthy enough to appear in national news and scare any potential business away before their plans get off the ground. Additionally, the closeness she was beginning to feel towards Cameron was starting to disintegrate as ghosts from his past and a ghostly presence from the Glen were about to intrude on any kind of a future for them both. *** This was a totally charming story. The author wrote beautifully defining Kate as well as the other primary lead characters with great detail so you knew exactly where all were coming from. Kate was still single at 36 and ready for anything but her dull existence. Even her art of sculpting suffered, having lost all appeal becoming cold, lifeless and unappealing. Cameron was a bit of a mystery, and crafted well with the taint of his rumored cowardly ancestry adding to the mystery of why he'd suddenly resigned his military career. Their friendship, attraction and romance was like serendipity but built slowly with care and gentleness - very sweet. Finlay McRae, Miss Weir and Hamish the terrier all had purpose supporting and adding great feel and essence to the atmosphere and magic of the Glen balancing the aura of loneliness and tragedy that seeped through the very walls of Greystane. I was captivated as the author demonstrated a true poet's soul when he had Finlay describing the loch and surrounding glen to Kate on pages 24 and 25 (had me falling in love with this place as well). The pace was adequate with several issues going on simultaneously with Kate's budding romance with Cameron; the ghostly presence that seemed to emanate from the purported `coward of Culloden' in Jamie's cottage; the evil vibes in the chapel; and whether a curse lived on or was there human interference making it seem so. This was a lovely story, interesting, well-written and with a sweet romance for this newer author. Marilyn Rondeau, RIO - Reviewers International Organization