This was a really cute and engaging story, I loved the characters and the plot and while maybe not overly original I still found myself engrossed in the storyline. I found myself wishing I could visit the Loch and meet all of these well developed characters for myself. A very uplifting read.

I was sent this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I adored the story line and loved the main characters. I read this book in one sitting and would highly recommend this book.

Lily Ballantine certainly wasn’t expecting to be fired from her job— but being terminated by the guy she had a crush on was salt in the wound. Hurt and scrambling, she packs up and heads out to the Scottish village of Carroch to the place she’s been avoiding: the gift shop left behind in her mother’s will. She’ll stay long enough to sell it and move on … but the shop just might lead to a greater gift than she ever could have imagined.

Author Maggie Conway opens with Lily sitting at her highest point. She’s an accountant, content in her job, even if she’s playing it a little safe. Yet by the end of the first chapter, she’s plummeted— rock bottom low. Rebuffed romantically. Jobless. And questioning the safeguards she’s placed in her life. These moments are uncomfortable to read (compelling failure always is), but Lily is such a likable character that it’s impossible not to cheer her on and hope that she pulls everything together.

And this rests on one of Conway’s many major strengths: her characters are not only authentic, but irresistible. Lily bounces into the tiny village of Carroch intent on selling some property, and yet she’s immediately caught up in a small cast who are hard not to fall for as they swap, share, and weave new stories. And, of course, there’s a hint of potential love. Jack, who runs the local activities center, practically pings with his connection to Lily.

Above all of this looms Lily’s mother and the gift shop itself. It’s bluntly placed that the relationship between mother and daughter was strained, and Lily struggles in processing her grief. These moments, of simple, unrestrained exploration of life and family are beautiful. That these points carefully coincide with Lily’s own personal growth just proves that Conway is a master storyteller.

Carroch seems like a lovely place to visit. Its denizens are beyond charming. Yet it’s Conway and her skillful crafting of Lily that make The Little Gift Shop on the Loch worth visiting.

A lovely heartwarming easy read. Well written, interesting characters and a stunning location set in the highlands of Scotland. A charming story of loss, family, relationships, friendship and new beginnings.

A perfect easy light-hearted feel good summer read, with twists and turns along the way to keep the story interesting to the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for a pre publication copy. In return for an honest review!

Lily works in Bremners department store as an accountant. However when Dunn equity takes over the running due to financial insecurity Lily finds herself working with the handsome James. Lily believes he has sparked a romance in her and thinks her job and love life is secure. In the next breath Lily finds herself being made redundant.
She moves to Loch Carroch to organise her late mothers estate where she finds how delightful the people and the loch is. Lily meets Jack Armstrong the most down to the earth man. Lily decides she will not sell the gift shop as her original plan went, until all stock is gone. Whilst open she finds many secrets about her mother which unconsciously draw her to the loch as well. Lily goes through the emotions of redundancy, death, secrets and of course love with Jack.

Loch Carroch draws you in just like the beautiful cover does. It is a light-hearted summer read with a well planned and explored plot. The characters are well thought about and make you feel you have a relationship with them. You warm easily to Lily and her surroundings on the beautiful Loch Carroch.

Although the first few chapters are about Lily's work at Bremners there is no mention of her mother who suddenly a few chapters in has died. You also find Lily is talking to Mr Bell about her mothers estate and this makes you wonder who is he and where has the mother been something which is not mentioned until later on in the book.

There are many spelling and grammatical errors in this book and it detracts from the flow. However if these were rectified then this book would become a great light-hearted summer read which you could easily read in a few hours.

Thank you to HQ Digital for providing me with an ARC through NetGalley!

Plain and simple, I really enjoy this story. It's a quick, light-hearted read that feels like a warm hug.

Lily, the main character, throws herself into her work to the exclusion of all else including family and friends. So when she is made redundant, she is finally forced to tackle the grief over her mother's death that she kept at bay for so long. She travels back to her mother's favorite haunt, Carroch, to handle the gift shop her mother bequeathed her and finds more than she ever expected.

I really liked the development of Lily's character in this story. Nothing felt too rushed or too drawn out. In terms of the romantic story, this is definitely a slow-burn and fluffy story. The Scottish setting adds its own kind of magic and I found myself wanting to travel there. While predictable, I enjoyed the twists in the story and even found hints of Pride & Prejudice reflected within some plot elements/character interactions.

Cute, quick, and fluffy. A perfect read for summer!

The Little Gift Shop on the Loch by Maggie Conway. HQ Digital, 2019.

When Lily’s high-powered accounting career is disrupted along with her dreams of romance, she takes a break to sort out an inheritance from her late mother. The yet-to-be opened gift shop in a Scottish village that had been her mother’s favourite vacation spot is full of unopened boxes of stock. As she meets her mother’s friends and becomes reacquainted with villagers she knew before, Lily becomes involved in community life. Initially intending to sell as quickly as possible, when Lily finds her stock consists of exquisite treasures, she sees potential for profit and decides to open for season.

The story is the stuff of dreams! There is everything to like about this book - one of my favourites this spring. I immediately sought out and read Maggie Conway’s other wonderful books.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of The Little Gift Shop on the Loch for free via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very enjoyable read. The biggest part of Lily’s story was the loss of her mother and how a redundancy forces her to deal with what she has been avoiding. Watching her unpack her mother’s life in Carroch and come to terms with who she was, their relationship and her loss was very touching. I liked the fact that in finishing what her mother started with the gift shop she found her own place and piece of happiness. Jack was lovely and the development of his relationship with Lily was handled well even with the brief hiccup. Lily and Angus were good supporting characters and I loved the Scottish setting as well.

A really good story, worth a read. I like this author’s writing style and will definitely be checking out her other books!!

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I really enjoyed this light hearted and well written book. It made me happy.

Is it just me, or is Scotland one of those locations that sometimes seems to take almost mythical proportions. I mean, I’m sure it’s just me – but still… In The Little Gift Shop on the Loch? It certainly seems to move in that direction as well!

I was offered an ARC by Netgalley in exchange for a review. All opinions are strictly my own.

The story
Home is where the heart is…

Lily Ballantine is still reeling from losing her job and the man she’s head over heels for all in one afternoon! So with her pride in tatters, she leaves the city behind her for the charming Scottish village of Carroch.

Bequeathed the tiny gift shop by her late, free-spirited mother, she only intends to stay until she sells the place – but instead, finds herself falling for the beautiful shop, the stray cat called Misty… and the rather handsome local, Jack Armstrong.

Lily’s not looking for love, but as the little gift shop weaves its magic around her heart, she wonders whether her mother might just have left her the greatest gift of all?

The opinion
This is probably one of the slowest books I’ve read in a while. You know how sometimes, a romance can feel rushed? This book does like the opposite of it. Lily, when she arrives at the little village of Carroch, is vehemently not looking for love. If there’s an opposite of “looking for love”, that’d be what she’s doing.

Because romance is so clearly not at the forefront of her mind, the author is left with the room to see exactly what happens when you are forced out of your comfortable environment. And in the case of Lily, that’s a job that has become her safety net, but not in a positive way. Being made redundant certainly made that very clear to her.

As Lily slowly learned to open herself to not only the village which she spent so many holidays at as a child, but also the fact that her mother is gone… I felt so much for her, and I so appreciated how the author managed to bring those feelings across.

Add to all that the little snippets, offering a view into the world of whiskey. And the lovely lake. The views of Scotland? And Lily’s growing relationship with her mother’s friends? Well, you end up with an absolutely lovely little gift shop on the loch!

If you liked this, you might also like: The Printed Letter Bookshop

The rating: 3.5/5
This is one of those books that’s just absolutely perfect for when you need a calming read. The slow pace and the views of Scotland that translate so perfectly through the pages? Well, they made for a really enjoyable read!

-Saar

I loved this book so much! It made me feel as if I was beside the lochs of Scotland. I loved that this story deals with loss and how to make the best of a hard situation. I think it's a great book to read this summer that will make you feel good.

This was a light enjoyable read, set in one of my favourite locations: Scotland. A delightfully charming tale about finding yourself and finding someone that's worth you. It's about a woman who reluctantly moves to a new place after the death of her mother and during this journey she actually ends up finding what she really needs.

It's a lovely paced novel that you can sit with and happily enjoy - perfect garden read and a great selection of characters to get to know.
I enjoyed this and I'll definitely have a look at other Maggie Conway books.

Many thanks to all for the review copy.

A sweet romance in a beautiful location. A story of finding out where you need to be. After the loss of her mum, busy accountant Lily finds herself after inheriting a new way of life, one she didn’t think she needed.

I really enjoyed this book. It was very sweet and I loved the writing and of course the setting! My only gripe is that I noticed a lot of errors! With some good editing it can be great! Thank you to netgalley for the ARC!

Enjoyed the book. It was a fun read. Throughout the whole book I was hoping Lily would stay in Loch Carroch and open the gift shop. She seemed so determined to to sell it and get back to her apartment and old life even though she no longer had a job. The gift shop was the perfect place, a ready made job and it came with a cute kitty. I do not know how she was able to swim in the loch every morning. I think I would have only manged a toe. Loved getting to know Lucy and Jack. It was a feel good book with a little romance and great characters.

Definitely recommend the book. I wouldn't mind another book to see what everyone is up to in Loch Carroch. Look forward to reading more books by the author. Loved the cover of the book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from HQ Digital through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was SUCH a delightful read! I was literally just in the Highlands on holiday so I was super pleased to see that I'd gotten an eARC. I'm a sucker for small towns so was thrilled to dive into the village of Loch Carroch and going along for the ride as Lilly found herself immersed in town life. I was SO excited to see what she did with the store. Jack was a total dreamboat and I was rooting for him more than her at times (lolz). Hope this is a series, would love to revisit some of these characters and this town again!

I have received an ARC version of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

You know when you find that book that you wont put down even though you have a whole lot of other things to do?

The Little Gift Shop is quite this book!
The eternal quest of finding that 'gold middle' in your life is a dream for many people even though they don't realize that. Through Lily's character the writer manages to depict this life question in a very sweet and counseling way not making feeling guilty any of us for any of our choices.

I liked the fact that Lily in searching her new self didn't entirely throw away her old self. She was still an accountant and she would use her skills to help her new self as well as some newfound friends.

I also very much liked the setting of this book - Scottish Highlands and beautiful descriptions of the lake and this picturesque village. This is something I adored in the book - the writer didn't need 100 pages to describe something. In a very 'clean', straight but yet appealing and wonderful way with words I could imagine myself in that part of Scotland and in that mesmerizing nature even though I have no connection whatsoever with Scotland.

It was also a very important fact for me that the writer didn't dwell in outlining the love relationship as much as portraying the relationship of 'Lily with Lily' and finding that ultimate understanding of your parent/s in that very special moment in life that all of us that lost one parent can find themselves.

But the most important thing that really made me think about all the worrying in my life was that this book manages to make you question yourself and gives you some extreme motivation if you want to change your life in any way possible. If you're not happy with your life don't be afraid of a change! Embrace it!

I can see that the writer set this book and other characters in it in a way that could develop really nicely and I would for sure like to see more stories from this sublime part of the world.

The Little Gift Shop on the Loch by Maggie Conway is a sweet story of personal growth, insight and love. The caring of the characters is so heartwarming. The story allows you to learn more and more about the characters as the story unfolds. Great descriptions and no stereotypes.

I am so happy to read this. it is cute and sweet read that I very much enjoyed.
The story was so good and I loved the characters.

I do recommend this

Lily is made redundant, although she had thought that would never happen because of her close relationship to her boss. Whoops. the relationship was really all in her head. She decides to finally go sort out her mother's estate in a small town. Lily had ignored it , but with nothing better to do. She reopens her mother's small gift shop, finds a way to help the local brewery, makes friends for the first time and finds love. Can a life get any better than this? I don't think so.