My enormous thanks to the Choc Lit and Ruby Fiction team for sending me a copy of Spring at Taigh Fallon by Kirsty Ferry in return for an honest review. I’ve previously had the pleasure of ‘staying in’ with Kirsty Ferry here on Linda’s Book Bag when we chatted all about The Girl in the Photograph in a post you can read here. Today I’m delighted to be reviewing one of Kirsty’s books.

Spring at Taigh Fallon was published by Choc Lit on 19th February and is available for purchase through the links here.

Spring at Taigh Fallon

When Angel Tempest finds out that her best friend Zac has inherited a Scottish mansion, Taigh Fallon, from his great aunt, she immediately offers to go and visit it with him. It will mean closing up her jet jewellery shop in Whitby for a few days but the prospect of a spring trip to the Scottish Highlands is too tempting.

Then Kyle, Zac’s estranged and slightly grumpy Canadian cousin, unexpectedly turns up at Taigh Fallon, and events take a strange turn as the long-kept secrets of the old house begin to reveal themselves …

My Review of Spring at Taigh Fallon

Angel and Zac have been friends for years.

Now, I’ve heard such good things about Kirsty Ferry from other bloggers so I was looking forward to reading Spring at Taigh Fallon and it certainly lived up to my expectations.

I thought Kirsty Ferry had done a magnificent job in blending the two time frames for her story with the house, Taigh Fallon, at the centre. The two eras melded together so well with echoes of the past reverberating in the present. There’s just enough supernatural ghostliness to be credible and provide a frisson of excitement without straying into the realms of the ridiculous so that, although this isn’t my usual choice of genre, Kirsty Ferry held my attention completely and entertained me royally.

Similarly, the romantic relationships in the narrative felt totally real and believable. I was captivated by both Zac and Kyle and would rather have liked a romantic interlude with either of them. Angel Tempest, however, steals the show. She’s stubborn, flawed and impetuous – just as any romantic heroine should be. I loved the fact that she’s a strong Whitby Goth rather than a simpering blond haired fragile female in need of a man to take care of her. I’m not usually overly fond of children but Grace worked well for me here and afforded Kyle the right opportunity to reveal his true nature so that the characters in Spring at Taigh Fallon felt human and warm to me.

I also thoroughly appreciated the iterative image of The Lady of Shalott that runs through the story with the tower, mirror and superstitions of the setting. It added a smashing layer of satisfaction to the read.

I thought Spring at Taigh Fallon was a perfect grown up romantic fairy tale for adults and can’t wait to read about the other Tempest sisters. I found it romantic without being slushy, well plotted and enormously entertaining. I’m only sorry it has taken me so long to discover Kirsty Ferry’s lovely writing first hand.

About Kirsty Ferry

Kirsty Ferry is from the North East of England and lives there with her husband and son. She won the English Heritage/Belsay Hall National Creative Writing competition in 2009 and has had articles and short stories published in Peoples Friend, The Weekly News, It’s Fate, Vintage Script, Ghost Voices and First Edition. Her work also appears in several anthologies, incorporating such diverse themes as vampires, crime, angels and more.

Kirsty loves writing ghostly mysteries and interweaving fact and fiction. The research is almost as much fun as writing the book itself, and if she can add a wonderful setting and a dollop of history, that’s even better.

Her day job involves sharing a building with an eclectic collection of ghosts, which can often prove rather interesting.

You can follow Kirsty on Twitter @Kirsty_Ferry You’ll also find Kirsty on Facebook. Kirsty has a super site here too.