When I first looked at The Poet of Loch Ness I wasn't sure what to expect as this is Brian Jay Corrigan’s first novel, and not your typical romance by any means. He combines a little mystery into the mix to create a story that sticks with you long after you put the book down, and leaves you asking what you would do for the one you love? How far would you go to make them happy? For me, this book brought back forgotten childhood memories, like playing dress up and acting like I was a princess in a castle waiting for my prince to save me from the mean dragons that held me hostage. But the prince would never come of course, just my brother and his friends to laugh at it all. It also opened my eyes to things I didn’t realize I do at times. My husband tells me all the time he can see the gears grinding. Like a lot of people I dream of going on trips to places I know I will never make it to, like The Virgin Isles, Ireland and Scotland to name a few. Hearing and watching things on television about these places always gets my attention. So I get lost in the moment, as I am sure lots of people do.

Peridita Miggs, the heroine, is someone I could readily relate to. Peridita Miggs grew up listening to her grandmother’s stories about her childhood in the Highlands. Now after seventeen years of yearning to return to Scotland, Peridita finally has a chance. Her husband Perry tells her he’s received a grant from the college in Michigan where he is a Marine Biology Professor, to study the Loch Ness. Lots of people call him simple and dull with no interests other than his job, and feel he’s stuck in a rut as far as his life goes. However, all things happen for a reason and his reason is simple: it’s all for the one person he loves, his wife. For the next six months while he does his research of the Loch Ness and a monster that may or may not exist, she gets a chance to revisit a place she loves and found love at one time.

After returning, Peridita learns that Andrew Macgruer, the man she left behind has not had the life she hoped he would live. Can she help him accomplish that and will the love she has for her husband be enough for her in the end? Scotland may hold the key to Peridita’s yearning, but she holds the key to so much more, so many people’s lives she never knew existed. When an old man becomes a part of their everyday life, no one questions anything. Adam Grant is known as Mad Adam, he walks the shores and swears he sees and talks to the Loch Ness Monster named Nessie, by the town people. When Perry lets Adam in on a secret, he agrees to help him out. Adam is supposed to make sure Peridita has her medicine everyday, put into her food or tea, so she doesn't know she is receiving anything. However is it really medicine or something more? What ends will he go to, to keep a promise to help out? While staying in Scotland the Miggs, rent a room from two sisters, Kira Shaw and Caitlain Reese. Upon arriving and paying them in advance for their stay, they learn that an old flame of Kira's might be returning to her. After she sends word to him about the money she now has. However after years of waiting for his return, will the love they once shared bring the couple back together? Or will the past be too much for them to overcome?

The Poet of Loch Ness is a story of romance and mystery, with a twist. To take a quote from the author himself, "the most difficult choices are not between right and wrong, but rather between one right and another." If you are now, or ever have been in a relationship where you've loved so deeply you were lost in it, or if you've ever wanted to be in that kind of relationship, this book is for you. For a first novel this has it all and is well done to top it off. If you love a good mystery, or if you are a hopeless romantic like myself, this one should be at the top of your list.

Reviewed By: Tammy Adams
© February 2006