Firefly Island

December 10, 2012
In this third volume of award-winning novelist Wingate’s Moses Lake series, Mephistopheles meets modern love in a cozy but predictable story of leaning on one’s steady faith. In an office comedy of errors, congressional staffer Mallory Hale runs into handsome (“beautiful green eyes... seemed to glow with an inner light that was almost otherworldly”) Daniel Webster Everson and falls head over heels into the yawning chasm of love. Everson comes with baggage in the form of a young son, Nick, from a previous and unhappy marriage, and love-struck Mallory welcomes both into her yearning heart. Life swims with joy until Jack West offers Daniel a job in the middle-of-nowhere Texas; Daniel asks Mallory to marry him, and soon, Mallory, Daniel, and Nick are bound for the Lone Star state, where a series of mysterious circumstances on Firefly Island threaten their marriage and their lives. The novel’s moralistic ending is unsatisfying and fails to match the often suspenseful power of the rest of the novel.

February 1, 2013
The excitement of a love-at-first-sight whirlwind marriage quickly turns into a harrowing adventure when Mallory Hale leaves her comfortable Washington, D.C., life after Daniel accepts a new job. He is certain that their life in Texas will be perfect, both for the newlyweds and his son, Nick, but Texas is nothing like Mallory hoped for. Versatile and prolific, Wingate weaves a story of deception, secrecy, and scandal as Mallory attempts to settle into being a wife and mother in the tiny town of Moses Lake. Fitting in proves difficult, as their neighbors are wary of Daniel's boss, and no one is willing to admit why. Just when they finally begin to get comfortable, Mallory uncovers truths tied back to her former days in the swirl of Washington politics. Concern for her family competes with Mallory's desire to get to the bottom of the mess surrounding them. Wingate's many fans and fans of women's fiction will find this novel about one woman's struggle to discover who she is meant to be deeply satisfying.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)