Firefly Island

Lisa Wingate is an award-winning journalist, magazine columnist, popular inspirational speaker and a national bestselling author of 16 books.  Her first mainstream novel, Tending Roses, is in its fifteenth printing from Penguin Putnam.  Tending Roses is a staple on the shelves of national bookstore chains as well as in many independent bookstores.
Recently, Lisa’s Blue Sky Hill Series, set in Dallas, received national attention with back-to-back nominations for American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year Award for A Month of Summer (2009) and The Summer Kitchen (2010). In 2011, Lisa's Novel, Never Say Never, won the American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year Award.  Pithy, emotional, and inspirational, her stories bring to life characters so real that readers often write to ask what is happening to them after the book ends.
Lisa is one of a select group of authors to find success in both the Christian and mainstream markets, writing for both Bethany House, a Christian publisher, and NAL Penguin Putnam, in mainstream fiction.  Her bestselling books have become a hallmark of inspirational southern fiction. Her works have been featured by the National Reader's Club of America, AOL Book Picks, Doubleday Book Club, the Literary Guild, American Profiles and have been chosen for numerous awards.
When not busy dreaming up stories, Lisa spends time on the road as a motivational speaker. Via internet, she shares with readers as far away as India, where her book, Tending Roses, has been used to promote women's literacy, and as close to home as Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the county library system has used Tending Roses to help volunteer mentors teach adults to read.  Recently, the group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa along with Bill Ford, Camille Cosby, and six others, as recipients of the National Civies Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life.

You can interact with Lisa via her website found at www.lisawingate.com. She also blogs on Mondays at www.SouthernBelleView.com.

Firefly Island is the third book in Lisa's Moses Lake Series.  Previous books in this series are Lakespur Cove and Blue Moon Bay.

Book Synopsis:
Mallory Hale's life quickly veers off course when she falls hopelessly in love.  After a whirlwind romance, Mallory finds herself leaving the bustle and action of Capitol Hill for the remote town of Moses Lake, Texas - with husband, stepson, and a U-Haul in tow.  A sweet, mishap-filled journey into marriage, motherhood, and ranch living ensues, and Mallory is filled with both the wonderment of love and the insecurities of change.  But what she can't shake is the unease she feels around her husband's new boss, Jack West.  Jack's presence - and mysterious past - set her on edge, and when hints of a scandal emerge, Mallory finds herself seeking answers...and comes to realize that the middle-of-nowhere home she wasn't sure she wanted is the very place she'll risk everything to save.

I think you will enjoy this interview with Lisa, where she shares some of the real life inspirations behind the story in Firefly Island:



My Thoughts:
I love Lisa Wingate's writing!  Firefly Island is a story of motherhood, marriage, and the things in life that mold us into the people we are.  I loved Mallory from page one!  I could connect with this character on multiple levels.  In the story she discovers blogging which is something I love to do.  Lisa is a master storyteller in that she doesn't just tell a story; she creates a story that is believable and one which leaves you contemplating what you've read long after you've turned the last page. Lisa even leaves a little mystery dangling at the end of this one.  She beautifully incorporates the themes of love, loss, courage, scandal and a bit of mystery into one masterpiece.  The descriptive aspect of her writing makes you feel as if you live right there in Moses Lake yourself.  I always know I've read an exceptional book when I'm a little sad to let the characters go and I'm kept wondering for days after what "so and so" is up to as if they were real people!
I'm not ready to leave Moses Lake!!

Thank you Bethany House for sending me a complimentary copy of the book for the purpose of this review!

Blessings,
Jennifer