Firefly Island

Firefly Island is one of Lisa Wingate's earlier contemporary novels, set in the Texas Hill Country and built around the kind of small town romance and family redemption story that her readers have come to know her for. Mallory Hale is a thirty something Washington DC professional whose comfortable urban life is upended when she meets Daniel Everson, a single father from rural Texas who has come to the capital briefly on business. The whirlwind romance that follows leads Mallory to make the kind of impulsive decision her friends consider crazy. She quits her job, marries Daniel, and follows him back to his ranch on Moses Lake in the Texas Hill Country, where she has agreed to be a stepmother to his young son Nick and to figure out how to be a Texas ranch wife without any of the experience or background that the role would normally require.

The novel follows Mallory through the inevitable complications of her new situation. The unfamiliar geography. The unfamiliar community. The complicated relationship with Nick, who has been through enough loss in his short life that adapting to a new stepmother is not going to be quick or easy. The wider community of Moses Lake, which welcomes Mallory with the kind of small town hospitality that is genuine but also comes with the expectation that she will fit herself into the existing social patterns of the place. And the larger mystery of what is actually happening at the ranch, with strange events that suggest someone is trying to drive Daniel and Mallory off the land for reasons that take the rest of the novel to clarify.

Lisa Wingate writes accessible faith inflected fiction that handles its religious elements with a light touch rather than overt evangelism. Her readership crosses over significantly with general historical fiction readers who may not share her faith perspective but appreciate her storytelling. The Texas Hill Country setting is rendered with affection, the small town community is drawn with care, and the central romance has the kind of slow building emotional weight that her readers come to her for.

For readers who came to Wingate through Before We Were Yours, Firefly Island offers a different side of her work. For new readers, this is an accessible introduction to her contemporary fiction and to the kind of warm, character driven storytelling that defines her wider catalogue.