Firefly Island is the third of four novels in Lisa Wingate’s Shores of Moses Lake series. This story doesn’t start there, however.
Mallory Hale is a congressional staffer in Washington, D. C. following in the footsteps of her lobbyist father, when she unexpectedly meets Daniel Webster Everson, a biochemist working for the USDA. After a whirlwind romance, Daniel is offered a job in tiny Moses Lake, Texas. He asks Mallory to marry him and move to Moses Lake with him and his four-year-old son, Nick.
Mallory agrees. She’s not sure kind of job a congressional staffer can find there, but she can’t live without Daniel and Nick.
A series of mishaps begins their married life in less than fairy-tale happily ever afters. The house provided with Daniel’s job has not been lived in and is infested with vermin. Daniel’s new boss, Jack, is taciturn and erratic. The small community seems to eye Jack warily.
Suddenly thrust into a new marriage, motherhood, and setting, Mallory struggles. She finds friendship with her cowgirl neighbor, Al, and a young teacher, Keren.
Mallory is suspicious of Jack. Rumors circulate about his possible involvement in the disappearance of his wife and son. He’s secretive to the point of paranoia about his business. When his politician older son, with whom he has not been involved with in years, comes to visit, more details don’t add up. Jacks’ old cabin on Firefly Island is supposedly deserted, yet there are strange boats moored there. Mallory’s search for information leads to tie-ins with her old job. Can Mallory find out what’s going on and bring it to light before a disaster happens?
If I had read this book first in the series, I probably would not have continued. It starts out like a romance novel with what seems to me a lot of silliness (does anyone say hubba hubba any more?) Though there are no explicit scenes, there are more references to the couple’s physical relationship than I care for. Then the plot seems to drag in the middle.
But the latter half of the novel comes together nicely with mystery and intrigue. I enjoyed the interactions with characters from the first two books.
Besides the adjustments with a new marriage and the mystery behind her husband’s boss, Mallory deals with interactions with the more disadvantaged section of Moses Lake. Mallory has been raised the sheltered youngest daughter of a comfortable family. When she takes Nick to a children’s activity and sees a lot of unkempt kids, she worries about lice and bad attitudes. But over time she gets to know the kids and their needs, sees them differently, and looks for ways to help. “Was I really so entrenched in the world I’d been raised in, so set in my ways that I couldn’t look beyond the surface of another person and see a human being? Was I that shallow?” (p. 214).
I also thought this was a sweet line after an encounter with Nick: “Watching him skitter away, I felt the process of loving and parting and holding on and letting go that would be our future together, his and mine” (p. 203).
So, while this wasn’t my favorite of Lisa’s books, I gained from it.
(Sharing with Bookish Bliss)
Stray Thoughts 
I’m tempted to read this book just to see where “hubba hubba” fits in with the narrative. LOL The intrigue and mystery sound interesting, once you gt past the romance part. Thanks for the review.
The hubba hubba comes in the first chapter when the two main characters notice each other. 🙂
Ha ha, things like the “hubba hubba” could turn me off to a book too 🙂 Good review, and it reminds me of something interesting (to me at least) that I just learned — how to mark a book did not finish on Goodreads without it showing up on my “read” list. Huge for me since I often begin a book I’m interested in and then toss it back without finishing. This way I can keep track of those so I don’t inadvertently start it again.
Thanks for that info! I usually just end up deleting books I didn’t finish from GoodReads.
i love lisa wingate’s books and have read a few but sadly our town library doesn’t have this series. The librarian said she might be able to get it for me if I put in an official request via the online account so I might do that. I’ve been reading a lot of secular fiction lately…some good….some not so good. Would love to find some new Wingate stories! thanks for a great review
I got Kindle versions of the first three books on sale some years ago, then the audioversions were free on Audible for several weeks. I’m racing to finish the last one, the only one I don’t have a Kindle copy of, before it disappears from the Audible free catalog. They rotate titles in and out of there.
Hmmm…I’m a bit disappointed to read that Lisa Wingate has included scenes that I might be uncomfortable with. You and I are so similar in what we enjoy in our reading material. I think I will remove this series from my wish list. Thank you for your honest review, Barbara.
I hope I didn’t overdo my description of it. There’s nothing really explicit–I just think that part of a character’s life doesn’t need to be mentioned at all.
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Not realizing this was part of a series, I had read it first some years ago. And now finally getting to it after the first two, it was a joy to see glimpses of Len and Birdie and the Waterbird Bait and Grocery and Dustin working at the hardware store.
Yes–that’s a fun element of reading a series all in a row. I’m reading the fourth and last now, and it’s starting out very differently–it doesn’t get to Moses Lake until about a third of the way in. But the first scene there is with a couple of the fishermen from the Waterbird. 🙂
This sounds interesting. But knowing me and how I skip forward when it drags or over questionable stuff to get to the meat of the storyline. Sometimes the storyline is great but it drags getting there. Once there I’m like Oooo this is good. Lol.
Thank you for sharing with Bookish Bliss Musings & More Quarterly Link Up dear friend.