Wildwood Creek

Back Cover

With love and loss tangled together, how was she to know where her life would lead?

Allie Kirkland has always heard the call of her father’s unfinished destiny.  When she’s offered a production assistant’s job on a docudrama filming in the hills near Moses Lake, Texas, the dream of following in her director-father’s footsteps suddenly seems within reach.  The re-enactment of the legendary frontier settlement of Wildwood is a first step into the film industry.  A summer on set in the wilderness is a small price to pay for a dream.

But in 1861, the real Wildwood held dangerous realities.  Town founder Harland Delavan held helpless residents, including young Irish schoolteacher Bonnie Rose, in an iron grip.  Mysterious disappearances led to myths and legends still retold in the region’s folk songs.  Eventually, the entire site was found abandoned.

When filming begins, strange connections surface between Allie and the teacher who disappeared over a century ago, and everyone in Wildwood—including Blake Fulton, Allie’s handsome neighbor on the film set—seems to be hiding secrets.  Allie doesn’t know whom she can trust.  If she can’t find the answers in time, history may repeat itself…with the most unthinkable results.

Review

What a fresh new novel from Lisa Wingate!  From the first page, the story is shrouded is an eerie mystery that mingles the past with the present.  Caught in the middle is Allie Kirkland, who just wants to work as a production assistant, but gets more than she bargains for when she is pulled into the intrigue surrounding the life of Bonnie Rose and the inhabitants of Wildwood.  Add to that her headstrong friend, Kim, who likes to overstep boundaries, and a handsome, albeit secretive, neighbour, Blake, (who Allie can’t help but be attracted to), Allie Kirkland is in for one crazy summer.

With rich characters, some of which appear to have “hidden agendas”, and a story full of twists and turns, Wildwood Creek is a great book with a little bit of everything to satisfy a wide range of readers.  I loved the fact that it is a continuation of Lisa’s "Moses Lake" series, as there are a few reappearances of the town’s most colourful residents.  As with her previous novels, Wildwood Creek shows off Lisa’s lyrical writing and beautiful prose.  I particularly enjoyed the heightened sense of mystery that kept a strong thread of intrigue throughout the chapters.  Lisa’s stories just keep getting better and better!

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.  Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group.