Book Review: Wildwood Creek by Lisa Wingate

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 reenactment 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.

My Review: Wildwood Creek is the forth of Lisa Wingate's books to take us to Moses Lake. Unlike the others in the series, I really feel that this book stands alone. While characters from other stories in the series do appear, a reader won't have to be familiar with these characters to understand what is happening in this novel. Wildwood Creek has a distinct feel to it. The story weaves two women's lives together though a century separates them. I loved the back and forth between the present day story and the historical narrative. While both stories are told in the first person, I found it interesting that the present day story was told in past tense, while the historical part was told in present tense. I think that really helped my mind separate the two stories, and yet it gave the historical piece an intimate feel. I must admit, this is my favorite book of the Moses Lake series.

My Rating:

My Recommendation: I highly recommend this book to readers of historical and contemporary fiction.

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.