Starlight on Willow Lake

Wiggs breathes some new life into the Willow Lake series by introducing three new Bellamy siblings, distant cousins of the family featured in Summer at Willow Lake, Dockside etc. The romance between Mason Bellamy and his mother's home health aide, Faith, is very understated to the point of nonexistent (Mason has a girlfriend/fiance for most of the book, so while he and Faith develop a friendship and strong attraction, they don't act on it until the last few pages). But the rewarding part of the book is actually Alice Bellamy's journey from bitter, helpless quadriplegic to a person with a disability who learns, with Faith's help, that she can still have a rewarding life. Faith is also transformed, from grieving but scrappy widow to a woman ready to open her heart to new friends and love. Mason's brother and sister are obviously sequel bait, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Faith's teenaged daughter Cara and her geeky friend Milo turn up again someday a la Daisy Bellamy.

A few characters from other Lakeshore Chronicle books make brief appearances but for the most part Starlight reads perfectly well as a standalone or as an introduction to Chronicles 2.0 for new readers. After almost 10 years, this series has had its ups and downs but it is generally reliable well-written women's fiction.