In her latest contemporary romance, New York Times best-selling author Susan Wiggs returns to the world of the Bellamy family and the snowy landscape of Willow Lake in Avalon, New York. When career-driven attorney Sophie Bellamy survives a terrorist attack, she's compelled to re-evaluate the demands of her work and its impact on her personal life. Making a life-altering decision, she walks away from a prestigious appointment at the World Court in The Hague to relocate to Willow Lake and focus on being a mother. Her children, Max and Daisy, are accustomed to Sophie's role as a long-distance, part-time parent. Now Sophie prays they'll welcome her determination to make up for the past and become a hands-on mother who's fully involved in their lives.
Arriving at Willow Lake in the midst of a winter blizzard, she's shaken when her vehicle slides off the road into a ditch. Fortunately, hunky neighbor and local veterinarian Noah Shepherd comes to her rescue. The attraction between the two is instantaneous and Sophie's new world suddenly includes the unexpected delight of falling in love.
Sophie focuses on building a life in Avalon, learning to be a hockey mom to Max, reconnecting with Daisy, babysitting Daisy's tiny son, Charlie, and working in a local law office. Life slowly settles into a semblance of normalcy as Sophie struggles to come to terms with lingering trauma from the terrorist incident, the underlying causes of her divorce, her ex-husband's remarriage, and her parents' expectations that she'll return to her high-powered career. Threaded through each day is the heady pleasure of loving Noah. But there are things Sophie doesn't know about Noah and when she learns the truth, it threatens to tear them apart forever.
Snowfall at Willow Lake is a charming addition to the popular Lakeshore Chronicles and readers will thoroughly enjoy revisiting the beloved residents and familiar streets of Avalon and the shores of Willow Lake. Wiggs excels at layering her characters with depth and complexity and fans of Sophie's children, Daisy and Max, will especially delight in the growth of those two characters. Wiggs places her oh-so-interesting people in a rural winter setting that makes the reader dream of snow and chilled air, and the result is a can't-put-down, eminently satisfying read.
Lois Faye Dyer writes from Port Orchard, Washington.
