Summer on Lilac Island

MacMillan (Double-Decker Dreams) spins a delightful multigenerational tale of a restless young woman’s return to idyllic Mackinac Island, Mich. Gigi Jenkins grew up on the island and left right before her high school graduation, decamping to Florida with the son of the state’s governor, the first of many short-lived relationships in her decade away. Now, Gigi reluctantly moves back in with her mother, Eloise. Not much has changed, and her grandmother, Alice, still lives just up the road. When Eloise tries to set Gigi up on a date with the island’s newest doctor, she agrees only if Eloise will go a date with Clyde, the handsome Scottish author Gigi met on the island ferry. Mackinac has a wholesome veneer, but many locals harbor secrets, such as Alice’s affair with her high school sweetheart and the daughter Eloise’s childhood friend Deidre gave up for adoption in college. Some plot threads are left dangling, but MacMillan’s well-drawn characters and winsome scene-setting save the day. Readers are in for a treat. Agent: Emma Parry, Janklow & Nesbit. (July)