HOME BEFORE DARK

Wiggs's latest is an entertaining romance perfect for beach listening. Sixteen years ago, unwed Jessie gave her newborn daughter up for adoption to her married sister (whose husband, unbeknownst to him, was actually the baby's father). Jessie then settled in New Zealand and became a celebrated nature photographer. Now going blind, she returns home to Texas to reconnect with her sister and see her daughter—and conveniently fall in love with Dusty, a widowed pilot who lives nearby. This is enjoyable fluff, apart from the cliché of the heroine abruptly dumping the hero without explanation because she doesn't want to "burden" him with her terrible secret. Narrator Eby reads with expression, but ignores specific vocal directions in the text. It's jarring to hear various characters comment on Jessie's New Zealand accent when listeners are hearing her speak without one, or to learn that Jessie's mother, Glennie, has "a deep, sweet voice" when Eby reads her lines in a high, crackling tone. Throughout the text such lines as "her voice broke on a sob" or "there was a hitch in her voice" are not accompanied by any break or hitch in Eby's reading. On the positive side, she does attempt a Texas drawl for Dusty and a Spanish accent for his friend Arnufo. And she's terrific when portraying petulant teenager Lila: Eby's "Whatever!" captures teenage sarcasm perfectly (listeners can almost hear the accompanying eye roll). Simultaneous release with the Mira hardcover (Forecasts, Mar. 31). (Apr.)