The Light (Wake-Robin Ridge #4) by @MarciaMeara #Mystery with a touch of the #Paranormal #BookReview

Author: Marcia Meara

Independently Published: December 2019

Category: Mystery, Paranormal, Book Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

For Robert MacKenzie Cole—or Rabbit, as he’s known to all—the chance to accompany his family to see North Carolina’s infamous Brown Mountain Lights has him nearly dizzy with excitement. And what better night to watch this unexplained phenomenon unfold than Halloween?

I’ve enjoyed the previous books in this series very much. Eleven year old Rabbit is a remarkable little boy who has inherited an exceptional gift from his grandmother — what mountain people called ‘the Sight’, giving him the ability to sense and see things others cannot. He was brought up by his grandparents in the mountains of North Carolina and lived in isolation until they both passed away. After an arduous journey he found ‘the good people’ his grandmother had told him about and was adopted by Sarah and Mac.

In The Light, Rabbit wants to see the Brown Mountain lights on Halloween — a phenomenon that has been sighted and talked about for years without a satisfactory explanation being found. So Mac, Sarah, Rabbit and baby Branna take a late afternoon trip to Brown Mountain, with no idea of what they were about to witness.

Linville Gorge is the deepest ravine in the eastern United States, and when you make the slow, four mile crawl up the twisty, graveled road to Wiseman’s View, you discover the pamphlets are right—words don’t do the spectacle justice. Even Rabbit was at a loss for something to say. He stared out across the gorge with his eyes goggling and his mouth agape, stunned by the breathtaking fall colors spreading down the sides to the bottom, more than fifteen hundred feet below.

Rabbit meets a new friend at the overlook. Austin Dupree is planning to do a dissertation on unexplained phenomena in North Carolina. Austin and Rabbit soon become firm friends and Austin becomes part of the family.

This is an intriguing story because the lights are a real event over Brown Mountain and I’m fascinated by the unexplained. I’d love to see the lights myself. What nobody was expecting was a mysterious light floating off by itself after the light display had finished. Rabbit sensed there was something different about it. Their subsequent investigation uncovers much more than they could have imagined and I love the way the lights have been woven into the plot.

The story is mostly narrated by Sarah with some third person perspectives. All the characters have evolved as the series continues and Rabbit is learning to cope with his ever expanding abilities and is committed to using them to help people whenever he can. The descriptions are, as always, wonderful and give a visual sense of place. A steadily unfolding plot uncovers the mystery of the lone light…

Book links ~ Amazon UK | Amazon US | 

About the Author

Marcia Meara lives in central Florida, just north of Orlando, with her husband of over thirty years, four big cats, and two small dachshunds. When not writing or blogging, she spends her time gardening, and enjoying the surprising amount of wildlife that manages to make a home in her suburban yard. At the age of five, Marcia declared she wanted to be an author, and is ecstatic that at age 69, she finally began pursuing that dream. Her belief in the redemptive power of love is a unifying factor in both of her popular series and her poetry. Today, she’s still going strong, and plans to keep on writing until she falls face down on the keyboard, which she figures would be a pretty good way to go!

Marcia’s social media links ~ The Write Stuff | Bookin’ It | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

55 thoughts on “The Light (Wake-Robin Ridge #4) by @MarciaMeara #Mystery with a touch of the #Paranormal #BookReview”

    2. Hope you enjoyed it, Robbie, and are ready to watch a little mountain boy come along and take over my whole plan for a romantic suspense series, turning it into something completely different. 😀 ❤

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    2. I’ve read a lot about them, including a whole bunch of nonsensical explanations for what they might be, but haven’t yet seen them, myself. Still hoping I get a chance for that experience. 🙂

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      1. So glad the series has been fun for you, Cathy! It’s always a joy to revisit this family, and find out what’s going on up there on Wake-Robin Ridge, where things still go bump in the night. 😀 ❤

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    1. Thank you, Staci. You know how much I enjoy writing this one. It’s like taking a vacation with a different branch of my family, in a place I love more than any other. Except, you know–writing down every detail that happens. 😀 😀 😀

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  6. What a lovely surprise to wake up to this morning, Cathy! Thank you so much for this beautiful review!

    As you might imagine, the Cole family–particularly that little boy named Rabbit–are very dear to me, and those North Carolina mountains definitely speak to my soul. The mystery of the Brown Mountain Lights has intrigued me for some time, though I have to admit, I haven’t seen them, myself. Yet!

    The newest characters to join these tales have lots to bring to the table, I think, especially Austin Dupree, who now has a place in my heart right next to Rabbit.

    Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and for making an overcast Monday morning much, much brighter! 🙂 ❤

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      1. Yay! I’m thinking a spinoff series of novellas might be in order soon, and who knows what else might be coming after that. 😀

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  7. Reblogged this on The Write Stuff and commented:
    Woke up to find a wonderful review of my latest Wake-Robin Ridge book, The Light, on Cathy Ryan’s lovely Between the Lines blog. Hope you’ll take a moment to see what Cathy has to say about this one, and will pass it along on all your favorite social media sites. And oh, yeah–maybe grab a copy for yourself, if you haven’t gotten yours! 😀 Thanks, and my heartfelt thanks to Cathy, too, for this terrific review! 🙂 ❤

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  8. Cathy, like you, I’m fascinated by the unexplained, and the Brown Mountain Lights have been on my radar for a while. Finding them in Marcia’s book The Light was a wonderful bonus. I’ve enjoyed the whole series, but The Light is my favorite. I loved the twists on the legend, and the addition of Austin as a key character. Then of course there’s Rabbit who grows more endearing with each new story. Excellent review. Bravo to Marcia!

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    1. Aw, thanks, Mae. I’m so glad you love Rabbit as much as I do. (Almost!) 😀 He makes it all so much fun! And I’m glad to know you enjoyed the Cole’s visits to see those mysterious lights. Someday I’m going to make it there, myself. 😀 Also glad you enjoyed Austin. I hadn’t started out thinking of him as becoming quite so important, but he went and did it, anyway. 😀 Thanks for stopping by! 🙂 ❤

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    2. I’m looking forward to seeing what you think, Harmony. Hope you’ll love them all and will enjoy meeting Little Rabbit. 😀 Be careful, though. He’s notorious for stealing hearts. 😀 😀 😀

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    1. Thanks, Natalie. It was such a treat to wake up to Cathy’s review. I’m so pleased she enjoyed the book! If my life ever settles down enough for me to do some serious writing, I do hope to get back to the series for more. I just need to finish my WIP (the 3rd Emissary novella) and then write Book 4 in the Riverbend series first. Yeah, that’s all. Should be able to knock that out in a couple of weeks, right??? (Eeep! 😯 ) 😀

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  12. Pingback: Smorgasbord Blogger Daily – Monday March 2nd 2020- #Book Recommendations from D.L. Finn, Annika Perry and Cathy Ryan | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

  14. All right. This seals the deal! I simply must go to North Carolina! I’m such a fan of the Author Ron Rash, who many call the Appalachian Shakespeare! This book sounds incredible, Marsha! and also this from your bio: ” she’s still going strong, and plans to keep on writing until she falls face down on the keyboard, which she figures would be a pretty good way to go!” LOL!

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    1. Thanks so much, Claire! The North Carolina mountains are my favorite place in the WORLD (so far). 😀 Even though I’m a Florida native, my heart is in those mountains! They’re the oldest mountains on the planet, and you can sense that in the way they’ve been worn down and rounded into rolling shapes. *sigh* I miss them all the time! So it was only natural for me to set my very first book up there. I’ve loved writing every one of the four in this series, so far, and hope to keep from doing that faceplant on the keyboard for a few more years yet. I have more stories inside dying to get out! 😀

      Thanks for stopping by today, and if you get a chance to read any of these, I’ll be eager to hear your thoughts. In the meantime, I’m going to look up Ron Rash. (I’m embarrassed to say I don’t recognize the name, but then, I’m almost as old as the Blue Ridge mountains, myself. 😀 I forget things now and then. 😀 )

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      1. Marcia, Ron Rash is revered by so many writers. He’s won the O’Henry Award twice! I had the pleasure of meeting Ron Rash in person at the literary festival, Pat Conroy at 70, ( for Conroy’s birthday) in Beaufort, South Carolina, in 2015. Conroy died the following March, and that literary festival went on in memory of Conroy and continues each year in November. So, it was at the inaugural Pat Conroy Literary Festival in 2016 that I returned and had the honor of introducing Ron Rash on stage. A highlight of my life, and I encourage you to read him! I recommend his book, Serena. You can look him up on YouTube and see him reading from his work in the most authentic Appalachain accent you’ve ever heard. And also, have you ever been to Cashiers, NC? That’s where I must go!

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      2. I looked him up yesterday, Claire, and was super impressed by his bio. I’ve added several of his books to my TBR list, and am looking forward to reading them, too.

        Yes, I’ve been to Cashiers, but only briefly. Most of my NC time has been spent in the Chimney Rock, Lake Lure, Asheville areas, and Charlotte, where my parents lived for some years. I especially love exploring waterfalls, and have visited lots of really beautiful ones.

        I wrote Wake-Robin Ridge because I always dreamed of living in a cabin just like the one my main character moved into. It’s not going to happen for me in real life, but I can live that life vicariously through Sarah. And I do! 😀

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  15. Oh, I must read this and the two that precede it. I read Wake-Robin Ridge Book 1 and loved it! I’m sorry, Marcia, but I have been so busy I haven’t reviewed it yet, but I can tell you it’s a 5-star book!

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    1. Woooohooo! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed Wake-Robin Ridge!!! This day just keeps getting better and better! And I fully understand being so busy that all the things you mean to do keep getting pushed aside as Life throws other stuff at you. I will look forward to hearing what you think of the rest of the books when you find time to read them. As you may have figured out, once Rabbit arrived on the scene, the whole direction of the stories changed, but hopefully in the best of ways. He’s just a joy to write, and I was thrilled to find Cathy’s lovely review this morning. Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to comment. 🙂 ❤

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      2. Funny, in recent years, the wee hours seem to come earlier and earlier each night! I’m still reading myself to sleep at night, only these days, it happens at about 9:00!!! 😯 😀

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    1. The books can be read as stand-alones, but I don’t recommend it. Knowing the backstory will help you understand so much about why the characters react the way they do, so I always suggest reading them in order, Claire. All the groundwork is laid in the Book 1, and even though it’s the first book I ever wrote, and I’ve tried to improve my technique with each successive one, I think you’ll enjoy the series more with that one behind you. But either way you choose to do it, I hope you find something you love in each book. 🙂 ❤

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