Finding Hunter: Riverbend Book 2

It’s Sunday again, and time for me to share one of my own favorite reviews, this time for the second book in my Riverbend series, Finding Hunter. Hope you enjoy it, and will consider sharing it all over the place. (Go ahead. Make my day! 😀 ) THANKS!

REVIEW:

4.0 out of 5 stars Emotional and moving
By CathyR on March 27, 2016

4.5*
Following on from Swamp Ghosts, this story brings to life the lives of Willow Greene, close friend of Maggie Devlin, now Maggie Wolfe, and Hunter Painter, best friend of Maggie’s husband, Gunn.

Ever since he could remember Hunter has felt different, separate from his peers. He’s quiet and introspective, enjoying reading and writing, not at all like his older brothers, Forrest and Jackson, who have always been outgoing, taking whatever life offers. Hunter’s sensitivity to people and his surroundings have impacted on his life and psyche steadily over the years.

Willow has been in love with Hunter ever since high school. When she has a surprise phone call from Hunter the day after Maggie and Gunn’s wedding party, she invites him over. Realising, after all these years, they feel the same for each other Willow and Hunter spend as much time together as possible. But Hunter believes happiness is not meant for him. His lot was to look out for his parents since his dad was turning a blind eye to a serious problem, which was obvious to Hunter. His overriding fear that he would take after his mother meant, to his mind, he could never have a lasting relationship.

The insecurities and secret dread Hunter has lived with all his life prove too much for him to cope with as events spiral, his worst fears culminating in a terrible tragedy which shatters him and shocks everyone close to him. Hunter is lost in a desolation and pain so deep it overtakes him totally.

This story has a completely different atmosphere to Swamp Ghosts, in that it’s not as suspenseful or tense in a thriller kind of way. Rather, this focuses quite a bit on mental health issues and how, if left unrecognised, ignored or untreated, can cause untold damage. It’s also about the struggle to find a way back from hopelessness and despair. Willow and Hunter both have a battle on their hands.

In addition, the emphasis is also on relationships and family. And the power of love. Marcia Meara represents all of this extremely well from the perspective of the well defined and sympathetic characters. There’s an impressive depth and interpretation in the vivid portrayals which will stay with me for a while, I think.

The short passages at the start of the chapters are intriguing and add a sense of anticipation, wanting to know who the travelling man is and his role in the story. It makes sense when all is revealed, and it was a surprise.

BLURB:

Before, I never thought about taking a life. Not once.
Now, the thought fills my mind day and night, and
I wonder how I’ll hide that terrible need,
As an old car swings to the shoulder,
And stops.

~ Traveling Man ~

Hunter Painter’s darkest fears have shaped his offbeat personality since he was a child, crippling him in ways invisible to those unable to see past his quiet exterior. In a sleepy Florida town known for its eccentric inhabitants, he’s always been a mystery to most.

Only one person sees beyond Hunter’s quirky facade. Willow Greene, the new age herbalist who owns the local candle and potpourri shop, has secretly loved him since they were in high school. When, sixteen years later, she discovers Hunter has loved her just as long, Willow hopes her dreams are finally coming true.

Soon, Willow learns that Hunter fears happiness at her side isn’t in the cards for him. With her natural optimism and courage, she almost convinces him he’s wrong—that they can really have that life together they both long for—but even Willow can’t stop what Hunter knows is coming.

One by one, his worst nightmares become reality, culminating in an unthinkable tragedy, which devastates everyone it touches. Willow’s battle begins in earnest as Hunter is plunged into a bleak, guilt-ridden despair, threatening to destroy not only their love, but Hunter, himself.

Finding Hunter is the story of a lost man’s desperate struggle to make his way home again, and one woman’s unshakeable faith in him and the power of their love.

Author Marcia Meara

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!

Buy Finding Hunter: Riverbend Book 2 HERE

Marcia has published six novels, one novella, and one book of poetry to date, all of which are available on Amazon:

Wake-Robin Ridge
A Boy Named Rabbit: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 2
Harbinger: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 3

Swamp Ghosts: A Riverbend Novel
Finding Hunter: Riverbend Book 2
That Darkest Place: Riverbend Book 3

The Emissary: A Riverbend Spinoff Novella

Summer Magic: Poems of Life & Love

Marcia’s Amazon Author Page

You can reach Marcia via email at marciameara16@gmail.com or on the following social media sites:

The Write Stuff: https://marciamearawrites.com/
Twitter: @marciameara
Facebook: www.facebook.com/marcia.meara.writer
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/marciameara/

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Tomorrow is the first day of #ExcerptWeek, and I thought I’d get a jump on it by sharing one of my own excerpts today, thus keeping it out of the way of all the others that will be forthcoming.

Filled with guilt and despair as the result of a terribly tragedy, Hunter Painter has disappeared. No one in the little town of Riverbend has any idea where he’s gone, but most fear the worst. Only Willow Greene, who has loved him for years, still has faith he’ll come home to her again, though his middle brother, Forrest, is trying hard to believe she’s right.

~~~

“Forrest, what was in the box Hunter left with you?”

He gazed at his empty plate. When he looked at her again, his puzzled eyes were dark with sadness. “Things I never knew he had. Family mementos. Photos from vacations. Stuff Jackson an’ I never paid no attention to. I couldn’t believe he’d kept ‘em. Pictures from a trip to Disney when we were kids. The three of us buildin’ a sand castle at New Smyrna Beach. Ticket stubs from concerts. Sea shells, marbles, an old miniature train engine …”

He took a drink of tea, cleared his throat, and went on. “It made me feel sad … an’ sort of ashamed … to see how much value he’d put to memories Jackson an’ I’d taken for granted. Like he didn’t want to let go of those times, while I was rushin’ to get through ‘em, an’ grow up.”

He shook his head, marveling. “Found a couple of things of mine he must have taken out of the trash. I couldn’t believe it. They hadn’t meant anything to me, but Hunter saw something in them. I guess he left ‘em with us, because he knew we were the only ones who would recognize them. Or maybe … maybe he left ‘em so we wouldn’t forget him.”

Willow could picture Hunter carefully rescuing those small bits of his childhood, tucking them away in closets and drawers. Holding on to his memories as hard as he could. A familiar ache wormed its way through her heart as she thought about the little boy who never quite felt like he belonged, but who still wanted tangible evidence that he’d been there—when this thing happened, or this one, or that.

She rose, blinking back sudden tears, and patted Forrest’s shoulder as she passed his chair. “Be back in a minute. I’ve got something to show you.”

When she returned to the kitchen, Forrest jumped to his feet. “Here, let me take that for you.”

“I’ve got it. I’m stronger than I look. But could you move the dishes to the sink to make more room?” She put the oversized basket on the cleared table, then took her seat again.

“What’s all this?”

“This is what Hunter left me. Did you know your brother wrote?”

He looked blank. “Wrote who?”

She sighed. Had no one ever known who Hunter was?

“He wrote, Forrest. Poems, and short stories, and essays. He’s been keeping journals or notebooks since he was a child. They’re filled with beautiful writing. Observations. Descriptions. Words upon words about life, and love, and fear, and loneliness. And he left them all with me.”

Smiling, she ran her fingertips across the soft leather cover of the top journal. “He left you his memories, and he left me his heart. And you and I are going to be the caretakers of both, until he comes home to claim them again.”

~~~

Finding Hunter: Riverbend Book 2

My Inspiration for Hunter Painter