My #Bookreview of #Paranormal novella The Emissary by @MarciaMeara a Riverbend spin-off

The Emissary: A Riverbend Spinoff Novella by Marcia Meara
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Emissary is a spin-off novella from the Riverbend romantic mystery series.

Jake is a big-rig lorry driver travelling the roads between Florida and Georgia. Recently he picked up Hunter Painter, and saved him from an attempt to take his own life. He then returned Hunter to his family who had never given up hope that, one day, he would come home.

But Jake is in trouble with ‘the boss’. He’s made some rookie mistakes, but the training was sparse and hurried; who can blame him? He’s given a second chance and sent on the road again.

The twist is that Jake is no ordinary truck driver. He’s an emissary, working for the over-worked Angel Azrael. His job? Helping troubled souls.

This is a lovely addition to the Riverbend stories. The characters were easy to empathise with and they carried me away to their world for a couple of hours of escapism reading. If you try this book and like the writer’s style, do consider the other books in the series. You’ll find Hunter Painter’s story in book #2, a dark romantic suspense novel.

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Was Gabe Angelino, the mysterious truck driver in Finding Hunter: Riverbend Book 2, really an angel, as Willow Green believes? Or was he simply a good man, determined to help a stranger in need? Find out, as author Marcia Meara reveals the truth in the first Riverbend spinoff novella, The Emissary.

An angel’s work is never done—that’s part of the gig. But angels hadn’t been created to deal with such a vastly over-populated planet, rife with misery, suffering, and general chaos. Helping souls in peril has become a nearly impossible job, and even angelic tempers are frayed.

The archangel Azrael has had enough. He believes he’s found a way to ease their burden while saving jeopardized humans, too—hired help.

When Jake Daughtry lost his life rescuing a total stranger from certain death, he was on the fast track to Heaven. But that was before Azrael pulled him right out of line at the Pearly Gates. Now, as an Emissary to the Angels, Jake is taking to the highway in a quest to help souls in trouble. But the innate stubbornness of human beings bent on self-destruction is a challenge unlike any he’s ever faced.

It’s up to Jake and Azrael to bridge the gap between humans and angels. Will they ever convince the Council of Angels this endeavor is worthwhile? Can Jake figure out how to play by Azrael’s complicated rules? Will Azrael ever master the use of contractions in general conversation?

To find out the answers, hop on board Jake’s big red-and-white semi and travel the roads from the Florida Keys to north Georgia on an adventure that will make you laugh hard and cry even harder.

Marcia Meara is a native Floridian, living in the Orlando area with her husband of 30 years, two silly little dachshunds and four big, lazy cats. She’s fond of reading, gardening, hiking, canoeing, painting, and writing, not necessarily in that order.

At age 69, Marcia wrote “Wake-Robin Ridge,” her first novel, and “Summer Magic: Poems of Life and Love.” Nine months later, she published her second novel, “Swamp Ghosts,” set alongside the wild and scenic rivers of central Florida. Since then, she’s published, “A Boy Named Rabbit: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 2”, “Finding Hunter: Riverbend Book 2,” and “Harbinger: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 3.”

Marcia also has work published in five poetry anthologies published by Silver Birch Press: Silver, Green, Summer, Noir Erasure Poetry, and the May Poetry Anthology.

Her philosophy? It’s never too late to follow your dream. Just take that first step, and never look back.

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