I quite enjoyed this story.   If you don't enjoy stories where a long ago unsolved murder is eventually solved then I guess you won't like this one. If you like the truth to come out even if it takes over a decade,  then this one might just be for you. 


This story is intricately woven and fast paced. It will keep you turning the page for more.   I stumbled a couple times with the different POV it is written in but,  these POV are essential to the telling of the story.  This is quite the thriller, enjoy the ride!

The Seaside Resort. The Outer Banks is the locale for this multi generational novel. There are many secrets involving births, deaths, and heredity. Beware: lots of intertwined characters and dual POVs between 1950 and 2022 which requires paying attention. Ivy is the last generation to know life at the resort. When Ruth passes away it is up to Ivy to clean up what's left after a hurricane and sell. She also has to mend fences with her teenage boyfriend and her best friend. Throw in a little romance and the novel has everything. It is a lovely entertaining read and I enjoyed it immensely!

A saga full of family, secrets, amazing characters and heart. This author is a master at weaving tales. This one beautifully melds the past and present to make you invested and interested. Not at all predictable, you are drawn in to these lives. Even through the slower pacing. A great summer read that fans will love.

This area of the country is unfamiliar to me, yet Mary Ellen Taylor truly depicted it so well that it is a place I would now like to visit. The dual story line tells of Ruth as an only child in the 1950’s helping her parents run their seaside resort and the flip side with Ruth’s granddaughter Ivy helping her grandmother run the resort during her own childhood when her grandmother raised her.

Ivy left Nags Head when she was eighteen and has now returned home after her grandmother leaves the family bungalow and treasures to her. The time shifts transitioned beautiful from Ruth’s past at the resort to Ivy’s past and present. On her return, Ivy discovers more than she bargained for. Each transition from grandmother’s to granddaughter’s story revealed more family secrets. From shipwrecks on the shore, both past and present, to a singer and the drama of the resort’s guests, the picture of this important place in the lives of so many brings startling clarity to what it was like to own a family business in the 1950’s and to inherit that inn’s legacy in more recent times. Can she forgive past hurts and accept the gift of home her grandmother left her? Ivy has some serious decisions to make that will impact the lives of more than just herself and her future.

Surprise, this is the second book I have been able to read and enjoy that goes back and forth in time. Both books by this author. Ruth in 1950s and Ivy in 2022. Each story line held my interest, Ruths had more secrets being kept with only a few being shared. Ruth is Ivy's grandmother. Ivy goes back home to close things up after the death of her grandmother and starts finding things that start unraveling secrets. Some of them in Ruths time were certainly doozies. I was captivated in time with Ruth, seeing the tenacity and strength as she trys to be there for her mom and dad, and wow the twists kept on coming. I felt Ivy's itch graduating from high school and moving on. Who betrayed who? The big secret of Dani going forward, was wow! As they say one foot in front of the other. This book was like a great big crochet blanket that different patterns,designs, incorrect stitches and smooth lines that covered me up, warmed me, intrigued me and made me sigh. I truly am grateful for the arc and I freely volunteer my thoughts and opinions. Grab this book, indulge your heart and your mind.

The Brighter the Light is the type of book where I can see myself sitting by the ocean, feeling the breeze on my face and getting lost into it. Simply amazing storytelling. Mary Ellen Taylor is the only author I have found who can magically weave the past and present so effortlessly.

Mary Ellen Taylor’s The Brighter the Light was a very enjoyable read. The setting of the outer banks of North Carolina was so vivid it was like being there. I have never been to that area so it was delightful to read about the joys and challenges of living on the eastern seaboard. The migration of the characters from the rural south to the outer banks was interesting as well as their interaction with the wealthy who “summer” in the outer banks. There are so many moving parts to this story it really draws the reader in and was very hard to put down the book at the end of the day. This book had romance, intense family dynamics and challenges with not just between characters but with nature itself. A very enjoyable read.

Mary Ellen Taylor's books are always engrossing, from the first descriptive sentence until the emotional ending. I was caught up in the storyline from the beginning! Trying to figure out how or which of the characters were involved at the climax was a challenge I sincerely welcomed. Instead of some of the usual twists and turns seen in certain genres, I was surprised and gratified with the end result. Thanks for a great read!

Told in a dual timeline with multiple points of view, this book included one revelation after another about family secrets, heritage and friendships. Ivy is the granddaughter featured in the present (2022) and her grandmother Ruth is the narrator for the part of the story set in the 1950’s. In her story, Ruth was a pre-teen, helping her mom Edna run the Seaside Resort, a beach inn on the OBX. When Ruth dies, Ivy returns home from NYC to sort through her things and to sell her cottage. All of the gamut of emotions are part of the storyline, beginning when Ivy reflects back on her leaving Nags Head and her return to say farewell again. Meanwhile, there are many characters involved in making the story work and tug at heart strings. My favorite was Talley, a no-nonsense cousin who counts it a blessing to be working at the beach alongside Ruth. Of course, I enjoyed all of the characters and how well-rounded they were. As a child of the 50’s, I could relate to the small town feel and how Edna, Ruth’s mother, had so much influence in the little beach town. The relationships were complicated, with a lot of forgiveness necessary in order for the people to move on in their lives. I was amazed at how quickly Dani forgave Ivy for leaving her behind. Matthew, Ivy’s love interest at one time, was the most shallow character and did not seem to add a lot to the story except for the conflict about Ivy’s choices in the past and what her choice will be for the future. That was fine because he played only a minor role in unraveling the web of the tale. Ruth, the most interesting character, was multi-layers, hiding secrets from the people closest to her and dealing with a secret past of her own. I enjoyed this character-driven story set in an idyllic place, perfect for a vacation read to let your mind imagine those characters living where you are staying. My mind was actively engaged from beginning to end, engrossed in the lives of each character and invested in their making good decisions for the future. Oh, and the puppies! Ivy found a mama dog, named her Libby and adopted her. An adorable addition to the story and a welcome intermission from the human drama that unfolded rapidly and unceasingly. With the fast pace of the plot and the human qualities of the characters, this is a wonderful story to read, enjoy and discuss in a book group.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by Author and Publisher via NetGalley in return for a fair and honest review.

Wonderful and deep family saga! This Mary Ellen Taylor book covers the intertwined family and friend relationships in Nags Head. When Ivy returns home to her grandmother’s inn she discovers the foundation of her family is not as solid as she thought. Uncovering generations of family secrets helps Ivy discover her place in the world. A fantastic and engrossing read!

Depression era families were excellent secret keepers, and the smaller, more closely knit the community, the greater the chance of those secrets never seeing the light of day. But when the grandmother who raised Ivy Neale leaves her seaside cottage to Ivy, generations of family's secrets are slowly revealed.

Ruth Wheeler grew up working at her parents' Seaside Resort in Nags Head, NC. Edna and Jake were always honest with Ruth about how they came to be her parents – thanks to a woman leaving a baby wrapped in a pink blanket at one of the resort’s cottages in the dark of night.

Ivy Neale left Seaside Resort and Nags Head the day after her high school graduation. Only after her grandmother, Ruth, dies does Ivy return home. Ruth's cottage is cluttered with decades of jetsam from the closed Seaside Resort and personal effects collected over a lifetime. As Ivy sorts through the remains of a bygone era, the secrets of her family’s past begin to unravel, binding Ivy to the home she abandoned in ways she never could have imagined.

Told primarily from a twelve-year-old Ruth and current-day Ivy's perspectives, we learn about pivotal events from the summer of 1950 that significantly impact Ivy's life. With shipwrecks, ghosts, and summer tourists, we find that family will go to greater lengths than we could ever imagine in the name of supporting and protecting each other.

Once again, this masterful storyteller lures the reader in with a laid-back, comfortable style while doling out bits of information that leave the reader hanging on every word. She makes us long for simpler times while illuminating the importance of keeping family history alive for generations to come. Poignant, mesmerizing, and full of heart, this extraordinary saga of family, legacy, and home makes for an enticing reading escape and will be one of your absolute favorite reads this year.

A lifetime of memories. And now it was all gone. This is the story of the Seaside Resort in Nags Head, North Carolina and the secrets it held.
Ivy Neale has inherited the resort and has been left with the job of cleaning out what is left of the family legacy which was wiped out in a hurricane. A hotel reception book spanning the 1930's is among the belongings found
in her grandmother's cottage. But why was it kept at her cottage and not in the records room of the resort? What
was she trying to tell her granddaughter?
This and the many other mysteries surrounding this family resort will keep you guessing, So dive right in and prepare yourself for an experience you'll never forget when you read "The Brighter the Light" by Mary Ellen Taylor.

I was so excited to read this book and my excitement was steadfast throughout the book. I love how Mary Ellen Taylor created dual timelines in the story and how easily they flowed from one to the other. Set in the Outer Banks, generations of women and their lives and giving Ivy the basis on which to answer questions she has about her family’s past. Shipwrecks, murder, history, romance and more all combined in the great story that you will love!

Another wonderful story of generations of women. The setting is a beach in North Carolina. The time period runs from the 1950s to 2020. Ivy who was the granddaughter of the owner of the Seaside Resort returns to sell the cottage after her grandmother’s death. The Resort was lost to a hurricane. Ivy must face the friends she abandoned. We learn many things about the lives of the people who live at and visit the Resort. This might be my new favourite book by this Author. Thanks to NetGalley, Montlake and the Author for allowing me to read and review this book

This is another of Mary Ellen Taylor's delightful dual timeline stories. This time the story switches between the 1950's and the present day, telling the story of Ivy (in the present) who fled Nags Head village and the Seaside Inn 12 years ago dumping both her boyfriend and her best friend Dani and all their plans for the future. Ivy has returned to her Grandma's beachfront cottage to empty and then sell it after a bad hurricane blew the Seaside Inn into pieces. She is dreading running into her old boyfriend and Dani as she feels she let them both down, but she is now a first class chef and determined to hold her head up.
Memories surface, along with the bones of a shipwreck which rises out of the sand. The lore says that when the shipwreck appears, memories do too, good and bad.
This is a family story of strong women, (there is more of the 1950's than the present) and the people who stayed at the Inn over the years. There is a gentle background romance, and secrets emerge from the sand about the Seaside Inn and it's visitors over the years. Stories and people intertwine and I got pulled in and really enjoyed it. I love these dual timeline books.

Thanks to Mary and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review.

3.5 stars.

I always get drawn right into Mary Ellen Taylor's writing and this book was no different. I loved the OBX setting of this story; the seaside feeling, the tourist season from the townie pov, etc. All of it evoked lovely memories of spending summer vacations by the shore. I guess there were townies who probably thought I was annoying!

What I really enjoyed about this was the relationships between the women both in the modern day timeline and in the past. They weren't perfect or anything close. But they were portrayed in a very realistic and relatable way; ultimately, they conveyed that true friendship sometimes demands unapologetic fierceness and that was something I found refreshing in the days when it seems like much of what's considered "women's literature" revolves around a man.

I also enjoyed the gentle and behind the scenes romance between the modern day heroine and her guy. Some might've found it a little too understated, but I went into this having read almost all of MET's dual timeline fiction stories, and I was expecting it. I appreciated that the hero was a very decent man and didn't seem like man about town. The heroine also had her own past and wasn't some virginal saint waiting for her prince charming. Again, the realism was refreshing.

So why not more stars? I guess I found the historical premise to be a little sad. I also did want just a tad more backstory and page time between the modern MCs. Overall, this was an enjoyable read.

I enjoyed this book very much. Mary Ellen Taylor is one of my favorite authors. Set n the Outer Banks of North Carolina, it involves a family that owned the Seaside Inn. A family that until the destruction of the Inn and the struggles of a family to cope with the loss. A family with secret kept for years, and the journey of a granddaughter. I liked the way she goes back to the 1950's and brings you into the 2020's. A young girl who has to make decisions to leave her roots and spread her wings. Yet returns to find the depths of her legacy, and all the mystery. The was a sweet book and very touching. A lot of history and interesting facts of the long ago ship wrecks. The history that is so interesting and yet ghostly. I think you will love this book as much as I did.