Finding Mercy

Mercy is still trying to figure out just who she is. After finding herself injured and suffering from amnesia, she learns from Captain Elijah Hale, that she served in the Civil War as a Confederate sharpshooter for the South. Knowing nothing more than what Captain Hale conveys to her, she struggles with coming to terms in finding out who she is. She clings to a mercy medallion she was wearing when she woke up, and now goes by the name Mercy. Captain Hale is aware of who Mercy was during the war, because the medallion she was wearing used to belong to him. As Mercy stood trial for the attempted murder of the congressman she was engaged to. After Captain Hale managed to convince the courts that Mercy was innocent of the charges, there were still those that believed she should have hanged.

Now why she pieces together clues from her past on where she might have been raised, she attempts to elude a group of bounty hunters who will stop at nothing to ensure they are paid to bring her back and see her hanged even though she is considered an innocent woman now. Traveling with Captain Hale and Issac, a young slave for a time, she manages to lose them in an effort so find her memories without involving the two people who mean the world to her. However, Mercy's troubles are far from over when she realizes that no one person is an island, and everyone needs help from those you can trust. Out of food and exhausted, Mercy stumbles into a slave camp and begs for something to eat. Since they are just as poor as she is, she consumes the leftover fish a boat tosses nearby. But that soon turns to food poisoning and the only help she can find is Fort Danielson, who is supposed to be manned by the Confederate army, but she is more than surprised to find the Union soldiers have now taken over the fort and its been quite a while since any of them have seen a woman, especially one in the condition she is in.

I received Finding Mercy by Michael Landon Jr and Cindy Kelley compliments of David C. Cook Publishers and Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation and the opinions expressed here are strictly my own. This is the sequel to Traces of Mercy and picks up precisely where the first novel left off. Fans of the American Civil War will appreciate the details in this historical novel from the hatred of the Civil War supporters, to the issue dealing with plantation slaves and their respective owners just trying to recover from the war, even though Abraham Lincoln had declared them emancipated and now free. Recovery was difficult for them all and soon Mercy discovers her long lost past isn't what she remembers at all. Will the picture of one man provide the clues she has been searching for or will it merely be another dead end? You'll have to read this one to find out. I rate this one a 4 out of 5 stars and is the second novel in the Mercy Medallion Series. There is a great discussion guide for book groups at the end as well as an author note details the role women played in the Civil War.

For more information about Finding Mercy, Michael Landon Jr., Cindy Kelley or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Finding Mercy by Michael Landon Jr. and Cindy Kelley

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Traces of Mercy

For a woman known only as Mercy, a name bestowed upon her by a group of Nuns where she was living has the difficulty of two lives, one known and one becoming known. Mercy was found by a group of men, dressed like a man and with her chest bound at the buried under a wagon that had gone over a cliff. Now that she is in the process of recovering from her physical injuries, she can't remember who she is or what she was doing. She can't even remember anything as simple as her name. Now armed with learning things day by day as she retains the memories of only her present day, she struggles with understanding just who she was and what she was doing when she was found.

The only clue to her past lies with the clothes she was found it and the medallion she was wearing around her neck. A medallion that is meant to remind the wearer to pray for safety, Our Lady of Mercy. Now if she can only remember her past, she might have some ideas of what her future holds. Until that time, the doctor has arranged for a group of nuns at the Little Sisters of Hope to care for her and also a journal for her to write down her thoughts. It might be something in her writing that might trigger the memory that remains the only area that she hasn't been able to heal from.

When a chance encounter while out riding a horse to a nearby park in the heat of the day, she spots a peaceful looking pond. Thinking that a nice cool swim might just hit the spot while she waits for her horse to drink, she takes a plunge literally into a life altering course of action. Just as soon as she is stripped down to her undergarments, a carriage arrives with Rand Prescott and his date Cora on a picnic. Thinking that Mercy is a man, Rand asks Cora to turn her back and as Mercy rises from the lake it is apparent that he has mistaken her gender. More than embarrassed, Rand tries to apologize for his rude behavior but Cora isn't about to let it go. It will be just that fateful encounter alone that will bind Mercy and Rand in an unexpected way.

I received Traces of Mercy by Michael Landon Jr and Cindy Kelly compliments of David C Cook Publishers and Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions contained here are strictly my own. This one for me was hard to immerse myself in, despite knowing that the author was indeed the son of actor Michael Landon. The beginning was hard to draw the reader in and I found myself wandering more than I wanted to with when the story was about to get interesting. I like the premise overall and without going into too many details as that would give away the ending, I will say I did not like how it ended. I was hoping for so much more and was simply left wanting more. Not in a great way as to make me pick up the next novel in this book, but disappointed is a more appropriate term. For those that love novels surrounding the American Civil War with a romantic twist, then this might be one you'd like. For me, I'd rate this one a 4 out of 5 stars and it simply wasn't one I could really get into the storyline without losing interest.

For more information about Traces of Mercy, Michael Landon Jr or Cindy Kelley, or where to pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Traces of Mercy by Michael Landon Jr and Cindy Kelley

 For more reviews on Traces of Mercy from the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance Book Tour, please click here. 

• Series: Mercy Medallion Trilogy
• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: David C. Cook (October 1, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0781408695
• ISBN-13: 978-0781408691
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches