Author: Lucy Marker
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Pages/Word Count: 200 Pages
At a Glance: Broken Mercies is a book that held me in thrall from start to finish.
Reviewed By: Janet
Blurb: Musician Daniel Gilchrist has decided he’s broken.
He doesn’t deserve Jeremy Evans, a sensible, sweet artist who insists they belong together. Bad choices after a hellish childhood make Dan more suited to guys like his ex-lover, a toxic mega-star who wants to resume their affair.
But Jeremy is irresistible, and he’s survived a few nightmares of his own. He challenges Dan to get rid of the false shame imposed by his mentally ill mother. Her twisted zealotry had influenced his choices, and it’s time to stop blaming himself for inadequately protecting his little sisters from her cruelty.
While Dan wrestles with old guilt, his former lover persuades him to collaborate on a song that protests religious bigotry. Dan grows suspicious of the star’s odd behavior, and then law enforcement shows up.
That clinches it—Dan really isn’t good enough for Jeremy. Somehow he’s managed to drag the poor guy into danger.
Review: I loved this book, but I cannot say I enjoyed reading it. Lucy Marker has written a book that is very painful to read. Mental illness, abuse, and addiction are just a few of the themes in this story; add in religious angst and hate crimes, and you can easily see why this might not be an easy book to read.
Dan and Jeremy, though, they are a wonderful couple and we instantly want a future for them. Dan is a musician/songwriter and feels in sound and lyrics. Jeremy is an artist with paint and color and sees things so differently from Dan. They are drawn to each other and share strength and wisdom from their different perspectives to build up each other throughout the story. They are so good for each other that we can’t help but wish them well, and feel for all their stumbles.
The skill that Lucy Marker has to capture the reader is really quite phenomenal. There are so many truly ugly details of the MCs’ history that we learn, but they themselves are never ugly. We completely empathise with them because they are firmly aware of their personal responsibility for their addiction, and are sincerely trying to overcome it and move ahead in life. Each character in this tale is given so much depth; built in layers of history and interactions between the MCs, and it enriches the experience of the reader very much.
Broken Mercies is a book that held me in thrall from start to finish. I could not put it down; there were no gaps or pauses in the flow that would allow it. I felt completely wrung out at the end of the book; so many emotions had been tugged at and drawn upon throughout the story. This is a book that I will read again, but only after time has passed, as the hangover lasted for weeks and random comments or phrases that I heard in the days after I finished it sparked flashbacks to different scenes in the book. BUT, and this is a big but, there is so much hope and love and determination in this story that even though I was exhausted, I was smiling. The HEA that Dan and Jeremy earn is so believable and well written that I was thrilled for them. The journey may have been hard to read but the ending was exactly right. I couldn’t have been happier with the author.
Broken Mercies is an excellent book and well worth any tears that may fall.
You can buy Broken Mercies here:
