The thing is, Mercy and Sukey co-adopted a dog they rescued from a psychopath. This is the kind of thing they do. They and the rest of their found family are pretty great at standing up for people (and animals!) who need it.

In this book, Mercy, who has begun her hypnotherapy business, is approached to provide her services to women who have escaped domestic violence. In her zeal to help, Mercy maybe goes too far and has to deal with the fallout.

Trigger Warning: Domestic Violence, Sexual Violence, Violence Against Women, Violence Against Children ( )

TBR

ANGEL OF MERCY, book 2 of the Mercy Hollings series (after BEG FOR MERCY) really hooked me in. I liked BEG FOR MERCY but I'm never sure about a series until I've read at least a couple of installments - I need to know if the author can deliver over the long haul.

I really like Mercy Hollings as a character - I like her sharp mind, her quick reasoning, and her occasional lack of tact. She's an independent and capable, like so many paranormal heroines, but in a very normal way - she runs her own business, pays her own bills, tends to her own wounds. The everyday burden of keeping herself afloat really adds to the realism of the books (and reminds me, in a way, of Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series).

I really like seeing the ethical dilemma inherent in Mercy's use of her unique ability, the press, kept front and center - it's the hinge around which the series turns. Once again, we see how Mercy's ability to make people do what they are told, no questions asked, can save the day or lead straight to disaster.

The cast of secondary characters has settled nicely. In BEG FOR MERCY, Mercy collects her gang of friends and the recruitment felt a little artificial. In ANGEL OF MERCY, I could just enjoy the group dynamic. I grew up in Orange County, and characters like gangster with a future Tino, rich and idle Hilda, ditzy Sukey, retired businessman Gerald, etc., really capture the feel of the place and its inhabitants. Their characters acquire some much needed depth here, and their interactions are fun. This isn't the usual band of sidekicks/peanut gallery - for one thing, two of the gang are *gasp* middle-aged - and I'm glad. Mercy's support system makes the series more unique and really adds to the authentic, local feel of the book.

I'm really excited about the Mercy Hollings series now, and I can't wait to read the next installment.
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"Ok I wasn't all too happy with the direction mercy took in this book. Its supposed to be a paranormal book which it kind of is with the mind reading and press thats going on. However all that was masked up by mercy trying to do the police's job. If I pick up a book and it has incest or kiddy porn rings in it I think that should be stated somewhere on the cover. Or the fact that mercy was trying to help an abused wife and her child but doesn't really know how bad they suffered. Something like that but nothing was mentioned on the back that let you know what direction the story was going in. There were so many ways and I just didn't happen to like this one at all.

If I wanted to read about sexual abuse of children I would not have picked up a paranormal book. I might have tried a horror story but not paranormal." ( )

A solid read without being fantastic. Not particularly warming to Mercy which is probably my main issue with the book - I just don't CARE that much about her! ( )