HEART OF MERCY - Sharlene MacLaren - One Free Book

Readers, I was privileged to read Heart of Mercy for endorsement. Here's what I said: Heart of Mercy the first book in Sharlene MacLaren's new series, will delight her fans. The characters grabbed my heart on the first page and didn't let go. With a feud between two mountain families that had lasted several generations, and a strong young man and an equally strong young women, who both needed a spouse the sparks fly literally and figuratively. The Tennesee mountain Romeo and Juliet story carried me along through the roller-coaster ride of a tale. It's the best book Sharlene has ever written. (Of course, I think that when each new book comes out.)

Welcome back, Sharlene. I love your new author picture. Do you have a favorite genre to write? If so, what is it?

My preferred genre is historical romance, although I have published three contemporary stand-alone novels.

If you didn’t live in the part of the country where you do, where would you live?

Well, gosh, if I could talk my entire family into coming with me (uh-hum) I’d really love to live further south where I didn’t have to contend with all that wet white stuff in the winter.

I’m in Texas, and we’ve had a much colder winter than usual with one really bad ice storm that lasted longer than usual, too. What foreign country would you like to visit and why?

Is Hawaii a foreign country? (Just kidding.) Someday, I’d love to visit Australia!

Describe what you think would be the most romantic vacation you could take.

Oh my, I think I’ve already gone. My hubby took me on a Mediterranean Cruise for our 25th anniversary with ports of call in Naples, Barcelona, Florence, and several other romantic spots. For my 60th birthday, he took me to London, England, and Paris, France. Hawaii is romantic, right? That’s where I’d love to go next…someday.

Where would you like to set a story that you haven’t done yet?

So far, I’ve set stories in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and NYC. I love the south, so I’m considering a southern historical set in Missouri – think Ozark Mountain Country.

The Ozarks are beautiful. I grew up in the Ozarks of Northwest Arkansas. What is the main theme of the featured novel?

Heart of Mercy is the first in my Tennessee Dreams series, and I’d say its central theme is built around the very title itself – mercy. Besides mercy, though, it’s a story of forgiveness, new beginnings, and family healing.

Tell us about the story.

Mercy Evans has known a great deal of heartache and hardship in her 26 years. She lost her mother at a young age and was only sixteen when her father was killed in a brawl sparked by a family feud spanning several generations. Yet, Mercy never doubts the presence and provision of her Heavenly Father. When a house fire claims the lives of her two best friends, leaving their two young sons as orphans, Mercy offers to be their guardian. It seems simple enough, until the judge mandates that the boys be placed with a married couple.

Samuel Connors is a man adrift. Despite the success of the blacksmith business he inherited from his father, he senses a void unaffected by material rewards. His mother keeps nagging him to find a wife, but the only woman who comes to mind is Mercy Evans. What would she want with the man whose father murdered hers?

Mercy is determined to do whatever it takes to win custody of the Watson boys. But, marry a mortal enemy of the Evans family? Only God can give her the courage and heart to go through with it.

As I said, I’ve read the book, but please give us the first page for my readers.

1890

Paris, Tennessee

“Fire!”

The single word had the power to force a body to drop to his knees and call out to his Maker for leniency. But most took time for neither, instead racing to the scene of terror with the bucket they kept stored close to the door, and joining the contingent of citizens determined to battle the flames of death and destruction. Such was the case tonight when, washing the dinner dishes in the kitchen sink, Mercy Evans heard the dreaded screams coming from all directions, even began to smell the sickening fumes of blazing timber seeping through her open windows. She ran through her house and burst through the screen door onto the front porch.

“Where’s the fire?” she shouted at the people running up Wood Street carrying buckets of water.

Without so much as a glance at her, one man hollered on the run, “Looks to be the Watson place over on Caldwell.”

Her heart thudded to a shattering halt. God, no! “Surely, you don’t mean Herb and Millie Watson!”

Mercy Evans and Millie Watson, formerly Gifford, had been fast friends at school and had stuck together like glue in the dimmest of circumstances, as well as the sweetest. Millie had walked with Mercy through the loss of both her parents, and Mercy had watched Millie fall wildly in love with Herb Watson in the twelfth grade. She’d been the maid of honor in their wedding the following summer.

But her voice was lost to the footsteps thundering past. Whirling on her heel, she ran back inside, hurried to extinguish all but one kerosene lamp, snatched her wrap from its hook by the door, and darted back outside and up the rutted street toward her best friends’ home, dodging horses and a stampede of citizens. “Lord, please don’t let it be,” she pleaded aloud. “Oh, God, keep them safe. Jesus, Jesus….” But her cries vanished in the scramble of bodies crowding her off the street as several made the turn onto Caldwell in their quest to reach the flaming house, which already looked beyond saving. 

How can readers find you on the Internet?

You can find all my books online at either http://www.amazon.com or at http://www.ChristianBook.com.

To connect personally with me, check out my “official” website at:

http://www.sharlenemaclaren.com, my blog at: http://www.sharlenemaclaren.blogspot.com and/or check out my Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/sharmaclaren . You can also find my FB group page by searching for “Sharlene MacLaren Fan Group”.

*(Come to Facebook to either request my friendship or follow me. I welcome visitors and love the opportunity to chat with all my lovely friends.)

Thank you, Sharlene, for sharing this new book with us.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Heart of Mercy - Christianbook.com
Heart Of Mercy (Tennessee Dreams Series # 1) - Amazon.com
Heart of Mercy (Tennessee Dreams) - Kindle

Christian Book Store

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