Love Mercy [Kindle Edition]

Earlene Fowler (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The mysteries of the human heart fill Fowler's first of a sweet new series about Love Mercy Johnson of Morro Bay, Calif. This delightful departure from her Benni Harper mysteries (Tumbling Blocks, etc.) features cameos of Benni and husband Gabe, but Love, photojournalist and co-owner of the Buttercream Cafe, takes center stage with former Las Vega cop Melina "Mel" Le Blanc and Love's 18-year-old granddaughter, Loretta Lynn "Rett" Johnson. Rett suddenly arrives in San Celina County with a banjo stolen from her two-timing ex-boyfriend, Dale Bailey. Thirteen months have passed since Love lost her husband, Cy, and 14 years since Tommy, Rett's father, died. As Christmas approaches, Love must deal with Dale's hot pursuit of said banjo, her father-in-law's struggle with Alzheimer's and Mel's brush with a menace from her Vegas past. Fowler delivers some wise lessons on life (e.g., "Looks fade... a good heart doesn't") in a heartfelt tale sure to please her fans.
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Review

"The mysteries of the human heart fill Fowler's first of a sweet new series about Love Mercy Johnson of Morro Bay, Calif. Fowler delivers some wise lessons on life in a heartfelt tale sure to please her fans."
-PW, Starred Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 504 KB
• Publisher: Berkley (March 3, 2009)
• Sold by: Penguin Publishing
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001PU7WLY
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #156,498 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Greetings from a native Southern Californian!

I've been married 37 years to my high school sweetheart, Allen, who was born in Kansas. We met when we were fifteen. We don't have children, but are owned by a spoiled and extremely intelligent Pembroke Welsh corgi named Boudin. We call him Boo. Though I'm a native Southern Californian, my parents are not. My father was born in Colorado and grew up in a migrant worker family. My mother's family were cotton sharecropers in Arkansas. I've been writing since I was in my late-twenties. I published my first novel, Fool's Puzzle, when I was in my late thirties. I like to ride horses when I can (and luckily, have friends who own horses), walk my dog, travel with my husband, sometimes do scrapbooking when I have time. I have three sisters. I'm the number two sister.

I was named after my father and my grandfather. Both of them are named Earl. The first book I remember reading by myself was Curious George. I think it was the one where he went to the circus. My favorite fictional character is Old Yeller. He had courage and loyalty, two virtues I admire greatly. If I wasn't a writer, I'd love to be a dog trainer. Back in the 1980's, for a year and a half, I taught a weekly craft class at a retirement home in Covina, California. My youngest member was in her late sixties; my oldest was ninety-eight. Those fifteen women taught me way more than I ever taught them. I love strawberry ice cream and fried tacos. Together or separately. Doesn't matter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Visit to Morro Bay, March 4, 2009

By 

Heidi Anne Heiner (SurLaLune Fairy Tales.com) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Love Mercy (Hardcover)

To start, I will make an unabashed admittance that I am a big fan of Earlene Fowler's Benni Harper mystery series. I'm such a fan that's it is hard to be objective about Fowler's books. However, after a long wait, I was disappointed that Fowler's new release was not going to be about Benni and company. I was a little reluctant to read this new book, afraid I would perhaps like the characters, as I did in Fowler's stand-alone, The Saddlemaker's Wife, but not come to love them. I was wrong.

Love Mercy, the titular character, is one of three main characters who live in Morro Bay, California. The story switches points of view between Love, her granddaughter Rett, and Mel, a close family friend. All three perspectives are interesting with each woman holding her own in their stories that weave together into the whole. This is not a murder mystery although there are some suspense and law enforcement elements to the novel. Overall, it's a story about women surviving, living happily, despite loss and suffering while surrounding themselves with a network of friends and family. It provides hope without being preachy or overly sentimental, a nice balance. This novel stands well on its own and should appeal to a broader audience, not just one that likes Fowler's mysteries. For example, I think my mother-in-law would enjoy this one while I'm not sure she would love the Benni series as much as I do.

Fowler tells a good story and writes relationships and emotions very well, without descending into the trite or melodramatic. She can write about death and grief, capturing all the emotions that accompany trying times, without being depressing. She writes about happier times as well, often pulling back and avoiding overly sentimental or sappy moments. Her deft hand in portraying Benni and Gabe's relationship has made me a fan, but this new novel shows that she can excel with other characters and plots just as well.

Another bonus for Fowler's fans is that Benni and company make appearances in this novel in smooth, understandable ways and without feeling like cameos written just to appease us. They are part of the supporting cast of characters, introduced in such a way that first time readers who don't know the characters may never know that they appear in an entire series of books. More interesting is that while the Benni Harper Ortiz series is set in the 1990s, Love Mercy is set in 2008, so we are learning about these characters' lives roughly fifteen years later. No spoilers, but Hud figures strongly in this novel for those who are particular fans of his.

So while I may miss Benni and Gabe's stories and hope for a new one in the near future, I am more than satisfied with this novel and hope we will see these characters again, even if it means more than a year's wait between Benni's stories.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Grand Slam, March 15, 2009

By 

Eileen Key (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love Mercy (Hardcover)

Love Mercy presents another stellar cast of characters with an intriguing plot. Three women in different seasons of life, ensnared in such different circumstances, join forces and face their problems head on. Thanks go out to the author for including our familiar family. It's an extra thread which Benni Harper fans will love. Love Mercy Johnson: we'll want to see more of her!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Start of a series? Hope so., March 11, 2009

By 

Jo-Ann Mapson "novelist and dog lover" (Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love Mercy (Hardcover)

Love Mercy is an intriguing new series by Earlene Fowler, one of my favorite writers (and favorite human beings). Years ago when I was lucky enough to read Earlene's very first chapter to Fool's Puzzle, I knew I had found a writer who would provide me with stories I could enjoy over and over again until I was an old lady dipping my Nilla Wafers in milky tea. If you haven't read her mystery series, I urge you to. The crimes are secondary to her wonderful characters, whose stories are the heart of the books. In Saddlemaker's Wife, Earlene gave us a story of the politics of family, and in Love Mercy, she manages to deliver the entire town. I wish I could have breakfast at The Buttercream Cafe and visit with everyone in this novel. Read it and share it with people you love.