Mommabears Book Blog: Sweet Mercy Blog Tour: Review and Meet the Cast!

Monday, April 22, 2013

Sweet Mercy Blog Tour: Review and Meet the Cast!

Prohibition….Gangsters….Bootleggers….Al Capone….and a 17-year-old girl named Eve Marryat who, in the tumultuous summer of 1931, learns the meaning of….

Sweet Mercy

Sweet Mercy
by Ann Tatlock
Paperback, 400 pages
Expected publication: May 1 2013 by Bethany House Publishers

Premise:

When Eve Marryat’s father is laid off from the Ford Motor Company in 1931, he is forced to support his family by leaving St. Paul, Minnesota, and moving back to his Ohio roots. Eve’s uncle Cyrus has invited the family to live and work at his Marryat Island Ballroom and Lodge.

St. Paul seemed like a haven for gangsters, and Eve had grown fearful of living there. At seventeen, she considers her family to be “good people.” They aren’t lawbreakers and criminals like so many people in her old neighborhood. Thrilled to be moving to a “safe haven,” Eve is blissfully unaware that her uncle’s lodge is a transfer station for illegal liquor smuggled from Canada.

Eve settles in to work and makes new friends, including an enigmatic but affecting young man. But when the reality of her situation finally becomes clear, Eve is faced with a dilemma. How can she ignore what is happening right under their very noses? Yet can she risk everything by condemning the man whose love and generosity is keeping her and her family from ruin?

Barnes & Noble * Amazon * Bethany House

My thoughts: Sweet Mercy is a coming of age story set in the time of Prohibition. eve Marryat moves with her parent's to her uncle's lodge after her father is laid off from Ford. Eve is definitely a smart cookie and starts picking up on weird happenings. I found Eve to be a naive goody goody, but I'm guessing that's how 17 year olds were back then. But I loved the character and world building in Sweet Mercy. I think Ann Tatlock did a phenomenal job in that respect. I don't see that very often. I also find it fun to be reading and come across brand names snuck in here and there. This was an easy and fun read. It was smooth without jumping all around. There were a few surprises throughout the book that made me want to keep reading. Overall, this was a fantastic book and I will be seeking out more of Ann's books.

Ann Tatlock is the author of the Christy Award-winning novel Promises to Keep. She has also won the Midwest Independent Publishers Association "Book of the Year" in fiction for both All the Way Home and I'll Watch the Moon.Her novel Things We Once Held Dear received a starred review from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly calls her "one of Christian fiction's better wordsmiths, and her lovely prose reminds readers why it is a joy to savor her stories." Ann lives with her husband and daughter in Asheville, North Carolina.

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On this Tour... test your 1930's Gangster knowledge with our trivia quiz, a different question on every post!

5. Speakeasies, which were taverns and saloons that went underground during Prohibition, were also known as:

Giveaway:

2 Winners, USA only: Print copy of Sweet Mercy, Ghirardelli chocolate, book themed pen & notepad.

2 Winners, world-wide: eCopy of Sweet Mercy

Open only to those who can legally enter. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter and announced on Rafflecopter and Grand Finale posts as well as emailed and the winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Burgandy Ice @ Colorimetry and Prism Book Tours and sponsored by Bethany House Publishers and Ann Tatlock. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.