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A review by gatun
Have Mercy by Christina Lee
4.0
Have mercy was a lovely romance but at times it made me so mad. The main characters Kerry and Julian are both men dealing with damage. Julian has serious PTSD from dealing with tours of duty in the army. A year after discharge and still, at loose ends, he accepts an invitation to go to his cousin's ranch in Wyoming to help with a building project. He's lived in New York City all his life but visited Wyoming several times as a child.
Kerry is a man who did the right things for the wrong reasons. He bowed to his family's demand that their ranch is the center of his life. Although he knew in high school that he was most probably gay, he hid himself because he did not want to disappoint his family. He married his high school sweetheart and they had one child Ainsley. When Kerry's wife Sienna found out he was gay, it was not a smooth, happy coming out. It was followed immediately by his family shutting him out. And then his daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. Through all of this and continuing throughout the story, he has carried such a burden of guilt. That burden affects him just as much as Julian's PTSD affects him.
I enjoyed the characters. I enjoyed the setting. The story was lovely. It was a gentle reaching of two men for each other and recognizing in each other the damage. What I did not like and what made me so mad was the pressure that was put on Kerry that even though he came out he still needed to keep quiet. He still needed to not date anybody. He still needed to make his family's ranch and now his and Sienna's farm the center of everything. The pressure on him to carry the burden of guilt and anger from everybody else. I just wanted to go slap his family upside the head.
Nick Russo did a nice job narrating. He has distinct voices for Kerry and Julian. I was somewhat surprised that Julian did not have a definite accent coming from New York. Other than that the voices were all very good and easy to understand. I received a copy of Have Mercy from Audible because I won a contest on Facebook run by the author. I listened to the book and then wrote an honest review. I am going to look for more from Christina Lee since I really enjoyed this story.
Kerry is a man who did the right things for the wrong reasons. He bowed to his family's demand that their ranch is the center of his life. Although he knew in high school that he was most probably gay, he hid himself because he did not want to disappoint his family. He married his high school sweetheart and they had one child Ainsley. When Kerry's wife Sienna found out he was gay, it was not a smooth, happy coming out. It was followed immediately by his family shutting him out. And then his daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. Through all of this and continuing throughout the story, he has carried such a burden of guilt. That burden affects him just as much as Julian's PTSD affects him.
I enjoyed the characters. I enjoyed the setting. The story was lovely. It was a gentle reaching of two men for each other and recognizing in each other the damage. What I did not like and what made me so mad was the pressure that was put on Kerry that even though he came out he still needed to keep quiet. He still needed to not date anybody. He still needed to make his family's ranch and now his and Sienna's farm the center of everything. The pressure on him to carry the burden of guilt and anger from everybody else. I just wanted to go slap his family upside the head.
Nick Russo did a nice job narrating. He has distinct voices for Kerry and Julian. I was somewhat surprised that Julian did not have a definite accent coming from New York. Other than that the voices were all very good and easy to understand. I received a copy of Have Mercy from Audible because I won a contest on Facebook run by the author. I listened to the book and then wrote an honest review. I am going to look for more from Christina Lee since I really enjoyed this story.