relzreviewz.com The King’s Mercy by Lori Benton

Synopsis:~

When captured rebel Scotsman Alex MacKinnon is granted the king’s mercy–exile to the Colony of North Carolina–he’s indentured to Englishman Edmund Carey as a blacksmith. Against his will Alex is drawn into the struggles of Carey’s slaves–and those of his stepdaughter, Joanna Carey. A mistress with a servant’s heart, Joanna is expected to wed her father’s overseer, Phineas Reeves, but finds herself drawn instead to the new blacksmith. As their unlikely relationship deepens, successive tragedies strike the Careys.

When blame falls unfairly upon Alex he flees to the distant mountains where he encounters Reverend Pauling, itinerate preacher and friend of the Careys, now a prisoner of the Cherokees. Haunted by his abandoning of Joanna, Alex tries to settle into life with the Cherokees, until circumstances thwart yet another attempt to forge his freedom and he’s faced with the choice that’s long hounded him: continue down his rebellious path or embrace the faith of a man like Pauling, whose freedom in Christ no man can steal. But the price of such mercy is total surrender, and perhaps Alex’s very life.

My take:~

Lori Benton is a masterful writer, a true artist who uses words as her medium to create beauty and heartache and hope. The King’s Mercy is an evocative tale of a man wrenched from all he knows and loves and tossed away like garbage, to the mercy of a master, a new vocation, and a strange country. The authenticity of Lori’s writing captivates me each and every time, not only the intriguing and multi-faceted characters, but the exceptional historicity and her innate ability to conjure the sights, smells, and feel of the story’s setting. Alex is both compassionate and bitter, headstrong and determined to wrench his freedom from those who hold it tight, then Joanna, while free as mistress of the family plantation, is just as trapped by her step-father’s decisions and the social division between herself and the slaves whose lives she wants to change. A gorgeous story of love, redemption, and hope, The King’s Mercy will stay with you long after the final page is turned.

With thanks to the publisher for my review copy. My opinions remain my own. Come back next week for a my bookchat with Lori and a giveaway of The King’s Mercy!