Love Mercy by Earlene Fowler

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.                                                      Micah 6:8 (NIV)

This novel is not part of Earlene Fowler's Benni Harper series but it is set in the same town and characters from that series show up in this story too, but this book is set in present time, while the other series is set in the 1990's.  This not a murder mystery. 

This story is sewn together from 3 different perspectives.

Love Mercy, a wonderful woman whose son passed away 14 years ago and she has been estranged from her 3 granddaughters and their mom ever since, then she lost her husband about a year ago.  She is part owner of the Buttercream Cafe, takes pictures for an article in a monthly magazine, helps take care of her aging in-laws and is a friend to everyone. 

Loretta Lynn Johnson (Rett), she is the middle grandchild of Love's who hitchhikes west to find her grandmother and to get away from trying to get away from her family troubles and a jerk of a boyfriend.  She takes one of prize possessions with her when she leaves.

Melina (Mel) LeBlanc, a former Las Vegas police officer, comes to town leaving her past behind runs into Love's husband Cy would puts her to work at his feed mill and she quickly becomes a friend of Love's and they are both missing Cy terribly. 

Christmas is coming and Love has many things to deal with, her father-in-law's onset of Alzheimer's, Rett's former boyfriend tracking her down, Mel's past finds her and thinks she has something she doesn't and then trying to find a way to bring her granddaughters back into her life.

This is a wonderful story of love, family and friendship.It is a sweet story with women dealing with their problems head on, working together like a true family does.  It was nice to see some familiar characters weaved into the story but even if you have never read another Earlene Fowler story, you will truly enjoy this book.

For more about Earlene Fowler and her novels check out her website at http://www.earlenefowler.com/.  It is never too late to start the Benni Harper series and this blogger is looking for the next installment about Love Mercy, she leaves us hanging at the end of this one.