Review: A FIRST TIME AUTHOR WORTH KEEPING AN EYE ON
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 8, 2013
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.My feelings on the book are kind of all over the place. On the one hand there are some passages that are very clever and laugh-out-loud funny. The relationship between main character Eden (Edie), and her BFF, Aly, is one that is easy to relate to because I have the same type of relationship with a sister-in-law (just not quite so bawdy).  Dominic (Dom) is a favorite of mine. He is a sweet, funny, caring, man-stud.The story is a really quick read, about 3 hours, which is good for those times when you want to grab something that is not loaded with a million characters or a plot so convoluted you really have to focus on the all the intricacies involved. Mrs. Dingee has written a tale that could be the life story of thousands of women in our country. You know the one; a woman, in this case Eden, finds out her husband is a scumbag and she is now going through a divorce. Since this story is told in first person we have Eden telling us what she is going through in her dilemma of putting herself back out there to date. While she is ready to get some “action” Edie doesn’t want to get hurt in the process. Edie is extremely attracted to one man but feeling like he is off limits because: A. He’s her BFF’s brother, Dominic and B. Dom is a well-known player with a different girl every week. Enjoyed the chapters where we are treated to Dom’s first person telling of his side of the tale. Those passages give a much better insight as to Dom’s character. We get to watch Edie and Dom dance around each other in their efforts to try and figure out if the other one is interested in more than just friendship or a one night stand.  I think Mrs.Dingee has done a really good job of writing a story that is very believable and the characters in the book are the same type of people all of us meet on a daily bases. So that part is good.Here is where I run into my mixed feelings. MERCY could be a “sweet” little romance that is a fun fast read, but instead it becomes something less because of the abundance of cussing.  I don’t have a problem with cursing in a book, have read some that would blister your ears, but when in the course of writing a simple, contemporary romance it runs over into gratuitous cursing and the “F” bomb being tossed around every chance there appears to be (whether it’s needed or not), the story loses a lot of its appeal for me. Mrs. Dingee is a good enough writer that she doesn't need all the expletives to spice the book up. The insinuating comments are cute, the exchanges Edie have with Aly are funny, and the innuendos between Edie and Dom are sassy, but cussing for cussing’s sake makes the book very limiting in its broader appeal. For a first novel I believe Mrs. Dingee did a good job and that with time she will only get better.Worth checking out but definitely not for anyone under 18.