Mercy's Face

By Donna C. Van Cleve

Subjects: beauty, faith, Adoption, Frontier life, forgiveness, Horses, western, Romans, nouvelles, romance, unwed pregnancy, Fiction, dusting powder, scars, horses, sacrifice, adoption, historical fiction, Chevaux, redemption

Description: Fort Worth, Texas... 1877 The young woman grew up in a world of privilege and indulgence--a Cotillion queen and the prettiest girl in Texas, her daddy always said. But everyone knew her heart didn't match her face. She was twenty-three years old and unmarried after years of holding out for another man, until he chose someone else. A smooth-talking gambler walked into her life one day and convinced her to take a substantial amount of money from her parents before the young couple skipped town. After three months of gambling and extravagant spending, Eustace took the rest of the money and abandoned her in Fort Worth. She hid in her hotel room, refusing to leave, refusing to face her scandalous situation-- until Jimmy Taylor walked into her life. Her father had hired Taylor to find his daughter and bring her home, but after their first confrontation, he decided he wasn't being paid nearly enough money for this job. As for the claim that she was the most beautiful girl in Texas, Jimmy would have taken a second look if that face, dress, and body had been on someone else. Jimmy Taylor knew horses, but he was a greenhorn when it came to women. And this woman was about to turn his life upside down. Things go from bad to worse when he ends up taking her back home to Waco in a funeral hearse. Mercy's Face is the sequel to Grace Falling Like Rain, and weaves together a good name, horses, dusting powder, love & sacrifice.