Quickie Reviews: Misty Provencher’s Hale Maree and Mercy

Quickie reviews are back again!  Here are some more for Misty Provencher’s books

Hale Maree
By Misty Provencher
Published November 19th, 2012
New Adult | Contemporary Romance
Source: Purchase
4.5/5

From Goodreads:

Hale Simmons dreams of climbing out of her impoverished life, going to college, and getting herself a titanium crash helmet, so she can eventually bust through the Plexiglas ceiling of her crappy life. But for now, she’s just a 18-year-old girl with a flimsy hope, barely getting by with her alcoholic father, Jerry.

 

But for Hale, ‘crappy’ suddenly takes a nosedive, when Jerry becomes the sole witness to a horrible accident. It is an event which means to effect everyone, especially Hale, who wasn’t even involved.

 

While the depth of the accident has just begun to unfold, Otto Maree, a prominent business man and old family friend, stands to lose everything because of it. Otto is desperate for Hale’s father to stay quiet about what occurred the night the two men met for a drink. Out of mutual moments of desperation, the two fathers forge a deal. Jerry is desperate to gain financial stability for both himself and Hale, and Otto Maree is more than willing to pay to keep his secret just that.

 

But deals like this need to be made of the strongest vows and bound with the most faithful of loyalties. Otto proposes a marriage between Hale and his playboy-son, Oscar, in order to assure that the secret remains ‘in the family’. The mystery surrounding the accident continues to grow and Hale struggles against her own mysterious feelings that begin to develop for Oscar, who turns out to less of a playboy, but just as fiercely loyal and dedicated as his father.

 

As the pressure around her continues to escalate, Hale realizes that she’s got to decide if this arranged marriage is really just a big mistake or an amazing twist of fate that has been waiting around for this particular accident to happen.

Arranged marriages.  You’re just going to have to get that burr out of your butt about arranged marriages to read this very unique love story.  They happened in the “old days”.  Oh well.  Once you open your mind, you get a very rewarding story.

I really enjoyed this one because I had no clue what to expect.  I bought this solely based on the fact that Ms. Provencher wrote a new adult book and it had a salacious cover.  I wanted to see what she was going to do with it.  Here’s what she does:  Hale gets her life tossed out before her eyes as her dad makes a bargain with a guy she’s never met before.  She’s to marry this guy’s son, Oscar, whom she’s never met.  So much for her plans.  And Hale isn’t even a girl who’s dated a lot, let alone given up her v-card.  Great…

Now witness Hale meet Oscar, who turns out to be not quite what his reputation makes him out to be.  Ms. Provencher ends up giving us a sweet romance, sprinkled with a wee bit of hotness, and actually a pretty good mystery.  I don’t read mysteries so take the latter comment with a grain of salt.  I enjoyed wondering “who-dunnit” up to the very end!!!  I also enjoyed wondering if Hale was going to go through with the wedding.  Does stay loyal to her dad or does she run for the hills?

All in all, a quick little steamer that was a perfect break in between the sassy YA books and the “OH MY GOD!” hot and heavy sex ‘em up, smutty books.

Other reviews:

Christy at Christy’s Love of Books

Heidi at Rainy Day Ramblings

Candace at Candace’s Book Reviews

Mercy, A Gargoyle Story
By Misty Provencher
Published December 1st, 2012
Dark Fantasy | New Adult
Source: Purchase
4/5

From Goodreads:

My will to survive is the first thing to drown.
I know, because I hold it under myself.

 

After facing severe tragedy in life, Madeline assumes her death will be easy.
But the angels do not come to take her to Heaven.
Instead, what retrieves her is something she never expected: a gargoyle.

 

Delivered to Truce, the King of the Gargoyles, Madeline now has choices she never wanted. She has the ability to take over the entire Gargoyle Kingdom, if she is willing to kill the king. However, looking to prevent takeover, Truce transforms Madeline, thereby granting her the ability to achieve the thing she wants most—death—if she can just find the human recipient for the Gargoyle Gift that she now has to give. It should be easy.

 

But lives, whether they are lived or not, are seldom simple, and Madeline’s past still stands in her way. Now, only a voyeur in the life of The Boy with the Golden Rod Voice, Madeline’s must reconcile her own life and death, if she ever hopes to have free reign of her soul.

This is one heck of a dark read.  I started reading this book a few days before Christmas.  Not a good idea.  I put it down because it just isn’t a happy story.  This is one viciously dark, disturbing tale.  But I have to tell you first: I’m not a big fan of dystopian novels because of the depressing nature of the setting.  I like my books full of fast action, happiness, love, hot men, smart chicks…. basically a Michael Bay film on ‘roids.  But this story really grabbed me in, took my soul and squeezed it hard.

From the very start, you know this isn’t a typical urban fantasy.  Ms. Provencher is writing about gargoyles – awesome!!  I love gargoyles!!!  But her gargoyles have a world all their own and Ms. Provencher does a great job building it up.  I think she really could have spent a ton more time on world building but for the sake of one book, she did what she could with what time she had.  And it was enough to satisfy me.  Character development was okay but what really drove the plot was the story.  I had no clue where this was going, what was going to happen, and I was often confused on what was happening (but it was the good confused, the kind I like to be, where everything unfolds in front of you).

Honestly, not everyone is going to like this one.  Its dark subject matter isn’t really for kiddies or the weak of heart.  Or, maybe you think it is; if you’re a parent, that’s your job to decide.  I, personally, had trouble with it.  But I can see the story for what it is – a great dark tale with excellent Misty Provencher writing.

Other reviews:

Barbara at Basia’s Bookshelf

Candace at Candace’s Book Blog

About the Author:

Misty Provencher writes everything that her brain can get its matter on. In late 2011, she released her debut, Young Adult novel, Cornerstone, and, in 2012, followed it with the sequel, Keystone. Also in 2012, Provencher released her Adult novel, Hale Maree, and a New Adult novel, Mercy, A Gargoyle Story. Writing across categories and genres, Provencher intends to provide readers with as much excitement, intrigue, and escape as they can handle.

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