"A Measure of Mercy" by Lauraine Snelling

This book is set in North Dakota in the early 1900s.  The first in the "Home to Blessing" series, this book picks up where previous series by Lauraine Snelling have left off. 

(Not having read her previous books, I definitely want to read them having read this one.)

Though I struggled a bit at first to figure out all the characters (thankfully there was a family tree in the front of the book that helped immensely!) and the Norwegian idioms, I found the book to be a fairly easy read that kept my attention from beginning to end.

The only "criticism" I have with the book is that the back of the book sets the stage for a certain 'scene' that really never takes place (at least not how I would have imagined it from reading the back cover).  I feel like the publisher jumped ahead of themselves with the summary on the back cover.

This book will definitely leave you looking for more in this series.  I think this may have been one of the first books I've read in a series (and I've read a lot) that I finished the book wondering where the rest of the book was... and I mean that in a good way.  The story is not resolved by the end of the book, though some resolution does take place, which leaves the reader on edge, wanting more.  This is truly the way to write a series!

Thanks to Bethany House Publishers for providing this book for me to read and review! Be sure to pick up your copy at your local bookseller.