TBR: Silent Mercy by Lori Armstrong

This month's theme is to read a short novella or story.

Recently returned from training at Quantico, FBI agent Mercy Gunderson stirs up trouble and uses her rarely seen feminine side to seduce her unsuspecting boyfriend, sexy-as-sin Sheriff Mason Dawson. When she revs up her Viper to get his attention while he’s on patrol, tempers and sparks fly—but their rendezvous is interrupted by a disturbing cry for help. The pair rush to the scene, where Mercy discovers that even though she can’t always save the day, she doesn’t have to be silent about it…
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This is a super short snippet of Mercy Gunderson's life as a new FBI agent. It focuses on Mercy's relationship with Mason Dawson, the local sheriff, as well as her insecurities as a newbie agent. Mercy's bravado with that underlying self-doubt is one of my favorite things to explore in this series, and Armstrong manages in a very short page count to touch upon it, both in her personal and professional relationships.

There's not much to say about this, except that it takes a step in forwarding Mercy & Dawson's relationship, in helping to bring them closer to understanding each other and each other's commitment to their jobs. It also introduces the case for the next novel in the series, (just released) Merciless.

Seriously, this is an awesome series. It's really hard to put into words how the stark setting and blunt talk covers up the deep emotions in these books. Much like Mercy herself. And I so love Mason Dawson. He's as enigmatic as Mercy, and yet so much more approachable and open somehow.

I know this all sounds very contradictory emotionally, and it is.

This series is all about a very personal journey for Mercy. And it's captivating, exciting, bleak, depressing, and oh so engaging, even as it holds itself at a distance.

The books are:
No Mercy (reviewed here)
Mercy Kill
Silent Mercy (novella)
Merciless (just released)