Review: Have Mercy by Shelley Ann Clark

Rock diva Emme Hayes already broke up one band after sleeping with the lead singer, and she swears she won’t let sex screw things up again. The problem is, her new bass player—a lean, muscular, tattooed mystery man who makes her want to demand his absolute attention—has her so worked up she can hardly carry a tune. Emme promises he’s off-limits. She just doesn’t know how she’ll be able to confine the heat to her love songs.

The moment Tom McKinney lays eyes on Emme strutting around the stage of his blues bar—all curves, eye liner, and teased blond hair—he knows she’s one of a kind. So when she offers him a two-month paid gig to tour with her band, Tom can’t say no, despite family troubles and the bar’s precarious finances. Onstage and off, the music they make thrums in his soul, but Tom has too much going on to get involved—even if he burns to let Emme play his body like a fine-tuned instrument.

ebook, 224 pages

Expected publication: July 1st 2014 by Loveswept 

Genre: Contemporary Rmance/Erotica

Kristine's Thoughts:

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from Random House Publishing Group- Loveswept via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The expected publication date is July 1, 2014.

I am going to keep my thoughts short and simple on this book. Have Mercy is Clark's debut novel and it is a good start. I can see her work getting bigger and better but...

This book fell a little short for me if I am being completely honest. Although it was entertaining for a few short hours it lacked any real staying power and I will easily forget it. I felt that the story was slightly underdeveloped and the characters were extremely underdeveloped as far as their relationship went. As much as I wanted to get behind Emme and Tom I was indifferent. I could not feel the attraction and chemistry. Even the erotic scenes lacked the "sexy" that I was expecting. You read about what she is thinking of doing and then she does it. It was a little too robotic which in the end made for a little boring. Perhaps my issue with the sex was that Emme was the dominant one while Tom was the submissive. I guess I just found her a little too dull to be dominant. She wasn't very convincing in the role and at times a little annoying. Although Clark was on the right track, the "hot and steamy" was a little more like "warm and foggy."

If nothing else it is entertaining and I look forward to seeing what Clark comes out with next.

About the Author

Shelley Ann Clark's third-grade teacher told her that one day she'd be a romance novelist. It probably says something about her that, at age eight, she thought that was a compliment of the highest order.

Shelley now holds an MA in creative writing, a masters of library and information science, and has worked in public libraries for over a decade. A Southerner by birth, she lives in Chicago.  

Connect with Shelley

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