My review of The Mercy Seat by Alvetta Rolle

About the book:

Going from raunchy to redeemed is not easy. When 19 year old prostitute Sofia Douglas walks into Freedom Baptist to reconcile with her mentally abusive foster mother Julia Aaron, she is met with much more than she bargained for. Although befriended by an elderly church mother by the name of Ruth Stills, she begins to fall for Ruth's son Xavier who is handsome, caring, a minister and married. Sofia begins an endless cycle of trying to stifle mutual feelings for a married man of God, and combat the bitterness of a mother who has her own issues, both spiritually and psychologically.

With the arrival of the mysterious Sofia at the last night of revival, Xavier Stills and Felecia's already troubled marriage takes a tumultuous turn for the worst. Felecia and Xavier now have to fight to save their diminishing relationship, even as they try to ward off the temptation of yielding to outside influences.

My review:

The Mercy Seat was a good story of redemption and the importance of not letting yourself stray emotionally in marriage by getting close to someone who is not your spouse. I liked the pacing of the story and how realistic the author was regarding temptation and the characters' emotions. I also loved the way she tied Sophia's emotional problems to her adoptive mother's issues. Ruth was a great influence and a solid example of how spiritual mentoring should occur. The spiritual and emotional insight was deep and for the spiritual application alone it was worth reading.

I loved the honesty in this story. The author clearly knows how to communicate emotion on the page. The delivery of it could use a little polishing regarding point of view, but honestly, it didn't take away from the value of the story as a whole. I would definitely recommend it to couples who feel an emotional distance developing between them so they can see the consequences of not dealing with things early on. Lovers of Urban Christian Fiction will enjoy The Mercy Seat. In some ways this story was deeper than just focusing on the church drama, and I appreciated that.

The Mercy Seat was published by Ellechor Publishing House and released in July 2012.