Tender Mercies

Men of Lancaster County, Book 2

By: Eli Easton

Narrated by: Will Tulin

A Men of Lancaster County novel.

Eddie Graber’s dream of a sanctuary for rescued farm animals was about to come true when his partner backed out at the last minute. Now Eddie risks losing the 25-acre property in Lancaster County - and all the hopes he held for it - before the project even gets off the ground. He needs help, he needs money, but most importantly, he needs to rediscover the belief in a higher purpose that brought him here in the first place.

Samuel Miller worked hard to fit into his Amish community despite his clubfoot. But when his father learns Samuel is gay, he is whipped and shunned. With just a few hundred dollars to his name, Samuel responds to an ad for a farmhand and finds himself employed by a city guy who has strange ideas about animals, no clue how to run his small farm, and a gentle heart.

Samuel isn’t the only lost soul to serendipitously find his way to Meadow Lake Farm. There’s Fred and Ginger, two cows who’d been living in a garage, a gang of sheep, and a little black pig named Benny who might be the key to life, love, money - and even a happily ever after for two castoffs.

©2017 Eli Easton (P)2018 Dreamspinner Press

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I fell in love with Samuel and Eddie as much as they fell in love with each other. This is a remarkably written novel that makes me want to move to a farm and become vegan. Hats off to you Eli Easton, please keep them coming, and as for Will Tulin's narration, it doesn't get better than that! Cheers to yet another incredible journey, thank you both.

What a great audio

I absolutely love Tender Mercies. I thoroughly enjoyed the animal rescue part of the story. The slow burn relationship between Samuel and Eddie was the perfect amount of build up and longing.
I’m not very familiar with the narrator but I found his narration to be very enjoyable.

6 out of 5 stars for this one!

Tender mercies, by Eli Easton is really wonderful! It is full of all the wonderful characters that Eli is so good at creating and it has a compelling animal conservation story moving it forward. In some ways the animal sanctuary part of the story was hard to read, depending on how you feel about animals and rescue organizations. The ending, however, is a very happy ending, and so totally worth any tears!

I really loved Samuel’s character. He was so sweet, and earnest, and his struggle felt very authentic. I enjoyed learning about his culture and how he adapted to the “new world” offered by Eddie.

The first book was really good, but I think this might even be better! I’m really looking forward to the audiobook I hope they choose a great narrator someone who can capitalize on Samuel’s characteristics - his speech patterns, etc.

Highly recommended!

Audiobook

I thought Will Tulin did an amazing job with this! He’s a new to me narrator and he really captured Samuel’s “voice” as well as the myriad of other characters in this unique setting.

I was NOT disappointed by this choice in narrator and I am looking forward to more from him on other works.

He did a great job with the emotions and timing and was easy to listen to.

Highly recommended!

6 of 5 stars

Sweet little story that manages to stay on track.

I generally enjoy Eli Easton, I love Boy Shattered. There are a couple of moment in this title, Tender Mercies, that I was afraid would go more in the direction of Easton's Falling Down - another vegan story that goes astray for the last 1/4 of the book. Fortunately, Eli has crafted a gem in Samuel - who's resilience and openness are refreshing, and along with a pig named Ben keep this story moving forward. Eddie is a bit more formula. He of the "I will shoulder it on my own" rather than let someone actually help, this starts nearly at the beginning. But overall, he is still ok.

Will Tulin's narration is pure magic, capturing a pleasant lilt for Samuel's amish roots and providing believable voices to the rest.

There are a few things that become a bit jumbled, or just misses. Besides the afore mentioned tendency for Eddie to internalize everything and refuse to ask for help - or even advice, there is one other huge miss for me.

The blurb for this book mentions Samuel's club foot in the first sentence. We know it is a huge deal between how it effects Samuel's physical movement and the pain, and also his general discomfort with people being aware of his deformity. Heck, Eddie takes one look and is ready to tell him he can't have the job. But as the story progresses, there is nothing - and I mean nothing about how Samuel feels about Eddie seeing his foot, or Eddie's reaction to seeing it for the first time out of the boot. No, I don't have a thing for feet, but it seems a big miss, and odd that when they move to a physical relationship, its as it doesn't exist. Think of all the stories of solders or cops with scars or other injuries, or guys trying to hide bruises. So much time is devoted to lifting a shirt or other clothing item to allow that first real look. The opportunity to say "there is nothing to be embarrassed about". That doesn't happen and it feels off.

Also odd to me is the minimal resolution with Samuel's family, and to a lesser degree that Eddie's parents are well described but non existent.

Setting that aside, this story oozes lots of emotions, lots of charm and a lot about that pig called Ben. Highly recommend!

My heart went out to Sam!

I enjoyed most aspects of this story. Eli Easton’s superb writing and characters always draw me in and hold my attention. The descriptions of the settings and the events are so clearly conveyed.

What I adored most about this story was Sam. He was just wonderful. From the start, my heart went out to him when he was treated badly by his cruel father. Sam is such a sweet-natured person, vulnerable yet strong at the same time. I felt for him and the hardships he’d endured. I loved the way he grew as a person and found his place beside Eddie and on the farm. Sam may not have been highly educated, but he was hardworking, resourceful, and was prepared to do anything for Eddie.

The gradual progress of Sam and Eddie’s love affair was beautifully developed. It’s a sweet, slow build and when they start to become intimate it’s precious, although there’s more focus on their relationship than the sex. They are opposites in character and from very different backgrounds and experiences, but they work delightfully as a couple. It was lovely to see Sam’s fantasy life of finding a man, falling in love, and them living together happily realised. There are plenty of cute moments with the animals and also idyllic ones, such as Sam and Eddie riding on a tractor in the sunshine.

I struggled a little with Eddie. Yes, he had noble intentions in setting up the animal sanctuary and he was a big-hearted person, but he hadn’t got a clue what he was doing and was way out of his depth here. Did he really expect one person to run the farm single-handedly while he sat in his office writing novels all day? But that was part of the story, how, with Sam’s help, they eventually set up the animal shelter and make it work. The threat of bankruptcy hanging over his head was there from the start and the impact that would have on Sam and their life together added to the angst.

I like it when the same narrator is used within a series, even when the main characters change. Will created voices to match the characters’ personalities and made the story enjoyable to follow.

Good story

Good story with great characters. I especially loved Benedict the pig;)
I read this book before. Maybe a year ago or so. It was fun listening to it while driving and cooking.

So many feels!

Eddy has finally invested in his dream to have the rug pulled out from under him. His lover and a business partner have left him just as he was to move to the new rescue farm he invested his life savings into.

Samuel is an Amish man that finds himself thrown out of his father's house, shunned, homeless, hurting, with no skills other than farming and a club foot that limits him.

Tender Mercies start out on an aching note where you're heart goes out for Samuel. He answers an ad for farm help that only offers food and housing plus fifty dollars a week.
I loved Samuel. I liked Eddie but didn't connect quite as well as I did with Samuel.
There is a lot of twists going on and you can't help but love all the animals especially Benny the pig.
You will shed tears of both sadness and joy. This is a lovely romance, a beautiful setting, and the sex is mostly off-page but still perfect for this story.
If you like sweet romance, Amish, rescue farms, ghostwriters, physically challenged men, May/December, cute animals, pigs and a sweet story with lots of emotion you will love this.

I liked Will Tulin's Narration. He gives Samuel an accent that you can tell he is Amish and seperate voices for the rest of the cast.

Thanks Eli and Will!

Will Tulin's calm narration and even pacing kept me sane as I listened to this on a road trip where, on the return trip, I broke down in the middle of nowhere on a pretty scary stretch of road 100 miles from home with a tow that was going to be at least an hour and half until it got to me.

Tulin's soothing tone and Eli Easton's captivating story kept me from being really frightened. It helped me to relax as I listened and made it so I could focus on the story - which is wonderful - and envelop me in Eddie and Samuel's romance.

Thanks Eli and Will!

Eli Easton has done it again!

I really can relate to Samuel, great story I was hooked from the 1st chapter

Sweet

This was very sweet. It has an interesting creative plot. There is not much in the way of sexy but it is worth the listen for the storyline.