Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Beg For Mercy
    Beg For Mercy
    Beg For Mercy
    Ebook283 pages4 hours

    Beg For Mercy

    By Toni Andrews

    3/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook


    I've never been certain I'm human

    Oh, the X–rays and blood tests are normal, and most people have no reason to suspect I'm more than I appear to be. But if I tell you to do something? You do it no ifs, ands or buts.

    I call my power the 'press.'

    My name is Mercy Hollings, and if you think that having the power to control people makes my life easy, you're dead wrong.

    Because when I get angry, everyone around me is at risk Sukey, my friend who has frightening taste in men; my clients, who, ironically, come to me for help; my neighbours, who regard me as a loner; and Sam, a man who wants to know my darkest secret.

    I have hurt people in the past, and I don't want that to happen again. But now a powerful stranger is threatening the new life that I've made for myself.

    And I'm afraid my anger is taking over.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins Publishers Australia
    Release dateJul 1, 2012
    ISBN9781460806579
    Beg For Mercy
    Author

    Toni Andrews

    Toni Lea Andrews was born in Hartford, Connecticut. The child of older parents, she became a "snow bird" when they retired while she was still in first grade. She graduated from high school near their retirement community in Stuart, Florida and then spent a year in Kentucky before returning to finish college in Connecticut. While working as a traveling salesperson a few years later, Toni fell in love with the beach-front town of Balboa, California and quit her job in order to move there. She stayed for fifteen years before her career as a business analyst took her to Miami. Now writing full time, Toni is back in New England, living in the tiny lakeside cottage where she spent summers as a child. She returns to Balboa whenever she can and has been delighted to find the town still retains its unique character and charm.

    Read more from Toni Andrews

    Related to Beg For Mercy

    Titles in the series (1)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Romance For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Uncontrollable, Irrelevant

      Dec 6, 2022

      My sister called me the other day. She wanted to let me know that I had once more been merciless and cruel in my relations with our parents. “They say there’s a lot of anger in you,” she said. “It makes them mad. It hurts their feelings. They think y

      14 min read

    • Article

      Festival

      Sep 15, 2018

      My husband, who loved festivals, who was a great fan of festivals, wanted to get to the square in time for the first band at eleven o’clock. From bed, the dog and I watched him dress. He tried on various T-shirts, declaring some of them too tight and

      13 min read

    • Article

      The Blind Dates

      Mar 15, 2021

      I spot him immediately when I walk into the bar. He smiles at me like he knows me, despite the fact this is a blind date and we’ve never met before. Nerves take hold of my body and my hands begin to tremble as I approach him. “Hi,” he says. “Hi, um,

      5 min read

    • Article

      Righteous

      Jan 22, 2019

      Righteous
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Duplex

      Jun 9, 2020

      I moved to Los Angeles to sing. When was this? August? June? I was twenty-nine, and those were shapeless months, when the days blended together and I refused to pull them apart. My landlord was unusually close to her adult son. His name was Jeffrey,

      21 min read

    • Article

      Mature Adults In Your Area

      Aug 8, 2022

      I would say that I don’t normally do this kind of thing, except that on and off over the months and years, I’ve done “these kinds of things” too many times for that to be true. So yeah, I go on dates from time to time. This recent guy wouldn’t choose

      6 min read

    • Article

      Getaway Driver

      Feb 10, 2022

      Getaway Driver
      11 min read

    • Article

      Life In The past Lane

      Aug 27, 2021

      Life In The past Lane
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Leather Coat

      Apr 4, 2024

      The Leather Coat
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Hard Man To Forget

      Jan 8, 2024

      A Hard Man To Forget
      4 min read

    • Article

      Tomorrows

      Mar 15, 2022

      The night, as most nights, was like a dream. At ten, once I’d fed the dog the last scraps off the stove. Once I’d cursed the cat for scratching up my mama’s antique furniture, then welcomed him back into my arms. Once I’d slicked my hair into a ponyt

      26 min read

    • Article

      Australia Reads At Home

      May 18, 2020

      Australia Reads At Home
      7 min read

    • Article

      Too Much Seinfeld

      Nov 30, 2017

      Too Much Seinfeld
      8 min read

    • Article

      Love, Lust, and More

      Feb 12, 2020

      Fleetwood Mac was singing She is dancing away from you now, and I squirmed in my seat. Kabir was rubbing my thigh as he drove, a gesture I once thought was reserved for me. Bah! I also used to think he only took naked selfies in bed with me, but then

      11 min read

    • Article

      I Met Myself Coming Back

      Oct 6, 2022

      I Met Myself Coming Back
      6 min read

    • Article

      Soggy CHIPS

      Oct 19, 2022

      Soggy CHIPS
      7 min read

    • Article

      Kings

      Jun 5, 2023

      1.Kings lie down to zip up their jeans,buy Cetaphil, candy, magazinesat Walgreens because they canwalk there unsupervised, describeblowjobs they’ve given to seniorsin cars, spend what they think of astheir own money. Home sick from school,they learn

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Heavy Load

      Dec 31, 2018

      The Heavy Load
      4 min read

    • Article

      Not That Story

      Oct 28, 2017

      Not That Story
      7 min read

    • Article

      ‘Sing to It’: Featured Fiction from Amy Hempel

      Mar 25, 2019

      If she was home at night in her husband’s bed, did he care what she did with her days? The post ‘Sing to It’: Featured Fiction from Amy Hempel appeared first on The Millions.

      7 min read

    • Article

      Out Of The FRYING PAN

      Dec 23, 2019

      “We never had these when I was young,’ said the man in bright red trousers, who was eating his second sausage-wrapped-in-bacon on a stick. ‘We did have cheese and pineapple on a stick, although most people ate the pineapple and left the cheese on the

      3 min read

    • Article

      Orange You Glad

      Jun 1, 2021

      Orange You Glad
      13 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Beg For Mercy

    3/5

    87 ratings9 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      From the very beginning of this book I flat-out liked Mercy Hollings. Sure, she's isolated herself for the good of others, which is not a trope I particularly love, but she's pretty bad at it, and she's starting to realize she's become a part of a community whether she wanted to or not.

      Her powers--the ability to persuade people to do whatever she wants--are pretty cool, and she uses them to help her friends. In the case of her friend Sukey's abusive boyfriend, using her powers gets her into a mess of trouble but might also lead to knowledge about her past that she needs to know.
    • 4/5
      A fun light read.
    • 3/5
      "I though this was a great start for a paranormal series. Mercy has a special ability to make people do things she wants. I love the characters a...more"I though this was a great start for a paranormal series. Mercy has a special ability to make people do things she wants. I love the characters and the writing. It was an interesting read."
    • 3/5
      This has potential, that isn't quite realised. Mercy Hollings has an ability to make people do what she wants them to do. She calls this the Press. She tries to control it but it frightens her, though sometimes when she gets angry there's nothing she can do about it.It shows potential and I would like to read more by this author at some stage, I'm just not sure that I want to continue with this obvious romance masquerading as a paranormal novel.
    • 3/5
      This book was good if not particularly great. The characters are enjoyable, but the plot is only so-so. For much of the book I was still waiting for something powerful to happen. All of a sudden, things were wrapping up. It wasn't until the last few chapters that I truly began to feel pulled in. Like I said, though, the characters are interesting I may continue with the series based solely on that.
    • 3/5
      This is the story of Mercy Hollings, who we are lead to believe has some crazy non-human mutant thing going on. (According to the back of the book, that is) Now if that doesn't have us paranormal freaks out there grabbing it up, I don't know what would. In actuality, Mercy is most definitely human. She has a job, a best friend, and a cat. How much more human can the girl get? She does have a 'gift'. She can bend someone to do as she says by stating her order in what Mercy refers to as her 'press'. Mercy has been ostrasized during her growing up years for being a freak. Now she is scared to fit it, but does without any kind of problems whatsoever. I think Mercy is supposed to come up as rough and tough, but I think she seemed more like your girl next door. The story is interesting enough and the bad guy actually gave me the willies, which isn't an easy thing to do. I liked all the expected cast of secondary, colorful characters, espcecially Tico and Cupcake/Cujo. Her romantic interest, new guy in town Sam, was nice enough but also a little bland here. He really needs to get some color in the next installment. This is a good piece of quick reading. The writing was good, the characters were good, the plot was good. Nothing, however, was great. I will read on and if you like this kind of book, I encourage you to read on.
    • 3/5
      You've heard the phrase "power of suggestion"? Well, Mercy Hollings has it, in spades. She calls it the press, and if she tells you to do something in a certain tone of voice, you'll do it - no questions asked, and no matter the damage. It's a skill she attempts to use sparingly, but can't always control, especially when she's angry. Now Mercy's decided to put her talent to good use, setting up a hypno-therapy practice and helping people stop smoking, gain a good self image, etc. Unfortunately, her life is also complicated by such things as real life, the mob, sexy new neighbors.... She didn't start out to create her own private army, but by the time she's done it seems she'll have one - and that may be a good thing. She's not the only one with her brand of persuasion, and the others don't seem to have quite her ethical standards..Not a bad series opener, but not particularly inspired, either. Urban fantasy/romance is a genre with a lot of competition these days. Mercy may be popular with fans of Patricia Briggs and Illona Andrews, but Toni Andrews hasn't reached their level just yet.
    • 3/5
      This was an interesting story and I like the way Mercy is putting her talent to use. But I must say that I am not convinced that her power is all that scary. I guess I have read to many horror books that I didn't particulary find the press as that creative of a talent. Although, maybe if we find out more as the developments unravel it could be. I do like the characters and I could see this becoming a good series if developed carefully.
    • 3/5
      A loner with an unusual talent finds friendship and purpose. Mercy (great name) can 'press' people to doing what she wants, However she can also lose her temper and her 'shut up' will keep you silent for months. This is your usual urban fantasy tale, but I loved the way Mercy put her unique talents to work. This is clearly the first of a series, and I'm looking forward to reading the next one. The prose was not as beauitful as it could have been, but the ideas were fresh and new and I rate this a keeper. The blurb on the back of the book made this book sound darker and sharper than it actually was, it was really more sweet, if that's the right word...

    Book preview

    Beg For Mercy - Toni Andrews

    q9-abook_preview_excerpt.htmlm|KFU@=dfMaJ]$Tr$Ks !j}o“{OxȠ;0Sӧ*S_W_R> /k/_b5ė8Uڡ%}uY0V`CbNNuݭzҵqǹcOqv&Ou;enӒ˝*' ֦KC+yAS:#{평_ޡ;K{I B ɗZ؅:JK#?|[47y{( 6i 2q5NoCמ4[Ss!*_cAnrsUI:]W]RZOo6bW3hCÂL-N57 LYKKU}IK`PwhN"$k~du5UL*d*\IɄs c 3d @5& IF πBUcy<\N >?b0Nxz@w>`kq;Hc?-hN %F }N4e; :=OaMq9?s\ƶ]Llٗ?8̑ CxmZw:M7 tgXKWǔzhp\?--Ze˸ Ѿ`aٌbhjVX|Xi ErBtT^jLO#M{%uҡqj?e u*]2* La2ڵ]u\}cG/Lu:vG#EOu2 X&jGNKPin@!eevSmjKx׀#y;PAM;lA`f58ːw:\| pVqHW3DSSy.7sMOh#(F@3CD93Oj܎>omBD٩\d)'%#n/¿#|RşBSc>$cKxb\Ap/>.i!Z* !:cc**/-uN~) lO&"8)􎗶MQِ5Ƭ'-0Ljǝ̓@x? =$kL3\m)@\KOy+Bb]M.m`GiR lU0 hs"gPvV 0RK'/{2is߰6bAu58"aveA8zy ܴa8 |qi^?-tqȑ78Bbj 0I!0 |TLmj~}}Trt?yN#*w@廤+0U qhS;e*X ۷s/ x*q[-&֝-yς.a[gS-&)QF>-4i }9(?"bLXn?$,}y :Fng<~\ 6)0NQx/qr!XCq?#]F*./̛Uf_oMjќ`|.4dġVA>V'&SZ=|dĤx< 7퉺F .7[W >\,Ha+61qJB1f NJn\5r ɉJ&33O&twK)%d$;<>}@#qO5yì@pSh:&e}i <1ۮkj]WvXN 'S!wd#Fn.E Tgov/)H 'G2<(]{t]MY>'ߘ!(]̭ qivB~kp@h?vZubv{$L> [z^fyX;'"y&P`;[E%A=&z /sLvlt!Vex˷{Gj:㫜 FR!LDE\ytD@LGAO~`8Zrm WñM5ˑ"Ȭ3^z=Hp0Z"mXyDh|cGi07LԿuxK;b)L3B Ee2IgVOL[ X!>IIO1PdR'gzЋslI9d .G6!_dx&Ed"H(Aē f,ZEG!_H,3q0 42`@5 YxsDcw0(]Cˣ&akpރ;ѱ[7"0bZ٩%[Yl`Sq"``"괐`g|}^Zݥ g<9 ,EV('xūz;)+6+Fso [xdDbS!iݓa[ Я~ڤG\VQz~I2B|`$q-t\ Ss#P o =>)S..A UMm5"zWGVϟG&#;Mnz/n ٬TNT!iLDf#1J։TPt浞6nbw4bA1lVu^1S|gxT ?VKI6:5:cbOP!+0)-͔,4ӦFv7օ, yf,K#\%ᬁ]8mV]Pp6@n{qp|Gl|"Dx^Zo^tQ$\C+b_mggqtMMdQ 5swLj1d3;s nZ 9%i8X# ! 2RV?ةa@t-U\jZdTԓ"-ٿV1`w)YSR5=_2!K4hť]x[z}@Gz'݈wyPA(gvмmDBiz<бsAT'L4FzYqHC-0r "CJQF 7m03 ݥ9kxiz]>p-NKiOy{FԎJym֕~y(ֶȲ*kB{jS, dFfPUlQ\Cp2*xo(0ﴵĶTEz;_!yXJI`6jaX(烄(+( ھ;1˧^fO|bgreS﹬-o*hYnʄ=[E{HǶfusgζLč#mEwo`|pŮA6Q"W:gٔۏSZwi+^f# {m1꿡-mɱP\I 3ugS2cEWbpdvkzu0j呑MW^L-dnֽa4?*I?ޝ\hh:hJUBl!Gx *ߴSgJy &7s숉G#u?/c%7V6/L:#o.%T;:dtދ+(蔛N+s2@#MBߗ0>^i>3ˉi WFe?"6Q#LJ")rZ+xBrzY(vhJj$UzDAGATV/HrTKnGYQyo0k!n0s5PJ1Z66ԥ]cDI6q]v,>jŃ[i5+9V>͠ۆxjWINVS*:>X@)زgVXqj_B=Kus?Q3":8\[wz H r*Xz3r&fDT5 >a+/Q~0?"商Y5p\{6N6Y+z!;w0<^ {T(ꏒGEdƽN Sپ29Jn92\=+[j螷6v>Tfw+x=Xf 5!Mթ^dAAŎkTȌclhSdˎO#Cmb&'CUޓ7R@ÝnY eEŴc;5+֓!6R Qh7Ka(X iD+k}[I;|yL[g:GklF~\*Z<͇}_4^Ձe.Q"C? pϛ4Hial<. 1Ao,9JcXJ0a`:Tg?Bt9Rn,F]] s4F_ݹYp`ˠ K'?&])7,HE_b}8TAir+RY?kFre@kfh6v-K6(sMIԨu)a :i8D|J˜}O\MvYz*z`siXfo13H0u|4RLTSHQȻ/(/ʚԿ}T6&Ͷ$0V7Ua*[ltCaTd1TaWI~Lʕp!JDkߛʔ7S@8\5^*[+ϖҕ܏fR]rR ϑ}7uI8l¼Լ򙨽Wdob/UsPxѭ(E7 $f@N[SX)Z\,U3V#Zdk+δ 'ܴrܚIR)bn)\FsYgSPc^1GuMxhǹw#XZ/XI/aNjY̓l5INK.i\5i,B2;DW3-%q;N\:\ΚCȉjd-a*C0wu,.,d"[JBkyaB&95x@6UP:tN4(t^l{!AgJQUG, 4<.Vn'$D(zKԓ _[; kWkX8oOfoy!礓62L.x2[0<65>hm}o|xe"H;]5h,/6eJ|:_QPeɻPd[pA+ax`Zu|1ꞈQ᥯Is!2}tzo-ꥦ96ؒ9$Iuo3@H.G ~ ʼ)fn[SH'{iC0ԟem/>PM ''kbb5#C֊O9=/K[Yj=K|>6 7zeNAQGBlY\Ka(=ɡTDP Om"gRed˼8!0>t@jK+{G/qt'G^SGܮ1yzYOK2lldZlSbxżR>o5gA2RK/GyQh! /cy'R!g a&Jq!HZNҧ;T׆qP`h bd _ܷ'9 5[Y$54fL: @Pb8Z{YZ};$Y_HM#E1pH\]W `&[p\]CꈵB:P%Lc6,F:0ۡӭcyИT00i}R_A66E[QJA͗CUQ/JK-lhr[TvMohJvXMd[D8Ć}'0h/h6)nomUz+`oeb3*IJ#'g3aOz0te-+$8ws\v:ԇpTްobLiVzZ&57KQF۬u#nFIH謽`{Ӂ(v#˴gWtM2GDjנ[Z|5Py`a3Wv'R!0@]G&_7T ۉJrqv ArKD o%Hd͗/FhO (:SDžS] ¬Ӣ m{z"?^pǍ$˸- ,t[$W #ia>jBd4|5{^Y\tն=Pua$eT٭`H{],;6خGﲙ&Ko6Ƣ\a^'6g-A{~;z&`}7~Y3!- [+cHgF 2{ӾDىӚXj.+8۟l93-ud֢pYnޥצ+}G zzew"W֮ fM0dM wJjK}ybf[e/d[|aX!3h|Me~}O$U/wݔ?w|A[MDdbޱ;2..kid&ց n_z]`}°M=E޿ÕNH3K/[3V냷/oO2v/ s|۠)d/Sž^Rj-{(V̝!Gۜv&)/\+HЬXsO{ bn\Υi^RcNl/²5gh6TϻMG#қzloO1=`@yY;xk c_ܵ ǐ\wj^yxZ9\3ua`"KQ l延6edτs"z(U* (RNVzsB(c7Ks+e $}>e_I d&1=uˡ/Io>}SlmVv%\OD^"dowAF:(zTV
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1