**I received an ARC copy via NetGalley for an honest review**

This was my very first book of the year, and let me say that it was a great book to start me off. In Place of Never is a beautifully written story about loss, grief, guilt, prejudice, love and redemption. To be honest, the summary seemed interesting enough, but I didn’t really have high expectations for the book. The idea of gypsies however (Roma is the correct term though) did catch my interest. I was wonderfully surprised by how much I really did enjoy the book.The book begins with a view into the broken family dynamic but allows the reader to get a glimpse of each character’s personality.

I loved watching as Mercy slowly fights her way out of her self induced oppression. It was nice to see how Cross, a musician among the traveling gypsy sideshow, is a big factor in helping her overcome her woe, but he isn’t the reason she is able to. He accepted her as she was and helped her accept herself also. Mercy comes to grips with the past and discovers herself along the way. Witnessing the unraveling of the mysterious circumstances of Faith’s death was an adventure. Mercy herself mentions that she was not expecting to unravel some dark conspiracy surrounding her death, but there is more to Faith’s death than what everyone believes. Great read! ( )

Goodreads Synopsis: Can the truth set her free?…

A part of Mercy died the summer her sister tragically drowned. Now Mercy has a chance to discover if Faith’s death was an accident—or murder. Her first step is to confront the lead suspects: a band of traveling gypsies—the last people who saw her sister alive. But Mercy finds an unexpected ally in Cross, the soulful musician in their ranks. He’s a kindred spirit, someone who sees into her heart for the first time in, well, forever. Yet stirring up the past puts Mercy in danger…

Suddenly someone is shadowing Mercy’s every move, making her even more determined to uncover the facts. With Cross by her side, she is ready to face it all, even if that means opening up to him, knowing he may one day leave her. What she discovers is a truth that rocks the foundation of her small river town—and a love worth risking everything for….

My Review: I received a copy of this book from Netgalley, and honestly I didn't want to like this book at first. It seemed poorly planned and thought out, the characters were all over the place, and it was just really sad. There's a lot of things going on, the main character, Mercy, is ignored by her father, the town pastor, after her sister dies and then her mother commits suicide. Although that doesn't actually happen in the book, it happened three years before, but it's still sad. There's a lot of mention of self harm and self harm scars, and a couple characters are a little cringe worthy in their personalities, they're pretty invasive. Then, something changed. As I read further into the book, about half way through, I realized it wasn't a sad story about being sad, it was a story that started out sad but developed into happiness. It's about getting over being sad. I found myself drawn to the mystery surrounding Mercy's late sister Faith, and I stopped procrastinating reading the book. I really started to get into it. Sure, it had a rocky start, but who doesn't like young love, a travelling sideshow, and a mystery? This book really grew on me, and the things I found annoying about the characters at first turned into quirks. The end was exciting, although I had a feeling about that specific character when we were first introduced to them, and the epilogue was cute. I don't like country music, or church, but this was a good read and you should check it out and give it a chance. Thanks for reading.

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