A divorced single mother. A painfully shy pastor. In Meadowbrook, even friendship between them is enough to start a scandal.

Delores “Dodie” Hansen has come home to Meadowbrook trying to rebuild a life she never expected to lose. Her young son, Danny, has cystic fibrosis. Her husband walked away after his diagnosis, their marriage has ended, and returning to her parents’ home leaves Dodie feeling more like a failure than a woman making a fresh start.

Pastor Christopher Tanner has struggles of his own. Behind the pulpit, he is confident, passionate, and determined to breathe new life into Meadowbrook’s traditional church. One-on-one, he is painfully shy and often tongue-tied. Yet with Dodie, somehow, conversation comes easily.

As Chris becomes a friend to both Dodie and Danny, the distance between friendship and something more begins to disappear.

But Meadowbrook is a small town, and people notice.

Soon whispers are spreading through the church. What began as an innocent friendship threatens Chris’s reputation and ministry, while forcing Dodie to confront the guilt she still carries over her failed marriage. She believes divorce has placed another chance at love beyond her reach. Chris fears that loving a divorced woman may cost him the calling he believes God gave him.

Falling in love may be the easy part. Believing that grace can make room for a second chance may be much harder.

Can Dodie and Chris trust God’s mercy more than the judgment of others, and more than the fears they carry themselves?

New Mercies is a heartfelt small-town Christian romance about a single mother, a shy pastor, faith, forgiveness, family, and second chances.