Why Is Mercy Not Sacrifice A Must-Read For Christians?

“Do you take love or power?" he asked pointing the gun right at my forehead. In the underworld of Atlanta, blood ties are not only sacred, but also deadly. Ariella Johnson, a fearless law student, had no idea she would be bound to ruthless Mafia Don Luis DeLuca. He marries her not out of love, but to gain power, claiming her before his rival. To the outside world, she is his wife and a symbol of strength. But Ariella refuses to be controlled. Defiant and sharp-tongued, she confronts Luis at every turn, refusing to submit to a man who regards her as nothing more than a strategic move. When her father dies after discovering the truth at the hands of the defeated rival, Ariella's grief transforms into quiet determination. She won’t be a pawn in anyone’s game. As she learns to navigate the dangerous world she has been thrust into, she develops an unexpected bond with Luis' sister, Annie. However, not everyone in his household is an ally—Kendy, a cunning maid, secretly works against Ariella with, ensuring she never finds her footing. One reckless, drunken night transforms everything. Ariella discovers she is pregnant, forcing Luis to face the truth: his wife is no longer merely a symbol; she is his greatest weakness. But, before he can make things right, betrayal paves in. His most trusted allies turn on him, using Ariella as leverage in a deadly power struggle. With enemies closing in and time running out, Luis must decide whether to defend the empire he built or fight for the woman who refuses to be conquered. In a world where love is dangerous and trust is a luxury, survival requires knowing whom to protect and who to destroy. Read HIS RUTHLESS REDEMPTION

The darkness in his eyes, the dangerous smell of in his breath, and his deathly grip keeping me bound to him made my heart pound in my chest and my body quiver beneath him. Shamefully, it wasn't anything that I wasn't used to, because…the things I let him do to me? When he was frustrated, annoyed, and angry at the world, I was here to be his pound of flesh. In return, he masked the void of my loneliness because for months, that was the transaction of our relationship. He'd pin me to the wall, bend me over the counter, pull my hair, slap me, choke me, and I enjoyed every second of it because in that moment, it finally felt good to be powerless. Irony is a funny thing. I enjoyed being in pain because it made me forget how much I was hurting. *** "I warned you, doll." His voice strikes a string of chills down the base of my spine, a reminder that all of the time in the world could pass, and he's still not letting go. This is where the good girl in me dies. "You're mine now," he whispers. *** My name is Mercy—Mercy Carter. I went to college. Got myself a useless Bachelor of Science in Mathematics degree. His name is Marcel—Marcello Saldívar. However, at the time, I didn't know that he, the heir to the Saldívar Mafia empire, was the man that I had blindly offered myself to. As smart as I am, I was stupid all the times when it actually mattered. After all, he did warn me he was dangerous. I just didn't think he could be much worse than my thug brother. I was vulnerable—naive. I belong to him. My name is Mercy, and I am the Mafia's Mercy.

I become paralyzed after trying to save my wife. Seven years later, she holds a knife to our young son's neck and forces me to donate my kidney to her male best friend. She says I'm worthless now that I'm already paralyzed—what does it matter whether or not I have my kidneys? What she doesn't know is that I already lost a kidney many years ago when trying to save her. Now, she's taking away the only one I have left!

Elena Moretti has always lived by the rules. Raised in the wealthy, devout heart of Rome, her life is governed by faith, family honor, and the unyielding rhythm of the Angelus bells. But when Rev. Matteo Romano returns from Paris to serve in her Trastevere parish, everything she thought she knew about devotion and desire is thrown into question. Matteo is calm, refined, and seemingly untouchable — yet he carries a quiet fire, a dangerous intensity that Elena cannot ignore. Their connection begins with fleeting glances, subtle touches, and whispered words that blur the line between spiritual guidance and personal temptation. Each encounter pulls them deeper into a forbidden spiral, challenging Elena’s beliefs, igniting desires she has been taught to suppress, and threatening the lives they’ve carefully built. As their clandestine bond strengthens, Elena discovers that desire is far more consuming than faith, and Matteo begins to confront the tension between duty and passion. But in a city steeped in tradition and scrutiny, secrecy is fleeting, and the cost of indulgence is devastating. Sacred Obsession is a story of forbidden longing, dangerous temptation, and the consuming fire of a love that defies rules — a tale where passion and faith collide, leaving hearts exposed and fates uncertain.

Heaven never dreamed of marrying into a family as rich and powerful as the Wiles family, but an arranged marriage bound her to Damien Wiles and knowing he didn’t care about her didn’t stop her from falling for him completely. Unfortunately, all she got in return for her love and devotion was a marriage full of pain and coldness yet she selflessly sacrificed herself when Damien was shot at. After being trapped in a coma for five years, Heaven finally wakes up but doesn’t remember anything. At her bedside stands Damien, no longer the cold, heartless husband he once was—not that she even remembers, and a little boy who calls her “Mommy.” Knowing that Heaven doesn’t remember their loveless marriage, and the pain that once defined her life because of him, Damien will now stop at nothing to win back the woman he once destroyed—even if it means lying to her and pretending they were the perfect couple before her accident. But memories have a way of returning, no matter how deeply they’ve been buried. And when Heaven finally regains hers, the truth of Damien’s betrayal and the agony of her past come crashing back. Faced with the lies he spun and the love he now offers, Heaven must decide whether she can forgive the man who broke her beyond repair… or if some wounds can never truly heal.

Madeline Crawford gave Jeremy Whitman everything. Twelve years of love, loyalty, and quiet devotion, and he repaid her with a prison sentence she did not earn. She watched him fall in love with another woman through the cold glass of a window she was visiting. She swallowed her tears every single night in a six-by-eight cell. She learned, slowly and painfully, how to rebuild herself from nothing. Five years later, she walks back through Havenport's gilded doors not as the broken girl Jeremy once discarded, but as a woman the city will not soon forget. She has money now. Connections. A plan. And a rage so cold and precise it could cut glass. She is going to ruin every single person who helped put her there, starting with Jeremy Whitman himself. But then something goes wrong. Jeremy stops being the enemy she remembers. He becomes something far more dangerous: a man who is sorry. A man who is fighting for her. A man who, in front of the entire city, drops to his knees and kisses her feet and says, 'Madeline, I was wrong to love another. From now on, I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you.' And Madeline looks down at him and feels nothing she expected to feel. She says, 'I will only forgive you if you die.' What she does not say is this: she is not sure she means it anymore.