Title: A Promise to Keep
Author: Ann Durand
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Published in February 2005 by Double Dragon Publishing
IBSN: 1-55404-215-1
Karen Hudson is happy with her life. At thirty-seven, she had no illusions about find a knight in shining armor, but she is content as a third grade school teacher. She loves her job and the interaction with the kids in her class. She gave up on the dating scene five years ago after spending ten years of her life searching for mister right. It was a relief for her not to have to exert so much energy on finding the right man and getting married. Six months ago, the unexpected happened. Karen met the father of Jennifer, a third-grader in her class, and things could not be going better for her now. When Michael Browning walked into her life, Karen had no idea that he would turn out to be the man of her dreams. Her life is near perfect now, or so she thinks.
Karen and Michael have reached a point in their relationship when it is natural to start thinking about the next step. Karen knows that she loves both Michael and Jennifer and is ready to make a commitment to them. After a delicious gourmet meal cooked by Michael, they send Jennifer to bed. Karen lets Michael know that she is ready to give herself to him. Karen is floored by Michael’s rejection of her offer. When Michael expresses his love for her in one breath, Karen is elated, but in the next confusion brings her crashing back to earth. As Michael talks about trust and how there are going to be events that will test her trust and love in him, Karen is bewildered especially when he will not give her any details. Michael may be the man of her dreams, but he is scaring her with all this talk about not having enough time.
After his first wife died of cancer, Michael’s grief took control of his life. He struggled with living as a single parent. He loves Jennifer with all his heart, but the loss of his wife profoundly affected him. In his grief, he did not always make the wisest choices, but he is honorable enough to stick by the decisions that were made. When Michael finds himself framed for a crime he did not commit, his instincts take over. In order to protect Jennifer, he leaves in the dead of night with only a few of their belongings. The only one he can trust is his sister, Emilie. He devises a plan to be able to communicate secretly with Emilie while he is in hiding from the police. He is not sure what he is going to be able to do in regards to clearing his name, but he knows that he must protect Jennifer at any cost.
Michael and Jennifer settle in Chawell, California. In Chawell, Jennifer is able to attend third grade and comes to love Ms. Hudson. Michael is grateful that Jennifer is able to fit in and actually loves going to school, since he had so much trouble with getting her to enjoy school before this. Michael never dreamed that he would find the woman of his dreams in Chawell, but that is what happened. He feels so blessed to have found Karen, but when he is recognized, he knows that it is only a matter of time before he must flee again, leaving behind Karen. He does not want to tell Karen about his past so that she can truthfully say that she knows nothing about the crime or his whereabouts, but he knows that it is not fair to her to leave her without saying anything. He tells her of his love for her and lets her know that her love for him will be tested in the coming days, but says nothing of having to leave. Jennifer’s safety must come before his feelings for Karen.
A Promise to Keep by Ann Durand is a look at the extremes a man and a woman will go to so that they can protect those that they love. We have Michael Browning, whom fled his home a year ago with his daughter Jennifer so that she could not be used as a pawn in a twisted game. When the evidence against him comes to light, Michael knows that the only way to stay out of jail and keep his daughter safe is to go into hiding. He has no hope of his name ever being cleared, but he accepts that his daughter’s safekeeping is more important than his good name. Karen had given up on finding the perfect man for her, when Michael came into her life. He is everything that she has always dreamed of and she will do anything for him. When Michael talks of trust and having faith in him, she is bewildered, but knows that he is the man for her. Karen never thought that her faith and trust would be tested the very next day. When Michael and Jennifer disappear with no warning and the police show up at the school to question her, Karen realizes that she must put her own life in jeopardy to save them. From the quiet town of Chawell, California, to the outskirts of Batopilas, Mexico, Karen risks all to find Michael and be with him.
I enjoyed the suspense in A Promise to Keep. This book was a definite page-turner. I did not want to put it down because I just had to know what the secret was and how it was all going to end. It is refreshing to read a romance that has a fair share of intrigue. Michael is willing to gamble everything to protect his daughter, going so far as to leave the woman he loves behind so that she is not dragged into the nightmare that his life has become. Michael did not count on the fact that Karen would not be willing to let him walk out of her life. Michael is the man that she loves and she will do anything it takes to be with him. If you enjoy being kept on the edge of your seat, you need to pick up a copy today of A Promise to Keep from Double Dragon Publishing.
Yours Sincerely,
Annmarie
Title: A Promise to Keep
Author: Ann Durand
Karen Hudson is a thirty-seven year old third grade teacher in Chawell California who has given up on love and marriage after ten years of failed romances. Five long years ago after her last romance fizzled, she decided that it was unlikely that she would find someone and she quits dating. She now lives for her students and her work as a teacher. She doesn’t consider her looks anything but horsy and thinks her eyes are her best feature.
All this changes when she meets the father of one of her newest students on the first day of school. He had been standing in the doorway watching her and glided over to introduce himself. Soon Karen finds herself deeply drawn into the lives of both parent and child and deeply in love. But is Michael all he seems? After six months of dating, Karen is ready to give her self to Michael but his evasion of intimacy and Karen’s questions about his daughter Jennifer’s problems hints at secrets.
Michael Browning may not be who he seems to be but he is what he appears. A good man, intelligent and savvy, he is a whiz with computers and an excellent father to his daughter Jennifer. He loves Karen but is hiding more than he is telling to both her and the town of Chawell. He had loved Jennifer’s mother and grieved deeply upon her death from breast cancer but he is emotionally ready for another relationship, but is he ready to reveal all his secrets?
Michael thought he was ready but now finds that he can only ask Karen for blind trust once his hiding place is discovers. Now, he has to take his daughter and resume his life on the run. He doesn’t know how to clear his name and he has to protect his daughter and Karen from the forces that would take them both from him.
Karen concerned over Michael’s strange behavior, returns to his home to find that both he and Jennifer have abruptly left town, taking only part of their personal affects, and leaving her stunned with disbelief. He had said something would happen but he didn’t tell her that her entire life would be turned upside down by his departure. Suspended from teaching, she begins her own search for the truth starting in San Francisco.
Ann Durand takes the reader on a wild ride in A Promise to Keep with her heroine Karen Hudson. Where most women, once confronted by the police and FBI about her lover’s true identity and the charges leveled against him, would lose trust, Karen does not. Taking her destiny into her own hands, Karen investigates on her own and seeks the truth trying to find justice for both herself and Michael. Will she find out who is behind the web of lies and crimes that are laid at Michael’s feet? Or will they finish what they have started, framing Michael and leave both Karen and Jennifer at the mercy of cruel fate?A Promise to Keep is a very well written mystery and Ann Durand uses all the tools of a master story teller to keep the reader on the edge of their seat as Karen searches for answers from northern California to the wilds of Mexico. You will find yourself leaning in as the action and suspense keeps you riveted to this book until the very last page as we hope and pray that Karen is successful and she is reunited with Michael and Jennifer.
Good Reading!
Julie
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