Promised - Review

Promised

By: Leah Garriott

Expected Publication: February 18th 2020 by Shadow Mountain

368 pages

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Margaret Brinton keeps her promises, and the one she is most determined to keep is the promise to protect her heart.

Warwickshire, England, 1812

Fooled by love once before, Margaret vows never to be played the fool again. To keep her vow, she attends a notorious matchmaking party intent on securing the perfect marital match: a union of convenience to someone who could never affect her heart. She discovers a man who exceeds all her hopes in the handsome and obliging rake Mr. Northam.

There’s only one problem. His meddling cousin, Lord Williams, won’t leave Margaret alone. Condescending and high-handed, Lord Williams lectures and insults her. When she refuses to give heed to his counsel, he single-handedly ruins Margaret’s chances for making a good match—to his cousin or anyone else. With no reason to remain at the party, Margaret returns home to discover her father has promised her hand in marriage—to Lord Williams.

Under no condition will Margaret consent to marrying such an odious man. Yet as Lord Williams inserts himself into her everyday life, interrupting her family games and following her on morning walks, winning the good opinion of her siblings and proving himself intelligent and even kind, Margaret is forced to realize that Lord Williams is exactly the type of man she’d hoped to marry before she’d learned how much love hurt. When paths diverge and her time with Lord Williams ends, Margaret is faced with her ultimate choice: keep the promises that protect her or break free of them for one more chance at love. Either way, she fears her heart will lose.

Promised is absolutely everything I need in a book. I mean I'm not sure this book could have been much better for me.

I could relate to Margaret deeply. I've been burned in my past and I had to question if opening my heart again was worth it. I found her choice of men to focus on a bit confusing. I mean her previous fiance Edward had a mistress which was the cause of her breaking their engagement. So she sets her sights on someone else who will certainly have a mistress as well simply because she knows to expect it from him and therefore won't be caught off guard by his betrayal? I find that a little hard to believe. But I didn't want to question it too deeply because I was enjoying the rest of the story so much.

Margaret is honest to a fault. She rarely hides what she is feeling for the sake of decorum when she can speak plainly and ensure she is not misunderstood. Despite her frank manner, she seems to be regularly pursued by not one but at least two men who ignore her adamant refusal.

I loved how each piece of the story between Margaret and Gregory played out. From the way Margaret immediately dismisses Gregory due to her initial twinge upon meeting him. I want to mention each individual little thing that I appreciated connecting each piece of the puzzle together, but those pieces are spoilers.

I have to give Gregory props for his continued pursuit of Margaret after being repeatedly turned down in often a very harsh manner. He could, as Margaret criticized, at times be arrogant. But I didn't mind it so much.

The banter between these two was perfect. Readers who particularly enjoy hate-to-love relationships will eat Promised up. I know I did.

Promised was so good I stayed up late reading which I just don't do anymore since having kids. That's one of my top signs of showing how much I'm enjoying a book. Margaret was so easy to like and her journey is not easy. The side characters all pop off the page no matter how short of a role they may have had to play in the overall story. And the hate-to-love banter and flirting was so good. Promised gets 4.5 Stars. Have you read Promised? What did you think? Let me know!