The Promise by Dan Walsh and Gary Smalley - a review

The Promise is Book 2 of "The Restoration Series" by Dan Walsh and Gary Smalley. The first book in the series, The Dance (read my review here) was the story of Jim and Marilyn Anderson and I found that in The Promise, their story continued. But their story isn't the main story. The Promise is about Tom and Jean Anderson, Jim and Marilyn's son and daughter-in-law. It is about a strained marriage due to lies and forgotten promises. It was a difficult book for me to really get into.

As most of my regular readers know, I love Dan Walsh's work.  He is a fantastic author and his books have all found homes on my keeper shelf. I have to be totally honest though, I wasn't blown away with The Promise. I felt like I was kept at a distance from the characters. I wasn't drawn in and made to love them. In fact I grew to really dislike both Tom and Jean and I was thankful that Jim and Marilyn's story thread was weaved throughout as it kept me reading the book. I tried to rationalize why I didn't like these characters and the biggest reason I could detect is their lies. I abhor lying in any capacity. To me there is no excuse that can justify it. Therefore, I truly believe that is why I didn't like this book. Will it keep me away from any more of Dan Walsh's books? No. Because I love his work too much.

I do believe The Promise is a book that can speak to peoples hearts that are hurting in much the same way as Tom and Jean were hurting. It just didn't speak to mine and for that I am sorry.

On a 5-Star Scale - 3 Stars

I would like to thank Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group for my review copy. I received my copy for free in order to read it and give my honest review, which I have done.

*Available August 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group*

Smiles & Blessings,