Reviewed by Danielle

TITLE: Forever Promised (Book #4)
SERIES: Promises
AUTHOR: Amy Lane
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
BLURB: Crick has been home from Iraq for five years, Jeff and Collin are finally married, and Shane and Mikhail are quietly making lives better for the dispossessed teenagers who come their way. Everything is right in Deacon’s world, but nothing ever stays the same.

Benny’s offer forces Deacon and Crick to dredge up every past mistake and offer of redemption. And not just the two of them—everybody is forced to examine the chances they’ve been given and the promises they’ve made. In a real family, a child is a promise, and to the men and women of Promise Rock, keeping that promise will change their lives forever.

REVIEW:

You cannot simply start to read this book without some background information simply because this book cannot be read as a standalone. This book is the long awaited (final?) part of the ‘promise’ series. This book is what fans hoped for, for a long time.

The series that started out with “Keep Promise Rock” and introduced the readers to Deacon and Carrick “Crick” and his little sister Benny; the book that took us readers through their struggle in youth and as they grew up in life to finally have a life together. The book, I personally think, cannot be read without falling in love with his characters’ “owners”. Besides the main characters mentioned, it introduces you to Deacon’s best friend, John and his wife, Amy and also to Crick’s best friend, Jeff and also, Drew, who is a former army friend of Crick’s. “Their Family”.
You will laugh at their humor, you will be hurting because of their pain and your heart will bleed for their loss but never to forget you will love them with your whole heart.

From Keep Promise Rock, it will take you too Making Promise, where you will find the characters from Promise Rock but you will read the story that is centred around Shane, a cop and Michael, a Russian dancer and not to forget – Kimmy, Shane’s sister.

In their story you will surf on the total difference between the two men, the struggle of Kimmy, the struggle of both men to reconcile themselves with how they feel what they went through in life, what they want in life and a way to get that with the support of the complete family including Michael’s fight for his mother’s last wish as she is dying of cancer and Shane getting hurt repeatedly on his job.
And I dare you to not laugh at “Mickey’s” attitude and loud mouth or to treasure the word lubime forever (because I will).

From Making Promise it takes you to what was (!!) the last in the trilogy, Living Promises and in this you will read the happy ending for Jeff, when he gets swiped off his feet by younger garage owner Collin.

You will get a peek into their lives – both living with HIV, how they got it what happened because of it and mainly we learn about Jeff’s past. We find new character Martin, as being the brother of Jeff his former and deceased lover, Kevin and we deal with gay hate in different ways in this story.

This story is about acceptance not only by the main characters but also acceptance of who you are, what you want and what you think you deserve or can have. Of course we see how the whole family deals with this and other things going on in their lives like the building of the shelter for runaway kids that Shane and Michael run together with Kimmy. We see Lucas who came with Martin and took a good look at Kimmy and decided to stay , we see little steps in the life of Parry (Benny’s daughter) and how Benny’s own relationship with Drew finally comes of the ground now she is older and we also see little Lilly (John and Amy’s little girl) grow up.

A significant part of this book is also about Deacon, the Patriarch of the family, so to speak, the glue that keeps them together, getting sick and the impact that has on the whole family and all that belongs to them.

And now finally this treasure Forever Promised.

The Last in the series and as I said before, this book cannot be read without reading the others so don’t even try plain simple.

You will not recognize the characters you will not have any idea about what is being offered and you will not get the emotional baggage that is behind offers being made and emotions running loose.

We get reacquainted with the “family”, we learn about what is being offered and how they all deal with this in their own way. We read parts of all their life in different chapters peeking into their relationships, their struggles, their happiness and their sexiness 😉 We learn about Deacon and Crick how they deal in completely different way of what Benny is offering them. We see Benny herself making a life of her own living in her own house with Drew and Parry. We see Michael and Shane tending to their shelter and being as together as two people, who can be as they were from when they got together.

We live Jeff’s brightened personality with Collin’s enthusiastic youthness and we share in Kimmy’s grief in dealing with understanding that things aren’t always as fair as you want them to be.

I am choosing not to go into details as I honestly believe this book, as a reader, you need to experience yourself knowing that whoever picks up this book will do it because of you have read the first three and want to see what happened/ happens in this one.

A part I choose to pick out especially is this, halfway through book the story centres around the departure of John (and Amy) I have to say this hit me like a ton of bricks. I was crying silent tears from the emotions portrayed and also laughing about the funny parts that were in between the emotional parts. Unbelievable writing! I cannot say differently. It takes you on a rollercoaster ride and makes you feel what both guys are feeling lost , loved ,lonely, scared as hell, curious, so, so frightened to be left alone and also in knowing that what they share is forever brothers of the heart The memories , the humor, the love indefinitely.

I am not one to cry easily but in this book I had to twice.

The first I told you about before, the second comes with loss and grief and as I don’t want to reveal the complete story. It is enough to tell you that I don’t think anyone will have a dry eye reading this.

The final part is about loss, learning to let go, starting over and about new life and to come full circle understanding what their family means to any of them and all of them, to form bonds accept new bonds and to finish what they started all together.

In the end even though I don’t believe in perfect this comes close and I cannot do different than to rate this at 5 stars (one of the reasons is because I think in total the whole series is a gem a treasure to keep and re-read from time to time).

Yes, there were things that could have been different or could have been approached in a different way but with all the emotions – the power, the love and the mixture of hurt, loss, grief, humor, anger, hotness, intense emotions and most of all Life – the unique characters and the bonding with both characters in their lives, this book will make you feel everything and I dare you to disagree.

I hope Mrs. Amy Lane will pick up her “pencil” again and will give us a new promise book from time to time because what is not to love about them and there is always more to share…

“It’s a promise that there will be more memories. It’s a promise that love will live on…”

BUY LINK: Dreamspinner Press  ::  Book Store

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