Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: Keeping Promises
AUTHOR: Jodi Payne and BA Tortuga
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 238 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 23, 2021
BLURB:
Jeremy M. Dunn III has the single dad thing down, so the last thing he wants to do is call his ex-husband to ask for help with their two kids. They didn’t part on good terms, and they’ve barely spoken since the divorce. But with a cast on his arm that goes up past his elbow, Jeremy has no choice. He needs a few days to figure out how to bathe their daughter, make school lunches and parent their son one-armed, and there isn’t anyone else he can ask for help.
Former rodeo cowboy West Belen was already on his way back to his kids, and to Trey (“the third”, his nickname for Jeremy). He made a promise to try again, and he means to keep it, so when he sees his chance to move back into his family’s life, he grabs it like the brass ring he knows it is. He’s determined to be more than an “every other weekend” dad to his children, and he doesn’t want to keep on living with regret about how he and Trey ended.
Jeremy still desires West, but he isn’t sure he can trust West to be responsible and available. West still thinks Trey is the hottest thing he’s ever seen, but he has no idea how to convince the man he’s ready to settle down. The two of them have never had trouble butting heads, but now they need to learn to work together to make a home for themselves and their kids where they both belong.
REVIEW:
Jodi Payne and BA Tortuga’s affecting contemporary MM romance, Keeping Promises, explores the dynamic between West Belen, a former rodeo cowboy who left his family behind in a misguided attempt to prove his worth, and his ex-husband, Jeremy Dunn III (“Trey”), the lonely single father, pridefully trying to raise their two kids alone.
Trey is everything West ever wanted and more than he thought he deserved. Ever questioning why Trey deigned to marry “rodeo trash” like him in the first place, West tries to make himself into a better man, one Trey could be proud of, and the kind of husband Trey needs and deserves.
West gave up his family because of a misplaced need to prove himself. Rodeo cowboys encounter high risk every time they enter the ring. It’s a punishing career fraught with unavoidable, and often severe or life-threatening, injuries. West needs to ride while he’s still physically able to and save and invest all he can during that small window of time. But conflicting priorities, failure to communicate, and an ultimatum force West to walk away from Trey and his family. He gives up everything he loves most, in order to fulfill that promise to himself to be someone who can stand on his own. Someone Trey can respect. The man Trey would want to keep forever.
Two years later, West finally confronts his decision to leave and the toll it’s taken. It takes the death of his rodeo cowboy mentor and father figure, Hank, to make West realize that the time for him to go home and get his family back is now. On his deathbed, Hank asks West what in his life, if given the opportunity, would he go back and change. West’s response comes as quick and natural as breathing:
“I would have told Trey no when he asked for a divorce. I would have stuck like a burr and kept my kids and my husband and damn the consequences.”
So Hank extracts a promise from West: that West go back home and make it right. Fix. It. So he does.
Serendipitously, as West is making his way home, he receives a call from Trey that changes everything. He’s needed. Please come home. Maybe Trey only called out of desperation. Maybe Trey doesn’t intend for him to stay. But this is one promise West intends to keep. So with hope in his heart, he gets home to his family, ready to dig his heels in and find a way to belong. But what he doesn’t expect is to almost feel welcome and still have such a strong emotional and physical connection with Trey. Is it possible that he can get back everything he lost?
Keeping Promises is like a cup of warm hot chocolate when you’ve just come in from the snowy cold. Warmth blossoms and slowly seeps into every bone and muscle, heart and soul, making you relaxed, grateful, and happy. West tries so hard, biding his time, always willing to accept whatever Trey and his kids will give him in terms of love and affection. He’s a good man, a good dad, and a good husband. This gorgeously written story of finding your way home again made me clutch my kindle to my heart and sigh.
The story moves slowly but steadily without much angst or action. This is relationship building at its finest. West and Trey both learn to communicate honestly and openly and allow their vulnerability to show. The second chances theme shines through here in the reestablishment of trust and the beauty of living a life overflowing with ordinary everyday joys of love and family.
I personally loved Keeping Promises. The authors bring these endearing characters to life in an authentic way. Vivid descriptions, immersive world-building, and crisp snappy dialogue that’s heartwarming but not overly sappy… it’s the whole package. West’s cowboy speech patterns and cadence, with swoony, treacle sweet terms of endearment, sealed the deal.
Recognizing this is a specific kind of romance, I admit it may not be for everyone all the time. Sometimes you want more action and less introspection and communication, more suspense, angst or unusual happenings and less ordinary everyday beauty, more sizzling sex … although steamy scenes here certainly qualify, amplified further by the emotional connection between West and Trey. Admittedly, this book could have expanded on the prologue to invite us in to see more of the “before”. That additional content would no doubt have added some angst and dynamics to the story which some readers may crave. The authors deliver a terrific story as is, but I for one wouldn’t turn down additional content featuring this endearing couple.
Notwithstanding different tastes at different times, I promise you that Keeping Promises will entertain and affect anyone, anytime, in all the best ways. Anytime you want to smile and feel warm and fuzzy inside. Anytime you need a reminder that yes, good things do happen to good people. And most importantly, anytime you need an example of how humble contriteness like West demonstrates, hard work for what truly matters, and belief that you deserve the results of your labor, … well, that reaps its own beautiful rewards.
RATING: 
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