Reviewed by Ro
TITLE: Promised Chance
SERIES: Promises, Promises #4
AUTHOR: Rye Cox
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 276 Pages
RELEASE DATE: March 11, 2026
BLURB: Why start something when there’s an expiration date looming over our heads?
I knew from the start that our paths in life were just meant to be a brief connection with a set ending. Atlas was heartbroken by his bastard of an ex, and I was there to comfort him in his time of need.
He might think he’s in love now, but he’ll wake up one day and realize he’s too good for someone like me.
An ex-con.
Town outcast.
The person nobody really kept.
My ex-wife left, and it’s only a matter of time before he does too.
But Atlas is persistent. He asks for a chance. A chance to show me he’s serious about me and the life we could create together.
Even if it means I’m the one who ends up with a broken heart, I agree. I’m hopeless against him.
Being with him makes me feel alive, and for the first time in a really long time, I can say that I’m happy. The feeling is foreign to me, that it makes me even more scared of losing it.
Then Atlas tells me he has a stalker. Someone who’s been following him around for months, and now I’m terrified of losing him in more ways than one.
Promised Chance is book 4 of the Promises, Promises series set in a small town with meddling neighbors and a tight-knit community of friends and family. It can be read standalone, but is better read in a series. This book features age gap, grumpy/sunshine, hurt/comfort, and a skittish black cat.
REVIEW:
This is the fourth in the Promises, Promises series and focuses on Atlas, a server at the Diner who we met in previous books. Bouncy, happy, a joy, Atlas moved to Kither Springs for his boyfriend, Garrett. Unfortunately, his plan to surprise Garrett ends up surprising him when he walks into what is basically an orgy and Garrett turns out to be a jerk. “It’s not an open relationship. We’d be exclusive, but we’d just have a little fun with others. Together. This can work for us, babe. You just have to be willing to try.” That’s open, Garrett. So in a rage after Garrett is smug about Atlas returning to Christmas Falls, Atlas is going to stay in Kither Springs, basically to prove Garrett wrong. When he goes to the Diner right after, he ends up sobbing out the whole sordid tale to the owner, Hector. Hector is big, scary-looking, ostracized by most of the town, and sweet, kind, and caring. He’s also nearly 20 years older than Atlas and this keeps him wary.
Atlas ends up working at the Diner, and since he is so bubbly and sweet, more people start coming in, and even being nice to Hector. I was really pissed for him, because they judged him on a falsehood. Atlas stays with Hector, as roommates. Everything is great except Atlas starts to get notes from a stalker. And he does the thing I can’t stand – he hides it from Hector. He wants to handle it himself, which isn’t fair since he lives at Hectors and the stalker is coming into the apartment. He convinces Hector they need a security system, but that isn’t enough.
The story is equal parts stalker (and I was annoyed that I guessed wrong at who the stalker is) and Atlas and Hector. Hector is very insecure, because he’s an ex-con, because of the townspeople, because his ex-wife left him, because of the age gap. “It seems my words aren’t getting to you, so I need to speak through my actions. I really do like you, Hector. I do. Exactly as you are,” he said.
Of course because this is a small town, we get to see the couples from previous books. Sam and Ryan, Clay and Dan become friends and help out Atlas and Ryan. Especially Clay, who Atlas goes to for help, since Clay is a cop. This is a standalone book, so you won’t get lost if you haven’t read the others, but if you have, revisiting the couples was nice. We also get to meet Rhett, Hector’s chosen son. “We were both put in a world that had never cared for us, but I didn’t want his story to end up like mine. I wanted him to know that—even if it was just me—there was one person in this world who cared for him.” It’s in scenes like the ones with Rhett that you really see how lovely Hector is.
The relationship between Hector and Atlas, and the other people, was a high point of the story. The stalker part helps bring people together. And just my humble opinion, Shadow is one of the best characters. Such attitude.
RATING: 
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