Review: A Promise Kept

A Promise Kept
By Robin Lee Hatcher
Thomas Nelson, 2014


Summary

God was going to save her marriage, Allison was sure of it. But neither her husband nor her marriage had been saved.

What had become of His promise?

Tony Kavanagh had been Allison's dream­ come­ true. They were in love within days, engaged within weeks, married and pregnant within a year. Her cup bubbled over with joy . . . but years later, that joy had been extinguished by unexpected trials.
 
The day Allison issued her husband an ultimatum, she thought it might save him. She never expected he would actually leave. She was certain God had promised to heal; it was clear that she'd misunderstood.
 
Now, living in the quiet mountain cabin she inherited from her single, self-reliant Great Aunt Emma, Allison must come to terms with her grief and figure out how to adapt to small town life. But when she finds a wedding dress and a collection of journals in Emma's attic, a portrait of her aunt emerges that takes Allison completely by surprise: a portrait of a heartbroken woman surprisingly like herself.

As Allison reads the incredible story of Emma's life in the 1920s and 1930s, she is forced to ask a difficult question: Does she really surrender every piece of her life to the Lord?

Drawing from her own heartrending story of redemption, A Promise Kept is Robin Lee Hatcher's emotionally charged thanksgiving to a God who answers prayers­ in His own time and His own ways.


My thoughts

"This wasn't the life Allison Kavanagh had imagined for herself, but it was what her life had become. Like it or not, she had to get on with it." With these beginning words, Robin pens a deeply personal and moving story of marriage, divorce, heartbreak, and restoration.

Redfish Lake at the base of Sawtooth Mountain Range --

Allison, Tony and Meredith camped out here.

The descriptions of the mountain cabin and community of Kings Meadow just north of Boise, Idaho create a great sense of place. And while I'm not a dog person, I fell in love with Gizmo. Allison had "read somewhere that owning a papillon meant never going to the bathroom alone, and it was true. . . . She loved him for making her feel less alone."
 
The contemporary narrative seamlessly flashes back to the 1920s and 30s through the journals of Allison's Great Aunt Emma, a character I was immediately drawn to - financially independent as a nature photographer and considered to be the "rebel" of the family. But a different Emma emerges through the pages of her journal, and her words that impacted Allison will speak to readers also.
 
Allison, a woman of deep faith who had tried so hard to save her marriage, is heartbroken when her obedience results in Tony walking away. "She'd been so certain God would heal her marriage, but it was clear that she'd misunderstood. For Allison's marriage was over and God did not lie."

____________________

 

 

"When did I become so desperate to hold
all the tattered pieces together instead of learning
to trust, instead of leaning into Jesus?"

- Allison

 

____________________

Relevant, compelling, emotional, honest, Spirit filled, real . . . A Promise Kept is Christian fiction at its best, a well-written story that entertains, yet challenges and convicts at the same time. For while this story focuses on a marriage torn apart by alcohol addiction, it also reminds us of spiritual truths that we know, but often tend to forget in the heat of the moment. Its piercing message is for all Christians as Allison asks herself, "Am I thankful for the hard things and disappointments that have happened in my life? Have I let Him be Lord over every area of my life?"
 
A Promise Kept is a great example of how God can use Christian fiction to change lives. I am thankful Robin and her husband, Jerry, were willing to share their story and pray that many readers will pick up this book and be touched by its message. I highly recommend this story to all readers. 5+ stars for me!

Robin Lee Hatcher

        "A Promise Kept is a special story to me because I have walked a similar path to the one Allison walked. I wrote this book, in part, as my thanks to God for holding me close in the valleys and for answering prayers in unexpected ways.
        "I’m currently working on the first book in a new contemporary romance series that has the same setting as A Promise Kept. It should release in late 2014."

____________________

        Best-selling novelist Robin Lee Hatcher is known for her heartwarming and emotionally charged stories of faith, courage, and love. Winner of the Christy, the RITA, the Carol, the Inspirational Reader’s Choice, and many other awards, Robin is also a recipient of the prestigious RWA Lifetime Achievement Award. She is the author of 70 novels and novellas with over five million copies in print.
        Robin enjoys being with her family, spending time in the beautiful Idaho outdoors, reading books that make her cry, and watching romantic movies. Her main hobby (when time allows) is knitting, and she has a special love for making prayer shawls. A mother and grandmother, Robin and her husband make their home on the outskirts of Boise, sharing it with Poppet, the high-maintenance Papillon, and Princess Pinky, the DC (demon cat).

Meet Robin online at:
Robinleehatcher.com
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Thank you to Litfuse Publicity for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.