New Release Review and Giveaways! THE PROMISE HE MADE HER by Tara Taylor Quinn (Where Secrets Are Kept #9)

Such a good read!

I really enjoyed Sam and Bloom’s story (even though Bloom’s name drove me bonkers. I kept forgetting that was her name, and it gave me a jolt every time. It’s just so awkward…) It’s definitely a slow burn romance–it pretty much has to be, given Bloom’s situation and the mindset of both of them–but, oh, it’s such a delicious one! I highlighted so many passages–and they’re about 50/50 between angsty scenes where one or both of them wants the other one but feels they can’t have them or LOL ones where one or both of them still wants the other one but has a WTF moment at the same time.

“I have a burning desire to have sex with you.” For come-on lines it might have worked in a wh*rehouse. He wasn’t sure. He’d only ever been in one to make arrests.

“Okay.” Bloom hadn’t even blinked.

Seriously. That just blurted out of him mid-conversation. Igave a shocked giggle, but Bloom was all casual about it. I love these two.

I’ll admit, most of the LOL/WTF ones were from Sam’s POV–I adored the guy’s inner monologue. Though Bloom’s thoughts regarding her inner voice (i.e.–“She wanted to tell that voice to shut the hell up”) were pretty darn amusing too. Honestly, I just loved Ms. Quinn’s writing here. It had it all–swoon-worthy romance, LOL moments, hand-wringing suspense, and completely believable and relatable characters who I could have spent another couple of hundred pages with without complaint.

Plus, Lucy. Another awesome fictional dog–and Sam’s relationship with her (he almost always thought of her as “his girl” or “girl” instead of “dog”, which was lovely) was just so darn adorable. It made me love him even more…and then when she tried to give Bloom comfort…sigh…

Like the romance, the suspense portion of the story ratchets up slowly as the book continues. The reader definitely shares Sam’s frustration over not being able to quite grasp what’s going on, and it’s easy to second- and third-guess right along with the characters. Everything comes together nicely in the end, but there’s some really tense moments along the way.

I’m late to this series, but already had the first 7 books in my TBR before I was halfway through with book 8, ( His First Choice ) and had bought more than half of them before I even started this one. I just can’t say enough good things about the Where Secrets Are Safe series and the fantastic characters that are involved in the Lemonade Stand and the Santa Raquel High Risk Team–they’re a must-read!

Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A

I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.