The Promise by Melody Grace

Writing this spoiler free is probably one of the hardest things I have ever had to write because I just want to scream from the roof tops about how amazing the whole book is.

The characters were just stunning Claire and Theo…oh my lord they broke me!

Taking on the tasks left on her friend’s bucket list have a much more poignant meaning for Claire than is initially eluded too but the author didn’t allow what was in the background to push its way through the story unnecessarily, the characters were given their time, their moment, their love and the opportunity to embrace not only each other but all that their future held for them.

Claire had left home, moved to Boston and was doing what she could to live the life that she not only wanted but knew that her best friend would have wanted for her too, striking out on her own away from her folks for the first time, she shared a flat and worked at eth local coffee shop and that is where the magnificent Theo entered her life.

I loved Theo he was just such a super guy but like Claire he has issues and a past that he is struggling to find balance in, his father was a less than stellar parent but that didn’t mean he was willing to turn his back on him but being around him was far from easy. Being with Claire though that was like a second skin, they were perfect together and just as you would expect that perfect had to come at a price.

The story was totally captivating and while I got what she was keeping from everyone, I thought the author played her cards very close to her chest, there was an element of it being eluded too rather than anything else and when it is all out in the open the ramifications reached far and wide.

I adored Claire’s parents and the love they had for their daughter and although her mother peeved me when she took matters into her own hands at one point, as a parent I could understand why she did what she did. She wanted the best for her daughter’s future and it was her way of ensuring that Theo was what was best for her girl.

The author built the anticipation beautifully, the will she won’t she aspect of the story never really being divulged until the very last moment and I have to say that when that all started to unfold I was sure, probably like many many others that I knew what the outcome was going to be…. not a chance, the author has one more trick to turn.

You will need tissues, lots of them, if you don’t then I am sorry to say but you have a heart of stone, this is one that will hit you hard, it nailed me good and proper, tissues were barely enough I was reaching for both the wine and chocolate in a bid to sooth my battered soul.

Astonishingly beautiful, crisp writing and fabulous storytelling, this is a lesson on living in the moment, accepting nothing as forever and embracing what you have and who you have it with.

A lesson not only well learnt but all well taught!