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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A delightful story, January 23, 2002
This review is from: The Promise (Mass Market Paperback)
What a delightful story. Well thought out, deep characters, an intricate plot and all around enjoyable read. I have a partiality for time travel stories, so this book caught my attention from the first time I picked it off of the shelf. Cara and Michael's story twists and turns, bending back on itself to make for a complete and satisfying reading experience. One of the biggest potential problems for a time travel story is the element of the travel itself and how the protagonists react to the event. Usually you have either the hero or heroine thrown back/forward in time and the other party has to deal with understanding this anomaly. Ms. Dee avoids this trap nicely. The time travel is integral to the plot, and not just because it throws the lovers together. I suppose fans of time travel and the ultimate paradox of changing history will be leery of this story, since our hero and heroine make no excuses for trying to change the past. Thoughts of how this will change the future are not even addressed, and to me, makes for the weakest link in the story. (You know, the problem that arises when something does not happen, then how could such and such have happened, and ultimately, how could you have been born to come back to the past?) Loralee, Patrick, Arlee, Ginny, Pete, (even Jack the horse), and all of the other secondary characters are depicted beautifully and add much to the story. I think my biggest reservation with this book is that there is so much depth and complexity to it, that at times it feels like the reader is skimming over some important facts. Some readers might get uncomfortable with the style the book was written, with concurrent threads, switching from one scene to another, all happening at the same "time". Personally, I thought it was well done and was comfortable with it. I would not (and do not) hesitate recommending this book as a good, solid read.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Promises made and promises kept -- Very highly recommended, January 9, 2002
This review is from: The Promise (Mass Market Paperback)
Cara Reynolds' sixteenth birthday is perfect with a new foal, dinner at the Bristol with her parents, and the gift of beautiful silver heart shaped necklace. Then tragedy strikes in the form of car accident, killing her parents. A stranger finds Cara in the blizzard and seeks shelter for them in an abandoned mine tunnel. Michael Macpherson promises to take care of her, but in the morning, he's gone. Over time, doctors and her grandfather persuade Cara that her savior doesn't exist; that he is a way for her mind to deal with the tragic death of her parents. An artist, Cara tries repeatedly to recapture her memories of the mine tunnel called the Promise, not realizing that his promise ties her to Michael, binding their hearts and futures irretrievably. Nine years later Cara realizes that time shifted that night, allowing two timelines to cross when a wounded Michael appears in her own time. She is from the present; he's from more than a hundred years ago. Someone tried to kill Michael and he knows neither who nor why. He immediately recognizes the subject of one of Cara's paintings, however. And he recognizes the unspoken promise of the two lovers in the mine's entrance. Later, an admirer named Nick insists that Cara sell her paintings of the Promise silver mine to him, but she refuses. When she and Michael return to her studio for a last minute chore before the paintings ship to a gallery in New York, a fire breaks out nearly killing Cara. Struck by the strange coincidences of the evening, Cara and Michael investigate Nick's house. There they find her paintings, and a very old news account of Michael's disappearance and his father's death. His brother Patrick will die as well, if they can't return to the past to save him. Dee Davis pens an intriguing romance in THE PROMISE. At the heart of Cara and Michael's story lays the Promise, the silver mine that brought the Macphersons the promise of wealth and tragedy. Further, promises made and promises kept bind the hearts of Cara and Michael as they cross timelines. Mystery and love weave a mesmerizing account that culminates in terrific finale. The secondary plotline likewise binds hearts and promises, as the working girl Loralee and Michael's brother Patrick discover love in the midst of danger. Loralee is an especially sympathetic and appealing character guaranteed to capture reader's hearts. Furthermore, THE PROMISE is engaging enough that it is a good choice for romance readers even for those who often avoid time-travel stories. Very highly recommended.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great time travel romance....., January 15, 2003
This review is from: The Promise (Mass Market Paperback)
Cara and Michael first come together when she is 16 and he is 19. In the 20th century Cara has just turned 16 and was given a family heirloom, a pendant, for her birthday. This pendant has been passed down through her family since the late 1800's. On their way home, her and her parents get in a car accident and she is thrown from the car and transported back in time. When Michael comes across Cara, he believes she is a small injured animal. When he notices that she is a young girl, he takes her into the mine to protect her from the storm. The next morning when Cara wakes up in The Promise she is back in her time, having no idea that she was transported at all. Over the years she is convinced by her grandfather and all her doctors that Michael was just a figment of her imagination. Throughout the nine years, they never forgot each other and fate brought them together again. In most time travel romances that I've read, the heroine goes back through time and has to adapt to the past. I really enjoyed how Michael came foward and I couldn't stop laughing when he made Cara Fruit Loops for breakfast. The love between the two was intense that even the boundries of time couldn't destroy. Davis does a great job portraying to the reader the intensity of their feelings for eachother. If you enjoyed this book, I would recommend 'Everything In It's Time', also by Davis. I believe it is out of print, but you may be able to find it at a used book store.
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