Customer Reviews

Promise Me Forever (Avon Romantic Treasure)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Lauren left her heart in Texas when, at the age of fourteen, she and her family moved to England with her new stepfather. Ten years later, Lauren thought that the love she had for Tom is long gone, forgotten and buried deep in her heart. That is, until Tom shows up on her doorstep as the new Earl of Sachse. There is a whole back-story on how Tom Warner, orphan and self-made cattle baron, became the new Earl. Suffice it to say, it brought him and Lauren together on the same soil again.

Unbeknownst to her parents, Lauren had plans of her own besides finding a suitable husband as is the custom in their society. She had been secretly working at a dress shop to earn enough money for passage back to Texas. Lauren was never happy in England and had convinced herself it was because she always considered Texas her home and she won't be happy anywhere else. She, by this time, refused to believe that a big part of her reason for returning to Texas was Tom.

Lauren is shocked to find Tom in her life again but believes that whatever affection they had for each other when they were teenagers is long gone. Tom, however, is unsure. They can't both deny the mutual attraction they feel for each other, or the fact that they feel as they're two halves of a coin that seems incomplete unless they're together.

This was such a great read. Tom and Lauren's love story is so poignant, so palpable that I, well, couldn't help but sigh after I reached the last page. There isn't much action or plots to the storyline, but Lorraine Heath weaves such a moving tale that I didn't miss any of it.

.....I just don't get this one!

I am a big fan of Lorraine Heath, but this left a mediocre impression on me. Here's some reasons why:
1. I just got done reading Again The Magic by Lisa Kleypas. It has an almost identical plot, but it really is just so much better. I felt like I was reading a bad imitation.
2. I LOVE Heath's cowboy's.....but keep them OUT of England and BACK in Texas where they belong. This book took a major plunge for me when Tom show's up in Regency England with a Texas drawl saying "Darl'in"!
3. There are a host of characters (too many to mention) that either appear in this book or play large roles. I felt lost and "out of the loop" a lot of times. I guess with this author it's good to read her books in order. Heath obviously book hops her characters which is AWESOME if you've read the books and FRUSTRATING if you haven't!
4. This book had the whole "big misunderstanding" thing going on. If, and only if, you are Judith McNaught should this be attempted IMHO.

BUT.....
1. This book contains one of the most touching final four paragraphs of any book I've ever read. Classic Heath, I finished this book with tears on my cheeks and a smile on my face! For that reason, I would recommend this book...or maybe I should say....this author!

This is so much better - so much better than A MATTER OF TEMPTATION, Lorraine Heath's last book! PROMISE ME FOREVER is the Heath I love to read, because the hero is true Heath genius - her Texas cowboy. Mind you, a misplaced Texas cowboy - nevertheless a Heath cowboy! Who else can utter "Darlin' " quite like a hunky Texas male and who else can write a Texas hero better than Lorraine Heath?

The man infuriated her, confused her, and excited her. Ten years ago, a sixteen-year-old boy had promised forever! Ten years ago, Tom Warner vowed he would never forget her and someday he would come. He had promised! Now, standing before her, Tom brought up some silly childhood debt - a silly debt he now wished to collect. Tom Warner had finally come, but not for her! He had come to England to take his place among the peer. It seemed, Tom Warner was the long lost Earl of Sachse and she, Lauren Fairfield, was merely an uncomfortable afterthought!

Under the blazing Texas sun, Tom stood silently, and watched Lauren ride away. Unbearable agony filled his heart and that bitter pain never went away. Now they were together again, but Lauren Fairfield wanted to leave. She wanted to go back to Texas. Lauren hated living in England. She hated living in this tight, suffocating society where monitored behavior and shrewd gossip made English life detestable. Yet, as the new Earl of Sachse, Tom had numerous duties and obligations. He could not turn his back on his ancestral roots. So once again, Tom knew he would lose Lauren; once again, the endless agony would return.

Sigh! Soft words whispered over an injured girl, a Texas scoundrel, and two, brilliantly conceived, final paragraphs earn Lorraine Heath's PROMISE ME FOREVER a secure recommendation. What a finish! Ms. Heath's final two paragraphs are absolutely terrific, agonizingly painful, and shrewdly placed. Sadly, this reader closed the book with burning, tear-filled eyes. Ah, Yes! This . . . this is vintage Lorraine Heath.

Just a note: PROMISE ME FOREVER is yet another entry in an exhausted series that began, more or less 10 books ago, with A ROGUE IN TEXAS. Understandably, a "new" reader must truly experience utter frustration in, "Who are ALL these people and why are they here?" As a Heath devotee, I have faithfully endured. I have read all the good and I have read all the bad. As a reader, I am tuckered out; I have reached the end of the "English rogues in Texas" theme! It is time to move on. I want to go on a new journey; I want to go to the Texas of yesteryear with a completely new set of characters!
Grade: A-

MaryGrace Meloche.

Lauren Fairfield longs for Texas and Tom Warner. Forced to leave both behind when her stepfather moved her family to England, Lauren hasn't forgotten how both made her feel; especially Tom. Lauren has spent the last years learning how to be a proper English lady; she has hated every single minute of it. Because of this, since reaching her majority Lauren has made a decision. Some how, some way, she is going to return home to her beloved Texas.

Tom Warner is in England for two reasons: one, to settle a debt owed him and two, to claim his inheritance as the long lost but returned Earl of Sachse. Tom will stop at nothing to claim the debt owed to him by one Miss Lauren Fairfield, the girl he loved so long ago in Texas. Tom arrives at Lauren's house and almost can't believe his eyes! The girl who left him behind in Texas is now a beautiful, polished English lady. Tome doesn't understand why Lauren never wrote to him as she promised and he is going to find out why.

Lauren can't believe her eyes! Tom Warner, the boy she loved and had to leave so long ago is in her drawing room! In England! Ecstatic beyond belief, Lauren runs to Tom but remembers herself. There is an audience of gossiping maids of society watching her every move and just waiting for Lauren to mess up. Lauren sedately welcomes Tom and then dismisses him. Her heart breaking at his confusion, Lauren can only hope that Tom will contact her later like he used to do in Texas. She doesn't have long to wait as later that night she hears pings on her window. Sneaking out of the house, Lauren runs to Tom and he whisks her away to a secluded spot near a river that reminds him of home.

Tom and Lauren have a lot to talk about and when they realize that the letters they wrote each other were never delivered, Lauren is almost inconsolable. Tom and Lauren still care about each other but it seems hopeless. Tom's life is in England now as the Earl of Sachse and Lauren longs to return to Texas. Just when they seem to have reached a compromise, tragedy strikes in the form of a vindictive woman.

Promise Me Forever by Lorraine Heath made my heart tremble. Nothing is more gut wrenching to me than two characters that love each other and are duped into thinking the opposite. I have to hand it to Tom, he promised Lauren forever and he tried his best to deliver. Lauren in turn loved Tom just as much and I was satisfied.

Promise Me Forever, in true Lorraine Heath fashion, affected me emotionally from the get go. I have yet to read anything written by Lorraine Heath that I haven't adored and Promise Me Forever is no different. Truly a poignant, romantic read, Promise Me Forever touched my heart and left me totally at ease for a story well told.

Talia
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

I loved, loved, loved Tom. The things he did for Lauren were absolutely breath taking. Lorraine Heath hit the mark squarely with this one. As always in many of the books I read, the heroes are better written and eminently more likable than the heroines. Tom grabs you right from the beginning when you see what an adorable young boy he was. I liked Lauren, but thought she was nuts for not grabbing Tom from the get go and holding on tight. This is a wonderful continuation of the English lords in Texas story. It is a one-sitting read and does not disappoint. The epilogue made me cry--it was so moving. This is a book not to be missed.

This love story was so great,the story going from the present time of Tom and Lauren's life to the past at how they met was well put.The way they got to know each other as adults was really like you could understand the story to be real.And finally the ending was so beautiful,that I for one was spilling tear's of joy at the love and what the words:Promise Me Forever really meant to both of them....IT's a must read....

Another winner for Lorraine. I am not going to go through the plot since so many other readers did such a wonderful job doing it. I am just going to add; that I was always a sucker for a teenage romance that lasts forever, and this one is definitely it. The love story is spectacularly written. I agree with the other reviewer that the last few paragraphs almost leave you in tears. However a word of advice, please read Lorraine's books in order. Her website has it all outlined.

Having read several of Lorraine Heath's "Texan ends up in England" stories and liked them, but not loved them, I picked up "Promise Me Forever" expecting to be entertained, but not much more than that. I was wrong. I found Tom and Lauren's story beautiful. Having once been "in love" when they were much younger and living in Texas, the story picks up years later when they meet once again in England. Separated by a family move to England Lauren never forgot Tom, but thought he'd forgotten her--he never wrote to her as promised. Boy was she wrong. He's now an Earl, and in England to take on the responsibilities of his title. She's never felt comfortable in England and is making plans to go back to Texas. Will she realize that he's in England as much for her as for his title, and will he realize that she wants to go back to Texas because of him. It's a romance, so of course they end up together in the end. But unlike a lot of romances their path to love isn't full of a lot of misunderstandings and dark menaces. Instead it's about how what was once the shallow love of teenagers develops into a mature love. Every time Tom drawled "darlin" I felt a shiver down my spine. And as another reviewer mentions, it will take a very strong reader to not shed a tear or two over the last couple of paragraphs of the novel.

In 1880, the investigators hired by the Earl of Sachse to locate his relative, who vanished as a boy in America two decades ago and should have the title, succeeds. Thus the Texas barbarian Tom inherits the title because his distant cousin Archibald did the honorable thing. Tom arrives in London, but has a different agenda in mind than the title; he seeks his beloved Miss Lauren Fairfield to fulfill a vow he made to her in Texas. She is in town visiting her English aristocratic relative Lord Ravenleigh, Christopher "Kit" Montgomery (see NEVER MARRY A COWBOY).

Lauren assumes Tom forgot his moonlight promise and now has a place amongst the Ton. She agrees to tutor him on the deportment of an aristocrat, not realizing he could not care one iota about proper behavior. Instead he plans to re-win the heart of the woman he still loves.

Lorraine Heath has carved out a delightful niche in the historical romance realm with her Texas meets Victorian aristocracy tales. PROMISE ME FOREVER contains a fun fresh story line starring two wonderful Americans who feel out of place amidst the upper crust yet that is the milieu of his courtship. Victorian romance readers will gain vast enjoyment from Ms. Heath's wonderful late nineteenth century historical.

Harriet Klausner

Sorry but Tom and Lauren just did not do it for me. They both did not appear to be a couple that had pined away for ten years. Lauren sees Tom who she supposedly has loved forever and almost immediately announces she plans to go back to Texas. Like Texas was what she had been missing not Tom? Come on that is just not right. Aand Tom had been loving her forever and talks about opening her dress to see her bosom and then says he will help her get back to Texas. I understand at first they were guarding their feelings because of the non received letters but after that was cleared up they should have been in each others arms and in bed! And the first time ended up being because of a fight with Tom and another peer? There were just too many things that did not ring true and upset the real romantic feeling you were supposed to be getting over a couple that had loved each other deeply for ten years!