Customer Reviews

Promises - Promises Keep

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

If Sarah McCarty's Promises series doesn't make you want to lay down and beg for a cowboy, nothing will. McCarty's heroes are to die for sexy, intensly sexual and well developed emotionally. Her second book in the Promises series carries on where the first, "Promises Linger, left off with Cougar McKinnely as our hunky man of the moment. We saw him in the first installment, and thank goodness he gets his own story!

Mara Kincaid is sold into virtual slavery to the Pleasure Emporium, a scum-of-the-earth bordello. After surviving an excrutiating and terrifying experience she escapes and wants nothing more than to begin building the respectable life she's always dreamed of. Barely remebering what has happened, she tries to move on by working as a dishwasher in Cheyenne. Doing her best to avoid all interactions with people , especially men, she nevertheless draws attention with her gentle beauty and, unfortunately, her bad reputation. Rumors have a way of creeping in and the townsfolk are only too ready to believe the worst of her. Cougar McKinnely watches Mara from afar, biding his time, waiting for the chance to confront the small spitfire and make her his own. Guilt and his conscience motivate him to watch over her, keeping her safe from any who would harm her, for he alone knows what really happened to her at the Pleasure Emporium. When the opportunity arises, Cougar rescues Mara from an errant cowboy bent on harming her and takes her to his childhood home, the home of the local doctor and his wife. From there begins their whirlwind relationship in which Cougar takes no chances with the independant and willful Mara, doing everything in his power to make her his to cherish, his to love and his to keep.

Cougar was a wonderful man, wanting only the best for his wife. Sometimes his restrictions for Mara made her understandably stir crazy and the two test eachothers limits and patience more than once. After her awful experiences at the Emporium, Mara must learn to trust again. Cougar is more than willing to do all he can to make up to her what she went through. I loved Mara's determination and spirit, the fact that she never backed down to her domineering husband. Cougar definitely had his hands full, and his heart is severely tested towards the end of the book where he must face how to go on when Mara once again comes into danger. If you love Western romances, heck, even if you don't and are new to them, give this series a try. If you're not dreaming of cowboys and wanting one for you're own by the time you're through, well, there may be something wrong with you. The extra good news too is that there are more stories to come after the third book in the series, "Promises Prevail", a fact which has me smiling. Read these books. You won't be sorry!

Cougar McKinnely (or C-ooohh-gar as I've dubbed him) is one of the hottest heroes I've had the extreme pleasure to read.

When Mara Kincaid escaped from the bordello she had been sold to, she vowed that she would live her life on her terms regardless of the fact that she is looked down upon by the townspeople who regard her as a fallen woman.

From the moment Cougar saw Mara in the Pleasure Emporium, he knew that he had to make her his. Added to this is his guilt over the way that he became her first lover, even though Mara does not remember.

Mara is unnerved by the way that Cougar keeps popping up wherever she is, determined to protect her. Why is this big, wild man paying so much attention to her?

Ms McCarty has created a wonderful pair in Mara, with her fragile looks, but steely determination, and Cougar, the oh, so tender tough guy (ultra alpha alert here!), who captures her heart. Mmmmm.

We also got the opportunity to pay visit to old friends, Asa, Elizabeth and Clint.

Promises Keep is the second book in Sarah McCarty's Promises series, and if you thought that Asa from Promises Linger was hot, just wait till you meet Cougar. He'll melt the keys right off your computer and reduce you to a puddle of longing.

In PROMISES KEEP,Sarah McCarty writes a very emotional tale that captures your attention from Page 1. I felt every emotion Cougar and Mara were going through. PROMISES KEEP wrangles you into the old west that was 1869 Wyoming. Cougar and Mara are well fleshed out characters and Cougar is one of those rare heroes, especially for those times. Cougar is willing to do whatever it takes to convince Mara that she is the only woman for him and his forever, sigh. Cougar wants Mara the old fashioned way; he wants to earn it. Mara is an innocent, but she's a fighter and she definitely gives Cougar a run for his money. When Cougar and Mara do get together, you better have the AC on for their passion is as intense as the story itself. Learning to trust herself and trust Cougar is something that Mara must do for these two to once and for all accept that the love that is being given, is true love indeed. The secondary characters in PROMISES KEEP not only add immensely to the story, they play a big part in helping Cougar and Mara find the path of togetherness. We first met Cougar in PROMISES LINGER, the prequel to PROMISES KEEP. We are treated to see what is happening with Asa and Elizabeth from PROMISES LINGER, as well as many others, especially Cougar's friend, Clint. Clint's story, PROMISES PREVAIL, is next in the continuing saga of Sarah McCarty's men of the west and the women who love them.

Ex-Marshall Cougar McKinnley has had problems "performing" ever since the death of his fiance. In desperation he goes to a seedy bordello where anything goes and when the proprietor fails to get things finished, he is sent to a new girl he is guarteed to enjoy. Cougar is immediately turned on by the tiny, but beautiful woman even though she acts strangely. What Cougar doesn't realize is that the girl, Mara, has been drugged because she is there against her will although her body reacts to him. Cougar believes her behavior is play acting and proceeds to have sex with her. When Cougar overhears the abusive proprietors talking he realizes what happened was almost rape and when the abusers are killed while attempting to rape Mara, he rescues her and takes her to his hometown.

Rumors follow Mara to her new hometown and Cougar offers marriage to protect Mara. Having little choice, Mara asks if he will accept a marriage without physical intimacies and Cougar rejects that offer. He advises her he is a man of demanding sexual appetites and it will be all or nothing so she agrees. Mara does not remember who her "rapist" was, but is terrified of all men. Cougar patiently initiates her sexually, but when he starts falling in love with his new bride is terrified she will remember and reject him. Mara realizes her new husband may appear physically intimidating, he is really tall and big with long dark hair and native American features, but he is a gentleman in all ways but the bedroom. There he is very demanding and soon she is enjoying their sexual relationship. Mara fears that her insecurities will ruin her new marriage and now she is falling in love with her new husband.

This story is very sexual and also at times, very sweet. Cougar is the perfect hero, gorgeous and sexy and understanding, sweet and protective. My problem is it kind of has the same formula as the story preceeding it, Promises Linger. The heroines have abusive fathers and bad histories with abusive men and are terrified of men. I just think the author needs to keep things a little original in each story and she will have a better book.

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
I would normally give this story 2 stars, but because the genre is erotic I'm bumping it up to 3 stars for quality within that genre. The sex scenes were above average, but I prefer more story and emotion. A couple of times I wanted the book to be over. Outside of bed, Mara is headstrong and stubborn. In the bedroom, Cougar gives all the orders and Mara is happy to relinquish control and to do as he says. He makes it worth her while from a pleasure standpoint. There is rear door activity. Cougar is a softy around Mara. He loves her more than anything. He is a former marshall and a tough guy toward any man who threatens to hurt Mara.

STORY BRIEF:
Mara's father sold her to a bordello. On her first night there, she is drugged. She is a virgin. The owner of the bordello convinces Cougar that she has the perfect girl for him, and he pays for a night with Mara. As Mara comes out of the drug, she wants to escape, and Cougar helps her. For the next two months, she avoids all men including Cougar while she works as a washer woman. Cougar tries to convince her to marry him. She is against it.

DATA:
Story length: 424 pages. Sexual language: erotic. Number of sex scenes: 13. Total number of sex scene pages: 116. Setting: 1869 Wyoming. Copyright: 2004. Genre: erotic western historical romance.

Many have reviewed the story, so I am just going to tell you why I gave it one star.

********* SPOILERS ********

First of all, the story begins with our hero (Cougar) in a bordello trying to find help to his ... ehem... "problem". He cannot perform. The owner sends him to a new girl (our heroine) who is too drugged to know what is happening. So, I had a problem bying that even when she could not move a finger while the guy had sex with her, all of the sudden she was able to grab a lamp and hit him with it. C'mon. There are many other details like this one that does not add up and just threw me off.

For example, the hero asking advice to his cousin on sex??? I was like uh??? Cougar was like a master in the bedroom and he wanted to know more??? It made no sense to me AT ALL.

Another thing that TRULY ticked me off. Cougar hired a woman to clean up his house just for her reputation of being, well, generous with her body. She failed to make him feel like a man and at one point he fires her but she stays because "Cougar was her man". Our heroine found this woman doing her best to get our hero to..er... do the deed. NAKED. TWICE. Like one time wasn't enough. He TRIED but could not get rid of her??? A big guy like him? An ex-marshall???...I rolled my eyes so many times that I got a headache.

There are SO MANY other things that just ruined this book for me. I tried to like it but the story has way too many holes to make it believable or enjoyable. I know this is erotica, but does that equal brainless stoylines???

This book got 1 star because the sex scenes were hot. But the clumsy story was to much.

Cougar carries his name very well, for he's a very dark and depraved character. He's an animal, period.

He commits sexual battery on his wife every single night, and it's a wonder how the woman is able to walk after being smacked in her private parts all night long, every single night. As one reviewer puts it, the books by Ms McCarty have the same storyline except that the names of the protagonists are different. In this one, the dialogue is awkward; there's no flow and the action is sometimes unbelievable. First of, Cougar is law enforcement, and yet, he didn't realize that the woman was under the influence of something when he first saw her. He's a womanizer who asks for pointers "on how to" with a woman. It is to believe that small and diminutive (emphasis on how small she really was) Mara was able to sneak on Cougar; tie him down and rape him in a quid pro quo kind of retaliation. It was the author feeble attempt to whitewash the fact that Cougar had raped Mara and make him more sympathetic, but the action fell flat on his face. This you rape me; I rape you too, so now we're even doesn't work. It is silly! It is a slap in the face to all the people who have been raped. Rape is a crime and not a joke, and yet, there it is being treated so lightly like you know, little man have been known to kill giants, so why not have the rape victim rape her rapist. Please! Then again, this woman was raped so brutally that she bled profusely when she left the whorehouse. I would say that I don't know how a raped person is supposed to act, but this woman left my head shaking. This woman is to be pitied, for according, to her spouse she like being brutalized for make no mistake about it; she is being brutalized by someone who pretends to love her.

When some drunk touched his wife in a bar, to show his manhood, he took his wife so brutally that right afterwards, she miscarried. All throughout the brutal aggression that Cougar called love-making; his only purpose was that the whole village heard his wife scream loud enough so they would know that the woman was his property. Sick!

The story lacks originality, but, for the fact that this "cougar" was a rapist, a sexual batterer, and a child murderer. All that was missing were the sex toys that Ms. McCarty's heroes seem to be carrying with them where ever they go.

I read about this author and was looking forward to reading this book. It's hard to believe this book was written by a female, the sex scenes where from a male point of view.

I expected him to be kind and help her to recover, it felt like he was nasty during the sex scenes, physically abusive at times. And she loved it? The girl who was raped and so unsure of herself? And she keeps finding him in bed with someone else, but that's OK? Please!

I didn't buy the premise, I bought the entire series and this book arrived first, after the investment I paid I hope the other books are better.

I just couldn't get through this book it was sooo boring. I don't understand why so many people rave about Sarah McCarty's books, their all the same; same dialogue, same alpha male with a different name, same boring heroines. I love a good erotica novel as well as the next female, but I think I'll pass on Sarah McCarty in the future she's just doesn't come up with original chracters and storylines from one novel to the next.

Another HOT western historical romance from Sarah McCarty!
Cougar McKinnely promises Mara Kincaid he's going to make everything alright,Mara tries to make him forget it. But Cougar always keeps his promises.You'll also get a glimpse of Asa and Elizabeth from Promises Linger. Promises Keep is the second in Sarah McCarty's "Promises" series. You can read this as a stand alone but theres no way you can stop at just one! You'll be anxiously waiting for the next book in this wonderful series.
Sarah McCarty's writing pulls you in from the first page and refuses to let go till the last