Customer Reviews

SEALed with a Promise

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this book and wondered if it would draw me in as well as her first book had. Yes, Mary has a knack for bringing real men to life. Pulls and tugs between our hero-straight from Afghanistan-and the woman he meets at a North Carolina wedding (amid southern values, old secrets, and normal family problems) kept me reading page after page. A great addition to my bookshelf.

Enjoyed the first and third books in the series. This one I am torn. This book does have its good points touching on the subjects of redemption,forgiveness,growth,family,healing and what loyalty and commitment is all about and for that I am rating it a four. I love how these books touch on the personal sacrifices of the men and women who are trained to do the unthinkable to keep us all safe.

However with this book there was mostly analysis of the characters motivations for their actions and a very thin plot. This book was more like eavesdropping on a therapy session. Good for understanding who these brave men are and what their commitment to service costs them and their families. Bad for being a romance novel. Again I am torn. I gained much more of an understanding of who a SEAL is and a new perspective of the values I listed above than I did from the first and third book even though it was the weaker of the books story and plot wise. So for that reason it is worth reading.

Navy SEAL Caleb `Do-Lord' Dulaude approaches circumstances using logic, stealth and if need be raw brawn. However, none of those prepared him for the ordeal of being the best man in his comrade Jax's wedding - and so he's working his way through books on etiquette hoping to muddle his way through. Of course, just when he thinks he knows exactly how to behave and what's expected he meets the maid of honor and finds himself enchanted by the `mouse' who fades into the background.

Emmie Caddington is extremely book smart and learned from an early age that it's safest for her to blend into the surroundings and let others standout. She wears ill-fitting clothing, no makeup and really doesn't have a whole lot of social skills. She was `adopted' into the Hale family when she went to college with Pickett and she has a special fondness for each member of the family. Her close friendship with Pickett is what incites her to enlist Caleb's assistance with her great cake swap plan.

Because Pickett has celiac's disease which means she can't eat anything made with wheat flour - Emmie's determined that it be safe for Pickett to eat her own wedding cake and that means swapping it but with her arm in a sling it's impossible for her to carry out her plan. That's why she decides to enlist Caleb's help. At first Caleb doesn't want to have anything to do with swapping out the wedding cakes but then he sees a picture of a different Hale family wedding and recognizes one of the guests as the man he's had a personal vendetta against since childhood. If he agrees to help Emmie then he'll have an `in' to get to Calhoun and he certainly can't pass that up!

Emmie may not be a raving beauty and her intelligence would be intimidating to a lesser man but Caleb sees a unique faelike beauty in her that is utterly irresistible. Since he possesses a high IQ himself he's able to hold his own in a conversation. There's no denying that there's a strong attraction between them but Emmie is very cautious about getting involved with Caleb. She's positive that he's using her for some reason and she's certain it has something to do with his intense interest in Calhoun. Will anything dissuade Caleb from his hatred of Calhoun? And how will his vendetta affect his foundling relationship with Emmie?

SEALed WITH A PROMISE is the second book in Mary Margret Daughtridge SEALed series - and I have to tell you, this addition is just as delightful as SEALed WITH A KISS. The author infuses humor, realistic characters, emotion filled situations, and in some cases brutal honesty to create a storyline that's utterly captivating from beginning to end. I believe I fell in love with Caleb before the story even really began when it's revealed how he came by the nickname Do-Lord. He's a strong man with a vulnerable nature and a quirky sense of humor that strikes me as very sweet. Emmie has her own vulnerabilities and it's absolutely delightful to `watch' her come out of her shell and be the woman she was meant to be.

Navy SEALS are the object of many women's fantasies but through Ms. Daughtridge's writing we get the opportunity to view these strong praiseworthy military men and understand that they're individuals with feelings and needs. This story is beautifully written and I'll definitely be on the lookout for more writing from Ms. Daughtridge in the future - and will keep my fingers crossed for stories about some of the other SEALS we've gotten to know in these first two stories.

Chrissy Dionne (courtesy of Romance Junkies)

The first book was so good, I didn't check the reviews for the next book. Oh woe is me--- cuz I should have. The bad reviews are spot on but not nearly bad enough. This was the hardest book I have forced myself to finish in I can't remember when; with pages of plodding dialogue, characters I liked far less on the last page than I did on the first and without a doubt, the most passionless sex scenes I've encountered in a while.

Sadly, you get snookered in, because the story closely resembles the first book in tone, characters, warmth, humor etc during the opening chapters. However, after the wedding ends, so does the good part of the story as well as the warmth of the characters and momentum of the entire plot. Even worse, characters we were supposed to get to know and like-- care about, root for, feel for.... Well, lets just say I ended up with a feeling a mixture of dislike, annoyance and boredom, in alternating waves of 'WTF!"

The focus of the story is Dolord wanting revenge---and the insufferable revenge plot lasts until (drumroll please) the next to the last chapter....so everything he does is for the wrong reasons, including courting and sleeping with Emmie. She is his 'in' to get close to his victim....and EVEN after he's met and learned his relationship with the tool of his revenge-- He is still going to go through with it anyhow. And no ladies and gents, this isn't calling PEOPLE and embarrassing someone revenge. This is allowing the death of an innocent that he knows and trusts him. That was my 'almost throw the book across the room' moment, except it was an ebook and I love my Kindle too much to throw it. IOW, he's a monster almost until the end and I blame the writer...yes, I'm extreme and harsh, but a normal person when confronted with that bit of info would have had smoke coming out of their ears.

But no smoke! Nope, we have Emmie--- who is smart! REAL smart. A genius! Like Dolord. Did I mention she has a high IQ? Did I tell you she's a geek and is a misfit? Did I mention that she's smart?? REAL SMART??? Don't fret-- you won't forget.... because we are reminded of this every page, by constant info dumps of some sort. No, this isn't like the first book with bits of information delivered with a light hand. No, this isn't knowledge provided as part of the plot.

No, this is over the top uber-intellectualizing simply because--- well, did I mention Emmie and Dolord are smart? /sarc They don't have conversations, instead they have pages of what reads like cut and paste paragraphs of from research papers, textbooks or political essays of ALL bloody kinds!! I mean, the "OMIGOD THEY ARE SO SMART!" is delivered with such a heavy hand it's almost a SNL skit of a couple of intellectuals on a date. Holy cow, I work with PhD's and MD's daily, and they tell fart jokes, use simple sentences and even slang, have a wide range of religious-political-world views, they have hobbies, pets, goofy hats, funny cars and silly walks---plus they show a full range of human emotions and understand how to dress themselves. AND they help people. IOW, they're real smart-- and they're real interesting people too.

Where the heck did the creation of Emmie come from in any galaxy?

Sooooo Emmie has the depth of tissue paper... no hobbies, no interests, no dimension to her simple "SHE'S SMART AND A MISFIT" characterization. She is without a doubt one of the most boring and unlikeable females I have read in a while. People like her, care about her, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why. She's either a doormat, or raging twit spewing uber radical leftist drivel (tongue in cheek but just dayum, use that passion elsewhere to make the story better). Then back to...boring.... Dull as dishwater and lacking the common sense that God gave a goose. BTW, dear authors everywhere, I don't want to know your bumper stickers so keep your politics etc in your head....I buy books for entertainment. Not to be lectured, preached to, or insulted.

So, getting back to Dolord and his revenge--- here is what made this book a one star for me. When Emmie realizes what he's about, that he has used her what he is planning on (not) doing.....she sits down and analyses the entire situation. THEN sits down and tells Dolord what she knows in what has to be the longest and dullest 'confrontations' in romance history. No emotion, to passion, no anger, no throwing things or blasting his ears off. No anger at being used. No rage and threats in defense of the person he's about to harm by omission. We are a talking about a young life here and the best she gets in her defense is... endless, boring, useless words. Just a truckload of pyscho-babble and textbook spewing of 'his motivations'. Here is a woman whose only 'rant' was for forced sterilization of ALL men so no unwanted babies would be born, but she doesn't even raise her voice or show any passion a potential death at Dolords hand. Gah! I've seen more passion from my tortoise over collard greens.

Anyhow, my recommendation is skip this book. Davey (who comes off as a total stinker in this book) may have a better book, but this one is better off avoided..... Unless you have insomnia. Lights out in 4 minutes, I promise!!

The book started off well enough, the main characters were interesting, they had chemistry, and then the ulterior motive of Caleb put a nice little twist into it, and then it went downhill. The fact that Emma had to get a makeover just because some idiot said she wasn't cute (in not so nice words), and then that's when the relationship could start. I absolutely and positively did not like the fact that Caleb heard some elementary psychology from Emma and decided, hey, she's right. No, I'm not saying Caleb shouldn't have done what he did, but to do it for her? It makes no sense to me. It puts into question every single thing that was hammered at over and over in the book. I'm sorry but Caleb is not a man with convictions, he proved that to me. Hated the ending, actually couldn't even get started on the epilogue.

I was looking forward to reading more of this series by moving on to book 2. While I did enjoy the story over all, I didn't breeze through it as quickly as I did the first book. I felt like the characters weren't as developed as I'd have liked them to be. I didn't get a chance to really love Emmie and Caleb.

For that matter, I didn't see them 'fall in love' either. One of my favorite parts of reading a romance novel is to see two characters get to know one another, to see that spark and the beginnings of a relationship. To see why they fell in love. And how. That part fell a little flat to me. Bummer.

It never sat right with me that Caleb set out to use Emmie to get back at someone. Even when he told her, she seemed sort of ok with it. I expected anger or for her to feel betrayed, but she did not. I was honestly disappointed in her reaction and felt that it wasn't a 'real' reaction. I was more upset by his actions on her behalf. It was hard for me to get past the way Emmie allowed herself to be a doormat, both with Caleb and her own family.

Love the story, loved the characters. This book was entertaining and enjoyable. I loved the 3 main characters, Pickett, Jax and Tyler and how they interacted with one another through the whole story. It made rooting for them fun! I wish the ending was a little more thorough with the details but all in all I really enjoyed the book.

This is the second installment in the series "SEALed..." by Mary Margret Daughtridge. I suggest you read the first book "SEALed with a Kiss" because "SEALed with a Promise" picks up at Pickett and Jax's wedding. About 1/2 of the book takes place around the wedding. It also gives history about Jax, the first book hero, and Caleb "Do Lord" DeLaude, this book's hero.
Ms Daughtridge delivers again. Character development take a few expected turns, but she has a knack for taking that development deeper in a sensible manner.
Davy, who is the hero in the third installment "SEALed with a Ring" is introduced briefly in this book.
This book is a keeper. Thank God it's on my Kindle! I will be revisiting it in the future!

This book started on rocky ground for me. It took me a while to care about the characters and their agendas. Caleb "Do-Lord" Delaude started out a little too revengeful for me. Emmie seemed to place so little value on herself and hid out from life. These two didn't seem compatible at all. Then I hit page 89 and couldn't put the book down. These two definitely fit each other and the chemistry that they share is HOT! I think this book is more than just a romance. The book is about overcoming childhoods that were less than perfect and accepting who we are and how we got there. Caleb is overcoming a childhood without a father or a stable mother. He had to grow up too quickly. Emmie is dealing with a feeling of being abandoned by her missionary parents. I thought the book was wonderful, despite the rocky beginning, and can't to read more by Mary Margret Daughtridge!

www.thebookgirl.net

I agree with several of the other reviewers. The book started out fine. I liked the main characters to begin with.
*SPOILERS:
The wedding setting was charming and the scene of fixing the cake was cute.

Where it went wrong for me was after the wedding, about midway through the book. Emmie's character seemed to change when she was insulted. I didn't like her after that. The point where I stopped liking her altogether was when she proclaimed her belief in forced sterilization of all males in society in order to prevent more dead-beat dads, unwanted pregnancies, and to reduce abortions. That was just a little too left/progressive for my tastes. I read romances for escape and enjoyment, not social or political commentary. The books went downhill from there for me. As others have said, the plot seemed to wander or even stall with all the psychobabble analysis dialogue. It was boring. Then I just didn't understand Caleb professing his love, but still sticking to his revenge scheme. Didn't make sense.

I did, however, like the relationship between Caleb and Vicky, though it was rushed.