Sherry K. reviewed on 10/26/2012 + 188 more book reviews

Ingrid Larsen, a young Swedish immigrant, arrives in Michigan to meet her brother. When her brother doesn't show she decides to take the job of house keeper for George and Millicent (the store owner and his wife). Joshua Hunter stops by to pay a bill and witnesses Millicent's cruel behavior toward Ingrid. He shows kindness to her and she is immediately drawn to him. After that, Ingrid fleas from Millicent and heads for her friend Hazel's house. Hazel informs her that Joshua is newly widowed and is in danger of losing his children due to allegations by his mother-in-law. In a desperate moment, Ingrid proposes marriage to Joshua. Marriage would solve both their problems. It would give Ingrid a home and Joshua would have help raising the children. But can a marriage built out of desperation ever be a real marriage? She loves her new family and wins the hearts of the children right away, but will she ever win the heart of her husband?

I am one who gravitates toward 'marriage of convenience' stories, which made A Promise to Love one that I certainly wanted to read. What I found was a complex, multilayered story, filled with real-life characters dealing with real-life situations of that time period. I loved the fact that many of the situations in the story were based on actual historical accounts and people. One being the author's grandmother. For me, that just added a extra richness to the story. One surprise to me was learning the secret that Joshua's first wife and Millicent kept. What's the secret? You'll have to read the book to find out. Ingrid is a woman that I really admired. She was smart, savvy and truly trying to be all God wanted her to be. She lived out 1 Corinthians 13 and I found myself thinking I'd like to be more like her. Joshua was a man that I liked getting to know. He was a good man but sometimes I wanted to knock some sense into him for the way he acted. But I think that's what made him flesh-and-blood real to me. This was a story that was difficult to put down once I started reading it. When I did have to put it down, I found myself anxious to pick it back up again. If you're like me and enjoy 'marriage of convenience' stories then I definitely recommend this one. A Promise to Love is the promise of a great story!

Paperback: 332 pages
Publisher: Revell; Original edition (October 1, 2012)
ISBN-10: 0800721179
ISBN-13: 978-0800721176

*This complimentary copy was provided by Revell through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

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