Review at a Glance
- Title: A Promise Given
- My Rating: 3.75
- Genre: Romantic Mystery
- Format: audiobook*
- Publication Date: February 4, 2020
- Author: Michelle Cox
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A Promise Given Book Blurb
A delightful romp through the English countryside and back.
Anxious to be married, Henrietta and Clive push forward with their wedding plans despite their family differences, made worse now by Oldrich Exley’s attempts to control the Von Harmons. When the long-awaited wedding day arrives, there is more unfolding than just Clive and Henrietta’s vows of love. Stanley and Elsie’s relationship is sorely tested by the presence of the dashing Lieutenant Harrison Barnes-Smith and by Henrietta’s friend Rose—a situation that grows increasingly dark and confused as time goes on.
As Clive and Henrietta begin their honeymoon at Castle Linley, the Howards’ ancestral estate in England, they encounter a whole new host of characters, including the eccentric Lord and Lady Linley and Clive’s mysterious cousin, Wallace. When a man is murdered in the village on the night of a house party at the Castle, Wallace comes under suspicion—and Clive and Henrietta are reluctantly drawn into the case, despite Clive’s anxiety at involving his new bride and Henrietta’s distracting news from home.
Delicately attempting to work together for the first time, Clive and Henrietta set out to prove Wallace’s innocence, uncovering as they do so some rather shocking truths that will shake the Linley name and estate forever.
Giveaway
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As a quick reminder, here is my rating structure:
- 1 star: Did not finish
- 2 Stars: Finished but I do not recommend
- 3 Stars: Liked but could use some improvements
- 4 Stars: Loved this book!
- 5 Stars: Rare. The unput-down-able, binge read obsession.
My Thoughts
A Promise Given finds Henrietta and Inspector Howard getting married. Most of the focus of this novel is the preparation for the wedding, the wedding night, and the honeymoon. We don’t get a lot of mystery, as that doesn’t begin until almost 200 pages in, but who cares???
Henrietta is a married lady, despite all odds, and she and Clive FINALLY get together-together. 😉
I really appreciated the obvious detail and thought Michelle Cox put into the sex scenes. The previous books avoided having outright sex scenes, though there was plenty of tension. Therefore, it’s obvious that this part of Henrietta’s story is important and, moreover, I’m glad Cox chose to show the scenes rather than skip over them. Sex is important in every relationship, and sometimes, hiding it behind closed doors only furthers the stigma about it for women.
Women shouldn’t be ashamed of sex, having it or enjoying it. I was completely here for the evolution of their relationship.
If you aren’t into sex scenes in books, I will say that though they detailed, I wouldn’t say that were overly steamy. They were sexy, to be sure, but with a little restraint.
As I said before, A Promise Given doesn’t have a lot of mystery, but that’s ok because the characters shine and evolve so much. This is more about the moving the series forward, so I would definitely recommend reading the first two books before this one.
not a fan of…
My only criticism is Elsie and Stan. This is a secondary relationship, so definitely not the focus of the book, but every time they get involved I cringe a little bit. I have an active dislike of Stan, though I think that’s on purpose, but still. I’m hoping for a large redemption arc for these two in the next installment.
On to book 4, and I can hardly wait.
Thanks so much to Michelle Cox and iRead Book Tours for my copy of A Promise Given in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks so much, Amy, for your careful read/listen of A PROMISE GIVEN and for your insightful comments, especially regarding the sex scenes. I, too, thought that I had built up so much sexual tension in the first two books that to not share the wedding night in some detail would be cheating my readers. So, I’m glad that you thought it was appropriate and tastefully done. Also I enjoyed the fact that, like me (Ha!), it doesn’t matter so much about the mystery, as this book is really about the characters. Thank you so very much for your kind words! Really made my day!