Promise Me Today [Paperback]

From the back cover:

The three wily and beautiful McDougal sisters could swindle a man faster than it took to lasso a calf.

But their luck was running out when the wagon hauling the sisters to jail came under attack by Comanches. Then a dumbfounded Abigail watched as Amelia and Anne-Marie were swept off by rugged rescuers--while she got stuck with an impossible twit of a shoe salesman, Mr. Hershall Digman.

Stealing Digman's horse and riding to the nearest town seemed easy as pie--until Abby found top secret papers in the saddlebags. Why, the lying, conniving little sneak was a Confederate spy!

To prove it, the man who came storming after her was no mincing dandy in a bowler had but a devilishly handsome captain in the Confederate Army. Barrett Drake wanted his papers. Well, she wanted a ride back home. With murder in their eyes and growing lust in their hearts, they embarked on Drake's mission together, knowing that when fire and kerosene mix, the flames may burn out of control...

And my review:

This book was written before the author switched to inspirational (Christian) romance. So if you are a fan of her later works, don't read this expected a "clean" romance. While it's not a lust-soaked book, there are sex scenes in it (and not in the context of marriage).

PROMISE ME TODAY is part of a trilogy. It's obvious from the very beginning that Abigail's two sisters, Amelia and Anne-Marie, have their own stories, seperate from this book.

One thing that was irritating was how similar the sister's names were. Abigail, Amelia and Anne-Marie. I felt like I needed a cheat sheet to keep them all straight. I had a hard time remember which one was the heroine of this book until the sisters were seperated, each rescued by a different man.

The interactions between the hero and heroine were lively and funny. I loved watching the sparks fly between these two. Both of them were liars, and I should have hated them, yet for some reason, I didn't. I found myself cheering for both of them, even though they were very flawed. The heroine, especially, has made a life of conning innocent people. I should have hated her, but the author made me want to see her happy. Not many writers can accomplish that, so I applaud the author for a job well done.

My big complaint with this book is that there is no ending! All the plot threads are just left dangling, presumably to be tied up in the other books of the trilogy. No happily ever after, no commitment between hero and heroine (the hero is just starting to think about settling down with her when the book abruptly ends), no "I love you"s spoken! Argh! I read romance for the happily ever after and the "I love you", and it never came! Not only that, but everything else was left as loose ends. What would happen to the baby they'd rescued along the way? Would Abigail be reunited with her sisters? Would Barrett continue working as a Confederate spy? Nothing was answered! While I don't mind series books, I like each book to be able to stand on its own. I felt cheated that I'd read the whole book, but didn't get a whole story. And I wasn't satisfied enough with this book to bother spending my money seeking out the others in the trilogy.

**Warning! Spoilers ahead!**

Near to the end of the book, I felt that the hero's behaviour changed. He started out fine, but got more childish and selfish as the story went on. The way he acted toward the heroine got on my nerves after a while. The woman nurses him through a raging fever, and he never says a word of thanks. He won't offer her a commitment, yet he acts like a spoiled child when any other man even says hello to her. The first time the hero and heroine make love dances very close to the line of rape. It's not quit by force, as the heroine stops resisting from the first kiss, however, it did make me a bit uncomfortable. Some readers would call it "forced seduction". However, if you are sensitive to that sort of thing, I would recommend you pass this one by.

This is my favorite book in this series. A great concept and wonderful writing makes it a fun read.

This story holds your interest, but near the end, I was disgusted at the way the Abigail allows herself to be treated by a man. I also didn't understand why Abigail changed her lying ways due to meeting Barrett. He didn't seem to have such a positive influence on her. Interesting, but this 1992 Lori Copeland book is not her best. Her more recent works are much better.