Promises Reveal (Berkley Sensation Historical Romance) [Mass Market Paperback]

Evie Washington was just trying to prove a point when she hung the nude portrait up of Reverand Brad Swanson. Unfortunately, her bid for independence backfires quite horribly and she's forced to the altar with no regard for her feelings or her sense of pride. Brad Swanson has sworn that he never touched Evie and he swears if he had, she wouldn't have painted ridiculously tiny genitals on his portrait, but no one believes him and he's prodded to the wedding by the bride's mother and a shotgun. If nothing else, he's going to show Miss Evie that she has some really big misconceptions about him, least of all, his reputation as a staid, God fearing reverend. The marriage between Evie and Brad starts out hesitantly, yet hopefully, but Brad is harboring a secret identity and when a man rides into town who knows all about him, he's unable to hold up the farce any longer. He vows to protect Evie and the town that had welcomed him wholeheartedly, but when the dust settles he's determined to move on, just as he always has. Evie refuses to let him face his demons alone and with the same tenacity and spirit that landed them in matrimony, she and the town are going to do their best to show their beloved reverend that he's not as alone as he thinks he is.

Promises Reveal starts off right away with the wedding, and we're thrown right into the mix of things with plenty of hugely entertaining characters. I've never read any of Sarah McCarty's Promises books before and I've never met any of these returning characters, but the brief glimpses I did get were a hoot. The wedding scenes were funny and the wedding night was equally funny and extremely sexy. Even more sexy was the encounter the day after the wedding and all I can say is, Holy $@%!! Brad was a hot, dominating male and his position as the reverend made their sexual romps all the more naughty. Evie was a cute, flighty female with a penchant for painting and the continued bit about the portrait was really entertaining.

There wasn't much going on with regards to an actual plot. Since I've never read previous Promises books I can't say, but I can only assume Brad has met up with the villain of this book before. We're thrown into the story of the villain with little warning and quite frankly, I didn't know what the heck was going on. It was okay, because the flowing interactions with the townspeople was what I thought made this book absolutely charming and enchanting. Having no clue who the wedding guests were and having minimal introduction, I absolutely loved reading the first few chapters, and every chapter afterwards. Sarah McCarty has a talent for spinning a good tale and her sex scenes were scorching! I highly recommend this book as an excellent read despite any failings in regards to plot. Even without it, I still really, really enjoyed this book for the laughter and charm it invoked. Enjoy!!

The latest in Sarah McCarty's Promises series, is Promises Reveal, about preacher, Reverend Brad Swanson and Evie Washington, the woman he is forced to marry because of a portrait she painted of him naked. Her uncle and mother, along with the loving yet nosy townspeople assume Brad and Evie were intimate, because how would Evie know about certain scars on Brad's body let alone knowing what he looks like naked? When the story begins, there is literally a shotgun wedding about to happen and both Brad and Evie are not too happy about being the bride and groom. Brad is one of those McCarthy heroes who thinks he is bad, way down to his bones and marrying such an innocent yet troublesome lady like Evie is not a good thing, because what if he impregnates her with his demon seed? Keep in mind this is not a paranormal demon western, but an erotic romantic western that Sarah usually excels writing in the past.

Brad and Evie finally get married after a lot of jibber jabber back and forth, which becomes a very prevalent thing in Promises Reveal. Other than Brad and Evie constantly lusting after each other, and acting on it, they tend to go on and on about their feelings and so forth to the point where Brad becomes so frustrated with his bride, that he ravishes her every chance he can get just to shut her up. Evie tends to grate on Brad's nerves, except when they are making love. I am all for a good ravishing now and then, especially when this occurs during a very intimate moment in the town chapel between the two. But overall I was very bored with Brad and Evie. Other than both trying to work on a marriage that should have never happened in the first place, there is Brad's mysterious past that he is trying to keep a secret. And he believes he is really evil because of his father who used to beat him everyday and life he soon led in a criminal gang. As you can see, there is quite a lot of nonsense about Brad being an evil demon spawn.

I had great hopes for Promises Reveal because it is a continuation of a popular series that Sarah first started to write for Ellora's Cave. We see many past characters from the other Promises book in this one, but unfortunately if you haven't read those, you will be confused because certain couples appear on the scene talk about past events. So, if you are new to reading a Sarah McCarty book, Promises Reveal is not a good place to start. You do get a small taste of Sarah's writing style and those smoldering sex scenes she is so well known for, but here they are a bit tame, because after all this is being published by Berkley, a more mainstream line and not an erotic publisher like Ellora's Cave who allows their authors to expand on the heroine's lusty feelings and the hero's adoration for certain inmate acts that deals with the heroine's posterior.

Katiebabs

Sensuality Rating: 5
Evie Washington is the willful daughter whose father is determined to find a way to set her on the straight and narrow. When Evie draws a nude portrait of the preacher, he sees his chance and forces them into a shotgun wedding. Reverend Brad isn't exactly unwilling, but he is somewhat mortified. Evie, not knowing what the male anatomy looked like, substituted the 'appendages' of a male infant in the portrait.

Not knowing Rev. Brad Swanson is really an outlaw, most of the town has a great respect for him. And if anyone can bring Evie up to the town's moral standards, they feel, the Reverend can. The scandal is mostly forgiven after the wedding.

Just when Evie and the Reverend are falling in love with each other, his past catches up with him. Having done so much good for the community, the townspeople rally to his side.

This book had so much potential! I expected there would be a decent amount of humor in regards to the painting with the infantile anatomy. However, it wasn't even given all that much notice in the story. The characters weren't all that likeable until the last quarter of the book. The entire plot ended up to be rather thin. Even the sensual scenes left alot to be desired. All the elements of a superb novel were there, it just never really fleshed out. Perhaps I was expecting another "Caine's Reckoning."