Promise Me You, is the Umami of the romance writing world. This book has true to life characters that you develop a relationship with. You feel the angst when there is a problem, the broken heart when life throws a curveball, and emotional heart string tugs when falling in love seems like it should be easy but is not. Be prepared for laughter and giggles,and don’t forget the tissues for the tough moments that will come.. Marina Adair does a wonderful job writing a Hallmark movie kind of book, with an honest loves passion tossed in.

MacKenzie Hart and Hunter Kane are best friends and song writing partners. Together they have created award winning songs for Hunter’s up and coming band. They do everything together, they hang out at Big Daddy’s bar, they talk ,about each other’s lives, they kid around together like guys do.... only Mackenzie is not one of the guys, and she feels like her world is slipping away because her bestie has found a southern debutante and they getting married, tomorrow. Recovering from her mother’s recent genetic illness, and subsequent death, and her own health challenge Mackenzie just cant handle it any more. Instead of coming clean and telling Hunter how she feels, she runs, from the truth, from the wedding , from reality, she just disappears.
Fast forward three years..... Hunter’s band has hit a plateau, he seems to have lost his muse and his songs are not comin out the way that he wants. His marriage fell apart, he divorced, and has still not found Mackenzie. Little does he know, that is all about to change.
Hunter’s cousin and Music Agent Brody has known where MackKenzie is all along. Knowing that Hunter is under the gun from his record label to finish his current album and start the next, and plan a tour in the very near future, Brody finally breaks his silence and sets Hunter and Mackenzie up to meet hoping that they can finally get their issues out into the open and to also secure Hunter an award winning album and song writing team. Things don’t go as expected, Hunter is thrown a major curve ball when he realizes that Mackenzie is suffering from the same genetic illness as her mother, and she may never be the person that he wants and needs. This book hooks you from the beginning and is an all-nighter kind of read because you have to find out what’s happening. I think that the reader will be excited and not want to put the book down.

Promise Me You sounds like the title to a great country western song. It’s perfect for a story about a chart topping singer & his band and the songwriter that helped them get there. Hunter is the lead singer of The Hunter Kane Band. From the minute he met Mackenzie, he “friend “ zoned her. They had chemistry but they had written several prizewinning songs together & he didn’t want to lose that for the band if a relationship didn’t work out. On the night before Hunter’s wedding, Mackenzie walked out of his life.

Leaving Hunter was one of the hardest things Mackenzie had done. She wanted desperately to rely on him & his strength as her world crumbled but she couldn’t hold him back. Now, 3 years later, Mackenzie’s life hasn’t gotten much better. She’s still writing songs but is using an assumed name & submitting then without any meetings or publicity. Now Hunter is pushing himself into her life again. Can she push him away again?

Mackenzie is one of the strongest women I’ve read about. To deal with such a complete change of her life with little to no support system is amazing. I do feel she was being allowed to wallow in some depression & self pity. Hunter was such a strong personality. He kept thinking about himself & his world instead of thinking about what Mackenzie needed & that she couldn’t do things at his pace anymore. He had a large support system that he took for granted & knew would always be there. He had trouble seeing Mackenzie’s side. I loved Brody & felt he had Mackenzie’s back until he set her up. I was surprised she forgave him so easily. Muttley & Carolina added some levity, emotion & added depth to the story.

A famous musician and an old friend ... separated by circumstances, brought together by chance. A bumpy road full of heartbreak, hurt and insecurity that leads to a wonderful happy end.

"Promise me you" is another wonderful book by Marina Adair, that made my heart ache with feelings. It's emotional, inspiring and lovely. I loved the characters (especially Mackenzie, she's one of the strongest heroines I read about, and Muttley!) and the story.

I am a new reader to this amazingly talented author.

I was immediately drawn into Mackenzie and Hunter's story. And what a story it was! This book took me on an unexpected emotional journey.

Fans of second chance romances will definitely enjoy this entertaining story that has a HEA.

**An ARC was provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.**

Im not sure how i havent stumbled onto this fantastic author but im sure glad i have now. This book was wonderful- it had struggles, heart and a great story. The only thing i wished for was more! I didnt want it to end.


This book was given to me netgalley and the author for free in exchange for an honest review.

I always know whether a book is good if it makes my heart ache, like, physically ache. It happened to me for the first time when I read Caroline Cooney’s “The Stranger,” a young adult book, back in the 90’s. That story made my heart feel like it was going to squeeze itself to death for basically the entire book.

“Promise Me You” by Marina Adair had several such heart squeezing moments. This story is about Hunter and Mackenzie. Hunter is this super famous singer/songwriter. Mackenzie, who was Hunter’s co-writer, has been in love with him for years and years. Hunter is clueless and decides to marry someone else. Mackenzie is heartbroken, skips the wedding, and falls off the face of the earth. Fast forward three years: Hunter is divorced and has a bad case of songwriters’ block. Guess who comes to the rescue?

The two of them get reacquainted, and it’s really really sweet even though Hunter is kinda, a lotta, full of himself. Also, there’s been a tragedy that I won’t tell you about, but it is so, so, so, so sad. Mackenzie is trying to navigate her new life after coming to grips with the event that was so so so sad. Can the two of them figure out a way to balance Hunter’s superstardom and Mackenzie’s needs? We have some bumps in the road, but Hunter definitely gets a gold star (or several) for being not only uber sexy, but also thoughtful and intuitive (swoon).

The only complaint I have is the first love scene, which finally started happening at about 70% of the book (and it was totally ok for Hunter and Mackenzie to slowly simmer...they had a lot to work through!). There were just too many different puns happening when they finally got down to business. I get that they’re humorous people, but it was distracting. I found myself scratching my head while trying to figure out exactly what “cupcake” was referring to. Then they started with their sexy songwriter talk right as things were getting even steamier. I’m not a songwriter, so I was a little lost. Personally, I would have preferred more making out and less talking. I mean, shouldn’t they be so caught up in their finally requited passion that they lack the ability to come up with analogies while making out? They literally just spent almost 10 years repressing their mutual attraction to each other. I dunno. The puns just made something that EVERYONE had been anticipating with bated breath a little....less... and less significant. I wanted my characters to be so engrossed in each other that neither is able to form one coherent thought, much less a series of corny puns.

Other than that, this was a solid 4 Star read. Good writing, good editing, and a happy ending. What more could a girl want? I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I received this book as a free ARC and what you just read was my brutally honest review (also posted at https://happilyeverjane.blogspot.com)

Marina Adair is back with this great book in a brand new series about the Kane family. I really enjoyed this one. There were so many amazing characters. I can’t wait to read more about this family!

I was totally unprepared for this book. I went in thinking it would be light and fun, but this book was so much more emotional than I had expected. It felt different than Adair’s previous works. It was quite emotional, and more serious than some of her other works have been.

Mackenzie was a super unique character. I won’t give any spoilers away, but her situation was so unusual, and not something I’ve read about in books beforehand. The whole situation was handled so gracefully, and really showed me what someone might go through with this condition. She was a tough, stubborn character and someone that will stay with me for a long time.

This was a sweet second chance romance with an additional friends to lovers trope; All set in Nashville, which was so fun! I really liked the songwriting aspect of this book too! I just really need a playlist!! I would definitely recommend this book for anyone looking for a good romance.

* ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

This book started off great. I fully expected this to be the exact type of emotional story that I was in the mood for. Unfortunately it never really came together for me. The biggest reason by is that I never felt any real connection between Mackenzie and Hunter. They never talk about anything other the new realities of Mackenzie's life- which is an important topic but not enough to showcase why this couple should be together. I would have loved more about them writing songs together or talking about the past or why his marriage failed or anything at all. I did not even really understand when Hunter developed feelings for Mackenzie. He finds out that she has been in love with him for years and suddenly he is on board. Then again I really never understood what drew Mackenzie to Hunter to begin with as there is not much there besides his apparently great butt. For me Muttley was the star of the book.

I received copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Whether you are a new reader or a long time fan of this talented author, you will absolutely love this book.
The story centers around Mackenzie Hart and Hunter Kane. She fell in love with him the moment she met him, but never said anything. Later, she was Hunter’s music writing partner. When he is about to marry a socialite, she disappears from his life to shelter her heart and also because her life was about to change forever.
Three years after , he is back , divorced and seeking Mackenzie as a music partner. But life has thrown Mackenzie many curveballs which she is still trying to handle.
It was a story that thought provoking while at times being heartbreaking but also heartwarming.
A reminder that independence and loneliness are not the same, and that life is not a destination, but a journey filled with valleys and hills. A journey that with the right person, is a wonderful one to take.
Can’t wait to see what else Ms. Adair has in store for us.
I was entrusted this copy by Netgalley and Montlake Romance. The opinions expressed are solely my own.

I was immediately drawn into Mackenzie and Hunter's story. Promise Me You was an excellent story if friendship and second chances. Mackenzie has been secretly in love with her best friend Hunter for a while, too bad he is engaged to be married to someone else. Mackenzie can't take anymore heartache so she leaves without saying goodbye. When they meet up again years later, the chemistry is still there. My heart ached for Mackenzie and everything she went through. What an enjoyable read.

Promise Me You. Even the title promises the reader something special, and it sure delivers. What an amazing and emotional trip this book took me on! I felt so many different incredible emotions throughout this story and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. It is just perfect!
Hunter & Mackenzie finally get a second chance to take their friendship where it was never able to go before. But is that really possible? After 3 years and one divorce later, Hunter still wonders why Mackenzie disappeared the night of his rehearsal dinner. But is he truly ready for the answers?
Mackenzie had her reasons for leaving, but now that Hunter is back in her life, can they ever truly be together without sacrificing what they both have going on separately? Will they choose love and each other over all else? I truly love both of these characters so much! Mack is such an incredibly strong and resilient heroine. She just amazes me! Hunter is sweet and kind and learns to be patient with her even when he would rather take charge. He says some of the most wonderful and swoon worthy things to Mack I don’t know how she could ever resist.
Such a fantastic read!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

This was a powerful read. The heroine, Mackenzie, has become blind because of a hereditary disease. But she has stubbornly retreated from her prior life because she doesn’t want to face anyone’s pity. Add in that she is a songwriter who had fallen in love with the country music star, Hunter Kane, with whom she was working and composing songs. But right when she found out her diagnosis, he was in the process of getting married to another woman. So she just disappeared.

But now it’s three years later and Kane is divorced and searching for a songwriter to work with him for a new album he’s committed to writing. This leads him back to Mackenzie as she’s trying to adapt to her new life as a blind songwriter.

The book did a believable job of depicting the fears that a newly blind adult would face trying to manage daily life such as picking out produce or canned goods at the supermarket. But Hunter insists on their working together. He has always cared deeply for Mackenzie and he needs her talent. He is also falling in love with her. But he also has to learn what it means to be a superstar in a relationship with a blind woman who wants to eschew the limelight. It’s hard enough for her to walk to the grocery store, much less contemplate going on a world tour with a famous and popular band whose lead singer attracts the paparazzi. He’s a good, kind-hearted man, but he also has to adapt to her disability in a way to help her achieve all she is capable of on her own.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

Sometimes I think authors forget who they are writing for. Women! And I was not expecting the heart braking things that happened to Mackenzie. Its bad enough she is in love with her best firned and can't have him and he marries someone else. But then the author gives her blindness. UGH, so not what I was expecting at all.

Definitely not a a light read. This book has angst and more angyst and it got just too painful for me to read. I will say it is well written. But I just don't enjoy reading this painful a story, I am more into fun books.

PROMISE ME YOU - Marina Adair
Raising Kane Series – Book 1
Montlake Romance
ISBN: 978-1-5039-0354-8
ASIN: B07CRC9G1
October 2018
Contemporary Romance

Nashville, Tennessee – Present Day

Mackenzie Hart had a best friend in musician-singer Hunter Kane. Together they wrote award-winning songs, songs that made the country music Hunter Kane Band famous. Actually she loved Hunter, but knew he didn’t see her that way. She stayed for his wedding’s rehearsal dinner and then disappeared out of his life to face the difficulties mounting in her own. Even though she hasn’t seen Hunter in three years, she continues to write great songs for him under the name Mack and Muttley. Brody Kane, Hunter’s cousin and agent, remains her friend and agent with a pledge to keep her anonymity. Actually, Muttley is her guide dog, a very large poodle/mastiff mix who is still working on his guide dogs skills. Due to a dysfunctional gene inherited from her mother, Mackenzie is blind like her mother before she died. She knows the care her mother needed and is determined not to be dependent on anyone, although her 69 year old neighbor, Arthur, helps her. Tia Flynn, the manager of Bark ‘N’ Bean café, helped train Muttley. She is Mackenzie’s health-care advocate who helps Mackenzie adjust to her new life. Even with Tia’s help, Mackenzie has become very isolated.

Hunter Kane is now divorced. His marriage lasted about a year. Long tours kept him away from home and drove his wife away. His 4th album also flopped. Except for two very successful singles by the reclusive writers Mack & Muttley. He wants them to write his next album and is determined to talk with them. When he forces Brody to disclose the writers’ identities, his life, previously focused on his band’s success in sales, road tours, and performances, changes. He originally backed off from Mackenzie because of their music collaboration and relationship. Now the unknown Arthur’s presence in her life disturbs him. It seems he loses everyone he loves, from his alcoholic dad to Trouble (his nick-name for Mackenzie) to his ex-wife.

Both Hunter and Mackenzie want to stand on their own. Loneliness and neediness can have a debilitating effect on any relationship. Luckily his uncle took Hunter in and helped raise him after he escaped his alcoholic father, but Mackenzie wasn’t so lucky. They both become successful, but both need more in their lives—each other. Yet change is difficult for both. The story is full of great characters, including Muttley, and reads fast with both sassy and serious dialogue. Readers will relate to the emotions all the way through, which will drive them to know how the situation resolves itself.

Robin Lee

Mackenzie Hart and Hunter Kane are best friends and song writing partners. Hunter friend zoned Mackenzie because initially she was too young, then they were working together. That didn’t stop Mackenzie from falling in love with Hunter. At Hunter’s wedding rehearsal dinner to another woman, Mackenzie walked away and completely ghosted Hunter. Fast forward three years, Hunter’s latest album has tanked, except for a couple of songs written by a mystery duo, and he is divorced. He needs to collaborate with this mystery duo for his next album. Of course, this is Mackenzie writing under a pseudonym. This is the start of a new second chance romance by Marina Adair. I loved Mackenzie’s character. She has gone through some rough times, but she is working through her issues. What drove me crazy was Hunter. His character is all over the place. He goes from friend zone, to trying to seduce Mackenzie in about a paragraph. For a second chance romance to work, the characters usually need to work through the issues that kept them apart in the past. This felt rushed and I didn’t buy Hunter’s sudden change of heart. I was given an ARC of this book from NetGalley for my honest review.

More than 5 stars!

Gripping from the first few pages! Mackenzie is facing heart break when her secret crush is getting married and she's going through a life altering situation. So she completely changes her life. A 3 year hiatus from their friendship and Hunter discovers a shocking secret Mackenzie has been hiding, 2 actually! Everything Mackenzie always feared came true and Hunter can't believe she shut him out while going it alone. But really, that's all Mack had known her entire life was going it alone. Now he needs her to get back into writing music along side him and realizes that's not all the way he wants her... But could this be TROUBLE?

Mackenzie's life is different now in ways that won't allow her to hit the road on a whim with Hunter, but not name touring stars require that! How will they work it out, or can they? Can either totally give themselves to each other?

**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

Promise Me You by Marina Adair is a fantastic second-chance romance that shows you just how much true love can play a part in your life. It also shows that sometimes you get dealt things in your life that are less than ideal, but it's the way you choose to deal with them that show your true strength of character.

Mackenzie Hart is one of the strongest female characters I have read in quite some time. Her life has been in upheaval for many years and every time she seems to have it a little bit under control, something else happens to test her once again. She relies on music and her songwriting ability to help get her through.

Hunter Kane is a very famous country singer and the man who happens to be Mackenzie's best friend. Hunter and Mackenzie make a fantastic writing duo, they've been responsible for many of his bands hits, but the fact that he previously married someone else and she has been in love with Hunter for years, are both very sound reasons for them not to mix business with pleasure.

This is one of those stories that is going to stick with you for a great deal of time once you finish reading it. It is beautiful and it showcases how even in the most difficult of circumstances, you have to find ways to persevere and overcome. Most often the most difficult roads traveled lead to the most rewarding outcomes and this love story is no different.

Mackenzie was in love with her best friend Hunter forever so to save herself from more heartache while seeing him get married to someone else she leaves and with no communication as to why. Hunter could never understand why. Years later they end up having to work together and the chemistry is there. I didn't really care for Hunter but I did like Mackenzie, it was heartbreaking. and I felt like she was being used. Eventually Hunter starts to grow on you and you think maybe he can redeem himself and be what she deserves.

Promise Me You, Marina Adair

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: General Fiction (Adult) , Romance

I love second chance romances, love books about film stars, music stars so I really expected to love this book. It was an OK read, but missed out on that magic spark that makes a book unmissable for me.

I felt for Mackenzie, she's had a tough life and now its got a lot worse. I wouldn't say its a second chance romance though, as first time round it was all unrequited love on her side with Hunter being blindly oblivious I thought. Now he's back, single again and shocked to find his one time best friend in the situation she is. He's not seen or heard from her since she fled his wedding celebrations, and feels betrayed in a way by her leaving and that his cousin, manager and close friend Brody has known about her all along.
I got the impression Hunter didn't know how she felt from the story and yet he comes back and apparently felt the same? I found that strange, he married someone else. Maybe it was just hindsight that allowed him to see his feelings and understand how Mackenzie felt?
Its a story that's not just Hunter and Mackenzie's romance but also covers her other issues. I wasn't entirely convinced by those, thought she'd have to have more adaptions, more help, more training but it could have been this way I guess? Just didn't seem convincing for me, and I would have though Mackenzie's family history would have made her prepare more. I don't know though, I'm guessing along the lines of what if it were me....
Hunter and his band are at the peak of their career, and he has the arrogance about his music that comes with knowing you're the best. He's desperate to write his next make or break album with a writing duo that have made hits for him before, he feels a special connection to their songs, and is shocked when he learns who is behind the names.

Its got all the elements I should love but somehow the story just didn't gel with me. Its well written, paced to deliver surprises just right but I just wasn't feeling the romance, the barriers ( and those were huge), and when it all came to a head I wasn't convinced by the ending. Ah well, its perfect for others, everyone wants different things and what I didn't like could be what makes it perfect for you.

Stars:Three, a well written book, but a story that just didn't connect closely with me.

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers

This is Hunter and Mackenzie book, Hunter is a famous musician and Mackenzie is a song writer, the book starts with Hunter marrying someone else and Mackenzie finds out she has a genetic disorder that she contracted from her mother that leaves her blind so she leaves her best friend Hunter to his new life with his new bride . This book wasn't really my mind if book not sure why but it just didn't do it for me sry but thank you NetGalley and the publishers for sharing this book with me!