This is a very well crafted story about a heartbroken young girl, who becomes a single mother, in a small town full of gossips. She has no one to fight for her she is alone and vulnerable will things get better for her or is she destined to be so alone.

Amelia known as Dell, has not had the best experience growing up, her mother is engrossed in herself, in her own beauty she has no time for anyone else, her father after a work accident and his wife walking out on him has turned to pills to block out his life, the only one who does care is her brother but Dell finds him overprotective.

Dell finds herself pregnant but believes the father will pick his family over her, her mother persuades her the best thing would be to give the baby, a daughter, away to the church where it will be adopted and have a loving family. Dell decides to leave the town and vows to never come back.

She believed no one knew where she was, until one day her mother turned up to tell her her baby is missing. Dell returns to town in the hope that she will be able to find her baby. But is she destined to always be alone?

This is an emotional story examining the choices the Dell made, the romance that she had with the father of the baby is quite central to the story, seeing Dell grow.

This story is not just about a missing baby, there is romance, between Dell and Mason the father of her child, which was a surprise when you read the actual synopsis of the book it seemed a little misleading. I had expected it to be more of a thriller type read, which it totally isn’t.

The book draws on a lot of emotion, the relationship that a mother and a daughter should have wasn’t there. You really felt for Dell, her mother is just not a nice person. You really want things to get better for Dell.

This is Kelly Heards debut novel, I look forward to seeing what she writes in the future.

I would like to thank #netgalley and #bookouture for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review.

When you come from a broken family, you might feel that you are not fit to become a parent yourself. You are willing to try if someone would reach out and give you the support to go through with it, to give you enough love to choose your side. When you find yourself all alone, there is only one thing left to do.

Sometimes when you love someone deeply, but are too afraid to do the wrong thing, you have to do the only right thing there is left : leave.

But can you stay away or is that overpowering feeling of love making you go back? Will there be a reunion and a happy ever after or will the rift be irreparable?

It makes me realise once again that people are not mind readers. It's not because an idea or a situation is clear in our own head that it's clear to other people as well. You might consider giving a bit more information instead of only half a sentence. I would solve a lot of problems and misunderstandings.

A lovely story. 4 stars.

Thank you, Kelly Heard and Bookouture (via Netgalley)

I don’t know what I was expecting when I first read the blurb, but it was nothing like what I got! In fact, although the blurb is kind of accurate, it doesn’t adequately represent The Fortune Teller’s Promise at all.

I won’t lie, I found the first few chapters really difficult to work through. For some reason the writing style took a little getting used to and I found sections of it over complicated. So much so, that I had to re-read some parts to fully understand them. That was short lived though, and by the time the story was switching between Dell’s past and present, I was hooked.

I loved how flawed Dell was as a character. It would be very easy to simply allow her to be victim of her childhood, but the fact that she inherited some fault from her parents and then added in a few of her own, gives a more realistic quality to Dell.

Don’t get me wrong, this book isn’t perfect. There are some odd character choices in there, and I would have loved a little more depth to Dell’s parents to understand the why a little more. However, this is an emotional read that is utterly captivating throughout. Once you get into the rhythm of it, I found it impossible to put down. A love story at its core, it’s about a woman who needs to stop running if she is ever going to find happiness.

All in all, The Fortune Teller’s Promise was nothing like I expected. Instead, it was so much more.

Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me. After reading the blurb, I was expecting a lot more and it just didn't live up to the premise. I found it very hard to get into the story and the writing wasn't to my taste.

This book surprised me in that it was not what I was expecting. The synopsis presented was not a good descriptor of the story.

I don’t dislike a well written love story., But this was a little bit too much romance drama for my liking. I expect a story to be believable and there were just a few too many instances that were not.....Such as a woman in active labor, in winter time, with bare feet, successfully opens and crawls through a window to access a house.

If you read between the lines, you can see the story of Dell and her upbringing and the pain she carried through her life with a narcissistic mother and a father addicted to pills.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I wasn't sure what this book was going to be about but I was drawn in immediately and really loved it. It's the early 90s in Blyth, VA and Adella, or Dell as she is called, returns to her hometown after running away and becoming a psychic in a town an hour away. Dell drew up in a home with an older brother, a father who had been injured at work and is addicted to pain killers and a beautiful mother who does not want to be a mother and she deserts the family. In a then and now format, you learn about the family dynamics of this very complicated family. I found most of the characters unlikeable, especially Dell, but in the end my opinion of her softened. I loved the way the book ended. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this very interesting book in exchange for an honest review.

Dills dad is addicted to pills and her mother is extremely selfish. Dell does not trust people easily. But then she meets and falls in love with Mason. But now Dell is pregnant. She thinks Mason will choose his family over her. Her mother advised her to give the ba y to the church, who would then find her a good family to adopt her. Dell then leaves the town vowing never to return. She never told anyone where she was going, so she was shocked when her mother turned up one day to tell her that her daughter was missing. Dell had no other option but to return to the town with the hope of finding her baby.

This is not the usual type of missing child story that I've normally read. The chapters alternate between the past and the present. The story is set in the forest of Blyth, Virginia. Theres not a lot of fortunes get told. The book is described as a thriller but I'd say its more like womans fiction. The story is beautifully written. It's hard to believe this is a debut novel. Kelly Heard is an author to watch out for. This is quite an emotional read. Does Dell find her baby? Et yourself a copy of this wonderful story to find out!

I would like to thank NetGalley, Bookouture and the author Kelly Heard for my ARC in exchange for an honest review

A fabulous well crafted story of love and loss. The imagery in this book is spectacular and the book is well written.

Not there, she thought. You don’t have to go back there. Not even in your mind. Not ever.

Dell’s childhood in the forest of Blyth, Virigina with it’s magnificent natural beauty and calm is the opposite of life inside her house. Born to a flower child mother Anita, whose beauty is the center of her life more than her son and daughter, and her father Gideon, a ‘dark-eyed’ construction worker suddenly laid off after an injury that relies on pain pills to get through his painful days, leads to nothing but chaos and storms between them. Mother longs to maintain the beauty queen status of her early days, and nothing can keep her anchored to her family. Longing to be free, she moves to a rented bungalow. It is here, when Dell should be spending quality time with her mother because ‘she needs a bra’ and it’s a mother’s place to teach a young woman everything she needs to know, that the fault line appears. Anita would rather her time be filled entertaining men who are dizzy over her beauty than playing mommy. It is these types of men who have an edge that can cut. Anita’s reaction to her daughter’s confession is met with anger and blame rather than comfort, and outrage. It is also when Dell learns that people like her have to shut up and take it, because those in higher standing have the power to hurt those you love. Especially when your family is covered in dirt, unwilling or unable to climb out.

Growing up under the cloud of the shame of her parents, the town doesn’t let Dell forget her place. But it is love that ruins everything, her one chance to be a single mother, better than her own ever was, is impossible when he mother urges her to give the baby a better life, put it up for adoption. The church can find someone better suited, and what is someone like Dell to do without the support of the child’s father or even her own family? She could never afford to support her baby, girls like her don’t have options. There is no way she can remain in this flea-bitten town, nursing the ache in her heart where her baby girl has nestled in. There’s nothing for her to do but abandon the past. She sets up shop as a psychic as she leaves the town, and her family, behind. Though she doesn’t consider herself a ‘proper psychic’, she is skilled in knowing what troubles others, uses the tools of the trade to get a clearer picture. If only she could intuit her own needs, heal her own wounds, clean up the disaster that has become her reality. She will never return to Blythe, nothing can make her… except learning when her mother tracks her down that her child has gone missing! The problem is, within moments of that revelation, silence overtakes her mother and life seems to have no end of testing Dell’s merit. She must return to the scene of her most heartbreaking acts, and discover that the past is never done with us. Is it possible, dare she hope to make things right?

This was novel didn’t have as much ‘psychic’ steam as I thought it would from the title. The promise is much more about motherhood. Love swims through the novel, as does the murky grime of disappointment and narrow minded ways of some small towns. The haves vs the have nots. It was a decent read, but it’s not what I expected. I was thinking there would be at least a little more focus on how she ‘knows’ how to fix other people’s hurts. The psychic bit is pretty mild but if you are looking for a story about motherhood, difficult dysfunctional families and a little romance, this is it.

Publication Date: October 30, 2019

Bookouture

Good solid book. Normally I go in blind to books but on NetGalley I read the blurbs in order to choose which ones to request. This book didn't really fit the blurb at all. That doesn't affect by rating at all...just a comment. It was odd to me.

One thing that stood out to me was the imagery of the book. Descriptions of the landscape where beautifully written. This is mostly a love story and actually a sweet one. It was an enjoyable read

Kelly Heard’s debut novel was very unique. The story followed Dell through a very emotional journey, with glimpses into her past. Through these glimpses we learned the childhood sufferings that lead adult Dell to become detached from other people.

Dell gave her baby up for adoption then, opened up her own business as a fortune teller. One day, her mother came to her and told her that her baby was missing. Will Dell find the missing baby? Will she rebuild lost connections with her family? Read to find out!

Overall, I felt like some of the emotional components were slightly lacking. However, Dell was an interesting character and the book gave good insight into how real life trauma can affect a person. I think readers will find this aspect of the book very relatable.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

Dell is known for running from her problems. Her parents play a huge part in that behavior and in Dell's mind, the farther away from her mother, the better. She was controlling and narcissistic. After giving up her child for adoption, she settles down reading fortunes. But when her mother finds her with news that her daughter is missing, Dell must stop running and face the past.

When I first requested to read this book from Netgalley, I didn't notice the tagline to the book that you see on the Amazon page. I normally shy away from those books because the content almost never matches what you think it was going to. This mentioned it was a page-turner which has you thinking it's going to be a fast-paced thriller and that wasn't what we got at all. Instead, it's a lot more of a women's fiction/family drama. Even though I felt those didn't match, it was still a good read.

Dell has spent so much time running, she doesn't know how to settle down. Her child's father Mason has shown her time and again he just wants her, but she isn't ready to believe it. I sympathized with her struggle to find calm in a fairly chaotic life. I liked Mason and I thought he was a good fit for Dell. The Fortune Teller's Promise was a well-written and enjoyable read.

A story which was quite different, a love story but not quite, a thriller with a missing child but not really, which was both in the past and in the present, this twisted my insides with the emotions.

In 1990, coming from a sad, broken home, father addicted to pills and mother too selfish, Dell fell in love with Mason and became pregnant. She needed help, and finding none, she gave her baby up for adoption and with a broken heart, Dell left town and opened up her own place as a psychic, a fortune teller. A year later, July 1991, her mother came to her one day and informed that her 5 month old baby was missing.

The debut by Kelly Heard was beautiful. It wasn't a thriller but a journey. It was all about Dell as moved through her past and into the present. Trying to find her baby, she found herself and understood the circumstances better. Mason, as her love interest, stood steadfast by her even when she thought she was alone. Circumstances, some of them really dreadful, made her distrustful. I could understand that.

Dell's mother had an accident before she could reveal the details, so Dell had to go back home and find the frayed threads of her life and join them together, make them strong, to find her baby. Her relatives and loved ones added many emotions to this prose by their subtle actions.

Getting to know Dell was my journey too. I got to see that sometimes life got so overwhelming and lonely, that Dell had to go away to come home. There was a depth and poignancy in the writing which kept me hooked.

It was a slow starter and took me time to understand her, but the story slowly unfurled the truth. Emotions weaved into the story were sometimes subtle, and most times obvious. Dell was an interesting character, and seeing life through her and getting to know her made this my midnight read.

Did she find her baby, you ask? You have to read the book to know the real truth.

This book took me pleasantly by surprise.
I thought it might have a little bit of “magic” in it surrounding the fortune teller, but that wasn’t really the focus.
The main character, Dell, has a very unusual family. Her dad is addicted to pills and her beautiful mother is not a god figure in her life and is an extremely selfish person.
Dell is very guarded and does not trust people easily, but she ends up falling in love with Mason. Yet, as soon as she starts to let her guard down, she seems an image of her father in the mirror of her bathroom and she knows he’s died. He overdosed on his pain meds, Dell finds out she’s pregnant and does the only thing she knows how to come—runs away.
She has the baby and give it up for adoption then takes over a fortune tellers shop outside of town.
Her mother tracks her down, tells her the baby is missing and Dell ends up searching for her the rest of the story with help from some unexpected people.

This is a sweet love story, and is not you typical fairy tale romance. It’s much more about real life and how much a person like Dell struggles with just letting herself be happy.
I thought the ending fell a little flat, but enjoyed the story overall.

This was a beautiful story about love, loss, and sacrifice. I really enjoyed how it was told from the past and the present. I am always drawn to books that have a mother/child perspective in the plot. I believe I read this one in 3 days, just because it was THAT good! I am looking forward to reading more from this author.

The Fortune Teller's Promise is not what I expected , it was better than I expected.

Kelly Heard has written a good book that is told between the past and the present. Dell has not had an easy life; a lonely one and as the story unfolds you realize why Dell made the choices she did.

Dell sets out to find the baby she gave up for adoption who is missing.

But don't be fooled its much more of a character story , love story as you watch Dell grow.

I enjoyed this book very much and will be thinking about Dell for days to come.

Thanks to Net Galley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read The Fortune Teller's Pr

I found this book a bit okay to start then it slowed a bit for me, but it ended up picking up along the way. I liked how the main character, Dell, is interested in Astrology. Dell, is on a search to find her missing child, but along the way we learn of her own childhood with her mother who was distant and lacked the true ability to mother. An interesting read, while it does take a bit to get into I'm glad I stuck with it. I would recommend it.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

The natural imagery of this story is strong which makes up for the fact that Blyth, the small town of Virginia is fictional. The sense of loneliness contrasted with vast open space and claustrophobia is acute. It’s about a woman returning to where she grew up and where she was unhappy. Her baby taken off her, she was convinced this would be for the best, and now she has to return to find out what happened to the poor child.
I was a bit confused when reading as the blurb doesn’t match the story in many ways. Although there is a missing child, this isn’t the focus of the novel and it’s more about Dell and her journey of coming home, finding out secrets and growing as a person. This is actually the story of an outsider.

There’s also a romantic overtone to the novel which I wasn’t expecting given the subject matter. It’s not a bad thing however as you really get to find out more about Dell, her life and what she’s been through.

I enjoyed it but think the blurb should be rewritten to reflect the tone and content of the book. As a character-driven novel about loneliness and life itself, I think it works really well. Outsiders and small remote towns are a great set of ingredients for a good book! IT's a very emotional and heart rendering read.

This book was not what I was expecting. I was hooked from the first page. This book is heartbreaking and romantic
This book is beautifully written which is a credit to the author for a debut novel
This is an extremely beautiful emotional read

This book is a beautifully written, emotional story. I’d find myself thinking about the characters, long after I’d stopped reading.
Most of the chapters alternate between the past and the present, which I typically don’t like, but the author was able to make the story flow easily and I didn’t mind it.
I loved the way that you were immersed in not only the story but the environment as well.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced review copy. I look forward to reading more from Kelly Heard.