This was an emotional but heartwarming book. Perfect for those who love literary fiction and family affairs books.

Promises to Keep
By Nan Rossiter

Promises to Keep is the heartwarming sequel to Promises of the Heart in the Savannah Skies series by Nan Rossiter which can be read as a stand alone beautifully.

I enjoyed the first book in the series and I am so glad to return to Tybee Island off the Georgia coast to focus on this installment the beloved characters of Maeve and Gage.

Meave Lindstrom is a wonderful character - a true salt of the earth. person who works with the elderly in a facility. As a nurse, I was really drawn to her character and the pure joy in her personality to deal with the sundowners of the Willow Pond Senior Care. Gage Tennyson and his lovely yellow lab Gus is such a heartwarming addition to the story line, and a true Southern gentleman.

This is a wonderful love story and Rossiter truly does write the best heartwarming and cozy romance books I love reading about. Great series if you love to read about relatable characters in a small town setting this is it.

🔥New Release! It has a mischievous yellow lab 🐕 named GUS!
That's enough for me to adore this book, like crazy!
Look at the cover, its so heart-warming!!

#qotd How difficult is it to make & maintain relationships?
Can we be brutally honest in them or a mask needs to be there, at certain places?
Do you instantly like stories with a dog in it?

🌷Key words:Relationships, Secrets, Past.

🌼Promises to Keep: A Novel (Savannah Skies Book 2) 
by 
Nan Rossiter.
(Nan's books have been highly acclaimed by reviewers from Publisher's Weekly to Booklist. Her novel, SUMMER DANCE, was the 2018 winner of the Nancy Pearl Award.)

⚘Series: book 2 (can be read as a standalone).
320 pages, 53 chapters.
Harper paperbacks.

🦜
In this heartwarming sequel to Promises of the Heart in the Savannah Skies series, USA Today bestselling author Nan Rossiter returns to Tybee Island off the Georgia coast to focus on beloved characters Maeve and Gage as their relationship is tested by secrets they are keeping from each other.

Thirty-four-year-old Maeve Lindstrom loves her job at Willow Pond Senior Care. Her older sister Macey thinks Maeve is the only human being on earth who can make working in a nursing home sound like fun. Maeve enjoys being around the sundowners, as she calls them, helping them navigate their senior years—brightening a time that can be, all too often, a lonely, sad stage of life.

Thirty-three-year-old Gage Tennyson—who brings his mischievous yellow Lab, Gus, to whatever restoration job he is working on with Macey’s husband, Ben—loves Maeve with all his heart. He’s a handsome country boy and a true southern gentleman. But as he and Maeve grow closer, they both sense that they haven’t been completely forthcoming about their pasts.

When Maeve realizes Gage might be planning to propose, she knows she must finally be honest with everyone she holds dear. She can no longer live with the secret she’s been dragging around like an anchor, and she knows the only way she will be free to build a lifetime relationship with Gage is to risk everything—including his (and her family’s) love and respect. Before she finds the courage, however, her past comes careening in..

3.5-4 Stars

Thanks #NetGalley @HarperPerennial for a complimentary eARC of #PromisesToKeep upon my request. All opinions are my own. Promises to Keep is a sequel to Promises of the Heart in the Savannah Skies series. It can be read as a stand-alone (although it’s always a richer reading experience to have read the first in the series).

Set in the South (Georgia), this story finds thirty-something Maeve working in a private nursing home and enjoying a relationship with her handsome boyfriend, Gage, who works construction and adores his dog, Gus. Complications arise when they realize that they’ve been keeping secrets from each other about their past. Can they save their relationship?

Overall, Promises to Keep is a heartwarming and engaging uplit romance told from a Christian perspective with characters to cheer for.

In between reading some heavier reads, I appreciate a simply-told story with a cast of likable characters and a rural, small-town setting! I love the themes of friendship, forgiveness, grief, second chances, honesty, secrets, a supportive community, and family loyalty. I appreciate that this romance also includes some meaningful content dealing with elder care, a secret of the past coming back to turn your life upside down, grief, a difficult family relationship, and communication/relationship challenges. Although neatly tied up in the end, the various storylines were interesting, compelling, and seemed realistic to me.

***may contain spoilers***
Content Consideration: teenage pregnancy, adoption, death of a parent, death of a grandparent, grief

I recommend Promises to Keep for readers who are looking for light, uplit reads with poignant themes, for fans of romance (mostly closed door) and HEA, and for fans of stories that include a Christian perspective.

2.5 Stars

Promises to Keep starts out a little slow, gets much better in the middle, but the ending really ticks me off.

Maeve Lindstrom and Gage Tennyson are a sweet couple who have been dating for a couple years. They both enjoy their jobs and hanging out with Maeve’s sister Macey and her husband Ben (who Gage works for), and their adopted daughter Harper. And both are thinking it’s time to take their relationship to the next level.

But Maeve has something in her past she hasn’t told a soul and figures it’s probably something she should share with Gage before he proposes. Except before she works up the courage, Maeve’s big secret shows up at her doorstep one day, and Gage doesn’t take it well.

Okay, I get he’s shocked and hurt she didn’t tell him. Which makes him a big fat giant hypocrite because he hasn’t been real forthcoming about his past either.

Which begs the question...what exactly on earth have these two been talking about for the past two years???

Anyway, I could have gotten past the hero’s poor behavior. I do, after all, enjoy a good apology/grovel scene.

BUT...after Maeve emphatically tells her sister she’s going to make Gage earn her forgiveness for treating her so poorly, she not only goes to him when she learns about his family’s tragic event (which, good on her for being the bigger person), she offers up her forgiveness after a lame-o apology.

And that made me verah, verah cranky.

This could have been a four-star read. I enjoyed the writing. I mostly like the characters. The secondary storyline involving Maeve’s secret was compelling and heartwarming. But all transgressions being easily forgiven with disregarded resolve and a simple “I’m sorry” completely ruined things for me.

* thank you to NetGalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Have your box of tissues nearby when you finish this touching novel of family relationships. The character development is great as we see a son deal with the alienation from his family and a woman come to grips with an event from her past. There are many lessons included in this novel about resentment and pride and forgiveness and reconciliation.

Rossiter writes novels about events in lives that culminate in a way we want life to be. Yes, there are obstacles on the journey but characters survive the better for them. Like the old novels ending where the couple rides off in the sunset to live happily ever after, you'll give a contented sigh when finishing this one.

A prominent issue in the novel is an exploration of the old school, strict rules Christianity and the newer Christianity, accepting behavior that would have been considered immoral by the old school. This is definitely a novel for the more accepting Christians as we see no qualms about an unmarried couple living together and the affirming of alternative lifestyles.

There is one aspect of the novel I did not like at all, the pretty descriptive sex scenes. They did not have an essential place in the plot and seemed totally unnecessary to me.

This is the second novel in a series. While it read pretty well on its own, do read Promises of the Heart first to get the full emotional impact of this book.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

Maeve loves her job at Willow Pond Senior Care and her sister Macey can't figure out why she enjoys it so much. Gage Tennyson and his dog Gus visit the seniors and Maeve quite often. They enjoy each other's company and the seniors are always pushing the two of them together. But Maeve is hiding a secret and knows she must tell Gage before he proposes. A delightful story that does show the realistic side of seniors in nursing homes. This is book 2 in the Savannah Skies series and can be read as a stand alone. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

"Everything happens for a reason. God has a plan." Nan Rossiter writes wonderful Christian-based, heart-warming stories about family issues. This is the second book in her Savannah Skies series which center around two sisters, Macey and Maeve Lindstrom and their family. The focus here is on Maeve this time around and the theme is forgiveness. Maeve has a secret in her past that she hasn't told anyone, not even her family. But as she and her boyfriend Gage become more serious about their relationship, should she reveal all? To tell any more about the plot would be to give too much away. I would call this 'feel good' romantic fiction but keep the hankies handy!

I received an arc of this new novel from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks for the opportunity and for bringing me back to Nan Rossiter's books!

PROMISES TO KEEP, Book Two in the Savannah Skies series, is a heartwarming story about love, loss, faith, family, and forgiveness—Highly Recommend!

The novel, set in Tybee Island off the Georgia coast, centers around thirty-somethings Maeve Lindstrom and Gage Tennyson, as they begin their relationship—though it’s love at first sight—each has not been forthcoming about their pasts, which threatens to put an unyielding wedge between them.

I don’t want to give too much away, Dear Readers, but I will say you may want to keep the tissues close at hand. I haven’t cried this much while reading a book in a long time—touching moments that brought a smile to my face and warmth in my heart, and at times, mournful tears of memory and remembrance of life, love, loss, and longing of hope.

I look forward to returning to Savannah as I delve into Book One of the series, PROMISES OF THE HEART, as I eagerly wait to see if Rossiter writes a third in the series, or perhaps, the start of a new one.

Either way, it’s an Auto-Yes from this reader!

Thank you, NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishing, for loaning me an eGalley of PROMISES TO KEEP in the request for an honest review.

Scheduled To Release – April 27, 2021 (Subject To Change)

Second chances and going forward in ones life.
An enjoyable story about family, forgiveness and how keeping past secrets can cause problems in a relationship.
Faith plays a big part in the storyline.
The main characters are Maeve, Gage and Mason.....very likeable and endearing characters.
I found Promises to Keep to be a very easy and heartfelt read.
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion. All opinions expressed are my own.

Loved it. Heart-warming and heart-breaking romance. Some wonderful interaction among the various age groups. A little something to appeal to everyone, including a dog and chickens. I did shed a few tears along the way to the happily ever after. I want to read to first book in this series and any to follow. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley.

This was a sweet story told from multiple perspectives. I found this story extremely easy and entertaining to read and enjoyed it thoroughly. In part it is a romance following two people who were already in a serous relationship that was on the precipice of evolving. As the story unfolds we discover that both Gage and Maeve have been together for about two years and yet they each have some very major secrets that they have been keeping from the other. As they both want to move toward a more serious commitment, their secrets begin to come into the light.

I'll try not to spoil the story but one of the POVs in the book is entirely about one of their secrets and is a fairly substantial arc in the story. I would have loved to have gotten more closure on that thread but overall I think the author did a great job with it.

This book had a lot of quotes from the bible and references to church, bibles, God's will, and scenes in church. I say this because even with all that, the story was pretty progressive in the message and often used the references to make room for open-minded, progressive, modern thoughts and actions (again - I am trying not to spoil anything here).

Promises to Keep
A Novel
by Nan Rossiter
Harper Perennial and Paperbacks
You Are Auto-Approved
Harper Paperbacks
General Fiction (Adult) | Romance | Women's Fiction
Pub Date 27 Apr 2021 | Archive Date 22 Jun 2021

This was an ok read for me. I would not recommend it as Christian fiction due to the topics covered (sex, living together etc.)
Thanks to Harper Paperbacks and Net Galley for the ARC.

3 star

This was an okay read, although I wouldn't call it Christian fiction due to the sex scenes. Other than that it touched on good topics of trust, redemption, forgiveness, adoption, and what unconditional love looks like.

A very big THANK YOU for NetGalley, the author (Nan Rossiter) and the publishing company, Harper Paperbacks, for an early electronic copy of this book, for an honest review.

I have enjoyed Nan Rossiter's books from the beginning, and I just cannot wait for her to have a new release and to devour it in hours. I absolutely love her writing style, her genre, and the love you feel throughout the book.

I adored the big yellow lab, Gus, and how he was always in the chapters, and you could tell that Gus is an amazing pet, and loves everyone that is loyal to him. I enjoyed the love story between Gage and Maeve, and then learning the secrets that both hold onto, and seeing how those come to fruition, truly makes this story a great sequel.

The love and respect that the family shows within the chapters, truly resonates through the pages, and you just fall in love with Gage, Maeve and especially Gus.

Thank you again Nan Rossiter, and I cannot wait for the next one.