An absolute smasher from Mary Ellen Taylor!
I absolutely adored Olympia and Spencer. Their chemistry was off the charts, jumping off the page at me so I knew their story would be complicated! I became instantly hooked on them and all the other characters were interesting too. What a great story to read with loads of substance!.
Poor Olympia had had a rough time in life. She’d hit the road when her marriage failed after she lost their baby daughter. Born too early. She’d helped support her sister and mother by working at the local pizza restaurant owned by a friend. Now she knew she had to return to the town where it all went wrong, and the husband waiting for the divorce papers to be signed…..
Many thanks to Montlake for the opportunity to read this arc copy for review consideration via Netgalley. My opinion is my own.
#Netgalley, #Montlake, #Mary.Ellen.Taylor.Books

This was a great story. Olympia has left home to travel on her own and comes home for her sister's engagement party. When she gets home, she has to address some issues from her past and that involves the husband she left behind. The story grips you as you want to where Olympia and Spencer end up. Great read.

Olympia and Spencer tell the story of their lives and marriage in this novel that will pull at the heart, Olympia has had a tough time, culminating in a tragedy and the end of her marriage and she's been on a hiatus of sorts from all of it. Now though, she's called home. Spencer loves Olympia. Will they sign the divorce papers? No spoilers from me. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. No surprises really but it's a good read for a rainy day.

Life's tragedies can either drive people apart or bond them closer together. I don’t usually care for a second-chance romance between a married couple because the pain is too devastating and the hurt too deep for them to heal. But if done well, like here, the hard-won victory is all the sweeter for everything that's overcome.

Olympia Hanover returns to her small-town Virginia home for her sister's engagement party after traveling throughout the western US for a year. Life has never been easy for Olympia, and she’s been working since she was a young teen to help keep her small family together, especially after her single mother became ill. After one too many tragedies, leaving town to fulfill her mother's bucket seemed like the best idea. Now, she doesn’t plan to stay in town long, only long enough to visit family graves and sign divorce papers.

This gifted storyteller gives us stories that are so rich, complex, and all-encompassing that it's a challenge to put the feelings she evokes into words for a review. This was a binge read for me and I loved everything about it. The small-town setting, the challenging family relationships, the difficult subject matters, the element of mystery, and the healing and growth. Compelling, enigmatic, and breathtaking, you won’t want to miss this masterful, unforgettable story.

The Promise of Tomorrow is such a poignant story about loss and acceptance. The characters were likable, although most of the way through the book I wanted to tell Olympia to get over herself. The family secrets coming to light made a dramatic ending that kept me turning pages. I loved the Virginia Mountains setting. This author has become one of my favorite writers. Thanks to author Mary Ellen Taylor, Montlake (Publisher), and NetGalley. I received a complimentary copy of this ebook. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

What an emotional read that hit on so many levels. Loss, hope, family, changes, growth there is so much going on my heart was on a roller coaster. I sniffed, I laughed, I hurt and through it all held onto hope. I highly recommend this book and as it says "no ones life is perfect ". Thank you Amazon First Reads, thank you Montlake, thank you NetGalley. I freely volunteer my thoughts and opinions. #ThePromiseofTomorrow #MaryEllenTaylor #Montlake #NetGalley

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The Promise of Tomorrow was wonderful! The story had a way of making me feel happy even if I was having a bad day. I really enjoy the way Mary Ellen Taylor writes. She brings the characters to life in a way that makes you feel you are right there with them.

The promise of tomorrow. No one has that promise. Olympia and Spencer haven't been together for a year, though they are married. It is so easy to run from your troubles, than to face them. Especially when these newlyweds are faced with tragedy that neither can understand and both refuse to turn to each other for help getting through their grief. So, one runs, the other stays. A family member calls one home, to help celebrate a joyous occasion, which brings this couple back together. Yet, they are facing a decision of divorce with unresolved issues. There is still a promise of tomorrow. Will they take it or will they walk away? I loved everything about this one, so much so that I had to keep reading to find out how it all worked out, good or bad. Wish I could give it more than 5 stars. Highly recommend!!

I loved this book. Olympia after losing her mother, she was pregnant and married Spencer. The baby was stillborn and she just couldn't get through it all. She decided to leave Virginia, she asked Spence to leave with her but running the family business with elderly parents, he couldn't. She was noted as the Pizza traveler and started on her Mom's bucket list. She had traveled for a while and her sister's invitation to her engagement party showed up. Olympia felt she should go back and she did, first the party, visiting the graves and signing the divorce papers and then she would live. See how all of this turns out for Olympia and all involved.

This book will take you on an emotional journey of love, loss and family. While the story is beautiful, it may not be an easy read for some. Told in alternating POVs it showed the different sides of grief and how people respond to it.

This may not be an easy read for some, but the journey is worth the ride.

Promise of Tomorrow runs very deep. Wrought with emotion, we get to know Olympia who is a strong young woman, living a nomadic life after breaking after losing a child. We learn how she stepped up to raise her younger sister and always took care of things. I love that she's a social media influencer; quite fun and super modern. Her's and Spencer's relationship is super brittle and I loved seeing them mend it. Loved the side story and mystery of Adelaide. Taylor's writing: whether she's doing suspense or a novel just hooks you in til the very end

A very touching novel of a woman’s shattered emotions after her daughter is stillborn and of the emotional return home to sign divorce papers and attend her sister’s engagement party. She has been traveling for a year trying to outrun her grief. Her husband is a good guy, torn by needing her and by family obligations. The story is solid. The characters’ portrayals are on point.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a great book! There was a fantastic story here! To me the underlying lesson was communication. Some people are better at it than others, but I also think that you get better at it the older you get. This couple was very young and delt a lot, which made it hard for them to deal with everything. Communicating would have made that better.

The Promise of Tomorrow is a well written book. This book has a good plot and well developed characters. I recommend reading it. MI received an advance copy of the book from the publisher and Netgalley. This is my unbiased review.

This is the second book of Mary Ellen Taylor's that I've read, and another great story. I really enjoy her writing.

I found The Promise of Tomorrow to be an interesting, engaging book. I liked the various characters, and the mystery of the mountain house & the stones. The interactions between Olympia and the different people in her life were entertaining and realistic.

It was an emotional read at times. It's about family and illnesses and ageing parents; about personal boundaries and learning to accept help when you're fiercely independent. It's about grief. It's about loss. It's about finding your person, then falling in love.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one and would recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for the opportunity to read it.

This is the story of Olympia and Spencer.  It is a wonderful character driven story that highlights relationship problems that could easily be resolved with a little open communication.  Since that is often the crux of many relationships this story will be relatable to many.   An enjoyable read.

Mary Ellen Taylor always has a way of drawing me into the stories she creates beginning with the first page. Her lead character, Olympia, in The Promise of Tomorrow is an example of a strong woman on a journey of self discovery and healing after a tragic loss.
The Promise of Tomorrow presents some mystery, heartaches, joy, and love in today’s world, while exploring family situations and highlighting the importance of being true to oneself. I found this book to be both inspiring and uplifting as well as a 5-star read!

This beautifully written and emotional book kept me up past my bedtime. I got so involved with the lives of the two main characters that I had to find out if and how they solved their problems. This book deals with some heavy subjects - death and grief, love and loss, a parent with Alzheimer's and it is very sad in parts but also contains hopes for the future. It's told in alternating chapters by the two main characters so that the reader is able to see how two people deal very differently with grief.

One day Olympia packed her car and drove away from her small Virginia home town. She's traveled all over the western states to complete her deceased mom's bucket list. She appears to be resilient and strong as she travels, often sleeping in her car and only stopping to work to make enough money to continue her travels. Now a year later, she's back in her hometown for her only sister's engagement party. Her plans are to only stay in town long enough to sign divorce papers to end her marriage with Spencer, visit the graves of her mother and daughter and then get back on the road but things don't always work out like we plan.

Spencer is working hard to handle his father's diagnosis of Alzheimer's. He has given up his place on the golf circuit to come home and take care of the family business. He doesn't really understand why Olympia left but he still appears to be in love with her. He, too, is dealing with grief from the death of their daughter as well as his strong father's mental decline.

Along with the fractured relationship between Olympia and Spencer, there is a tenuous relationship between Olympia and her sister and her negative treatment from Spencer's parents. It looks at grief from all sides - not only grief from a death but also grief from ended relationships and losing trust in family. I really enjoyed both of the main characters and hoped that they would have a happily ever after.

This emotional look at grief and loss along with hope for happiness is a book that I won't soon forget.

I received a complimentary copy of this book "The Promise of Tomorrow" and all opinions expressed are my own. I enjoyed reading this book. Olympia went through a lot and I was hoping things would work out for her. The best part was the mystery with the carved angels. At the end of the book I was hoping for a bit more. Overall 4 stars.

She is a good writer and this was a good book . It gives you all the feels much like a Kristin Hannah book .
I recommend you read this one and any of her backlist .