Promise Me Tonight
Author: Sara Lindsey
Publisher: NAL / Signet
Pub. Date: February 2, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-0451229373
Retail Price: $6.99
320 pages

Isabella is determined to marry James…

Isabella Weston has loved James Sheffield for as long as she can remember. Her come-out ball seems the perfect chance to make him see her in a new light.

James is determined never to marry…

James is stunned to find the impish girl he once knew has blossomed into a sensual goddess. And if he remembers his lessons, goddesses always spell trouble for mortal men.

A compromise is clearly necessary.

When Izzie kisses James, her artless ardor turns to a masterful seduction that drives him mad with desire. But, no stranger to heartbreak, James is determined never to love, and thus never to lose. Can Isabella convince him that a life without love might be the biggest loss of all?

~*~*~

Readers will find this funny, heart-wrenching and promising debut a delightful read.

Promise Me Tonight is the first in a series of Shakespearean name siblings who each find love. In this romantic tale, readers meet Isabella Weston, the eldest daughter of the Weston clan, who is madly in love with her older brother’s best friend, the guy next door. Though this is a theme that has been used repeatedly, Sara Lindsey was able to hold my interest until the very last page.

Isabella is a persistent, beautiful and witty young woman. She has desired James for so long and now that she is all grown up, she will do whatever it takes to get her man. For the first half of the book, I disliked “Izzy” because she was constantly crying and begging. Some of her tactics were deceitful and selfish. However as the story progressed, I found myself rooting for her. She slowly started to mature and come into her own. I realized her tenacious behavior was inherited. Who wouldn’t be a romantic with parents who openly loved one another and set an example of a passionate marriage? By the end of the story, my opinions of Izzy evolved.

James is a very honorable and stubborn man. After suffering some painful incidents as a child, James closes his heart and vows never to love or marry.  For most of the book, James’s theories on love were tiresome. I understood and even sympathized with him at times, but I found myself becoming bored with his excuses. It was only toward the end that the author revealed more of his past and his reasons for fighting Isabella so hard.  Finally, he was able to confront his past and succumb to his desires for Isabella.

Some of the things I liked about the story were that there was a lot of seduction and sexual buildup in this book. The love scenes were hot, steamy and tasteful. Sara writes well written love scenes.  I also liked the introduction to the Weston family. They were well written and developed secondary characters that added to the story. The close knit family had some of the funniest lines in the book. They loved James as a part of the family and their hilarious well intentioned schemes left a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

For true romantics and die hard fans of historical romance, I recommend Promise Me Tonight. I eagerly await the second book in this series.

Rating: 7 (Good)

Heat Level: 3 (Sensual)

Buy Links: Book Depository ~ $5.49 | Amazon Kindle ~ $4.36

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By Reviews7 Comments on Review: Promise Me Tonight

7 Replies to “Review: Promise Me Tonight”

  1. I love this kind of plot but I don’t know about a weepy heroine. Crying throughout the first half of the book is a long time to be crying. I do like the cover. Let me check out more reviews before I commit myself to buying it.

  3. Samantha, thanks for the review. I agree with you on this one. I loved this story. I also the growth in Izzie and I’m glad because there were a few times I wanted to bash her over the head. 🙂

  7. I’d love to give this one a try, especially as the unrequited-love trope is one of my favorites. Unfortunately, when I searched for it in the Sony store, I got the dreaded US-only button. *sigh* Sometimes I hate living in Canada.

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