Promise Me Tonight

Isabella Weston has always known what she wants, and what she wants is James Sheffield. He's been her neighbor for years, and is her brother Henry's best friend. Becoming his wife is basically her goal in life. James, on the other hand, has no intention of marrying - ever. He lost both his parents at a young age, and is convinced that his mother's death cost his father his will to live. After he was orphaned, he was sent to live with his mean grandfather (which is when he moved near the Westons). He plans for his title to die with him - petty revenge for his grandfather's cruelty. Mostly he just doesn't want to leave himself vulnerable to the pain that love and loss can inflict.

But James completely underestimates both his attraction to Isabella and her determination to marry him. He runs away after an interlude at her come-out ball, only to be called back when his grandfather dies. He then finds out that his grandfather has left everything not entailed to Isabella. But James Will. Not. Be. Manipulated. He vows to join the army rather than marry Isabella, even though he can hardly keep his hands off her. Desperate to save him, Isabella goes to his room and has her wicked way with him. He feels honor-bound to marry her, but is determined that there will be no children. She makes him promise not to join the army, so he doesn't; he takes off the day after their wedding and joins the navy.

Isabella goes off to live with an aunt in Scotland and nurses her broken heart, bringing one of her sisters in tow. There are a series of events that keep James and Isabella apart, but eventually James has his come-to-Jesus moment and realizes that he's been a complete ass. Whether he can grovel enough to makes amends and get back into Isabella's good graces is another matter.

I spent most of this book wondering why I wasn't as annoyed as I should have been. Not only is "poor me, I can't ever marry...even though this hot, eligible girl is in love with me and I can't keep my hands off her" one of my least favorite plots, I had just come off a book with this plot - a book that annoyed me. Granted, I did want to hit James with something heavy a lot of the time, because really, he just takes it all too far (joining the navy? Are you kidding?). However, he does move into grovel mode well before the end of the book, and he grovels quite suitably. Even extravagantly.

I also liked Isabella's family. Lindsey is a debut author, and Promise Me Tonight is the first in a series about all of the Weston siblings. It's a large family, and all the children have Shakespearean names (courtesy of their bard-obsessed mom). It has shades of Quinn's Bridgertons about it, and I mean that in a complimentary sense. I was intrigued by the set-up and interested to see what Lindsey might do with the siblings - particularly in a plot that's more to my taste. Also a point of interest: Both Isabella's parents are still living, and still in love - a rare enough circumstance that it deserves a mention. Her mother even gives her real, useful advice. It's something we should see more often. It's also worth noting that the love scenes are hot and well-written, which is certainly a point in the book's favor as well.

In the end, I almost quit analyzing my feelings, and decided I liked it enough to give it a recommendation, albeit a marginal one. It's worth a look, and perhaps the series is worth following as well. I'm certainly willing to give the next title a try.

-- Blythe Barnhill

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