Promises Kept by Cindy Bradford

Thought you might like to know that the sequel has gone to press, and the waiting begins. No wonder my hair is falling out! Now it’s anybody’s guess when it will actually be released, but if it follows a similar timeframe as Keeping Faith, then hopefully it will be out by mid-April. Here’s another sneak preview…

PROMISES KEPT is Faith’s story—the story of an unforgettable young woman whose life’s journey has been filled with uncertainty, of searching for people and answers that others take for granted. Compassionate, courageous, strong-willed and persistent, she never gives up, showing strength, commitment and character beyond her years. It is also the story about the power of the human spirit, of family and friends and love.

Determination and grit are the two forces that propel Faith O’Brien. After finding the father she never knew and graduating law school, her only focus is bringing down the priest who abused her father as a child. She wants revenge for the demons he alone created. She wants him so far behind bars that no other young boy will ever have to fear his touch. And to do this, she, the neophyte attorney, is willing to take on a veteran, highly experienced and shrewd Boston lawyer who will go to any means to win a case. But, he underestimates her passion for justice, her fight for right against a wrong.

Because to her, there is nothing more crucial, more important, more pressing than this cause… until she meets and falls madly in love with Tyler England. Soon, her fighting instincts are called on like never before. Only this time her intelligence, perseverance and resolve may not be enough.

Promises Kept is the second book in a two-part series. It is written as a sequel, but can also stand alone.

The title, itself, has enough symbolism to make an English literature teacher tingle in delight. Not only does it refer to one promise kept, but several, which is why it helps to have read the first novel and be able to figure out and anticipate the significance of the title. Am I piquing your interest?

Faith is the main character in this second novel, although in many ways, I saw her as the main character in the first because her influence was so powerfully subliminal and far-reaching. But according to the rules of developing the protagonist, one could strongly argue that Patrick was it hands down. I’ll be interested to hear what you think.  And Kit and Shirley, you’re the “English marms”, so it will be good to hear an opinion from you.

But until then, the teaser for Promises Kept reads like this:

We also have “red tide,” which is common on the Gulf of Mexico when conditions are just right to cause microscopic algae to bloom in the water, turning it a red or brown hue.  Every couple of years in October we have this toxic mess and it is a pain. When the phytoplankton occurs in high concentration, it affects the nervous system of fish and paralyzes them making it impossible to breath, resulting in fish kills all along its path.

Not only do the dead fish smell bad, the high levels of algae also present problems in the form of throat and eye irritation to humans. Although the experts (whoever they are) tell us it is not harmful to people, it is a problem because once you spend even a few minutes outside you start coughing and wheezing, making a day at the beach or just sitting outside unpleasant, to say the least.

Since fall is a beautiful time of the year here, it is really aggravating, especially because I love to be outdoors. Although red tide doesn’t usually last more than a couple of weeks, the wind shifts are stirring it up more and certainly confusing it. One day the wind is out of the north and it blows the murky water out of my channel; next day the wind blows 40 miles an hour from the south, and here it is again. Scientists don’t really know what causes this phenomenon, but they claim to be working on a way to prevent it in the near future. Let’s hope they figure it out fast.

This, and the fact that Mother Nature has decided to make up for the long summer drought by giving us lots of rain and cloudy days, really cuts into “floating and bloating,” which is what we affectionately refer to as girls’ afternoon in the pool when friends join me for gossiping and drinking a bit of wine. Fortunately with a little help from the Propane Gods, combined with some cash, you can pretty much swim or rather float and bloat here year round. So for right now, I’ll just stay inside and work on the edit of Promises Kept, the sequel to Keeping Faith.