Review: 'Promised' by Michelle Turner
May 26, 2013
Linc knows Wyn is the girl for
him.
Wyn knows that Linc is the guy
for her.
But she is promised to another.
Wyn has to decide whether she can
turn her back on her family and their traditions or walk away from her chance
at real love.
Michelle
Turner’s second published book Promised
doesn’t disappoint. I had the opportunity to read and review it, and I jumped
at the chance. I reviewed Turner’s debut novel Reviving Bloom back in February this year (see it here), and I have
to say her writing style has developed and grown since then. So, here’s what I
thought…
Promised is about a girl and a boy and a whole lot of
obstacles in between them. It’s a classic plotline, but Turner has managed to
make it unique.
At the very
beginning, we’re introduced to Linc “The Great Lincoln Tatman”. His popularity at school
means he can have any girl he wants. But he doesn’t want any girl. Once he sets
his sights on Wyn, he knows he’s found the girl he never wants to let go. Slightly
cocky and arrogant, you can’t help but like Linc from the beginning as his
fixation on Wyn grows into something more than just lust.
Wyn is unlike
any other young woman I’ve seen gracing the pages of YA. She’s one of the Romani—a gypsy.
Due to the strict family traditions, she is a girl who is never alone with a
boy who she isn’t related to, and can only date a gypsy boy as long as she has
a chaperone—not that that would ever happen. Wyn’s involvement with the gypsy
way of life stops there. She does not want to become someone’s wife at 18. She
does not want to be stuck at home raising children. Wyn’s dreams are so much
bigger than that, but she doesn’t realize they are possible until a fateful
meeting with Linc.
Turner takes
us on a journey through Wyn and Linc’s sweet beginnings where they send flirty
little text messages to each other. From the very start, these two are
irrevocably connected to each other. As the story progresses, the biggest obstacle
to their blossoming love is revealed: Wyn is on the verge of getting engaged to a boy
she’s known since she was a kid, but who she’s never thought of as anything
more than a friend. Against her will, the date is set for the marriage and Wyn
is left with the heartbreaking task of telling Linc.
As the Big Day grows nearer and the wedding plans are ramped up, Wyn’s resistance to the
idea eventually drives a wedge between her and her mother, and Wyn knows that
if she walks away from her life with her family to be with Linc, she’ll never
be allowed back again. She’d lose contact with her brothers, her mother, her
father and the most important person in her life—her best friend. She’d never
get to meet her unborn niece and that’s what hurts her the most.
Even though
she knows it’s wrong, she finds herself unable to stay away from Linc. She
knows it’s wrong to lead him on. He knows she’s promised to another. But they
both want to spend what little time they have together.
I loved Linc
and Wyn, and together they made an even more adorable couple. The exhilarating flutters
of first love are so beautifully described in this book, and their first kiss
had me thinking about my own. Turner has done a great job of building Linc and
Wyn’s world, of building their love. I really
enjoyed reading Promised. It was a love story that had me hooked from the beginning.
I’d highly
recommend Michelle Turner’s Promised
if you like love stories where seemingly impossible obstacles are overcome,
that have you rooting for the couple, sharing their smiles and their tears,
yelling at the pages when they don’t and cheering them on when they finally
make the right decision.
Favourite scene: Wyn and Linc dancing to Adele’s Make You Feel My Love.
Favourite line: “You do realize I look like a stripper’s closet
threw up on me, right?” ~ Wyn
About Michelle:
Michelle is
a 28 year old native Ohioan. Go Buckeyes! Who now lives with her husband and
son in West Virginia. When she isn't spending time with her family you can find
her with her nose stuck in a good book. She released her first book (Reviving
Bloom) as an independent author in October 2012 and plans to release two new
books (Promised & Enlightening Bloom) in 2013.
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