Review: Promise Me by Richard Paul Evans

5 stars for Promise Me by Richard Paul Evans.

December is often a good month to read festive novels to get in the Christmas mood. This year, I decide to kickstart the holiday spirit with a book by one of my favourite authors.

Frankly speaking, I did not like this story at first but if history teaches us anything, it is that anything is possible and the unlikely is likely. And that is exactly what happens for all of a sudden, I find myself liking the story more and more and even loving the absurd idea of it all.

With the exception to the broken promise that makes me detest this story initially, there are just so many things to adore on reading author Evans' books.

The most significant of all is that it improves my knowledge and widens my perspective. The last was about Tics (Tourette's syndrome) when I read The Gift and this time, it is about Celiac Sprue, also known as Celiac disease, and people who suffer from this hard to disgnose disease are actually allergic to gluten.

Taken verbatim from the book,

“When someone with celiac eats something containing gluten, the gluten causes a reaction that damages the intestine and makes the body unable to absorb nutrients, which, of course, can lead to a whole host of nasty problems—weight loss, anemia, malnutrition, seizures, even cancer.”

Symptoms of celiac sprue include gastrointestinal problems such as diarrhea, abdominal pain and bloating. Other related symptoms include irritability, anemia, upset stomach, joint pain, skin rash, etc. Celiac can cause malabsorption, with such symptoms as weight loss, stunted growth, cramps, fatigue, and weakness.”

There are moments of our lives that come and go and barely leave an imprint, but, for me, reading Promise Me isn't one of them. This is definitely not your run-of-the-mill Christmas story. It is a beautiful life-changing story of loss, of trust, of hope, of love, and of Christmas miracles.


Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition
Publication date: 5 Oct 2010

*** Favourite quote 1 ***

Locked away in jewelry boxes, hidden in my closet, are two necklaces. They are gifts from two different men. Both of these necklaces are beautiful, both of them are valuable and I wear neither of them, but for entirely different reasons—one because of a promise broken, the other because of a promise kept.

As you read my story, there is something I want you to understand. That in spite of all the pain—past, present and that still to come—I wouldn’t have done anything differently. Nor would I trade the time I had with him for anything—except for what, in the end, I traded it for.

*** Favourite quote 2 ***

If history teaches us anything, it's that anything is possible and the unlikely is likely.

*** Favourite quote 3 ***

I suppose that the simplest of things, when facing extinction, become of utmost worth.

*** Favourite quote 4 ***

The best they have is an educated guess. I’m not guessing, I’ve read the last page. I know how the story ends. Promise me you will do exactly what I say.

~ Promise Me
Richard Paul Evans

@}--->>--->>-----

Beth Cardall has a secret. For eighteen years, she has had no choice but to keep it to herself, but on Christmas Eve 2008, all that is about to change.

For Beth, 1989 was a year marked by tragedy. Her life was falling apart: her six-year-old daughter, Charlotte, was suffering from an unidentifiable illness; her marriage transformed from a seemingly happy and loving relationship to one full of betrayal and pain; her job at the dry cleaners was increasingly at risk; and she had lost any ability to trust, to hope, or to believe in herself. Then, on Christmas Day, as she rushed through a blizzard to the nearest 7-Eleven, Beth encountered Matthew, a strikingly handsome, mysterious stranger, who would single-handedly change the course of her life.

Who is this man, and how does he seem to know so much about her? He pursues her relentlessly, and only after she’s fallen deeply in love with him does she learn his incredible secret, changing the world as she knows it, as well as her own destiny.

*Blurb from author's website*

Add to:


Links to purchase: