Review: The Promise of Us

The Promise of Us by Jamie Beck
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I have come to the conclusion that I just don't like Jamie Beck's style of writing and characters and I should just do us both a favour and stop requesting ARCs.

Claire McKenna had a promising future as a tennis player until a random shooting left her with a pronounced limp. She and her family have retreated inwards, afraid to leave their home town of Sanctuary Sound. Claire has her book club and her family and her struggling renovating/decorating business with her best friend Steffi.

Then Claire's childhood crush Logan Prescott returns to town with his sister Peyton in tow. Peyton ran off with Claire's boyfriend/fiance but he dumped her when she got cancer. Now the two of them are back in town demanding that Claire forgives and forgets. Logan tries to manipulate Claire into speaking to Peyton by playing on her childhood crush (which he knew all about) and bribing her to decorate his New York apartment. Logan is everything Claire is not, he's a free agent who travels the world taking award winning photographs of tragedy and injustice. Unlike Claire, although his family is the wealthiest in Sanctuary Sound they are not close and he has been estranged from his father for many years.

I reread some of my reviews of Jamie Beck's other books to understand what I did (or didn't like) about them and unfortunately the same complaints arise in this book. There's just so much angst: shootings; cancer; family divisions; fear of travelling; old rivalries. As a reader I was just drowning in angst. Also, in most of my review I found the 'hero' to be completely unlikable and I felt the same way with Logan. He bullied and manipulated Claire into everything, he shamelessly leveraged her childhood crush and forced her to do things she was not comfortable with. I honestly wonder if a psychologist read this book what their views would be of the impact of his behaviour on Claire's mental health.

Through Logan's brute force interventions (accompanied by Claire's crying and panic attacks no less) Claire starts to break down some of the barriers which she and her parents have imposed on her life, to make small changes. Heck she even agrees to speak civilly to Peyton and makes other concessions. But listen to what Logan's own sister says about him:

Just promise me you aren’t expecting Logan to make the kinds of personal changes for you that you’ve attempted for him this past month. As much as he must like you, he’s a charming wanderer who likes his life as it is.

Yes, that's right, Logan isn't willing to make a single change to his behaviour, his attitude or his outlook on life.

Logan is just a spoilt, petulant manchild

“he destroyed her self-esteem, and now, because I won’t make false promises, she’s got her guard up.” He was pouting. Pouting never looked good on anyone, but he couldn’t help it. Disappointment had him in a tight grip. “I get that she got hurt, but people date and break up all the time. Ryan and Steffi are the exception, not the rule. Just because a relationship doesn’t lead to a diamond ring doesn’t make it a mistake. But even if she were willing to roll the dice, my loyalty to you is also a problem. Apparently, she can do the forgive part, but not the forget.”

Claire foresees that Logan's loyalty to his sister could be a stumbling block to their fledgling relationship when she still feels incredibly betrayed that one of her best friends would steal her boyfriend? How unreasonable!

But don't let me vent all my ire on Logan. Claire is a thirty-something year old woman who allows her parents to call her EVERY day and curb her freedom by urging her not to travel, even to the neighbouring town, not to drive at night, not to go into unusual neighbourhoods, not to go on a yacht cruise on the river. She has all this pent up resentment and anger at Peyton but she lets it slide because she has a crush on Logan. She talks a big talk but when it actually comes down to it Claire falls for Logan's pretty cheesy lines and just does whatever he tells her to.

Finally, 320 pages and really nothing happened, just endless talking and friends interfering and telling everyone else what to do (or not to do). It always amazes me that all these characters have so much insight into everyone else's lives but absolutely none into their own.

So there you have it, yet another gibbering rant, if you loved Jamie Beck's other books then I am sure you will enjoy this latest novel. Unfortunately I don't appear to have learned that her style fo writing isn't for me.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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