A Promise To Keep by Elaine Robinson

A Promise To Keep

author: Elaine Robinson

Publisher: Whiskey Creek Press.

Genre: Romance/ Historical Western

Synopsis from publisher:
Thirty-six-year-old Maggie answers a newspaper advertisement for a wife and mother for two children. At last she will have a home, a husband, and children to care for. Instead, her home is a covered wagon because her new husband is relocating his family from El Paso, Texas to the Arizona Territory where he hopes to claim land for homesteading. Half way there Maggie finds herself in the New Mexico desert with a missing husband, an empty water barrel, and two resentful step-children. She prays for help and Charlie Yates limps, on foot, into her campsite. Maggie and Charlie strike a bargain. Maggie will share her wagon and supplies and Charlie will lead them out of the desert and help search for her husband (who left to find water). The bargain binds them closer to each other than their marriage vows which they believe are A Promise to Keep.

My take on this book:

Imagine your a young woman of 36 who longs for a family so badly that you decide to answer an ad where a man is looking for a wife and mother for his two children. In 1889 that's just how Maggie Ferguson wound up with a husband and two children. Shortly after marrying R.T. he decides that he is going to uproot the family from their Texas home and make a move to the Arizona territory. After three weeks on the trail, water is running out, so R.T. decides that he will leave the wagon and scout for water. As the story opens the children, Jerome, who is almost fourteen and RayAnn who is six is burying their beloved dog Whiskey. Maggie is starting to worry because R.T. was supposed to have made it back to camp already, she knows she is going to have to do something. When a man comes limping into her camp, she thinks it might be an answer to her prayers. Charlie Yates and Maggie strike a deal, he will lead them out of the desert, and she will share her supplies. When they run into a band of outlaws who know Charlie, she learns of Charlies past. As they travel through the desert Maggie wonders about her husband, but also feels pulled toward Charlie. Will Maggie ever learn what happened to R.T., and how will she deal with the feelings she has for Charlie? Read this fantastic book and find out!
The author weaves a tale that pulls the reader in immediately.I could easily imagine the worry for water, and the fear and worry Maggie felt being stranded in the middle of the desert, while being responsible for her two stepchildren.She also had to reassure the children about their father, while she continued to wonder what had happened to him.
 Maggie marries not for love but so that she can have a family, but then when someone comes along that she can love she feels guilt, while her husband is missing, she is still married after all. I could easily understand why Jerome acted out like he did, he felt as if someone else was taking his fathers place. The story flows quite smoothly and just when I thought the author was wrapping it up she throws in an unexpected twist that made for a great ending.
With vivid descriptions and characters that are easy to relate to, the author also weaves in an inspirational message that makes this historical romance a book that you won't want to put down.

Reviewed for ReadersFavorite.com