The Promise by Dan Walsh and Gary Smalley ~ review

For the last five months, Tom Anderson has been without a job, a fact he's been hiding from his wife Jean--and everyone else. He leaves each morning, pretending nothing has changed, and spends his disheartening day rotating through two coffee shops and the library, using their wi-fi to search for a job on the internet. The stress of keeping this secret is beginning to put serious strain on his marriage and it looks like the legacy that began with his father is still at work, slowly destroying the bond between Tom and Jean. Can their mutual trust--and love--be restored? 
Combining the literary talents of Dan Walsh and the relationship expertise of Gary Smalley, The Restoration Series pulls back the curtain of a family that has laid their foundation on shifting sand, but is slowly rediscovering genuine love and the power of forgiveness.

My take on this book:

"The Promise" takes place several months after the first book in the series ends, and focuses on the oldest son Tom, although we do get to reconnect with Jim and Marilyn (Tom's parents) who were the focus of the first story, who are on their second honeymoon in Italy. With this story we see that Tom acts alot like his father Jim did, which totally makes sense because we often learn our behaviours from our parents.It was interesting to see how far Tom would go in order to keep his secret, and I was totally curious to see if his marriage to Jean could survive.

I think this is one of those stories that is great for men and women alike. It really shines the spotlight not only on relationships between spouses but also allows the reader to see how children are often a product of what they see in their parents. Secrets are hard to keep and often hurt the ones that we try to protect the most. We see the dysfunctional marriage between Tom and his wife Jean and how keeping a secret helped to erode the foundation of their marriage. I was a bit surprised at how Jean finally found out the truth about their situation.  It took her learning though for them to really take a good hard look at the condition of their marriage and then to begin to try and mend the relationship. 

*Available August 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.*