Review: Crazy-Beautiful. More Kristen Ashley Magic!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 10, 2014
Magic. Like always. Pure KA magic. The essence of The Promise wraps itself around family. All Kristen Ashley books remind readers of this importance, this one especially gives us a bird’s eye view into a fractured family – a fracture they forgot they felt until the sacrifice of an outsider, who was once an insider, reminds them of the pure joy of having a family you respect, trust, and admire. A promise of family who fiercely make mistakes, love, forgive, and accept each other.The story picks up where At Peace left off, and the absence of that kind of beautiful, Kristen Ashley created family feeds this story injected with humor, drama, action, and passion – the usual KA winning elements.The Promise wasn’t at all what I expected but finishing the book and being in love with these two characters – I can’t even remember what I expected in the first place. Frankie and Benny’s story revolves around the redemption of each other through each other. It’s a fight of trust, a battle of wills between two “crazy-beautiful” people who grow together, uncover truths together, face life together, and share a fiery passion all romance readers will enjoy. It’s the promise of each other. It’s simply amazing.Frankie’s quite the heroine. She’s dramatic, quick tempered, and more insecure than I thought. Her upbringing lends itself to instability. But her drama, the challenge she presents, her high maintenance flair – those traits became what I adored in her personality, even though a few times I wanted to shake her, Frankie makes a lasting impact making it easy to become enamored. Benny feeds off of her feistiness, her instigating his feisty side, and it’s enthralling to read. Her strength, her instinct to fight for what she believes her innate nature to care for her loved ones all mold her into a great KA woman.The hero of the story, Benny Bianchi – TO DIE FOR. Seriously. Benny Bianchi is hot. Benny Bianchi is sweet. Benny Bianchi rivals Frankie in feistiness. He’s honest even when the truth hurts endearing him to us even more. He’s funny, challenging, and a total instigator. Picking at Frankie proved to be one of his favorite things to do in turn making it one my favorite things to read. He reminds her of who she is and the love she’s capable of while still maintaining the spark that ignites her flair. Benny’s not only amazing with her, but also with his family, his community, his friends, his life. He’s a typical KA alpha that knows he sees what he wants he fights for it; his alpha personality out in full force attaining it. That it happens to be her, Frankie, his Frankie. The chase is freaking awesome.And honest to goodness, if Benny Bianchi could muscle me up against a wall whilst telling me to “pull up my skirt” just because the mere sight of me makes him feral – I mean come on – panties TOTALLY melted.The secondary cast of characters, many whom we’ve met before, returns giving us the support of KA family we adore in each of her stories. We catch up with the Bianchi’s, the Callahan’s, the girls and boys of The ‘Burg, and Salvatore Giglia – who will make your heart absolutely melt. There are so many relationships formed, healed, and nurtured in this book you feel for the entire cast.If you love Kristen Ashley you’ll love this book, no question. It’s pure contemporary romance greatness. There’s also an EPIC KA epilogue – my new favorite – it’s like Kristen Ashley reaches into the minds of her readers and knows exactly what we need. I always say it and I’m saying it again here: Kristen Ashley takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary.The Promise promises us Frankie and Benny’s love for each other, for their families. To me, it’s also a promise from Kristen Ashley – a promise to keep making magic with words and casting her spells on us very willing readers.And just in case nothing else caught your eye, two words: Joe Callahan. Ok maybe three words: Joe Freaking Callahan. His appearances in this book will melt you (heart and panties). She packed so much Joe and Vi goodness, no Joe and Vi perfection, into The Promise you will fall in love with them all over again with the added bonus of falling in love with Frankie and Benny too.Read this story, this entire series, and let Kristen Ashley work her magic. I promise it’s worth every word.