Review: First engrossing read for summer 2012!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 1, 2012
Hold onto your hats -- I'm about to gush.I loved every minute of Promise Me; I could not put it down.  Tara Fox Hall has such a gift for phrasing, dialogue, and character development -- every story I read from her imagination is a real treat.  Promise Me is no exception.Hall delivers a heady, involving mix of sizzle, action, romance, and pragmatism.  Her writing is like a good bottle of wine, in which every sip changes ever so slightly after the cork is popped, opening and pleasing your palate with a subtle variation in body, flavour, and kick.  And like a good bottle of wine, all I want is more.Her characters are real, complex, human (even the supernatural ones), and I rooted for Sarelle (that woman has incredible lady-balls!) while Danial, Terian, and Theo were giving her a hard time.  Sarelle reminds me a little of Snow White, actually:  she ingratiates herself to Danial's men by baking them pies, insists on doing chores instead of being taken care of, and is welcomed into a home of mostly men.  My only wish is that Sarelle might have tried to look for bolt cutters in her well-equipped barn to try prying the collar -- excuse me, choker -- well, I'd better not say more to avoid spoilers!The action scenes in Promise Me are clear and dynamic, and the love-making is simply beautiful, carrying me away with the language and imagery -- hot, but not unnecessarily graphic.  It's what a romance novel should be.  Such detail is provided in the settings and sensory descriptions that it's easy to tell what Hall loves in her own environment, both in home and outdoors.I would love to see, one day, a catalogue of some sort outlining the creatures in the world of Promise Me, Lash, "Partners", and "Night Music".  Hall has defined the boundaries of each were's, vampire's, and faery's existence with logic and realism.  She could be the next Spiderwick!  I would also love to read a back story about Theo and Neoline.  Hall is very good at fleshing out tragic love stories, showing how the hero moves on, damaged but alive, finding new purpose.  It called me to pause and wonder how this story would work out...And if a movie could ever be made ofPromise Me, it would be amazing to sign Matthew McConaughey as Devlin...