Review: totally fulfilled 'the promise' of KA and what I have been waiting on from Frankie and benny!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 14, 2014
So there is a lot to say about this book and I hardly know where to start. So I will start with the fact that I have waited not so patiently (meaning I have posted on KA's facebook page multiple times throughout the last oh, maybe 2 years, that I NEEDED this story) for this installment of the 'burg series every since I began the series probably 2 years ago! We first meet Frankie and Benny in an earlier book named 'At Peace', which has been my favorite of the series up until now. Seeing as there were 2 more books after 'At Peace' before we got 'The Promise', you can see why I was impatient! Anyway, a little about the story, and then a little about Kristen Ashley, because shes not just a brilliant writer but a truly great person, and y'all need to know about that too!This story is about Frankie (Francesca) and Benny (Benito). It begins with Frankie recovering from a gunshot wound that she received in the book 'At Peace' while she was trying to protect Violet, the heroine of that book, who also happens to be the love interest of Cal (the alpha male of that book), Benny's cousins. There has been bad blood between Frankie and Benny's family because back in the day, Frankie dated Benny's brother Vinnie Jr, who got himself involved in the mob and then got himself shot to death. The family believed that Vinnie only did all this for the money so that he could provide Frankie with a certain type of lifestyle. So they blamed her for his death. After multiple attempts to explain the truth behind Vinnie's mob involvement, Frankie finally stops trying and gives up on wining back the only family she ever really had. She takes a new job and is planning on moving away when she hears Violet was kidnapped and, having always been fond of Cal and figuring the only way to finally relieve the guilt that plagues her from Vinnie dying,she makes a rescue attempt of Vi. When Benny finds out what shes up to, he realizes he's had his head up his own butt for the 7 years after his brothers death and he sets about righting that wrong. This book is about Benny proving to Frankie that his family is sorry for their abandonment of her, they still love her, and mostly, he has always loved her. That she was his, even when she wasn't. It's also about a woman from a broken home realizing, through the love of a good man and good friends and family, that she is really and truly worth that amount of love. And more than that, she deserves it and that the love she gives back is enough. This book has tied with 'At Peace' as my favorite book of this series because 1, Frankie and Benny's story held an allure for me from the second I met them in 'At Peace' and I love their story. And 2, because we get a whole lot of Cal and Vi's story throughout Frankie and Benny's story and if you are an avid reader like myself, you know how it feels to get attached to characters and live for the moments when you get a glimpse of them in any sequels. This story does a little back tracking, taking place right after the end of 'At Peace', even though in the books that came out before it pick up months or years after 'At Peace'. So getting the details of events in the characters lives that I adore through the story of all new characters that i adore, makes this book a tie for my favorite of The 'Burg series!And now my shout out of love for all things Kristen Ashley, or KA! She has a way of writing Alpha males that will absolutely leave you determined to find one in real life. And the good thing about this is, it's totally attainable. Because her Alphas are that realistic. But more than her writing, I think it is uniquely special and totally worth mentioning that no matter how much fame she gets, I have never once posted a message to her on her FB wall that has gone un-answered. And they aren't generic answers and she totally loves interacting with her fans. She is so real and has become such a 'person' to me, not some unknown author, that when I read her stories, I can totally picture her writing some scenes. She lets you in and with that, her books become even better, her characters become more real. Because through her interactions with her fans, you see that these characters truly are real to her. Her books have even helped me in my relationship with my husband, who has some serious KA specific Alpha male tendencies. And no joke, reading how she writes the heroines of her stories, how they chose to see their man's tendencies and get their men to understand them, it honest to God helped me better relate to things that used to bug me about my husband. Her writing and her books have honestly helped me better connect with my husband. I have gotten a least a half dozen of my friends and family hooked on her books, all of whom have stated their determination to read every single thing she has written (which i accomplished just this last December). That is how good she is! I have literally never recommend a single one of her books that the person i recommend it to didn't state their love for that book and then immediately state that they were buying more of her work. So, if you read a description of one of her books and you still feel unsure about giving her a try, just remember this, you are not simply purchasing a book, you are purchasing a connection. Because I promise, not only will you love her books, you will love the way she lets you in and makes you feel like you are part of her world and the worlds she creates!A final thought: Frankie has a friend who is mentioned multiple times in this book who is named Jamie. Now, I know that I am not the reason she chose this name. However, we interacted so many times on FB that i let myself pretend that I influenced her life enough (as she certainly has mine) that that name wouldn't get out of her head space. So another small reason I loved The Promise' is because my name is in it! Wishful thinking but it just solidified my KA obsession...