review 1: “He thought about how sometimes people's greatest sacrifices were the ones they didn't want the world to acknowledge or even to know about. Maybe that's what made them great.” ― Amy Lane, Making PromisesIt’s time to return to Levee Oaks in all its dusty, small-minded, small town glory. This time, Author Amy Lane weaves the story of Shane and Mikhail into the special cast and crew of Promise Rock. We meet Shane in L.A. where he and his first foray into male sex are in the locker room of the cop shop. Yes, you can almost hear the theme music from “Beverly Hills Cop” playing the background until the captain walks in, and Shane is naked, aroused and his sexuality is compromised without doubt. Of course, keeping with the true spirit of the L.A choirboys and all the ... morehomophobic brothers-in-blue, Shane is set up in responding to a dangerous domestic disturbance call that nearly ends his life, his career and his love of the job. Upon his release from the hospital weeks later, he finds himself in possession of enough cash to take himself elsewhere, and he does. Our fearless and beloved crew of Promise Rock present themselves in all their perfect and imperfect glory as the family finds themselves weaving more members into the family that Heart built. Shane’s sister Kimmy dances for a local Renaissance Fair and Shane is determined to rebuild a familial relationship with her. In the process, he discovers Mikhail and from this point on, the book takes on a life of its own. This relationship is destined to be, but not without some of the funniest pointed prose ever uttered as Mikhail establishes himself as a diva…with the spiny heart of a sea urchin. Not all is witty riposte as we soon discover that Mikhail’s mother is dying of cancer and Mikhail is saving every penny he possibly can scrimp to take her on a cruise before the disease takes her life. Woven in and around this thread of angst is a previous life of drug addiction, and the heroic and painful choices that mothers make in order for their children to survive the most difficult challenges of any given lifetime. Like hand-made lace on a beloved pillowcase, we also see the characters of Promise Rock as they face the worry of keeping a roof over their heads and daily expenses paid. Every individual who touched our hearts in Keeping Promise Rock returns to live, laugh and love despite the bigotry and hatred of the small-minded town of Levee Oaks. With every page turned, you come to believe that if any group of people can make a shared dream come true, it’s this happy tribe. review 2: Unlike the previous book I couldn't get into the story and the characters as much. I like Shane lot and it was nice to get to see more of him but I didn't really care for Mikhail. His story, tragic as it was, didn't grab me and I could never connect with the character. This book also moved a lot slower. I know the "promises" theme is very big in this series but here it seems to be overdone. We didn't get to see as much of the characters of the first book as I wanted to and though I know many people will disagree there were way too many sex scenes. I know sex and the slow built up is a part of the story but they were too long for my taste and frankly, boring. Also, some of the descriptions in the scene are turning repetitive. *shrugs* I'm mostly meh about this book. less
