Promise Me This

Michael Dunnagan was never supposed to sail on the Titanic, nor would he have survived if not for the courage of Owen Allen. Determined to carry out his promise to care for Owen’s relatives in America and his younger sister, Annie, in England, Michael works hard to strengthen the family’s New Jersey garden and landscaping business.

Annie Allen doesn’t care what Michael promised Owen. She only knows that her brother is gone—like their mother and father—and the grief is enough to swallow her whole. As Annie struggles to navigate life without Owen, Michael reaches out to her through letters. In time, as Annie begins to lay aside her anger that Michael lived when Owen did not, a tentative friendship takes root and blossoms into something neither expected. Just as Michael saves enough money to bring Annie to America, WWI erupts in Europe. When Annie’s letters mysteriously stop, Michael risks everything to fulfill his promise—and find the woman he’s grown to love—before she’s lost forever.

We meet Owen, Michael and Annie before the Titanic sets sail for it's historic voyage.  The way Michael gets on the ship had me wondering just how many stowaways there really were. I loved Owen and Michael right off, but had a hard time liking Annie, but understood her personality. Just when we think they are getting on with their lives after the tragedy, the War begins.  It is almost unbelievable what Annie's Aunt Eleanor did, and what a roller coaster ride we are put on before the characters are reunited. An enjoyable read.

Cathy Gohlke is the two-time Christy Award–winning author of William Henry is a Fine Name and I Have Seen Him in the Watchfires, which also won the American Christian Fiction Writers' Book of the Year Award and was listed by Library Journal as one of the Best Books of 2008.

Cathy has worked as a school librarian, drama director, and director of children's and education ministries. When not traipsing the hills and dales of historic sites, she, her husband, and their dog, Reilly, make their home on the banks of the Laurel Run in Elkton, Maryland.

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3 Bears

This complimentary review copy was received thankfully from Tyndale House Publishers and in no way influenced my review of this book. These are my personal thoughts and reactions to the reading of the book.