The Promise Remains

In this honest and sweet Christian romance, kindergarten teacher Sara is dating the man of her dreams--at least, her mother's dreams. Mr. Right is kind and successful, and when he proposes marriage, Sara accepts, although she secretly knows that she does not love him. She finds herself longing instead for her first love, the free-spirited writer Ethan, whose proposal she once refused because he did not share her religious convictions. In an uncharacteristically brash act, she breaks off her engagement to Mr. Right and does some intense soul-searching. Meanwhile, Ethan, who has been drifting for years, unable to write, is also at a turning point. When an uncle offers him a job in Germany, he must decide whether to pursue Sara, the love he has never forgotten, or abandon that dream forever and move on. If the drama sounds hokey, it's because Thrasher employs nearly every plot device known to Christian romantic fiction (the most obvious being the conversion to Christ of a wayward man through a woman's faithful love). But the book is driven by authentic, engaging characters, not its predictable action. Sara and Ethan are two of the most real and sensitive lovers to grace the genre, and readers will find themselves moved by the couple's pain and ultimate joy, learning much about themselves and their own ""dreams deferred"" through Sara and Ethan's story. (July)