Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf: Blog Tour: One More Promise by Samantha Chase (Review & Excerpt!)

Title: One More Promise

Author: Samantha Chase

Release Date: February 6, 2018

Series: Band on the Run #2

Synopsis:

Dylan Anders is making amends
...to his family
...to the public
...for letting everyone down

Paige Walters has something to prove
...to her busy father
...to her bossy sister
...but mostly to herself

Ambitious Paige Walters is ecstatic when she's hired to recruit celebrities for a children's literacy campaign - it's her chance to prove she's got the chops to make it in the family business. She certainly isn't going to let some fallen idol screw it up. But as the work brings Paige and Dylan closer together, their attraction grows...and so do their challenges.

Review:

Samantha Chase's Holiday Spice was one of my favorite holiday books of 2017! Holiday Spice had heart, swoony romance, and a drool worthy setting, and because of that, I couldn't wait to read more by Samantha. So when the chance came up to read and review One More Promise, Samantha's latest book, I instantly said yes! Romance, rock stars, and a literacy campaign?! I simply couldn't wait!

The result? One More Promise offers up yet another swoony pairing as well as a heartwarming look at second chances and new beginnings. While I didn't love it nearly as much as Holiday Spice, reading it was still a wonderful way to spend a few hours.

One More Promise focuses on Dylan Anders and Paige Walters, two twenty-somethings unwillingly brought together for a literacy campaign.

Dylan is a former bad boy on the path to redemption. He's struggled with partying, alcohol, and drugs over the past few years; however, now that he's fresh out of rehab, he's determined to remain sober. From the first page, I was rooting for Dylan. It was easy to see how hard he was trying and why staying sober this time was so incredibly important to him. Going along with that, I thought Samantha did a great job of bringing Dylan's emotions and struggles to the surface. His recovery was never simple...sometimes he felt tempted and sometimes he faced the judgement and hate of people who thought he'd never change...but Dylan stayed resilient and I couldn't have been prouder of him. I also loved how determined he was to be part of the literacy campaign, especially since it brought him and Paige together.

Paige, on the other hand, is sick of being the good daughter, the good sister, and the good employee, because being good has gotten her nowhere lately. Her dad walks all over her, her sister walks all over her, and her entire company walks all over her. It doesn't help matters that her entire literacy campaign has been hijacked by her sister and father under the guise of "helping." I truly felt for Paige. It's hard sometimes to step up to people, especially those closest to you; however, given Paige's circumstances, I felt that it was only a matter of time until Paige lost it. I couldn't believe the moves Paige's sister and dad would pull. If I was in Paige's shoes, I would've lost it way sooner than her. What I liked the most about Paige, however, was how compassionate and hardworking she was. She knew what she wanted in life - to fight for causes and people that she valued - and this showed greatly through her actions and words.

The plot in One More Promise primarily focused on Dylan and Paige's enemies-to-friends romance as well as Paige and Dylan taking on their respective demons. I felt the romance in One More Promise was well developed. It took a while to get the "juice;" however, I enjoyed the slow build of it. It was fun to see Paige and Dylan start off as enemies in some respects, and then slowly become unwilling friends. I loved how they brought out the best in each other as well as encouraged the other to ask for more in life. As I mentioned before, I thought Samantha did a great job of handing Dylan's recovery. While I wish the struggle with Paige and her family was a bit more developed, it was still an important part of the plot. So much of Paige's life as tied up into her family so it was interesting to see her slowly break free.

Overall, One More Promise is a bittersweet yet romantic ride from start to finish, and for those of you who love epilogues, One More Promise's epilogue will have you oohing and awing.

3 stars!!

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Author Info:

Samantha Chase is a New York Times and USA Today bestseller of contemporary romance. She released her debut novel in 2011 and currently has more than forty titles under her belt! When she’s not working on a new story, she spends her time reading romances, playing way too many games of Scrabble or Solitaire on Facebook, wearing a tiara while playing with her sassy pug Maylene…oh, and spending time with her husband of 25 years and their two sons in North Carolina.

Excerpt:

“Dylan…wait.”

Looking over his shoulder at her, he waited.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

He smiled. For some reason, she was starting to enjoy seeing him smile. As much as she hated to admit it, Dylan Anders was becoming a friend with whom she enjoyed spending time. Paige no longer looked at their time together as a chore, but rather a perk. Their conversations were always fun and he was quite pleasant to look at.

Not that she went for the scruffy, rock-star type.

At least, she never had until now.

But Paige was far too intelligent to think that someone like Dylan would give her a second look. He was being nice to her because he had to. Or felt like he had to. They had formed a friendship and that was that. During her Google searches, she’d found a plethora of pictures of Dylan with various models and other beautiful and glamorous women. Tall, thin, sexy women. If there was one thing Paige knew about herself, it was how she certainly didn’t fit into that category.

So what if he remembered her favorite sandwich and made sure she had something to eat? He was being nice. Still…no one else around her seemed to care if she hadn’t eaten. And so what if he was concerned about her stressing herself out and tried to find a helpful solution? He was probably bored and looking for something to do to pass the time and figured, as his official assistant/babysitter, she’d be open to entertaining him.

Only…it felt like more. Like he was a genuinely nice guy who put the needs of others before his own. Or was she seeing something that she only wanted to see? True, it had been far too long since she’d been in a relationship or even went out on a date. Maybe she was a little…needy, in the male-companion territory.

And it didn’t help that he was so attractive.

“Dammit,” she muttered.

“You okay?” Dylan asked.

Crap! She hadn’t meant to say anything out loud. “It’s nothing,” she said quickly. “I just hate that everyone isn’t here yet. I should probably make some calls and see what’s going on.”

“You mean call your sister and let her know that she needs to call the talent?” he asked sweetly.

And if she hadn’t found his smile so darn attractive, she’d want to slap it right off his face.

“No,” she said with a hint of irritation. “We’re on the clock and people need to get here now. I’m not starting a phone tree. Excuse me.”

As she pulled out her phone to start making calls, Dylan gave a small shrug and walked over to where a couple of other musicians who were now part of the campaign were sitting.

Great. He had to have a sexy a$$ that looked amazing in a pair of faded jeans.

A-ma-zing.

Fairly grab-able.

“Ugh…I really need to stop thinking like this,” she said with a weary sigh and startled when a voice answered on the other end of the phone.