Promise Me Forever

by Debbie Macomber

an alternate cover edition can be found here

Physical therapist Joy Neilsen doesn’t take no for an answer when it comes to her patients. She’s tough yet compassionate, doing whatever it takes to get them back on their feet . . . and she’s met her match in Sloan Whittaker. Bitter, angry, resentful, Sloan is ready to give up. But Joy doesn’t let anybody quit, especially not a man as talented as this brilliant tycoon—a man who, somewhere along the way, has won her heart.
 
After weeks trying to push Joy away, Sloan realizes he’s a fool. She’s determined to piece him back together, and now he knows why: Deep down, she’s as broken as he is. Joy is prepared to give him everything, and now Sloan wants to give her something in return. He can be the one to show Joy that she’s perfect inside and out—if she’s willing to let go of her own painful memories and make happy ones with him.
 

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Harlequin, Audiobook, Chick Lit

313 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 27, 1985

About the author

Debbie Macomber is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and one of today’s most popular writers with more than 200 million copies of her books in print worldwide. In her novels, Macomber brings to life compelling relationships that embrace family and enduring friendships, uplifting her readers with stories of connection and hope. Macomber’s novels have spent over 1,000 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Fifteen of these novels hit the number one spot.

In 2023, Macomber’s all-new hardcover publication includes Must Love Flowers (July). In addition to fiction, Macomber has also published three bestselling cookbooks, three adult coloring books, numerous inspirational and nonfiction works, and two acclaimed children’s books.

Celebrated as “the official storyteller of Christmas”, Macomber’s annual Christmas books are beloved and six have been crafted into original Hallmark Channel movies. Macomber is also the author of the bestselling Cedar Cove Series which the Hallmark Channel chose as the basis for its first dramatic scripted television series. Debuting in 2013, Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove was a ratings favorite for three seasons.

She serves on the Guideposts National Advisory Cabinet, is a YFC National Ambassador, and is World Vision’s international spokesperson for their Knit for Kids charity initiative. A devoted grandmother, Debbie and Wayne live in Port Orchard, Washington, the town which inspired the Cedar Cove series.

Reviews

[Monnalisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved only the seagull.

[HippieWitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this read

[Sarah Edwards · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book tells the story of a professional who starts a relationship, against her better judgement, with a patient. That patient is a very unpleasant and manipulative individual who uses physical violence and horrendous controlling & coercive behavioural techniques in order to get his own way- & she’s not much better playing mind games in response. Maybe this was seen as romantic many years ago, but these days it’s simply horrifying reading that made me feel sick. In modern relationships this sort of behaviour constitutes arrestable offences. There is little story line other than the patient acting like a total jerk & the therapist inexplicably falling in love with him anyway. Leave this book on the shelf & walk away quickly.

[Bree Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the first half of this book.


There have been a few times where I’ve started a book and really enjoyed it. I enjoyed where it was going, but didn’t love where it ended up. I think this was set up to be a pretty epic slow burn, hate-to-love situation, but then all of a sudden it felt very rushed.

There were a lot of Me Before You vibes with this – the wealthy, recently injured playboy and his “caretaker.” In this case, our heroine is his physical therapist, so there were some definite forbidden romance vibes here.

And at first, I was really into it. I liked the dynamic between the two characters, but it quickly began to fall flat as the romance went from slow burn to light speed. The hero came on a little too strong out of nowhere and from there the story just seemed rushed.

All in all, this book was the definition of a 3 star read … an almost, but not quite.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean, don’t get me wrong it was a really lovely story. It was just too short, I felt like I needed more. I finished it within hours and I feel like the book needed more of an ending. I definitely enjoyed reading it but I don’t think I will go back to it.

There isn’t much to say about this book because it was really short but it was genuinely a lovely read , if only it was longer.

It is an older book which appears to have inspired some more recent books (hints of Me Before You). I’m glad I have read it even if it wasn’t my favourite book.

[Mimi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't read many romance novels. I picked this one up just to see if my opinion still stands with these types of novels. Yep, I still think of them as inane. Life is not set up this way.

[Maryann Larucci-Troche · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Love Me Forever’ by Debbie Macomber will give you the feels of ‘Me Before You’ by Jojo Moyes. This sweet story surrounds the main characters, Joy, a physical therapist, and Sloan, the patient.

I love Joy’s demeanor as a therapist who wholly understands a patient’s pain, calls it like it is, and refuses to let a patient have a pity party. Tough love is her best course of action.

The part of the story that pulled at my heartstrings was Joy’s love and affection for L. J. and her pain of letting him go. You just felt how painful it was, even though it's the right one to make deep down. 🥺

This is a delightful and quick read.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was good to take my mind off the classics I have been reading for ages! It was surprisingly good but too short, It ended abruptly and I needed a few of my questions to be answered.

[z. imama · Rating 2 out of 5]

I.. don't know where to start. Maybe it's the generation gap. Or maybe I just don't find the character(S) as likable as other people. While I know Joy and Sloan need to get attracted to each other to get the plot going, I can't find the natural growth. Like, WHAT makes she start loving/liking him? Which part? In what moment? Joy the protagonist is suddenly fallen for Sloan and finding him irresistible and I'm here like... "???????" It feels forced. Also, I wanted to give Joy a huge slap for many times during reading because of the way she whines about "not belong in Sloan's life". It leans more towards annoying rather than sympathetic to me. And Sloan, her love interest, isn't any better. Getting rejected for a marriage proposal and then resorts to self-imprisonment, getting all violent and angry and insufferable to his house staffs, starving himself, and being alcoholic DESPITE enduring three weeks of hellish torture called walking therapy sessions and all for said proposal? Is he a freaking thirteen years old? Wow so much adult.

But I want to believe that Debbie Macomber gets her books called "classic" for a reason, so I will be around for a few more books from her.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tough physical therapist who takes on the hardest cases, Joy finds Sloan a difficult case indeed. Badly hurt in a car accident, he knows he will never be able to play tennis, ski, play baseball, or do anything he had done for fun for years. He refuses to move from his wheel chair. Joy slowly but surely weans him away from his self-pity and his wheelchair even as she sparks his fury with her methods. They duke it out very entertainingly, as they fall in love even though Joy recognizes that she will never fit into Sloan's posh lifestyle. I thoroughly enjoyed the retreat and advance of their skirmishing.

[Alejandro Gaviria Moreno · Rating 3 out of 5]

La historia es entretenida, pero le doy tres estrellas porque siento que la relación que tienen los protagonistas es demasiado tóxica (la mujer que nunca cree que es suficiente y el hombre súper posesivo, agresivo que termina siendo perfecto 🙄) y es algo que ya no me interesa tanto ni se me hace muy agradable de leer.
Los cambios de escena en la historia se sienten muy abruptos.
Sí tengo que admitir que ciertos comportamientos de Joy y las medidas que toma para evitar encariñarse coinciden bastante con la vida real y eso me gusta.
Probablemente me hubiera llamado más la atención si lo hubiera leído unos años atrás cuando ese tipo de amor literario estaba tan de moda.

[Garnet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, if you want an idea of what a physical therapist’s job may be like, try this story. DM must have done a lot of research before she wrote this.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVED this book. So heartwarming and beautifully written.

[Misty's Book Space · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This book definitely give Me Before You vibes but only in the sense that it's a caretaker/patient romance. Joy is the Therapist and Sloan is the patient. Sloan is of course angry and does everything he can to make everyone quit. I loved Joy and how she didn't baby him and how she gave just as good as he did. For example he threw is breakfast in her lap in the very beginning but she didn't yell at him or anything. She continued to be her joyful shelf but when she got up to go clean up she dumped coffee in his lap. Don't worry it wasn't hot. No that wasn't the most professional thing for her to do but he needed some tough love. Other than that I don't really have anything else to say about it. I liked it but it wasn't a new favorite. 

[Sm · Rating 2 out of 5]

well, had a pretty good start and middle, but then ended poorly, at least for me
Joy is a physical therapist dealing with a recalcitrant patient, handsome, rich Sloan although the idea of a ski equipment company earning anyone a ton of money these days …
Joy, of course, is a magical PT and manages to bring Sloan out of his feeling-sorry-for-himself rut and he starts to improve
she’s been in her own accident and made it through PT to tell the tale. she rescues a poor seagull and brings the bird back to health.
the story moved along fine, but then toward the end, it started to unravel for me
Sloan gets well, so they have a party for him and Joy realizes how different they are. plus, his mom reminds Joy of her place. so, she runs away, explaining that their relationship felt so intense because of what Sloan was going through with the recovery. Macomber had me convinced that this was a flash in the pan relationship and there probably wasn’t going to be much substance or anything long-lasting once Sloan went back to his old life … I think I might have gotten back to the romance if they spent some more time apart before they got back together. if Sloan had gone back to his life and Joy went back to hers, then maybe … instead, they spent a couple weeks apart, then she goes back to him … just feel like divorce would be just around the corner for them …

[Safari]

It was a nice story but I think if an author is going to modernize a classic it takes more than renaming a couple of musicians and the mention of a cell phone once. I think putting a date on the first chapter would be better. It's the mentality of the characters that don't fit. I haven't read the original so maybe the author did change more than three words but I don't feel the story was brought into the 21st century.

But for a romantic novel of the original 1985 publication it was a sweet story of overcoming some tough challenges that life can knock you down with. Long John Seagull was my favourite character. I love when an author incorporates other critters great or small into their literary works. This book had me in tears at one stage. I'll let you decide what type of tears when you read this reworked classic.

Had a little chuckle that Josh Groban would have been 4 years old and Michael Bublé would have been 10 years old when the original story was published. Wish I could have known who the original musicians were in the 1985 version.

[Jan Mcleod · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well-written story about a wealthy man named Sloan who had been in an accident and is now in a wheelchair. His past good life and attitude are totally changed. He's run off all his friends and people who have tried to help him because he does not want to see pity in their eyes.
Joy is his new therapist, a gutsy, stubborn woman determined to see Sloan walk again in spite of his anger and bitterness. What he does not know about Joy for a time is that she, too, had endured the disabling trauma and pain of an accident. That seems to be a turning point for Sloan.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cheesy love story.

[Beverly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Much too predictable and the character of Sloan was too much of a stereotype. Debbie Macomber has other books worth reading, but you can skip this one.

[MrKeyNotes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating 8.5/10

Pros: a clean creative, short and sweet novel. Has some funny features.

Cons: nothing I can think of.

Eligible to be on the screen as a movie/tv series?: yes

Sloan is the common jock like dude with the perfect life, until everything comes crashing down and he’s at the bottom of the barrel. The story holds a Common theme where two ppl from two totally different backgrounds meet and fall in love. Someone well off and reactive and someone not so well off and not so attractive. Sloan experiences a car wreck resulting in him being unable to walk, having to go through therapy to regain normality. His outlook on life, his attitude, everything is pessimistic and cynical and he feels his problems are the worst and others aren’t as substantial. The woman assigned to him, however, joy, also has past troubles of her own, helping him to realize that maybe his situation isn’t as dire as he makes it out to be. There’s immediate conflict between them, their jabs at each other may be serious but at the same time, through the readers eyes, they’re hilarious. As the conflict begins to die down, feelings begin to fester and no matter how both may try to downplay the spark and attraction, the feelings are turning out to be stronger than what both can handle. With her knowing she’s leaving him when he’s back fit and capable, she knows she can’t fall for him, but with every interaction, her heart yearns for him more and more. Can joy withstand the the time and keep her heart to herself or has he already gained a good portion of it?

[Cherith Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Do you love books about chauvinistic men who constantly gaslight women? Who verbally abuses their loved ones and throws things at the walls when they don't get their way? Or how about manipulating and ignoring you if you reject their advances? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this is the book for you! Of course, I expected some behavior like this in the beginning, since after a life-changing accident, Sloan is put in a wheelchair, and life as he knew it was gone. But there was absolutely NO character development. He continues to manipulate and mentally abuse Joy through the whole thing until he finally asks him to marry her, to which her answer is no (smart girl). But it couldn't stop with the happy ending, could it? Somehow this man is able to win her back. How? Oh, by locking himself in a dark room and drinking for days. When you can't charm 'em boys, let's just try to get them to feel sorry for you. You may be wondering, why did I finish this book if I hated it so much? Well, I wanted nothing more than to throw this book across the room on several occasions, but I found myself feeling obligated to finish it since someone lent it to me and they rather enjoyed this book. A bit of an awkward situation as I'm not sure what I'm going to say when they asked how I liked it...All in all, here's my takeaway from this book. If you are interested in the general storyline of this book, put it down and go read Me Before You by Jojo Moyes.

[Marsha Corley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is another one of those books I began to read and then become appalled by the content. To be fair, I've only read about 25% of this book, but if this story follows the plotline of most romantic novels, the leading lady saves the broken man, they fall in love, etc.
I hope that isn't the case in this book because if a woman who is treated so shabbily by a man who is cruel in his words and actions, regardless of his reasons for doing so, decides to fall in love with him, she is asking for nothing but trouble. I was absolutely dumbfounded when "Viciously, he lunged for her, his fingers gripping hold on her upper arm. She attempted to shrug free, but his grasp was surprisingly strong. "I hope it hurts," he said cruelly...what do you know of pain?" he said with a sneer...Joy tried to pry his fingers loose...Sloan tightened his grip...."Does it hurt, Good, it's supposed to". Disgusting. I can understand being sympathetic to someone who is injured, but not someone who is mean and cruel and hateful. To me that doesn't make her a strong woman, it makes her a dumb one.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite authors and she doesn't disappoint me with this great story. It was easy to take on the characters and delve into how I would be if I lost everything in an accident and was in a wheelchair. Joy is very good at drawing Sloan into what she knows he can do without Sloan pushing her away. She doesn't take any gruff from him. As their relationship develops, Joy is finding that she doesn't fit into his world of money and prestige. When Sloan shows up at her door using only a walker, you think she will say yes to his proposal. But Joy pushes him away. Sloan works his own miracle on Joy when he turns to drinking and going back to the wheelchair so that the cook and the physical therapist living at the house don't know who to turn to except Joy to come help. Finally it is a "happily ever after" ending when Joy returns home to Sloan and can't turn him down for his proposal to marry because she is miserable without him - she loves him.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read... mostly clean romance novel. I liked this book. It was just ok for me because the ending was off. I didn’t care for how she wrapped things up. I’ve really liked some of her other books. This one was just not quite there. I wonder if they released it because of the success of me before you. I don’t really know when this was re released but I thought there were some similarities in the angry attitudes of the men who were both in accidents leaving them crippled. A couple of the lines said by the characters seemed familiar. Although it has been some time since I have read Me Before You, so I could be wrong about that. Anyway, I would rate the book ok to good. Probably 3.5 stars. Not going to bring any tears to your eyes or get you laughing, but a nice easy beach read and I did find myself smiling at one point. :)

[Julie Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Promise me Forever by Debbie Macomber
This story starts out with Joy and she's a physical therapist on private duty. Sloan is in a wheelchair and has lost all purpose to even try to get better.
With the things she does to motivate him it works and she gets him in the pool and even to work with his father and the family business. He still doesn't want to meet with his old friends
because he's changed since they hung out together. Like the seagull and the part that is similar to Sloans and how it relates to each other.
Sad story when she knows it's time for her to leave...
other works by the author are highlighted at the end and an excerpt from another story is included.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been interesting reading how the relationship between Joy, the physiotherapist and her client Slone.

He is having to learn to come to terms with a new way of living his life. The days of being a high flying business man have gone. Now he spends his time in a wheelchair barking orders at the people who have been employed to care for his daily needs.

The story ends much as you expect it to, but the twists and turns keep you turning the pages to see if what you think will happen, happens.

I'll say no more otherwise I'll spoil your read.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beauty and the Beast meets Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms". After his accident, he shut everybody out. He is mean, bitter, and ungrateful. She is his physical therapist. Her no nonsense tough love treatment challenges him. After months of hard work, he begins walking. Her job is almost over. He says he loves her. She says he's confusing love for gratitude. He wants her to become part of his rich, high society life. She doesn't think she fits in his world. Is it love or gratitude? It's not possible for her to be accepted into his world, or is it?

[Alexandrea Charrier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never read a Debby Macomber book because they all sounded boring. This one I couldn't put down. I was hooked after a few paragraphs. Only downside of it is that I gor a little annoyed with how bipolar Joy was with her feelings. Sloan literally tells her he loves her and she just brushes it off and tells him what he really means. Or that he doesn't find her attractive. Seriously? It got annoying but I still finishes it because it's short and I wanted to see how far along Sloan got and if Joy would come to her senses and Sloan stopped being an ass. Lol

[Judi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Predictable but enjoyable

I enjoy light romance for summer reading and Debbie Macomber stories are ones that I can enjoy. This book pulled me in as I have worked in rehab for 40 years and understand the pull and gratitude that patients can have. Now retired, this brought back fond memories of lives I have touched and how there are very special therapists that can break through even the toughest patients.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about a man who had an accident and was in a wheel chair. It is also about the physical therapist who helps him to walk again. The interplay of how much pain is involved in this transition is paramount to the story. How does she convince him to try harder? How does she get him back to his previous life? Why does she leave his employment? It is a book of pain and love enjoy it.