A Promise Kept

Promise #1

by Stormy Glenn

Mason is in love with his brother’s best friend, Jack. It’s been ten years of secret fantasies, hidden glances, and forbidden yearnings. Just when Mason decides to give up on Jack and move away, his friends step in to get them together.

Even with the most determined matchmakers, new love is not always easy. Especially when a serial killer has his sights set on Mason being his next victim, and will destroy anyone who gets in his way. Can Jack keep Mason safe, or will their new love be over before it gets going?

Genres: M M Romance, Contemporary, Romance, Friends To Lovers, Erotica, Mystery, Gay

177 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2009

About the author

About Me
I believes the only thing sexier than a man in cowboy boots is two, or three men in cowboy boots. I also believes in love at first sight, soul mates, true love, and happy endings.

I live in the great Northwest region of the USA, with my gorgeous husband and soul mate, two boxer/collie puppies, one old biddy cats, and three fish. When I'm not being a mother to my six teenagers or cleaning up after my two 70 pound lap puppies, you can usually find me cuddled in bed with a book in my hand and a puppy in my lap. Or on my laptop, creating the next sexy man for one of my stories.

I welcomes comments from readers, so drop me a line. stormyglenn@hotmail.com

What do I do ?
I'm a writer of erotic, paranormal, werewolf, futuristic, contemporary, gay, and Ménage a Trois romances. I'm currently published with Siren Publishing, Torquere Press, and Noble Ellora's Cave.

Reviews

[Daisiemae · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mason Philips has been in love with his brother's best friend, Jack Spencer for years. To get Jack's attention, Mason has always been the comic relief of the family. From throwing himself into a pool fully clothed to being the family clown, he has gone out of his way to make Jake smile or laugh or generally get noticed by him. Unfortunately, this behavior has backfired. Jack and Mason's brother often think he is irresponsible and does not take things seriously.
Unable to watch Jack parade his current arm candy around, Mason decides to move off and lick his wounds. He must try to make a life for himself, a life without Jack in it.

When Jack finds out that Mason is moving away he is devastated. For years, Jack has kept the lid on his feelings for Mason because of a promise he made to Mason's brother. Now, it looks like Jack will lose Mason before he even had him. After a drunken misunderstanding, some well intentioned friends set out to bring Jack and Mason together.

I had some problems with this book. For one thing, it bothered me how Jack and Mason's brother BOTH saw him as a irresponsible and a slacker for so YEARS. How can he be such a slacker if he is smart enough to get a Ph.D in Psychology and worked three jobs? Also, the promise Jack made to Mason's brother was lame in my opinion. Mason's brother definitely came off as a control freak because of it. Mason was nineteen when Jack started noticing him...he wasn't a child to be protected. Jack should have told Mason's brother to bug off a long time ago instead of allowing Mason's brother to control the situtation.

Second problem: Mason thinks Jack is straight all of the years he knew him. Yet, EVERYONE in Mason's family knew Jack was gay. HELLO!?!? How could he not know?

AND Last but not least, Mason is being stalked by a crazy admirer. When his apartment is ransacked, he is understandably upset. He and Jack had a communication problem and had been argueing. Jack had informed Mason days earlier how they were only going to be with one another, Mason would never kiss another...so on and so on...suddenly OUT OF NOWHERE Jack decides to fulfill a fantasy for Mason and has a Menage with Mason and Mason's best friend. WTF??? (Sorry, But that drove me crazy!) Just for one time though. UGH! Then everything returns to normal. By the way even the man they had the menage with wasn't too sure they needed to do it! He felt bad about it afterward. I just don't get it.

What sucks is I liked Mason. But, after the menage I never recovered from it. If I had known about the menage beforehand, I wouldn't have read it.

[Gigi]

OMG, my M/M romance slump continues! This one was actually going so well and then one of the MCs went all caveman and on the other MC and threw him on the bed and fucked the virginity out of him after a 10 year dry spell. That was at 50% and I could NOT go on.

Not for me.

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Promise Kept is one of the most disappointing books that I've read in quite awhile. The characters are unreliable, unlikable, and uninteresting. Mason is a self-centered prima-donna who lacks any ability to take care of himself, regardless of the number of times he proclaims that he can. His actions don't reflect his words. Jack is a non-communicative alpha male who does his best to keep up with Mason, but he can't even get out of his own way.

Then there's the infamous three-way between Jack, Mason and Coop that does nothing to advance the plot or the story. In fact, just a few pages prior Jack decreed that only he could kiss Mason's lips. This whole three-way is like a pimple on your nose, it's embarrassing, awkward, and you just want it to go away.

I'm sure there are nice things to be said about this book because judging by all of the reviews here on GoodReads there are people who really liked this book. It's for that reason that I feel that maybe I missed something in the book so I'll give A Promise Kept two stars

[Candice · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to punch every single one of these characters. OMG.

[Makhda]

DNF.
This is soap operaish dramaclusterf*ck. I do read sappy. But this one takes sappy into whole new level.
IDK. Maybe it's just not for me. :(

[~♥I_Luv_2_Read♥~ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate to admit this, but I couldn't finish this book. I kept waiting to see if it would get better, but it was just getting worse! Stormy Glenn makes the men in this story sound like whiny women. The story line might have been good, but I really didn't care for the 2 main characters. The sentence structure was really bad. People don't talk like that in real life. I won't spoil anything here. Lets just say some of the things taking place in the book I didn't care for.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this was about the most convoluted story I have ever read! My head is truly spinning from trying to keep track of who was hurting who's feelings... who was being an asshole to whom... who was being kidnapped and who was rescuing the kidnapped person.. and then all of a sudden there were 4 more friends added to the already confusing 4 or 6 friends that were already involved in the story and this is not including either 2 or maybe 4 obviously idiotic, homophobe police detectives... not to be mistaken for the 2 police detectives that were in the first batch of friends!(one of which is straight!) *headdesk*

Now, one more thing... I really wanted to like Mason, I thought for sure that he was going to be the strong, self-supporting young college student that he explained that he was to Randy and Jack... but, we never got to see that young man. We only got to see Jack's baby... grrr... and don't even get me started on Jack! UGH!!! :(

This has got to be one of the strangest stories that I have read that didn't include shifters or alternate universes... and trust me, I have read some weird stories over the years! I am not saying that this was a bad story... I actually was able to follow the storyline and the plot had its moments, but overall is was basically just mass confusion with Mason and Jack going at it like bunnies once they got together... and trust me when I say I have NEVER read a book that had this much "make-up" sex before! *shakes head* ;p

[Stella ╰☆╮╰☆╮ · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of this book was interesting, but I found it really disappointed. it was simple, frustrating and unrealistic. And then having sex in the most inappropriate times was disconcerting: they're trying to catch a stalker and meanwhile having a threesome, Cooper is disappeared and Jack and Mason have sex, Cooper is abducted and they're having sex. Everything about this book left me puzzled till the end.

[Elisa Rolle]

Mason has always been in love with family friend Jack; the first time he met him, Mason was only 16 years old, but he was already well aware that he liked boy and slightly older Jack was every teenager dream date. Only that Jack apparently never reciprocated the feeling and ten years later Mason has finally decided to give on. He is ready to move on, deciding to leave the state for a far away University where complete his Psychology studies. And as expected, as soon as Jack realizes that he is for loosing Mason, now he doesn’t want to loose him.

Mason is a strange mix, he is not so young to be a real twink, 26 years old is too old to “enlist”, but from an emotional side, he has not that age. It’s like Mason took a slow pace when he fell in love with Jack, and all of sudden he awakens to love when he is “picked” up by Jack. From nice but innocent little baby brother and beloved of the family, Mason becomes a perfect top from the bottom, able to twist Jack around his little finger and making him doing everything he wants.

But not only Mason has Jack in his power, it seems that every big and sturdy man around Mason is unable to resist him, from Cooper, police detective and soon Mason’s best friend, to Jordan, Cooper work partner, to a whole series of other men. Maybe it’s Mason’s charm, maybe it’s simply that Mason seems to be the only “little guy” around there, and his innocent and fragile exterior awakens protective feelings in the bigger men.

At one point Mason tries to explain to all those big men that he is more than able to take care of himself, and I would say, he is 26 years old and soon ph.d. in Psychology, but the “men”, Jack in lead, explain to him that they want to preserve his “innocence”, Mason is like an endangered species, with him around the world is better and they need to protect him. I had the feeling that Mason didn’t get it all, and still thought that they were some big loons, but if they wanted to treat him like a prince, for sure he wouldn’t deprive them of it.

The main plot should be the dangerous stalker who is threatening Mason, but in the end, Mason’s turn in a little prince and the pea steals the scene to everything else: I couldn’t really borrow too much attention to the thriller plot when I was there waiting to see what coquette Mason had in mind for poor Jack. Plus, Portland’s police department doesn’t come out as a very clever bunch of detectives, Cooper and Jordan aside, or better, they seem more interested in Mason’s private life than stopping a possible dangerous stalker.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1603708189/?...

[FloJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mason has been lusting after his brother's best friend Jack for 10 years. The best friend is supposed to be straight. But of course it turns out he isn't and it seems everyone except Mason knew. This depiction of Mason as a simpleton is one of the reasons I have given this book 4 stars instead of 5. Mason has been going out of his way to do silly things so that Jack notices him, which is why Jack and Randy (the brother) think he IS stupid, but the author doesn't manage to sort out the two strands - Mason pretending and Mason in reality - effectively.

Mason is doing a PhD in PSYCHOLOGY for goodness sakes. His brother and Jack somehow don't know that and think he is just mucking around wasting time when he could have a job at Randy's firm.

The title of the book relates to a promise Jack made to Randy that he wouldn't hit on Mason - just who is the idiot here? - despite being attracted to him.

Anyway, once we get past that, this turns into a great story with good suspense and heat as well as some good minor characters whom I presume we will be seeing again sometime.

To get away from his unrequited love Mason decides to leave town and finish his degree at another university but he goes on a bender, ends up being reported missing and when he goes to show his embarrassed face at the police station, guess what the detective is gay. He and some of his mates are the friends in the blurb who set out to get Mason and Jack together.

This book has some good humorous moments and was a good racy read.

[adrienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

typical stormy glenn romance. nothing fantastic, nothing so bad it can't be finished. what is typical stormy glenn? imagine a shorter harlequin romance but with no t&a (see, i was going to write no surprise pregnancies, but... yeah.).

laziness dictates i will use this as my template for all books by the following authors unless a book is remarkably good/bad :
stormy glenn
lynn hagen
scarlet hyacinth
joyee flynn
carol lynne
gabrielle evans

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise sounded good, but the author couldn't deliver. The author had Mason switching between masculine to feminine characteristics constantly in the story and sometimes having the character acknowledge it. This was suppose to make it okay I guess. Also, Jack went from being supper jealous to having a threesome and saying "As long as I'm there it's okay". Throwing every sexual practice into a story does not make it hotter just confusing.

[Chancey "Does not give out 5's like candy" Knowles · Rating 2 out of 5]

I definitely had issues with the timeline in this book among other things. I'm not going to repeat since it is all below in the progress (which I rarely to never use). From what I can remember, I have liked to really liked the 7 to 10 other Stormy Glenn books I've read, but I just kept getting thrown out of this book. I didn't even begin to comment on many other things I could have brought up. Definitely not one I would recommend, but I didn't hate it.

[*Nan* · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a re read of a book I first read in 2010 and I have changed my rating to 3.5 stars.

[Omega696 · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I read it.

And don't have much to say about the book. Forgettable characters, simplistic storyline (not to mention annoying) and not even enough humor to make it easier to swallow.

[Lioness7 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a nice romance with sad and frustrating parts. I spent my time reading this feeling bad for Mason and frustrated at both him and Jack.

I loved the storyline about Mason being in love with Jack, his brother's best friend. I know what it feels like to like someone that doesn't really see you and can only imagine how he felt for ten years. I was frustrated at Jack because he seemed so dense at times. How could he not see how Mason felt? It is beyond me.

I loved the part of the story about the stalk. I don't think it is completely believable, but most of the questions I had about what all happened and how he was able to find Mason were answered, so I went with it and had fun reading the action scenes.

I loved the side characters. They were great. They all seemed like a bunch of friends that were there to stand by each other regardless of the reason. They were also willing to tell it like it is to whoever needed to hear.

Overall, I had a great time reading this book and found it hard to put down. It frustrated me and made me sad at times, but I like when a book does that. I can't wait to see what else this series has in store.

[Cindi · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was almost a DNF for me. I'm not talking 50% in. I almost put it down at around the 20% mark. I read other reviews before I started this, as is my habit. I decided to read it anyway and then I kept going. My fault, of course, because I saw what others had to say before I ever bought the book.

Mason has been in love with his brother's best friend (Jack) for ten years, since he was 16. Jack is straight (he thinks). After loving Jack secretly and watching him bring various women to family gatherings over the years, Mason makes a decision to move across the country to finish getting his college degree. The plan is to get as far away from Jack as possible so that he can try to get over him and finally move on with his life. That was really good. Mason tells his mother during a family gathering that he's moving. He goes to leave a little later and is confronted by Jack. Instead of allowing Mason to explain things (without giving away his secret crush), Jack basically attacks him and treats him like a child. Hello...? Mason is a year away from his PhD in Psychology and 26 years old. He's not a child. I was able to get over the fact that Jack was a complete jerk. That is part of the story in the beginning... I get that. I also get that Mason has always acted like an immature child every time he's been around Jack. So all of that was easy to let go. It was from that point on that it went completely downhill.

I'll start with the dialogue. Any time I read a book that is laden with exclamation points I feel as if I am reading a children's book or the diary of a teenage girl. That drives me crazy. The sentence structure was way off. Terms and expressions were used that would never be used in the real world by adults.... or even by teenagers to be honest (I've raised three and have never heard them talk like this).

Mason is in college, a year away from getting his PhD. He supposedly has a very close relationship with his family yet his brother has no clue what he is doing in college. He just assumes he is goofing off because he has been in school for so many years. I didn't like the brother in the beginning and disliked him even more by the time I got to the end of the book.

Most of the book is about Mason trying to convince his family that he is a grown man and does not need to be babied or treated like a child. The more I read the more I saw that all he did was act like a child. There were times that I had to keep reminding myself that this character is supposed to be 26-years old. He acted like a 12-year old. And seriously... nobody is that naive. Not one time did he come across as the adult that he is supposed to be. He gets a call in the middle of the night from a bartender asking him to come pick up Jack, who is drunk. Mason picks him up from the bar and takes him back to his (Jack's) place. He leans in to kiss Jack while he is passed out and Jack pulls him down and kisses him. One ends up getting a blowjob. Mason crawls naked in bed with him and stays the night. Did I mention that Jack was totally wasted? Jack wakes up freaking out and Mason acts like a big baby. The guy is drunk... you basically took advantage of him while he was in that state... and you get upset when he freaks? Mason then takes off and leaves for his trip across the country early because of Jack's actions. He goes on a 4-day bender and doesn't remember anything beyond that first bottle of Tequila. Uh huh.

Jack is a total jerk from the very beginning. It's hard to even pretend to like a book if you dislike both main characters the entire time. Jack is domineering and mean. He allows Mason to make no decisions on his own and if he dares to try, Jack screams and pouts like a big baby.

I liked some of the secondary characters. Cooper and his friends were all pretty good. Cooper is still pining for his long lost love who abandoned him 10 years ago (there's something about the "10 year" thing). This long lost love is Alec, who conveniently appears later in the book.

One thing happened that is always automatic game over for me when it comes to any book. What the hell was the point of the menage between Jack, Mason and Cooper? I decided to continue reading after that even though it was absolutely one of the dumbest things the author could throw in, especially considering the book isn't that great anyway. Let's just add to it so that folks will like it even less. I don't understand what she was thinking but then again, it's not my place to. It was out of place and made a really bad book a really horrible book. That's my opinion anyway.

There is a bad guy of course. A bad guy who suddenly just has to have Mason after one meeting on a dance floor. That story did not play out well. Mason did not handle it the correct way. He comes home to a destroyed apartment. Instead of calling his cop friend who had just dropped him off, let's show up at the parents house but just cry and hide in your room instead of telling someone what has happened. Oh, and before this, he and Jack had a huge argument and Mason walked and walked and walked and doesn't remember anything of the hours he was walking. Jack of course shows up at the parents house to try to fix things with Mason, still with no clue of what had happened at Mason's apartment. It takes forever for that to come out by the way. Oh, and later Cooper... Mason's best friend...... is kidnapped by the bad guy. So what does Mason and Jack do? Have sex, of course. Yeah, that showed all kinds of concern for the kidnapped friend.

I think I need to stop here. I could seriously go on and on about what I did not like about this. I've already said too much. I really hate writing bad reviews. I almost just left this one alone without saying anything. I couldn't.

While I am kind of interested in Cooper and Alec's story, I am not sure I can do this again.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars ~ I can’t believe I somehow missed this book in Stormy’s backlist but I certainly tore through it. I want to say I loved it..... but I can’t. I enjoyed it and I liked it but there are too many things that disturbed me, and I couldn’t seem to let them go.

#1. Mason has one year to go before getting his PhD in Psychology and yet he seems clueless about people, human interaction, and the behaviors of obsessed people.
#2. Cooper and Jordan are police detectives but don’t catch on to things very quickly and seem rather inept at their jobs.
#3. The author has done a good job painting a picture of Mason’s family as being very loving but the interactions between them seem off and Mason’s relationship with his mom “sounds” all ‘Leave it to Beaver’ but lacks the emotional punch to back it up.

I did love that this story was as long as it was. It gave me more meat to chew on, so to speak. I also give the benefit of the doubt to the author since this original story was released way back when before she got as good as she is now. *grins*

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was interesting book.. enjoyed the story plot... i like the characters especially parents very supportive and amazing friends.

[Soy PattoO! · Rating 4 out of 5]

💖😍💖😍💖😍

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Tasting:

Why I bought it:

I was glomming on that name. :)

Dislike/like (ending on a high note):

Dislike~ I was cringing with some of the emoness of the first couple of chapters of this book. I almost tossed it aside in disgust when the brave and determined Mason, who after finally deciding to get a life, goes on a binge and then runs away back home. What the hell?? I was glad I stuck with it in the end, but Holy Crap did I have a few issues with the beginning of the story!

Like~ So after the return, Mason comes out to his folks who already knew, finds a set of gay friends and, strangely enough, learns how to be gay. O_O It is actually a lot more convincing than it sounds – it's pretty cute really - with Mason gaining confidence and learning to stand up for himself.

Dislike~ A stalker and an interfering family member?? Gee, these sound a bit familiar.

Like~ Loved Mason’s circle of friends. They were a seriously funny sarcastic crew and very supportive of Mason as were his Mum and Dad. All in all, a great cast of characters.

So, what I think:

Despite the beginning and some familiar tropes, overall it worked and I did like this story. Fun, relatively uncomplicated characters, a decent story and good writing with lots of humour. Recommended bedtime reading.

=============================================

‘Tasting’ is my version of a mini-review where I talk a (very) little about what I liked and disliked about a book as well as who I think the story will appeal to. Oh, and I’ve added a bit about why I picked up the book in the first place – sometimes this can be interesting to know.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alright, the book started off cool, sure there were some plot-holes and a few things that didn't make much sense, but it was a good start. The thing about this book though is that I just could not get ANY feelings for Jack even though he'd been watching Mason for 7 years etc.

Jack was just a super duper control freak imo. He pretty much said to Mason 'move in with me or we can't be together' which looks to be the start of an abusive relationship. If anything, I loved Coop about 300x more than Jack.

Coop helped Mason out of his slump, didn't force anything onto him, accepted the fact that Mason couldn't get Jack out of his mind. Coop dropped everything every time Mason called him asking for help, he taught Mason to let loose a little and taught the man how to dance.

After all that, Coop helped Jack get Mason. Which fucking sucked.

All in all, I couldn't get serious about Mason and Jack and was hoping the whole way through the book that Mason saw how much of a dick Jack was and found out that he'd been slowly starting to like Coop. But of course that didn't happen.

I guess it was still a good book, I wouldn't have read it all if it wasn't. But there was plenty to be revised before publishing it. Can't wait to read Coop's story.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stormy Glenn always keeps you guessing! I have now read several of her books and am never disappointed. I didn’t read the premise of the book before I started reading it. I think I rather like having the story reveal itself without any expectations. First, this was a story of unrequited love between two boys who longed for each other for many years…..each never knowing the others desires. It was beautiful how the story progressed to the point of passion and ultimately release. I was thinking this was a just a romance novel and pretty much had it figured out how the story would progress. But Stormy threw me for a loop when she added a stalker to the equation. The book was exciting to begin with but now we have a psycho thrown in to up the ante and make the old heart skip several beats. Without revealing too much of the intricate plot and spoiling all the fun of a truly great read…….I’m going to stop here and let you have the thrill of the ride when you read this book. It was truly excellent and I know I will read it again!

[ED · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mason has been in love with his best friend Jack for 10 years. Mason thinks Jack is straight. Mason wants to move away to get on with his life and Jack realizes that he does not want to lose him.
There is also a stalker in the story who is threatening Mason and the plot brings a few not so smart detectives into the story.
This was a bit of a mixed bag. Some very unrealistic situations, where the brother and the best friend does not know what Mason is doing with his life. Like studying and working etc. Also I found Mason very immature, more like a 17 year old. But once you get passed that, the story is actually not bad. Very emotional… especially at the beginning. I even had a tear or two running down my face. Don't take the characters to seriously and you will enjoy the story. I would give it a 3, but since it made me cry I gave it a 4.:)

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mason Phillips has been in love with Jack Spencer since he was 16 years old. After 10 years Mason decides he will never be able to be with Jack, who he thinks is straight and about to get married, so he makes plans to move away.

This was a fun book to read. Although Mason did tend to cry a bit more than I really like I still enjoyed him and the rest of the characters. Jack is a bit of a dominating Alpha but Mason quickly has him wrapped around his little finger once they get together. The sex is hot and plentiful after the first half of the book but also very loving. Throw in a crazy stalker and you've got a fun, romantic, sexy and exciting story.

[LeeAnn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an amazing story! I was hooked on Jack and Mason from the beginning! I won't spoil with a lot of details but the things they had to go through to get to their HEA , the friends they have, how they helped them get together and the terror they also endured also just added to this story. SO good! I loved this story and all it's characters..well except for the whack job. Looking forward to reading A Promise Given in June! A MUST read!

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Update Just re-read the new edition and actually really enjoyed it. Not sure what was changed but it must have been something....or my standards are lower. Could be either one! :)

The premise of the book was very interesting however the way the story was told didn't do it justice. A little awkward and stilted and simple. Still an okay read.

[Jane (PS) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

There were parts to this I really enjoyed and other parts that were a tad frustrating. The mystery didn't weave through the story smoothly but it's purpose to assist the romance was served. I did actually enjoy the mystery but it seemed more of an adjunct.

I'm sure I'll reread this at some stage...

[Raevyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story started off as a long lost love type of read and ended up being a serial killer suspense. I enjoyed Mason and Cooper and the other secondary characters but I just couldn't fully engage with Jack. He was all over the place with the way he acted and after a while I didn't want to keep up with it all.

I usually enjoy Stormy Glenn's books, but this one just didn't do it for me.

[My Dichotomy Life · Rating 4 out of 5]

More a 3.5. I loved Jack and Mason in this book, but the "baby" was driving me mad. In one part Jack is thinking how upset Mason would be to be called adorable, that he wouldn't appreciate it as he was so "manly". Literally the next sentence he calls him Baby - again!

At one point both Jack and Cooper were calling him Baby. This isn't usually a pet hate of mine!