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Monday 23 March 2020

BLOG TOUR: The Forbidden Promise - Lorna Cook


Can one promise change the fate of two women decades apart?

Scotland, 1940

War rages across Europe, but Invermoray House is at peace – until the night of Constance’s 21st birthday, when she’s the only person to see a Spitfire crash into the loch. Rescuing the pilot and vowing to keep him hidden, Constance finds herself torn between duty to her family and keeping a promise that could cost her everything.

2020

Kate arrives in the Highlands to turn Invermoray into a luxury B&B, only to find that the estate is more troubled than she’d imagined. But when Kate discovers the house has a dark history, with Constance’s name struck from its records, she knows she can’t leave until the mystery is solved . . .


A sweeping tale of love and secrets, perfect for fans of Kate Morton and Lucinda Riley.


What did I think?

With an amazing dual storyline, set 80 years apart, The Forbidden Promise is like two fabulous books in one.  Usually when I read a dual storyline book one story becomes more preferable to the other, but in the case of The Forbidden Promise they are both so compelling that I couldn't choose between them.

As we swap between 1940 and 2020 the stories intertwine as they are both set in and around Invermoray House.  In 1940 the house belonged to the McLay family and should have been passed down through the generations but for a shocking secret that saw the McLay children being disinherited.  Now in the hands of the Langley branch of the family, 2020 sees them reaching out to Kate, a PR executive, to help them save the house from its rapid decline.

Kate stumbles across an intriguing mystery around Constance McLay who was disinherited in 1940.  What could Constance have done to result in her name being scratched out of the family bible and her portrait desecrated?  While Kate helps to renovate the house she also does some research into the local history and thanks to the dual timeline, Lorna Cook takes us back to 1940 to relive Constance's story.

The Forbidden Promise is doubly compelling with its contemporary storyline set in 2020 and its historical story in 1940.  I loved how the two stories repeatedly flowed towards and away from each other, like the gently lapping water of Invermoray Loch, until the threads all came together at the end.  With a huge jaw-dropping secret to be revealed along the way, the pages of this breathtaking novel can't be turned fast enough.  Highly recommended, especially to fans of historical fiction. 

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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