Promise Me This Blog Tour, Book Review, and Giveaway

I am delighted to be a part of the Tyndale blog tour for Cathy Gohlke’s newest book, Promise Me This. You find find the full blog tour schedule and a link to the Tyndale website at the end of the post. This post will be broken into three sections – a little about the author, my review, and finally a giveaway.

About the Author

Cathy Gohlke is the author of William Henry is a Fine Name and I Have Seen Him in the Watchfires, both of which have won the Christy Award. She has worked in many different fields including a school librarian and drama director. She and her husband make their home in Maryland. Visit her website at www.cathygohlke.com .

My Review
Annie Allen stood on the docks of Southhampton watching her brother, Owen, set sail on the Titanic. The young girl had no idea that that glimpse of him would be her last. Michael Dunnagan didn’t belong on board of the Titanic. When Owen saves his life, Michael is determined to fulfill Owen’s dreams, the biggest of which is to bring Annie safely to America. An ocean separates the two, yet slowly over the years Annie and Michael develop a friendship that leads to love through letters written back and forth. When Michael finally has the funds to bring Annie to America, he discovers that World War One has broken out in Europe and that Annie has vanished. He heads to England in the hopes of finding her. Will the dangers of the war keep them apart, or will they find each other at last?

Having never read anything by Cathy Gohlke before, I was delighted to pick up this book. The emotional waves of the book had me crying several times. Yet at times I also wanted to shake the characters. The biggest theme of the book is sacrifice. Owen sacrificed his life to make sure that Michael had a future. It’s not until years later that Annie fully understands not only her brother’s sacrifice, but also that of Christ. Michael, too, also struggles with his guilt for surviving when Owen did not. He too takes years to understand that Owen’s sacrifice was a picture of what Christ did for him. The emotional roller-coaster is a ride I was glad to go on. There’s so much more to this book than just the Titanic! I’m giving this book 5 out of 5 stars.

I received this book for free from Tyndale House Publishers for the purpose of reviewing. I was not required to like the book, only write an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Giveaway
I’ve got a special giveaway today. Because gardening is so important to the story, I’m doing a giveaway based on a garden theme.

The flower seeds I have to giveaway, bluebonnets, grow wild in the spring here in Texas. In fact, my cousin’s backyard teems with them most springs.

To win this bundle of bluebonnet seeds, garden gloves, and a copy of Promise Me This, you need to leave a comment telling me your favorite type of flower and what you like to do in the garden. To gain a second entry, leave an additional comment telling me you follow my blog via the Google Friend Connect. All entries must have a valid email address attached. You can enter your email in this format – yourusername(at)hotmail(dot)com. I can only ship to the US. I will draw a winner on Wednesday February 22, 2012 after I’m home for the day.

While I can’t grow anything, in fact I have a tendency of killing more plants than I grow, I've frequently told stories of how I've managed to kill an aloe vera plant. I do enjoy flowers. I love tulips. Especially yellow ones.


Links
Tyndale website
Cathy Gohlke's website
Promise Me This Blog Tour