Promises to Keep: Diane's Story

Promises to Keep: Diane's Story by Dean Hughes

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In 1997, LDS fiction author Dean Hughes began a series of five books (Children of the Promise) set during WWII about the Thomas family. In 2001, he started another 5-book series (Hearts of the Children) about the next generation of Thomases set during the 1960s. While I'm not big on LDS fiction generally, I really enjoyed all 10 of these books, especially the first five, and would recommend them. Since the Hearts of the Children series wrapped in 2005, Dean Hughes has been inundated with questions about what happened to Diane. So this is her story.

In some ways, this book was more about Jenny, Diane's daughter. Set in the mid-1980s, Jenny is a teenager struggling to come to terms with the way her father drops in and out of her life, while trying to get a shred of independence from her over-protective mother. Meanwhile, Diane realizes that Jenny is pulling away and she's desperate to make sure she doesn't make the same mistakes she did. Diane also realizes that Jenny will be on her own soon and Diane really needs to figure out how to feel good about herself without having Jenny to worry and fret over all the time.

This book was a good comfort read on a Sunday afternoon. I think it is a must-read for fans of these series. (But I have to admit there are so many family members to keep track of and it has been awhile since I read the books!) It definitely wasn't as good as the others in my opinion, but this was a nice read and I enjoyed my time with it.

Also reviewed by: Gamila's Review

Book 37 of 100 for the 100+ Reading Challenge
Book 18 of 50 for the RYOB Challenge 

Source: Purchased