A Soldier's Promise

By: Angelica Kate

Narrated by: Francesca Santoro

Length: 2 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Ryker was raised in a foster care group home, and never gained the softer skills a family would have given him. Upon graduation he joined the military, providing him structure, meaning, and a great career of which he could be proud. After 12 years he has a life he is comfortable within, a team that he would die to protect and little else in his solitary existence. Unfortunately, all that changes when one of his team doesn't make it out of the latest covert operation and Ryker is made to keep a promise that will take him on a trip toward everything he always claimed he didn't want.

Darby is the all-American girl that her fiancé left behind to serve on a covert military team. Engaged to be married that summer when he returned she is knee deep in getting her organic produce and therapeutic horse farm operation off the ground. She is busy working toward her goals when the first letter is delivered by impersonal military personnel ending her dreams of the marriage she had planned since high school. The next three envelopes will be from members of her fiance's team, all making good on a promise they made him. One of those letters will bring the loner Ryker to her doorstep for one surprising month.

©2014 Angela Naff (P)2015 Angela Naff

Wonderful story that will bring tears to your eyes

Any additional comments?

I totally loved and was so hooked on this story, the plot is outstanding with so much thought and love put into it by the author. I really loved how fiancé took care of her and looked after her after his death. It was truly heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. Not many men would have put others before themselves if they thought they would die. I loved the letters and what they brought to the story. There is no way you can read this and not be touched in some way or not love these characters.

Francesca Santoro did a great job with the narration. She made you feel the sorrow, pain, and happiness more so than if you read the story. Her character voices were good you had no trouble telling who was talking or if they were male or female. There was no background noise or any places where the volume was higher or lower than other places. The performance was good along with her tones. She really made it hard for me to put this audio down as she pulled on my heartstrings. I look forward to listening to more from her.

I had such compassion for Ryker never knowing what family, love, needing, giving of yourself to another before you think of yourself. He had a really rough life with no one caring for him. He did learn a little about these things in the military fighting beside your fellow soldier who really is your brother. Standing up and never leaving a man behind making sure any fallen soldier got home to bury near his family. He still has so much to learn the biggest is that he is someone worth knowing and loving.

With having such compassion for Ryker you still have just as much for Darby. Loving one man almost since birth, growing, learning and needing that person more than life. Never standing in his way when he wanted, needed to go into the military. Than getting the knock at the door saying he won’t be coming home alive, burying him and trying to move on. Her ex knew her so well that he took steps to show her how much he truly loved her. I doubt there are many men alive or dead like this wonderful man.

What the author gives you is a story that will reach in and grab you making you turn the pages fast but wanting to take it slow to get each wonderful word a change to flow through your mind. The chemistry between these two was wonderful as they butt heads along with the tug of war, the guilty feelings and starting over learning there is more to life. The whole book is wonderful from start to finish. There are a few twists you won’t see until they almost leave you in tears. This really was a wonderful inspirational clean read that will leave you wanting more. I had never read anything by this author but cannot wait to pick up another of her books/audios.

Hmmmm......

A Soldier's Promise: Soldier's Pact, Book 1 by Angelica Kate, narrated by Francesca Santoro was of perfect length for those who enjoy shorter listens. It takes good writing to be able to pull readers/listeners into the story as quickly as I was. Over the course of ~3 hours, not only did I feel an emotional attachment to the characters and their lives, but I also found myself engaged in their situation, causing me to listen to the whole book in one sitting.

The narration was good and made for easy listening. Francesca Santoro performed the roles of males and females quite well! I was never confused about who was speaking, and her voice was as sweet and clean as the story, itself.

However, did have a few criticisms:
1. The recording of the audiobook was a bit "iffy" in places. Some of the words at the ends of sentences were cut short, and even though I still knew what the words were supposed to be, I was left wondering why no one caught them during the editing process.

2. While the pace of the narration (one word to the next) was right on, the lack of pauses between the last sentence in a chapter to the first sentence in the next, was a little bothersome...they were non-existent. That is fine, but why break the story up into chapters if they are not going to be treated as such? Because there was not a defined break/pause before moving on to the next chapter, it was very obvious that this audiobook was recorded at different times/multiple sittings because the tone and volume of the narrator was different from one section to the next. Even though I was able to quickly adapt, it doesn't seem like this should have been so obvious...another area that possibly could have been looked at again during the editing process.

3. Almost immediately I kept feeling like I had read this book/storyline before. The more I listened, the more I just couldn't shake the feeling. Then, I realized it is because I have...sort of. Not only are the names of the characters in this book, the same exact names as those in various books of another author of this same genre, but the storyline and military theme is VERY similar. Hmmm....that's odd and almost disturbing to me.

Overall, this was a clean, sweet story with likeable characters and a plot that pulls at your heartstrings. But, due to how the audiobook was recorded/edited, along with a storyline and matching names of another author in this same genre, I would rate it a 2.5. Had I not known about and read all of the other author's books already, I would probably rate this audiobook a 3.5. I recommend it to those who enjoy sweet romance novels.

Thank you for reading my review.

A Sweet Love Story

I love this story about love, and loyalty and the bond between soldiers.
Before they go out on a dangerous mission, a young soldier makes the three other men in his squad promise to complete an assignment to take care of the girl he left behind. The love story that results is sweet and often bittersweet but it's well written, well narrated and well worth the read.

A soldier’s Promise

First of all be ready, it pulls on your heart strings!!
Amazing story of bro code and those left behind

A quick, feel good read!

I was given this audio book in exchange for an honest review. This book had an interesting basis. Darby's fiance was killed in action. One by one his buddies start showing up with letters from him, asking her to do certain things. The third one is delivered by Ryker and requests that Darby have him stay for the holidays to show him what a real family holiday is like.
Ryker is a big, tough man who has had a terrible childhood in the foster care system. He connects with one of the kids in Darby's horse therapy program and shows a softer side of himself that is very appealing to Darby. Ryker doesn't feel that he could possibly be good enough for Darby and leaves when the requested one month is up. Then...one more letter shows up and it could change everything!
This was my first book by Angela Kate. It has surprising depth for the shortness of the book. I'll be listening to more by Ms. Kate.

Loved this!

I loved this story. I loved the characters, the story flow, the conflict within the characters and the process to work through them. The narration was good. A few words mispronounced but great story! I highly recommend this book. Given copy for honest review!

4 stars

I have 3 of her books now and this one is my favorite. Of you cry easy like then you will cry reading this book. Parts of it broke my heart but it was worth it. I wasn't real crazy about the narrator because I thought she was a little boring to listen to but she wasn't too bad. And that's just my opinion. One thing that I wasn't a fan of is that in all 3 books I read of hers the women are all virgins. And of course the men are not. I'm also not crazy about just one pov but that's just my preference. I would recommend reading this book.

I was given this review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

GREAT READ!

I really enjoyed it. The narration was good but could use more editing. Although this book is pretty quick, it did not lack entertainment. The author did a great job with the character builds and plot. This was my first book by this author but definitely not my last! I look forward to reading more books from this author! I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.