Promises of Forever

By: Nicky James

Narrated by: Nick J. Russo

Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Life can change on a dime.

Childhood tragedy left Koa Burgard with many scars. Reclusive and still healing, he is sent to summer camp, where the other kids tease and bully. All except the outgoing, popular boy from his cabin. A boy who dreams about being a hockey star. A tentative friendship forms. Every summer, they reconnect for adventure. Every winter, they write letters back and forth.

Promises are made, and promises are shattered.

Thirty years later, the sudden death of his parents brings Jersey Reid home. Rotten things keep happening. His life has been full of torment and pain, and he can’t remember a time when he was happy.

Will it ever stop?

Cleaning out his deceased parents’ house, he uncovers his and Koa’s pen pal letters. Can Jersey recapture the happiness and innocence of youth by reconnecting with the strange, quirky boy he befriended at camp so long ago? Or will the mistakes he made before be a barrier?

Although Koa is now a respectable English teacher at an elite boarding school, Jersey quickly learns that the boy with dark secrets from camp is more troubled than ever.

Koa has given up on happiness. His views on life are bleak and disturbing, and he’s learned it’s better to be alone in an unforgiving world.

Jersey’s return offsets Koa’s balance and brings the past back into focus. A past he’s spent a lifetime trying to forget.

But Jersey was his savior once. He was kind when no one else was. Jersey made him feel safe in an unsafe world.

Until he broke a promise.

And promises are supposed to be for forever.

** Promises of Forever is an angsty MM romance with the following themes. Second chance love, hurt / comfort, jock and nerd dynamic, opposites attract, mental health. **

©2024 Nicky James (P)2024 Nicky James

Second Chance Love

In Promises, we get to see past Koa and Jersey as their friendship begin through flashbacks and this gave more depth to the story and relationship reforming. The angst is ultimately resolved, although it hurts the heart along the way. But that makes the HEA all the sweeter. This book deals with some serious topics and Jersey's and Koa's struggles were deftly handled. Jersey's patience and Koa's hidden fears and vulnerabilities created characters that will stay with me. Nick Russo brings this excellent story to life and as always, he provides a fantastic performance. An great story elevated by wonderful narration, this is another winning Nick and Nicky collaboration.

Loved it!

Nick J. Russo does an amazing job of bringing Promises of Forever to life.
Promises of Forever is a powerfully emotional slow-burn second-chance romance. I was drawn into this story from the first page and didn't stop reading until I reached the last page.
The story is dual POV with flashbacks to the MCs' childhood at the camp where they met and became friends. I really loved getting to see both sides of this story.

In Promises of Forever, the past and present are interwoven so we get the history of Koa and Jersey's beginning and how they are reunited in the present.

These wounded men slowly begin to rebuild the bonds they shared in the past. Each has much to overcome and deal with. I loved seeing them be so supportive of each other.

Be prepared for plenty of angst and plenty of feels. This is a story that will stay with me long after reading the final page

💕 Beautiful & emotional 5 star second chance ⭐️

Promises of Forever exemplifies Nicky James’ true mastery at tackling mental health issues in her characters. Her ability to tell a beautiful story of friendship, acceptance, patience and love is also shown in this wonderful book.

This is the story of Koa, an unusual, very troubled loner that most people don’t understand, and Jersey, the one man determined to try… again. Through flashbacks we learn how, as kids, their near secret friendship began but fell apart. Three decades later Jersey returns, with troubles of his own, hoping to reconnect with the friend he lost.

Koa’s story both touched and intrigued me. Trying to unravel the mystery behind his unusual personality added an extra layer of interest to this moving second chance, hurt / comfort story. My heart ached for the pain both he and Jersey endured, individually and within their relationship. But as this is a Nicky James book, I was confident that all the angst and pain would be lovingly resolved and healed. I was not disappointed when I reached the well deserved, beautiful HEA.

Listening to this dual POV performance had me fully immersed in Koa’s world and Jersey’s desire to help him. Nick J Russo’s narration gave clear distinctions between characters, with convincing emotions, occasional touches of humor, and passionate steam. I never fail to be impressed by his ability to enact a story without ever seeming as if he’s reading.

It was a joy to listen to Russo narrate, and a joy to experience the depth and wonder of this treasure by James. I eagerly await the next book that brings both together again!

Love this story!

This book is amazing! It's emotional and features mental health in only the way Nicky James can do! These two characters tear at your heartstrings and you just have to clutch your tissues as you watch them reconnect and find their place for one another between everything they've been dealing with. Truly heartwrenching and emotional, this book is also beautifully written in a way only Nicky James can do. Not only that, but the narration was perfect and hit the emotional arcs just right that really immersed you into the story.

loved it!

I really loved this as an audiobook. Nick does such a great job bringing the emotion and struggle in it to life. I Highly recommend it.

Promises are for forever

4.5 stars for Nick Russo's narrating. He does a solid job distinguishing the voices of the main MCs not just as adults but through their younger years too. His best piece of narrating comes in chapter 29 during Koa's tangent about life, death, things ending, etc. The anger and passion in it really shines through.

4.25 stars for the story:

Koa and Jersey first met when they were 10 at a summer camp. Jersey is drawn to Koa, although he seems odd. For 4 years the two of them connected during summer and when not at camp wrote to one another as pen pals. However, the last summer and a first kiss set them off course.

Jersey's life has been a mess ever since an injury took him out of the game of hockey. His injury led him to become addicted to pills. He lost his career, his wife, his son, and his parents in a short time. For 15 years, he stayed away from his family. However, when an incident brings him home he finds himself reminiscing about his past. When he comes across a box of old letters he wrote to and olf camp friend, Koa, his urge to reconnect is strong. However, not everyone from the past is always ready with open arms.

Koa has had a hard life. When he was 8 years old a tragic incident left him forever changed. He was sent to live with his grandfather. His grandfather who believed in corporal punishment and who was completely not equipped to take care of a child like Koa. Summer camp was his only escape from his grandfather's house. However, his odd behavior did not attract many friends but he managed to become friends with Jersey. Jersey was the one person he had any sort of feeling of safety with until Jersey left him. Now as an adult, he has a life he worked hard to carve out. A life that suits him and what he believes he needs.

Koa is a teacher at a high school for gifted students, he has a lovely home and a pet cat who keeps him company. His life is where he wants it and he is managing it well. That is until his past wants to come knocking on his door. A past he fears will open old wombs and throw him off balance.

How to describe this book...tragic but lovely. Koa has a past that would haunt anyone. He believes happiness doesn't exist and he is unable to show emotion. His last relationship ended because he wasn't able to give himself over. So when Jersey comes back into his life he doesn't accept him with open arms, in fact, he tries to push him away. If his friend didn't intercede, Jersey would have never stood a chance. Jersey may have opened wounds for Koa but in my opinion, those wounds needed to be. Jersey's patience and the love he had for Koa were what was needed for him to be able to finally break through Koa's walls. In the end, I am happy they got what I feel is an HFN. The epilogue left much to be desired. I definitely recommend giving this one a go but read any TWs and go in with caution.

5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🎧

First, let me start with the narrator. I have been listening to Nick J. Russo for a minute. His voice gets better and better with each book. I love how he gives the characters their own unique voice without being too over the top. It really adds to the story and to the characters.

I love second chances; I like it when we get past and present. Now, usually, I don't like the jump from past to present often because it can take me out of the story. But this one was done well, and I had no trouble. I know I said I don't like past/presents I am a catch 22 I know this!!

Koa and Jersey
As boys, they sought each other out even through the tough times. Koa is a complex character to like in his later years, or he was for me. I felt for the boy. I wanted to know his story, but not all at the same time because I knew it would not be a good one.
The way Jersey inherently knows not to push even in the past and present just made me like him more.
I hated that Koa struggled for so much of his life. But I am also so thankful when Jersey comes back into his life. He just loved Koa for all the good and all the complex parts. That made me love his character all the more. We get a little bit of Jersey's past, too, and I would have liked a little detail, but I think the last hour or so of this book brought me full circle in the end.
All of the emotion, all of the love. How we got Koa's past was perfect. I had tears, as one does with a heartbreaking story like that.

I highly recommend this book. It was angsty and emotional but with some truly unforgettable characters.

Just the right amount of angst

I love classic Nicky James angst. There, I said it. I love her mysteries as well, to be sure. And they have angst also. But this book takes me back to the Nicky I know from the Trials of Fear books. And so, obviously, I LOVED it.

Jersey is a former pro hockey player. With the Vancouver Canucks, no less (Vancouverite and Canucks fan here). His career-ending injury eventually spiralled him downward and he lost his wife and son. Then his parents felt they needed to put distance between them as well. Given his mental and physical state, Jersey wasn’t able to cope. And it took him years and years and years to get his life together. But he has – only he never healed the breach between him and the people he loves. His parents’ sudden death in a car crash devastates him because he never apologized. He never sought forgiveness. He never found absolution.

And now it’s too late.

Upon returning to his childhood home, he finds many relics of his younger days. Including letters he exchanged with a young man he met at summer camp. He and Koa became friends and wrote back and forth during the times they weren’t together. Until the final day on the final camp back when they were fourteen. A day when everything went wrong.

There are parallels, of course, with his parents. One thing that caused a permanent riff. Only Jersey’s not willing to just let sleeping dogs rest. He wants to find out if Koa’s okay. The young man clearly had a difficult time – not just by the cruel treatment of other kids (where were the adults?), but also what happened to him before he arrived.

So Jersey tracks Koa down. And offers…friendship? Reconnection? He’s not sure what might happen, but he feels compelled to try.

Koa believes himself to be in a good place. He’s got a job he loves, students he tries to help, and a lovely house. There are, however, clear signs all is not well. His grandfather is dying – and although there’s no love lost, Koa also feels an obligation to the man who took him in after a horrific tragedy. Koa’s grandfather clearly didn’t understand what a grieving child needed. Certainly more than just a roof over his head. In some ways, his grandfather’s choice to send him to summer camp was a reprieve Koa needed. He left home as soon as he could and never returned to that house. He also has an ex-boyfriend whom he never quite understood - and who never quite understood him.

Into that ordered world enters Jersey. Koa tells himself he’s forgotten – but he hasn’t. And as he slowly – reluctantly – lets Jersey in, the entire story begins to unfold. I’d sort of guessed Koa’s backstory, but the eventual revealing was just as painful as if I’d not guessed. These are two men who are badly hurting. Two men whose only real hope at healing is to let down their guard. Then Koa suffers another blow and it’s Jersey there to support him. Jersey who still has a lot of amends to make.

This is a brutal and yet uplifting book. Although I consumed it in just over a day, I needed time to digest it before sitting down to write a review. I didn’t want to give away too much, but I also wanted to talk about how it made me feel. Sad, despondent, and hopeful. I’m really, really, really hoping for a book with Koa’s ex-boyfriend. I’m not certain Nicky planned one, but I’m begging.

Okay, fabulous narration by Nick J. Russo. I caught him doing a live read of the first chapter and I was sucked in. His performance kept me riveted – as always. Nick and Nicky make a great combo and I can’t wait for whatever comes next.

Perfect!

I think this is one of my favorite books by Nicky James. She seriously outdid herself with this one - I loved every single moment, and I honestly just didn’t want it to end. This is one HELL of a second chance romance.

I’m still a little bit of an emotional wreck and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Old school Nicky James❤️💔❤️‍🩹

This is old school angsty Nicky James, with in depth characters and lots of feelings and tears, just how I love Nicky James's books!

I loved both Koa and Jersey and their journey towards love and a HEA. Koa has suffered a severe traumatized childhood, that has a huge impact of his ability to let love in and to trust other people. Jersey never forgot the boy he let down at summer camp when they were 14, and when they meet again in their early forties, Jersey is determined to make amends.

It is a long and winded road to get there, the sadness oozed of each page. Nick Russo is a great voice performer and he really managed to let both Jersey and Koa speak here, both as adults, but also in the many flashbacks from summercamp, where the two bonded strongly.