The Love Verb

I love this author and always enjoy her stories. This one is a bit predictable at times, but also very enjoyable. While it would qualify as chicklit or women's lit, it is a philosophy that we all need to visit now and then. Women, their lives, their families, their loves and their sadness....it is all here and done very well. It is a story about real life issues, but also about resolution, determination and compromise. No one ever has it all and what we do have should be evaluated and appreciated all the time, not just in the times of trauma and sadness. Women sometimes worry about all the wrong things when their energies could be utilized elsewhere....here is a look at what is really unnecessary and a waste of time and effort. Celebrate your life, what you have and strive for things, but do not be ruled by the standards of others when they may not be what you want or need.

THis is clearly a tearjerker, written in homage to Green's late friend who died of cancer. It kept me hooked.

The story was a fairy tale where the princess who has everything is the martyr. The sister relationship did not seem realistic to me. I've never heard of sisters who were so close. Maybe when there's a crisis... but it just didn't ring true. Or maybe it got me to worrying that I don't have that with my sisters and what is wrong with all of us? And all my friends who have sisters and don't have "it"?

I agree with the reviewers who found female characters stereotyped -- even without steady jobs they had no money worries. Every woman ended up with a man. What's wrong with a single, independent and happy woman? Does Green think every woman needs to end up with a man and a baby to be fulfilled?

I actually liked the men. None of them were perfect, all had flaws.

Anyway, it IS a good read, and well written.

What an amazing tale of family! I absolutely DARE you to read this book and not burst out into tears. This book was an amazing tale of a family that moves together during crises. It is an amazing book and I think it is one of Jane's hardest/best books.

I really wanted to just read a mindless chick lit book this weekend, nothing too intense, so of course, books by Jane Green, Marion Keyes, etc...come to mind...they are usually well written, good stories, but nothing too intense and usually feel good books. So, i picked up Promises to Keep...this was the most depressing book ever! The tears were certainly flowing and I dont want to give away the ending but certainly did not leave me feeling good at the end of it. The only good thing about the book was the recipes...they look yummy and i will try some of them.

Spoiler alert! This book is written as a love song about the author's dear friend who died of the rare form of cancer the main character succumbs to in the story. But Green takes what is at best a short story or novelette and fills it with chapters of back story and characters that are not necessary to the book. Do we really need to know about Walter's marriage to an Asian mail-order bride? Do we need the details about Ed's ex-wife and son? All of the extra fluff distracts from the devastating loss the book is about. I could not summon up the emotion I should have been feeling for the characters in this book.

Jane Green always delivers-her latest, Promises to Keep,is indeed a promise kept to her readers to turn out the very best with each new book release. Yes, I cried and I cannot recall the last time I teared up while(as jane would say, whilst) reading a novel. It is a story of love, friendship, forgiveness, trust and lots of wonderful food. (recipes included!) Written in loving memory of Jane's dear friend, Heidi Armitage, Jane shared at the Westport fundraising debut that while there are many pieces of Heidi's story in this book -this is not Heidi's story. What a story..what a friendship. We should all be so blessed

Robin Kall
host, Reading With Robin radio talk show
[..]

I have had a life threatening illness, been through chemo, and thankfully am in remission. Jane Greens portrayal of Carrie, relapsing back into the throws of cancer, was the only accurate thing in this poorly written novel. Yes it's a novel, but she took on some big issues. Carrie, illness & family is not always happy ever after yet she made it work without a sappy hollywood ending. Her story was written with grace. Illness does take over your life, your families life, and unless you've been there no one can understand. However not all friends make hot pots, take the kids to school for you, and are as helpful as they were in this novel. Most don't know what to do. If this novel does anything, I hope those who read it learn how to help someone who is seriously ill.

A two star review... Very rare! So onto why this book only gets two stars.

There is a character in this novel who is vegan. In case Jane Green didn't know, veganism is a lifestyle choice not just a food preference. Vegans are animal lovers who, in my lifespan as a vegan, are also vegans because they do not like the way animals are treated by beauty companies, medical companies, food & meat industries - such as factory farms, and other cruelties most vegans believe should not happen to animals.

I do not know of a single vegan (And I've helped organise Vegan Expo's) who would ever "fall off the wagon for their mothers roast chicken."

Alcoholics fall off the wagon. Animal lovers don't.

Sorry Miss Green but your vegan character was atrocious. Especially since she was a chef and would know better! Vegans don't even approve of feather quilts, mattresses or lounge cushions.

There is also a terribly written paragraph where Carrie's sister, the vegan, is talking. She is in her home, a different town to Carrie, yet while talking "Carrie says"... huh? Carrie isn't even there. Think you mean "The vegan says." Bad editing on everyone's behalf there. Proof reading anyone?

The recipes... who on earth thought that was a good idea? They started off vegan, then the vegan added meat, (or tofu for the veggies) ... sorry, but that wouldn't happen either. Then they were just all over the place depending on what food was mentioned. What relevance did this have? Cook book or novel? The novel-ty wore off. Quickly.

I made myself read this. I ploughed through it. I forced myself to finish it. If you are reading this review considering if you should buy it or not - heed my advice: Find a different book. This one was just not worth consuming.

This book lost me when Lila was described as 'fat and dumpy' and then it says she was a size 12. Well, the average size of most women is about a 14, and as a fabulous size 12 myself, I do not feel dumpy at all !! get out of your size 6 world and look around you. This really ruined the book for me, having to visualize a downer character with what I see is a positive quality.

This is the story of Steffi, a free-spirited vegan chef; Callie, her older sister; and Lila, their friend. At first the book felt like a warm bath, as Jane Green's stories typically do. Then it turned into a tearjerker, and a peripheral character became central. I didn't really like how the story changed, but I liked the characters and Green's cozy writing style enough to give the book 4 stars.

Very good book. Main characters: two sisters (Callie and Steffi) and Callie's best friend Lila. Callie is married, mother of two and a photographer; Steffi starts out as a chef in a NY vegan restaurant where she meets Mason (Publisher). This is a sad story, but a heart warming story, too. I always enjoy reading books by Jane Green and I love her book covers, too.

Jane Green will always hold a special place in my heart because "Jemima J" is one of my favorite books ever. While I can't say that "Promises to Keep" is anywhere as good as "Jemima J" it was definitely an entertaining, interesting, touching book. The characters are well-developed and relatable and although I think the ending was a bit too cliche, I still recommend this book as a nice beach read.

Ordinarily I love all the Jane Green books, but I had to really struggle to finish this one. I felt it was very predictable and I didn't care about and couldn't relate to the characters. Her last book wasn't my favorite either...hopefully the next one will be more engaging.

What happened to the author of laugh-out-loud Straight Talking and Babyville? The woman that could capture real life situations and the crazy emotions women (and sometimes, men) feel while trying to make sense of the world, families and relationships? If I wanted a "perfect family, perfect jobs, perfect kids, perfect love" kind of book, I would have....well, I don't think I would ever want that- I want to read about characters I can relate to, not a bunch of made up crap about perfect families that don't exist, cancer or not.

I'm sad that one of my favorite authors continues to phone it in- first the thrown together "Dune Road" and now this. So disappointing.

I would love to have the time I spent reading this book back.

Extremely predictible as to who ends up with whom, who is the perfect angel who must die, who steps up to handle to crisis, who gets back together, etc., etc. So incredibly formulamatic. At least the enclosed recipes were good.

I thoroughly enjoyed this title by Jane Green. While I still miss the younger, flightier characters of her older books, these characters, particularly Steffi, are well written and quite interesting. To me, Steffi was a wonderful homage to those single characters that I enjoyed reading about in earlier Jane Green books.