Paula Moldenhauer
Fiction Friday – Promise Me This, Cathy Gohlke

With all of the excitement about the 100th Anniversary of the RMS Titanic, Promise Me This by two-time Christy Award winner, Cathy Gohlke, is a must read. Publisher’s Weekly calls it a “gripping tale of sacrifice, love, and hope,” and Library Journal say it is, “dramatic and heart-wrenching.”

I was excited when I received Promise Me This in the mail. Cathy and I became acquainted when a mutual friend asked me to take a look at Cathy’s first book, William Henry is a Fine Name, a book that captivated the whole family when I read it aloud to my children. I was thrilled when she asked me to take a look at her latest novel and see what I thought. Not only do I have great respect for Cathy’s talent and skill as a storyteller, but I have also grown to love her for her loyal, kind heart.

Promise Me This has Cathy’s signature depth of story and character, as well as authentic historical setting. Her story was tender and moving, but did not shy away from the difficulties presented by both the tragedy of the RMS Titanic and the horrors of WWI. The tension stayed high through many plot twists, and her main characters, Michael and Annie, drew me right in.

Here’s the back cover copy:

Cathy Gohlke

Michael Dunnagan was never supposed to sail on the Titanic, nor would he have survived if not for the courage of Owen Allen. Determined to carry out his promise to care for Owen’s relatives in America and his younger sister, Annie, in England, Michael works hard to strengthen the family’s New Jersey garden and landscaping business.

Annie Allen doesn’t care what Michael promised Owen. She only knows that her brother is gone—like their mother and father—and the grief is enough to swallow her whole. As Annie struggles to navigate life without Owen, Michael reaches out to her through letters. In time, as Annie begins to lay aside her anger that Michael lived when Owen did not, a tentative friendship takes root and blossoms into something neither expected. Just as Michael saves enough money to bring Annie to America, WWI erupts in Europe. When Annie’s letters mysteriously stop, Michael risks everything to fulfill his promise—and find the woman he’s grown to love—before she’s lost forever.