Book Reviews

Book Blurb

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 him. All except outgoing and popular Jersey Reid. 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 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 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 his prior mistakes be a barrier?

Although Koa is now a respectable English teacher at an elite boarding school, Jersey quickly learns that the boy from camp has darker secrets than he ever imagined.

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 Koa’s savior once. He was kind when no one else was. Jersey made him feel safe in an unsafe world.

Until Jersey broke a promise.

And promises are supposed to be for forever.

 

Book Review

“It's not what happens to you that determines how far you will go in life; it is how you handle what happens to you.” ~ Zig Ziglar

 

In 'Promises of Forever' by Nicky James, Jersey dreams of becoming a professional hockey player. Later, he fulfills that dream and is on top of the world until he isn't. An injury sidelines him and ends his career; painkillers lead to drug addiction, and he sinks deeper and deeper into despair.

 

After his parents die unexpectedly, memories of better times pull him back into his childhood memories, specifically of another boy, Koa, whom he met at summer camp where Koa and Jersey became best buddies. Jersey promised Koa they would be friends forever, but he didn't keep his promise. Like so many other things in his life, Jersey deserted Koa. When he finds letters that Koa wrote to him, Jersey realizes he needs to find Koa, apologize, and see if there is any chance for forgiveness.

 

Koa's life changes drastically after an unimaginably sad event, which leads him to withdraw from the world. With no one else to turn to, Koa goes to live with his grandfather, who is strict and unforgiving, only adding to Koa's trauma and lack of self-esteem. 

 

His grandfather sends him to summer camp to help him reconnect with the world. There, Koa meets Jersey, who becomes his best friend. When Jersey deserts Koa, Koa slips even further into despair. When Jersey reappears in his life several years later, Koa is shocked and asks him to leave, but he can't stop thinking of him. Like it or not, there's still a crack in the door he thought was closed on Jersey many years ago.

 

Nicky pulls no punches in 'Promises of Forever.' It's dark and traumatic, yet makes room for the power of forgiveness. Jersey and Koa both withdrew from life and went their separate ways, but were never able to sever the thread between them.

 

Throughout the book, Nicky builds the suspense and anticipation of what trauma caused Koa's devastating withdrawal from the world, but when it was revealed, it was so much worse than I had guessed. It doesn't seem right to say thank you for the visceral response I had to your book, but I do thank you for making me feel it. I'm looking forward to reading the next story in the series.

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book was purchased by the reviewer.

 

Additional Information

Format	ebook and print
Length	Novel, 367 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	29-February-2024
Price	$5.99 ebook, $16.99 paperback
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/Promises-Forever-Nicky-James-ebook/dp/B0CRRMDMMX