For Diana Jones, the opportunity to work as assistant to partner Robert Royalton for the prestigious law firm of Smith & Hampton is an opportunity to move up in the world. From a powerful, aristocratic family, Royalton's position and status were the markers of a career on the rise to the highest level of the firm. Once settled in, though, Diana finds herself caught up in a whirlwind of romance, dark secrets, and even darker threats. Soon engaged, she receives mysterious notes signed with the name "Nemesis," but she is unsure whether the notes are meant as a threat or if they were sent as a warning. As her engagement turns to marriage, then motherhood, Diana must decide how far she is willing to go to find the truth when she uncovers questions surrounding the deaths of Royalton's parents and the strange disappearance of his sister. As she treads deeper into the macabre past of the Royalton family, Diana finds herself and her newborn son in the middle of a dangerous game where terrifying secrets from the past come to life in the present. Inspired by the history of the old, royal families and the lengths to which they will go to protect their bloodlines, Promises is a brooding, intense mystery where danger lurks around every corner and the past holds extraordinary power over the present. Adding to the sense of unease and growing panic is Bee Pedersen's light-handed touch, an almost whimsical style that belies the growing darkness beneath it, thereby adding to the discomfort and the novel's overall suspense. From its thematic complexity to its spot-on dialogue, tension-filled narrative, and thrilling plotline reminiscent of Mary Higgins Clark and Agatha Christie, Promises delivers on every level, a fascinating journey where the world we see is never what it appears to be, and life and death hang inexorably in the balance.
