Promise to Cherish (The Promise of Sunrise #2) by Elizabeth Byler Younts

As World War II draws to a close, nurse Christine falls in love with roguish Amish boy Eli and must choose between a new, uncertain life in the Amish faith or face the judgment of a conservative postwar American society for her past mistakes.

It’s 1945, and Christine Freeman is a nurse at Hudson River State Hospital, where she works alongside members of a Civilian Public Service unit. Eli is one of the conscies—conscientious objectors to the war—and he is doing his best to become a man of character instead of the immature heartbreaker he used to be back home in his Amish community.

Christine and Eli are friendly, but when an old acquaintance, Jack, returns home from the war, Christine’s world is violently turned upside down. Eli, heartbroken to see his friend so hurt, offers her an escape within his Amish community. Despite her misgivings, Christine is fully embraced by Eli’s community. She slowly begins to feel valued and loved as she learns the Amish way of life.

Christine finds herself falling for Eli. But soon, the abusive Jack discovers Christine in her Amish hideaway and starts causing trouble for the quiet community. Christine can’t see herself becoming Amish, and she knows that if Eli leaves the church to be with her, he will be shunned. Will she escape Jack and possibly have to give up the one thing she holds most dear, or will she follow her heart and promise to cherish the Amish man who loves her?

About The Author  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elizabeth Byler Younts is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers and writes Amish Historical Fiction for Howard Books. She is an Air Force officer’s wife and a homeschooling mom with two young daughters. She makes her home wherever her family is stationed. Elizabeth was Amish as a child and after her parents left the church she still grew up among her Amish family and continues to speak Pennsylvania Dutch.

 

 

website

Http://www.elizabethbyleryounts.com 

 

Purchase

http://www.amazon.com/Promise-Cherish-Novel-Sunrise/dp/1476735034/ref=cm_aya_orig_subj

My Review:

 

A Promise To Return is a book that will linger in my mind for a long time, a book that I really didn’t want to end. The story takes place near the end of WWII and with the Amish being Pacifists, Eli, and our main character is sent to dig ditches. Eventually he ends up working in a mental hospital in Poughkeepsie, NY.
Also working at this hospital as a nurse is Christine, a person who cares too much, and is the sole provider for her parents. Both of her brothers have been killed in the War, and her father is very handicapped having been injured in WWI. Now you can see how she might feel about a pacifist.
What an eye opener being in that mental hospital is, such a horrible place, the state provides one sheet and one set of clothing per patient. So if your clothes get dirty, you walk nude until they come back from the laundry. Not enough beds, sheets or blankets, and never mind not enough staff.
Christine would be what we think of now days as a geek, she was an outstanding student, but very quiet. Now some of her high school friends get her to go to a reunion party, and there is the star football player Jack, back from the war, and she is again smitten he would play attention to her. I felt so sorry for her, and what a jerk, for lack of a better word, he was to her and other woman.
When circumstance force Christine to leave the hospital and Eli’s tour has ended, he persuades her to come home with him. What a rude awakening Christine is in for, I can’t even imagine! No turning the switch, or flushing the toilet here.
Can someone go from non-Amish to Amish? I suppose it is possible, but how about Eli, can he marry and English? There are answers here, and some you probably won’t like, but this page-turner kept me reading right to the end, and I wanted more. This one is sure to keep your attention.

I received this book through Net Galley and the Howard Books, and was not required to give a positive review.