Deep River Promise (Alaska Homecoming 2) by Jackie Ashenden -a review

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Welcome to Deep River, Alaska

Damon Fitzgerald’s only desire is to get back to LA and out of the tiny Alaskan town he’s somehow inherited. But first he has to keep a promise he made to his old army buddy and look out for his friend’s son. That would be a whole lot easier if the kid’s mother wasn’t the mayor of Deep River…

Astrid James didn’t ask to be mayor of Deep River but since she is, she intends to do right by the town and her son. The last thing she needs is an arrogant outsider coming in and taking charge, no matter how attractive he is. But when Astrid starts to realize that Damon is more than just a pretty face, she’ll have to decide whether she can risk her heart and her son’s happiness on a man who’s mission is to leave Deep River.

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REVIEW:DEEP RIVER PROMISE is the second instalment in Jackie Ashenden’s contemporary, adult ALASKA HOMECOMING romance series focusing on three friends who inherited the small town of Deep River, Alaska when their best friend died in a place crash. This is bush pilot Damon Fitzgerald, and Deep River Mayor and librarian Astrid James’ story line. DEEP RIVER PROMISE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous instalment is revealed where necessary.

SOME BACKGROUND: Thirteen years earlier Silas Quinn (Home to Deep River 1), along with his best friend Caleb West, swore never to return to Deep River but with Caleb’s death came the ownership of the town of Deep River, owned by the West family for close to one hundred years, now passed on to our hero Damon, and his friends Silas and Zeke.

Told from dual third person perspective (Damon and Astrid) DEEP RIVER PROMISE follows Damon Fitzgerald as he endeavors to come to terms with partial ownership of the small town of Deep River, Alaska but Deep River sits on a field of oil, a field of which the Big Oil companies are hoping to own. In an effort to strengthen the town, and bring in some much need tourism and money, Damon Fitzgerald, along with his best friend Silas Quinn, and the town’s Mayor Astrid James, begin to ferret out a number of possibilities but Damon never expected to lose his heart to the town and the woman with whom he would fall in love. What ensues is the quick building romance and relationship between Astrid and Damon, and the potential fall-out as Damon struggles with demons from the past, and an ailing mother back home in Los Angeles, California.

Astrid James is a single mother to thirteen year old Connor James but Astrid’s secret is about to be exposed with the arrival of Damon Fitzgerald, a man who stirs something deep within our story line heroine. Having loved and lost, and loved and lost again, Astrid ‘ran’ to Deep River, Alaska, a town with too many memories but a town that has accepted Astrid, and the boy that she loves. Damon Fitzgerald never wanted to own Deep River, Alaska, and is preparing to walk away once a plan has been put into action to save a town that meant much to his former best friend but Damon never expected to meet a feisty, single mother, a woman who isn’t afraid to call Damon out on his excuses and fears. After his death, Caleb’s request meant Damon had a responsibility, a responsibility that now included Astrid and her fifteen year old son, Connor.

The relationship between Damon and Astrid is one of immediate attraction but Damon’s time in Deep River comes with an expiry date, and Damon refuses to hang around for the long haul. Falling in love was never on the agenda but Astrid, and her son Connor, made it difficult for Damon to walk away. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are reintroduced to Silas Quinn and his girlfriend Hope Dawson; Astrid’s son Connor; Caleb’s sister Morgan West; as well as ferry operator Kevin Anderson; general store owner Malcolm Cooper; tourism operator Sandy; and wannabe luxury motel owner Mike Flint. Zeke and Morgan’s story line is next.

DEEP RIVER PROMISE is a story of family, betrayal, loss and love; a story of survival and reflection; promises and happily ever after. The premise is inspiring; the romance is spirited and heart breaking; the characters are sassy, determined and lost.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one COME HOME TO DEEP RIVER

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy