‘Monday Monday, so good to me. Monday morning, it was all I hope it would beeee.’
-bops-.
What day is it again?! Ahem! Today I am rather honoured to be kicking off the blog tour for Rosie Clarke’s, ‘Jessie’s Promise’, published by Aria Fiction, with a review. What a way to kick off a brand new week!
My name is TWG and I am an Aria Addict….
Enjoy!
What does TWG think?
Set in 1918, lifestyles were incredibly different in terms of finding employment, amongst other things. If you were deemed a ‘well-respected’ member of the work force and irreplaceable, your word was pretty much ‘it’. However, if you were at the lower end of the work force, for example a nurse (deemed replaceable), it would be lucky if anything you said was believed by those higher up. After all, who would you believe; a top-notch, irreplaceable member of the team, or a…nurse? Similar circumstances were featured within the storyline for ‘Jessie’s Promise’; it was as if you needed to keep your friends close, your enemies closer and someone well respected to be your ally. It did shock me I must admit.
When Jessie found a new position as a nursemaid in Devon, she soon realised how much thicker her already thick skin, needed to get. Especially seeing as members of the family she worked for seemed to disagree with every single thing she uttered. In the first few chapters leading up to Jessie’s new job, I did find myself struggling with the overall storyline as I couldn’t find the edge I needed, to hold onto and fully invest in the characters.
I’m not one to give up on books, especially when it sounds so promising and my cup of tea, so I didn’t! Soon enough I found myself three-quarters of the way through the book, without even realising. Somewhere between Jessie’s old job and her new job, a light switched on and I was hooked on the storyline and its fabulous characters. Well, not ALL of the characters were fabulous! Lets just say one in particular was shockingly hateful; everything about this character rubbed me up the wrong way and her actions towards those around her were diabolical. I was impressed with Rosie Clarke’s way with words, especially where THAT character was concerned; hats off to the author for including a character who will be spoken about for a very long time!
Despite having a rocky start with the novel, it proved itself to be such a wholesome, jam-packed and emotional read; I am SO glad that I didn’t give up on it and carried on reading. There were moments of devastating circumstances and eye-opening situations, yet the author kept the momentum one hundred percent; and didn’t falter when it came to continuing the storyline after those events. I really did enjoy ‘Jessie’s Promise’ and I have to say that Catherine was my most favourite character, without a doubt.
A learning curve within a novel, Jessie’s Promise is full of just that, promise. With three-dimensional characters and enough storyline substance to keep you going through until dinner, ‘Jessie’s Promise’ is a book that just HAS to be devoured this year. The first book I have read by Rosie Clarke, I am about to go nab her others!
Thank you Aria!
Buy: Amazon // Kobo // iBooks // Google Play
About the author.
RNA Romance Award and the Betty Neels Trophy.
The Writing Garnet 