The Last Promise You Made (The Hatley Family Book 2)

LJ Evans made my heart bleed with Gia, Ryder and Addy in The Last Promise You Made! There are so many emotions from the very beginning its impossible not to get wrapped up in this book and her characters!!Ryder is not JUST a growly cowboy, he is an angry man who's been left behind by not one, but TWO women and his heart has scarred over and he's unwilling to let anyone else back in. So when he gets the call from Maddox, and the surprise of his life of course the first emotion he reaches for is anger, he doesn't know how to do anything else.He opens up quickly though, it's impossible not to when the dreams he thought were smashed beyond repair are coming back to life right in front of him. Ryder just has to make sure to keep guarding his heart because like last time, Gia might not stay, she might not be what she seems like this time. LJ makes Ryder so sweet, smart, and effervescent when it comes to the love he has for his family and their land, I just wanted to squeeze him!!Gia seems like a rock polished to a diamond, determined to keep people from reaching the core of her. When she finds Addy, she knows she has to do the one thing she never wanted to; return to the Hatley Ranch and Whitlock, Tennessee. Gia is more resolute now than ever to lock up any feelings she might have had for the surly rancher. She and Ryder have nothing in common, and he is sure she's nothing but a liar and maybe even a thief.Gia is strong, sexy, and suspenseful throughout most of the first half of The Last Promise You Made. Why is she ok with protectors that are not known to the county sherrifs sticking around the house, especially when he disappears every time something else happens with the Lovados? Why will she not answer questions, but she expects Ryder to keep everything swirling around them secret - even from his family??The suspense in this book is absolutely hair raising in certain parts, and had me racing through it afraid to miss even a single sentence! The color sequence at the ball was over the top disturbing, and had me shivering with each course. It was also incredibly interesting because I could tell where Jaime intended to go with it and I wondered if it disturbed his guests as much as it disturbed Gia and Ryder, or if it was solely for their benefit.In the end LJ Evans has written a gloriously emotional book with beautiful characters that I am sad to leave behind, she gave them such a sweet ending with everything everyone deserved. The epilogue is absolutely FIRE, and I cannot WAIT to get back to the Hatley Ranch soon!!

With this story the author takes us back to Willow Creek, the small town that made me fall in love with her writing. The Hatley ranch is not new to me; I fictionally visited it twice already. Rider, the grumpy rancher made me curios about his heartbreak hinted in his brother’s story, but learning about the deception he suffered was hard even for me. Prepare yourself for an emotion ride, an undercover agent and a grumpy rancher brought together by a little miracle, a little girl that suffered a lot in her short life. It was very fast paced; I liked that since I don’t like it when things drag on. I know this is supposed to be about the romance and the thrill of suspense, but for me is all about the love a little girl ignited in the hearth of those who just met her. The suspense was thrilling, and it made my day to guess who the villain is, the romance blooming between Rider and Gia was beautiful to witness, but what made me want to stop real life and continue reading was the happy ending Addy deserved with a family, something she never really had. Seeing her learn to slowly trust the adults in her life was rewarding, she also helped her father with his trust issues. An absolutely beautiful story!

Enjoyed the story. Felt lost at times with so many references to situations that happened in other books. Read the first book in this series and absolutely loved it. Was looking forward to this the second book, BUT No clue it was so intertwined with the Painted Daisy series. Made the first half of the book frustrating for me. The suspense and last 15-20% of the book made the frustration worth it. Highly recommend putting some disclaimer or heads up to read the other books. Especially for readers like me who get frustrated without all the details. Apologies if I overlooked one that was already out there. I will hands down recommend this series. but think it would have been better without the spiderweb connections to your other books and just stood on its own

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5The Last Promise You Made is an outright thriller. It gets better and more suspenseful with each page read. There is a slow-burn romance, a mystery, a family reunion, and more suspense than a reader can handle. Simply put, this book had everything a reader could want in a reading experience.I loved being back in Willow Creek, Montana, with the Hatley Family. It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces and make connections between the characters of different LJ Evands books I have read. Gia and Ryder's story is gripping and painful yet beautifully triumphant. Only LJ Evans can take an international problem, have it converge on a small, midwestern town, and keep me fascinated from the first word to the very last.The Last Promise You Made is a story of self-discovery, personal deliverance, and healing. There is heartbreak, humor, and huge amounts of love on every level. It is a solid second installment in this series that brings closure but also feeds curiosity about what comes next for this fiercely loyal family.

It grabbed my attention from the first chapter. By Chapter 2, I was already feeling the emotions.This is a complex story with angst, suspense, danger, and romance. There were some moments that had me feeling some pain, but there were many more sweet and adorable moments that made me smile, and a few that made me laugh.The romance is a slow burn, but the story is packed with so much it kept me turning the pages. This is a longer one, but the playful banter and chemistry kept my attention. Most of all Ryder, Gia, and Abby's stories had me captivated, I liked how the story and relationships centered around Abby. The evolution of the characters and the relationships captured my heart. The suspense and sense of danger kept me turning the pages.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤. 𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞: 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞, 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚 (𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐬), 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 (𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞) 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬!𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 (𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐈'𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬.𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐆𝐢𝐚 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 (𝐚 𝐍𝐒𝐀 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭) 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐲𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐚𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭.𝐆𝐢𝐚, 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐲’𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐀𝐝𝐝𝐲, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐑𝐲𝐝𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 (𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭).𝐁𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲.𝐀𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐀𝐝𝐝𝐲. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞.𝐋𝐉 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧!