Amy Lane - Keeping Rock Promise

Carrick Francis has spent most of his life jumping into trouble with both feet. The only thing saving him from prison or worse is his absolute devotion to Deacon Winters. Deacon was Crick's sanity and salvation during a miserable, abusive childhood, and Crick would do anything to stay with him forever. So when Deacon's father dies, Crick puts his college plans on hold to help Deacon as Deacon has helped him.
Deacon's greatest wish is to see Crick escape his memories and the town they grew up in so Crick can enjoy a shining future. But after two years of growing feelings and temptation, the painfully shy Deacon finally succumbs to Crick's determined advances and admits he sees himself as part of Crick's life.
It nearly destroys Deacon when he discovers Crick has been waiting for him to push him away, just like Crick's family did in the past. When Crick's knack for volatile decisions lands him far away from home, Deacon is left, shell-shocked and alone, struggling to reforge his heart in a world where love with Crick is a promise, but by no means a certainty.

Comment: This is another book I had in my pile to read for some years now. I'm making an effort in trying to go through long standing books and I hope I can keep on doing it the following years too. This was in the pile after someone's recommendation but I can't remember exactly why.

In this story we meet Carrick Francis, a young man who has always seemed to get himself into trouble but he discovered a model hero in Deacon Winters, the son of a man who took him in even when his own family didn't. Being at the Winters' farm was great in many ways, especially because it allowed him to realize he wasn't only thankful to Deacon's help and attention, but also to the fact he liked Deacon as more than a friend.

Since Carrick is so young, Deacon never really does anything about it until the day of their friends Jon and Amy's wedding but some miscommunication afterwards turned things into an almost unbearable situation. Can these two overcome their issues and make a happy life together?

This was a good story, very rich in details and emotions but it was also very angsty. If I had to summarize things, I'd say it was a little too much in the negative aspects so, despite the beauty of the writing and the analysis behind every action, this novel would probably read as just being a little over average for me.

This is basically a story about two guys not really thinking about each other romantically until a certain point. I liked how the author has tried to keep things simple, no big mastermind plot behind any action, any sequence, this is just a group of average people going about their lives. As in real life, things don't go perfectly scripted and all characters face lots of everyday situations and others not as easy to go through. I did like the fact the author inserted this vibe of normalcy in their lives and we can wonder how many thousands have similar lives or similar situations to overcome in their existence as well.

What I think is the most negative detail isn't the problems the characters face. I think the problem is the amount of problems. In almost every chapter there's something to solve, something to discuss, something to fear, something to go through, something to try to not worry about, something to... and so on. I know this can be realistic and I think the author wasn't trying to hide anything in relation to the type of issues real people go through, so this book has realism and emotion but it was too much. I felt like I had no time to breathe between the problems, the heartbreak and the defeat in certain chapters. 

Thankfully, there's a HEA at the end, otherwise, I'd go crazy thinking there wouldn't be no hope at all to them.

Carrick is a cute character and his personality is pretty much obvious from the start. He does go through several issues but I liked that despite all, I could commiserate with him and his words. He does act a little too impetuously and I found some outcomes of this to be rather exaggerated but overall his actions revealed someone caring and I'd have liked to know him in real life.

Deacon is more reserved but through his actions and decisions we understand he is someone amazing and trustworthy. I could see why he and Carrick are a good couple but their relationship wasn't an easy one until the end of the novel. I would have liked to see them interact more and in a more relaxed environment fr certain.

The plot is filled with difficult scenes. As I've said, the main theme is definitely emotion through obstacle overcoming, but I still liked little impressions we are supposed to get and feel by going through everything. However, it can be a little exhausting to read this because it feels like the problems are on going and it's hard not to be a little depressed about it.

Grade: 7/10