About the Book

Title: Son of Promise

Author: Caryl McAdoo

Genre: Woman’s Fiction

Be it known, your sins will find you out, but God’s mercy endureth forever!

Can a wife find the grace to forgive when her husband’s withheld the truth?

Travis Buckmeyer has a secret son, and the morning’s come to tell his sweet wife. He hates breaking Emma Lee’s heart. She promised him one ten years ago, but hasn’t been blessed to carry a baby to term. Every miscarriage made the telling harder, but now his clock’s run out. He’s going for his son, praying he won’t lose her.

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Guest Review from Mindy Houng

This is the first book of Caryl McAdoo’s that I had the privilege of reading. I realize that this book is the latest installment of a family saga but it could be read as a stand-alone. If I had read the previous books, I would have had better insight into the family dynamics, the personalities within the families and probably Travis and Emma Lee’s relationship but the author provided enough details in this book that I did not feel lost in the story.

The story takes place in southern Texas in 1950. Travis is a farmer who breeds cows and horses and Emma Lee is his artist wife of 10 years still hoping and praying to expand their family. Travis discovers that his 12-yo son, from one night with a waitress during his traveling, needs his help and the couple set out to do what is good and right. Travis and Emma Lee are wonderful characters, full of flaws and faults, who are not afraid to admit their weaknesses and say they’re sorry. They both embody what a true Christian should look like – full of love, forgiveness, faith and prayer. Cody, Travis’ son, starts out being a punk but the story chronicles God’s hand on him and how He changes Cody one day at a time.

The story is well-constructed and full of hope and second-chances. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I had hoped. The historical setting of 1950s didn’t pique my interest and I had a difficult time following the language and lingo of southern Texas in the 1950s. Third person point-of-view in which the book is written switched quite a bit, which confused me and impeded my flow of reading. I did appreciate the sweet love and romance between Travis and Emma Lee. I also appreciated the sense of family and bond that the couple created for Cody. The visions and words from the Lord given to Travis, Emma Lee, and Cody (among others) were great reminders that God is very much alive and ready to move in our lives when we’re willing.

I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher via Celebrate Lit Tour. I was not required to write a favorable review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.

About the Author

Caryl McAdoo prays her story brings God glory, and a quick scroll through her novels’ rankings by Christian readers attests to the Father’s faithfulness. She loves writing almost as much as singing the new songs He gives her—look her up on YouTube to hear a few. Her high school sweetheart husband won her heart fifty-two years ago, and now they share four children and seventeen grandsugars. Ron and Caryl live in the woods south of Clarksville, seat of Red River County in far Northeast Texas, waiting expectantly for God to open the next door.

Guest Post from Caryl McAdoo

SON OF PROMISE—a companion story to my Texas Romance Family Saga’s book ten CHIEF OF SINNERS—features Travis and Emma Lee Buckmeyer, who readers first meet in CHIEF. She’s the sister of its heroine Sandy Harris, and he is a friend of its hero Buddy Nightingale; he’s also the son of Crockett Buckmeyer (from book eight COVERING LOVE) and grandson of Patrick Henry Buckmeyer (hero of book one VOW UNBROKEN).

A standalone, it isn’t necessary for readers to know all these ancestors to enjoy SON OF PROMISE, but those who do will surely love it all the more. What I know is that this couple won a chunk of my heart. Their faith is outstanding and their love inspiring. In the ’40s, Emma Lee didn’t have the fertility options young women do today, and miscarriage after miscarriage left her hurting. That’s why he hadn’t told her.

He didn’t want to hurt her, but circumstances had changed, and time was up. She had to be told that morning he already had a son born from a one night liaison thirteen years before because he was leaving to claim his Cody from a reform school and bring him home.

The boy had never known real love, but I loved him from the first. Forced to grow up way too fast—lying, stealing, and participating in most any other rebellious act—he’s missed so much. He’s overwhelmed with Travis and Emma Lee—their home, their partnership and love for each other, and their generosity toward him.

He planned to light out from the start, but days piled on top each other, and he never pulled the trigger.

In VOW UNBROKEN, there was an awesome canine named Blue Dog, and I went into his POV (Point Of View—got into his head) a couple of times. My Simon & Schuster editor ‘requested’ that I lose those segments, and so I did. But in this novel, I get into a canine’s head again . . . I’m hoping readers will find that fun.

In years past, I owned, managed, and milked a herd of eighty-plus dwarf goats and loved their Great Pyrenees guardians, so it was fun to include them in the story. I love how Emma Lee was able to sell her paintings for exorbitant prices, but remained so humble and unassuming. And that she and Travis opened their home (they’re so much like my husband and me) to total strangers. We’ve had so many people live with us over the years, to help them, be blessings—the hands and feet of God in the earth.

I pray my story gives God glory and that its readers will be drawn closer to Him through it. He blesses me and highly favors me daily. I can’t thank or praise Him enough!