https://www.gayauthors.org/story/fleetingrainbows/asinglepromise

I just finished reading "A Single Promise" yesterday. It look longer than usual to read this story, since work's been crazy busy I haven't had the time to dedicate to reading much.

So I wanted to start off by saying that the dialog in the story was beautifully written. The emotions tied into the conversational dialog between characters were vivid enough that I could picture actors and actresses to be able to pick it up and know exactly how to act out the scene if need be. There are almost purposeful misdirection in the narration to make the reader think that the unthinkable happen, just so it can be fully explained in the next chapter (like the gun-fight).

FleetingRainbows has a distinct ability to describe raw emotions, especially pain, turmoil, regret, doubt, rage, and anger. The ability to describe both the aggressor and the victim of a domestic abuse is a unique gift and he does it superbly.

However, the story did started out kind of awkward. There were definitely times when the overusage of pronouns made it difficult to follow the storyline. In fact I had to reread various sections of the first three chapters in order to get what was happening - but the plot grew on me... By the first night I had the first 15 chapters read and I was happy to see

Certain inside jokes like "Who the hell is Vince and where did it come from?" was not answered until towards the very end of the book, which was again, slightly aggravating considering you had to keep reading like you knew what was going on, but knowing you hadn't had a clue who Vince was.

By Chapter 33 you knew it was going to be a happy ending, but Chapter 35 the unknowns were tied into a neat package and "they lived happily ever after."

I loved the plot and I really liked the progression of in depth effects of rape victims and how one could potentially feel while getting over traumatic experiences, especially those that happen over time. However, it did seem highly irregular that Alex healed psychologically and was able to "break out of his shell" in such short time. It was explained that Kris was able to do this because the two knew each other so well that they could draw each other out of their comfort zones to "move on", so to speak. However, it was almost too convenient to have Hope be their couples therapist... even live-in counseling.

I'm glad the plot ended the way it did, but it almost seems like the sense of time in the story was never really constant. Certain times the story would stay in one speed for about 3/4 a chapter and then randomly time flies like a cassette tape was fast-forwarded. Other times time flew by so fast and then randomly someone hits the Slow-Motion Play button and every thought becomes breathtakingly vivid.

Lastly, considering I read the story on the GA Mobile Skin, this might be through no fault of the author, but there was no difference between a story narration, dialog, a thought, a flashback, or the other end of a phone conversation. The random italicization gave little or no actual indication of what was going on until you read about three paragraphs in, which combined with the random time progressions throughout the story, became someone of a weird brain roller coaster.

All in all, the flaws made the reading experience that much more uncertain. It made it actually seem like events were actually unraveling in my mind in such a way that the psychological toll and reactions were brought to me as if I were living them. If this was what the author intended, then a big bravo. It brought me to the edge of my seat... well... not necessarily, I was reading in bed and it's just weird to be lying at the edge of my bed reading... but I digress. The mental roller coaster meant I got to experience the uncertainty as well, which enriched the reading experience that much more.

I think when the pain and hurt was over for Kris and Alex, there wasn't much else left to do but to wrap things up. I would like to see a sequel perhaps, or even a side plot. While I do think that Johnny was a douche for doing what he did, I must say the "I thought it was a good idea at the time" excuse was used by every one of us at one point or another. However, keeping it a secret was never a good idea and I think Johnny knew that, but didn't want to lose Kris. Irony: the truth came out anyways and Johnny lost. I do want to see what happened with Johnny, perhaps a prequel on how Johnny originally met Phil and how they were able to get back together (so conveniently quickly) could be a nice side plot to develop. An eventual meeting/catching up could draw Alex and Kris back in to the picture to really see if they saw each other, one of them would walk on the other side of the street?

I hope I'm not too harsh on the review. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED the story and I wept with Alex with his pain, which in itself is a testament of how vivid those scenes were, but there are improvements in which I hope either gets fixed or is brought up prior the next story written.

FleetingRainbows: Thank you for a wonderful mental roller coaster and for making me connect with the psychological effects of trauma victims. It was an eye-opening experience for sure.