Review: The Promise of Rain

Title: The Promise of Rain (Book 1)
Author: Rula Sinara
Publisher: Harlequin Heartwarming
Genre: Romance (Clean)
Release: January 1, 2014
Source: ARC from author

Summary & Cover

He wants to take her child out of Africa...

The Busara elephant research and rescue camp on Kenya's Serengeti is Anna Bekker's life's work. And it's the last place she thought she'd run into Dr. Jackson Harper. As soon as he sets eyes on her four-year-old, Pippa, Anna knows he'll never leave...without his daughter.

Furious doesn't begin to describe how Jack feels. How could Anna keep this from him? He has to get his child back to the States. Yet as angry as he is with Anna, they still have a bond. But can it endure, despite the ocean--and the little girl--between them?

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Thoughts

Wow. Wow! It was so refreshing to read such a clean romance. I thoroughly enjoyed The Promise of Rain.

Our main characters, Anna and Jack, are long-time friends. Anna has trust issues about men and love due to her father. Jack has trust and love issues due to his birth parents. 

Jack was adopted after his biological parents died from drug overdoses. He was grateful and loved his adoptive family, but never could say the word, "love."

Anna loved Jack, but refused to be the one to say it. 

After graduating from college, Jack and Anna took their friendship to the next level. Anna was leaving for Africa and Jack proposed. Anna thought he was only proposing because they had taken that big step in their relationship. She turned him down and ran to Africa so she could do her elephant project.

Jack, not knowing that Anna got pregnant that night, shows up at her elephant camp to see a little girl who is a mirror image of himself.

The story alternates POV between Anna and Jack. It's actually nice to get into both of their heads. It makes their stubbornness so much more understood.

With all of the bickering, doubting of feelings, deciding to build back a friendship, and the daughter living situation, the background story is about the poaching of elephants in the Serengeti. I absolutely love that Sinara was able to build such a creative and visionary place for my mind. I empathized with those sweet baby elephants and with the funding crisis Anna and her team were having.

If you love a great heartfelt (or heartwarming...haha! Get it!?!) book, this is definitely one to add to your TBR list. So much information and great reading and tears at the end.

A review copy was provided. All thoughts are my own and I have not been persuaded in any way.

Rating

The Promise of Rain definitely deserves 4 lovey-dovey Mickeys from me! I loved the story and the passion for the elephants, poaching, and Africa. I love when an author has such a strong connection to the topic.

About the Author

After a childhood enriched with exotic travels and adventures (both in books and real life), Rula

Sinara is now settled in rural Virginia with her husband, three boys and crazy but endearing pets. When she's not writing, she's busy attracting wildlife to her yard, watching romantic movies (despite male protests) or researching trees on her garden wish list.

Her debut novel, The Promise of Rain (Harlequin Heartwarming), will release January 2014. It's set primarily at an orphaned elephant rescue camp in Kenya's Serengeti and is the first of three books in a series.

Rula enjoys interviewing fellow authors and is a Special Contributor for USA Today's Happy Ever After blog. Find links to her interviews and discover more about her at www.rulasinara.com or www.awritersrush.blogspot.com.