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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
Being generous and rounding up to 2.5 ⭐️. I have never been so disappointed in a sequel before. A few issues as to why this book was such a miss for me. 1 ) so much time passed between the first and second book that I was confused for the entire first half. There are entirely too many characters. If you read Say you Swear so long a go like me, you have completely forgotten who is who. 2) the dual POV jumping back and forth in time. Confusing as hell. 3) literally nothing happens in this book. The entire book is Peyton freaking out then Mason freaking out, over and over and over again.
Unfortunately, I found myself skimming the last 25% or so to get to the predictable ending. 4) the nickname “ pretty little” gave me the biggest ick.
Unfortunately, I found myself skimming the last 25% or so to get to the predictable ending. 4) the nickname “ pretty little” gave me the biggest ick.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Some lines felt repetitive. The book is all inner thoughts, barely anything happens. The last few pages are **** and I don’t think she’s even 18. I read it in 48 hours and it at times felt painful. His claiming of the kid is so premature
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Death of parent
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I found a bit hard to follow who was who but that’s because I didn’t read say you swear first cause I didn’t realise they were inter connected.
Chase needs his own book.
Cameron’s book is next and I’m so glad because poor Pookie seemed so heart broken when she found out Alister was using her so I wanna she her get her happy ending.
But it’s such a sad book like the way together there not she has a bf he does them she has his baby then she finds a new guy then she says actually no then yes then no then yes like…… bruh.
Also I didn’t realise this book had smut like one minute mason was a sweet guy next minute BAM!
Anyways yeah that’s my thoughts I love how mason is determined to keep Deatons memory alive for Little Deaton.
But yeahhhhh I wanna see everyone else’s books see who they end up with and then now go backwards and read the first book.
Chase needs his own book.
Cameron’s book is next and I’m so glad because poor Pookie seemed so heart broken when she found out Alister was using her so I wanna she her get her happy ending.
But it’s such a sad book like the way together there not she has a bf he does them she has his baby then she finds a new guy then she says actually no then yes then no then yes like…… bruh.
Also I didn’t realise this book had smut like one minute mason was a sweet guy next minute BAM!
Anyways yeah that’s my thoughts I love how mason is determined to keep Deatons memory alive for Little Deaton.
But yeahhhhh I wanna see everyone else’s books see who they end up with and then now go backwards and read the first book.
I decided to read this after reading say you swear. It Is one of my favorite books and is one of the books that got me interested in reading romance. I absolutely loved the book and was expecting this to be just as good but I was incredibly disappointed.
Personally I very rarely enjoy reading stories told through flashbacks and this was not one of those times. They felt very random and I had to keep going back to the beginning of chapters to confirm which timeline I was reading about.
By the time I got done reading the book I really did not like Payton. At the beginning of the story I felt bad for her. She had been through a lot and I was sympathetic but after making so many irritating decisions my sympathy really ran out. The girl was running from every little thing. Like literally running away from conversations. I could never imagine reacting this way in real life and it was just very cringe when it happened. It always felt very extra and like she just wanted attention. I thought it was something her character would outgrow but she had no development and I could not understand why it wasn't something she tried working on. Especially considering the fact she spends a majority of the book feeling guilty and saying that her running away from a situation is what killed the father of her child. I just wanted to scream at her to learn to regulate her emotions. The book seemed to want to be very boo hoo for Payton but she was the one making the decisions not only hurting her but the guys she claimed to love. It also really felt like she was stringing Mason along. She said she doesn't want to be selfish and that's why she doesn't want to pursue their relationship but it seems pretty selfish to also tell that person to wait for just in case you decide you want to be with them. If she really didn't want to be with him she should have told him not to wait. The very least she could have done was NOT promise him to let him continue to see her and her son and then ghost him.
As for Mason, there were certain things he did that felt very weird to me. He was very possessive and not always in the best way especially since they werent together. I thought his relationship with Paytons son Deaton was cute but some times felt kind of weird. Sometimes it felt like Payton was the benefit of being around deaton instead of deaton being the benefit of dating Payton if that makes any sense. When he calls himself Deatons dad during his fight with Alistar it felt weird to me evenHe wasnt the father and wasn't even dating Payton at the time, especially since this was also after she basically tells him she's worried about replacing Deatons father. The story really just had me feeling sorry for Mason. He had his faults but was the more likeable of the 2 main characters so I found myself wishing for his happiness more. Honestly I would have been happy if the ending was a giant twist and ended more as story of self love for him. He deserved better. I wanted him to learn that he didn't need to be needed by someone to be of worth. He didn't need to be an amazing athlete or be doing something for someone to have value. But you know the heart wants what it wants so he continued fighting to be with deaton and Payton.
That being said I am interested in reading Camerons book especially after what happened at the end. I'm also interested in Chases story because honestly he needs to stop getting thrown into others. I didn't like him in say you swear and was laughing to myself when he was being inserted in this relationship. IDK if he was actually interested in Payton during this or if he was just being there for her but he needs his love story especially if he did like Payton because it's kinda sad if hes only falling for woman who are unavailable
Personally I very rarely enjoy reading stories told through flashbacks and this was not one of those times. They felt very random and I had to keep going back to the beginning of chapters to confirm which timeline I was reading about.
By the time I got done reading the book I really did not like Payton. At the beginning of the story I felt bad for her. She had been through a lot and I was sympathetic but after making so many irritating decisions my sympathy really ran out. The girl was running from every little thing. Like literally running away from conversations. I could never imagine reacting this way in real life and it was just very cringe when it happened. It always felt very extra and like she just wanted attention. I thought it was something her character would outgrow but she had no development and I could not understand why it wasn't something she tried working on. Especially considering the fact she spends a majority of the book feeling guilty and saying that her running away from a situation is what killed the father of her child. I just wanted to scream at her to learn to regulate her emotions. The book seemed to want to be very boo hoo for Payton but she was the one making the decisions not only hurting her but the guys she claimed to love. It also really felt like she was stringing Mason along. She said she doesn't want to be selfish and that's why she doesn't want to pursue their relationship but it seems pretty selfish to also tell that person to wait for just in case you decide you want to be with them. If she really didn't want to be with him she should have told him not to wait. The very least she could have done was NOT promise him to let him continue to see her and her son and then ghost him.
As for Mason, there were certain things he did that felt very weird to me. He was very possessive and not always in the best way especially since they werent together. I thought his relationship with Paytons son Deaton was cute but some times felt kind of weird. Sometimes it felt like Payton was the benefit of being around deaton instead of deaton being the benefit of dating Payton if that makes any sense. When he calls himself Deatons dad during his fight with Alistar it felt weird to me evenHe wasnt the father and wasn't even dating Payton at the time, especially since this was also after she basically tells him she's worried about replacing Deatons father. The story really just had me feeling sorry for Mason. He had his faults but was the more likeable of the 2 main characters so I found myself wishing for his happiness more. Honestly I would have been happy if the ending was a giant twist and ended more as story of self love for him. He deserved better. I wanted him to learn that he didn't need to be needed by someone to be of worth. He didn't need to be an amazing athlete or be doing something for someone to have value. But you know the heart wants what it wants so he continued fighting to be with deaton and Payton.
That being said I am interested in reading Camerons book especially after what happened at the end. I'm also interested in Chases story because honestly he needs to stop getting thrown into others. I didn't like him in say you swear and was laughing to myself when he was being inserted in this relationship. IDK if he was actually interested in Payton during this or if he was just being there for her but he needs his love story especially if he did like Payton because it's kinda sad if hes only falling for woman who are unavailable
Oh Meagan Brandy is ALWAYS the queen of angst. So much slow-burning tension, so much pushing and pulling, all the resistance and indecision and longing all rolled into a simmering romance. Promise Me Not is the quintessential Meagan Brandy experience. Complicated, flawed, and slightly lost characters growing up, grasping at self actualization, all while finding a profound but scary burgeoning connection with another. It's immersive and emotional, and these characters really take their time getting there (while we are banging our heads on a wall!), but they make it rewarding in the end.
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wanted to read this book because I didn’t mind the first book in the series. I didn’t mind Mason in the first book, he was sort of annoying, but I just took that as the annoying protective brother. However, in this book, he was a walking, talking ick and Payton is the reason this book isn’t a 1 star read.
This book has two points of view. The first is Mason, for as long as he can remember, he had one dream. Go to the same college as his friends, becoming the starting quarterback of a division one team, and hear his name announced to the world come draft day. The path is clear, and things were falling place perfectly. And then she came along. Now he is in love with a girl who heart was buried alongside the boy she gave it to. The ghost he can’t compete with. The father of her son. She wants him to walk away, to focus on football, but he can’t, because he has a new dream. The second point of view is Payton, and she has had a rough few years – running away from her abusive mother, becoming a young mum without finishing school and then losing her boyfriend to a car accident. She doesn’t know how to carry on, but she is determined to make the best life for her son and that means she isn’t interested in boys. However, Mason is persistent and wiggling his way into her heart, but Mason will only be here temporarily with his goal of being drafted. She is not letting herself or her son getting attached to any temporarily comfort.
Payton had the most character development ever, the girl had been through so much trauma and yet was still so trusting. If I was in her shoes, I would have clocked off and gone off the grid to avoided getting hurt ever again. I think she was allowed to feel confused and all the emotions, I liked the way the grief and her trauma was betrayed, and I would have liked this book to have been more about Payton’s grief journey.
Mason ruined this book. He was more interested in her kid and being a dad than Payton, he proved that when he screamed at Alistair that Dayton was his kid. Like they weren’t even together and yet he is claiming her kid, if I heard that I would be running for the hills. He was just a walking red flag. She is doing her job being a photographer and yet Mason is jealous and wanted to shave anyone’s heads that keep talking about her hair like what? The timeline going back and forth made me things more confusing. Like just show what had happened last year during the first book and then bring it to the present, the time jumps back and forth weren’t needed and also ruined the book. This author really doesn’t like Chase, does she? Like he screwed up massively during Say You Swear, and I understand that Mason can still be pissed but then to make Chase a bad guy AGAIN? Like that storyline had happened – move on. The miscommunication and the whiplash between the two characters made me think they were in high school and not young adults, but again, I'm blaming Mason for that entirely. I think another thing was this could have been resolved if Mason and Payton had a conversation throughout the book instead of relaying messages between Chase, Noah, Cameron and Ari. You want to play house? Then talk and discuss issues instead of acting like five years old. You could tell that this author only wanted to put Mason in the for front and make him the star but there wasn’t really a lot of football or him being a star and I didn’t like him before the book but with no epilogue, I would hope that Payton comes to her sense and runs for the hills.
From the author’s note, it looks like there is a third book coming within this series and before Mason’s book, I would have been excited, now I'm lowkey worried that the next book is going to be as bad as this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Car accident
Moderate: Sexual content, Medical content, Pregnancy
Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really bored and really confused.