Forbidden Promises

Narrator Adenrele Ojo's use of a Southern accent adds ambiance to this romance in which family ties are everything. India has planned a quick visit with her family before moving to L.A. to play violin professionally. But when she gets sucked into her brother's bid for the Senate while working alongside her sister's ex, Travis, she suddenly has to deal with both her demanding family and her growing feelings for a man she can't have. Ojo's delivery is laced with subtle tonal variations that make each family member distinct and vibrant. While the story might have benefited from a male narrator alongside Ojo, she rises to the challenge of portraying the compelling male characters. A.L. � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

Starred review from December 9, 2019
Williams (His Pick for Passion) makes waves with this exceptional tale of forbidden love, the first in the Robidoux Family series. Four years away have done nothing to diminish India Robidoux’s secret feelings for her sister Elaina’s ex-husband, Travis Strickland, whom she’s known since she was a teenager and with whom she once shared one perfect kiss. Travis always knew he’d married the wrong sister, but his teenage affair with Elaina left her pregnant, and he did what he thought was right. Now Travis is a high-powered lawyer helping out with his best friend, and India’s brother, Byron’s Senate race. When Byron calls India home to work for his campaign, the close proximity to Travis tests her self-control and familial loyalty. Travis doesn’t want to cause a rift between India and her family, so he attempts to conceal his feelings, but the more time they spend together, the more their desire bubbles to the surface. With skillful characterization and sizzling chemistry, Williams succeeds at capturing the allure of this taboo connection. Even skeptical readers will be hard-pressed not to root for India and Travis. Agent: Tricia Skinner, Foreword Literary.

January 1, 2020

India Robidoux shared one night of passionate kisses under the stars with her father's prot�g� Travis Strickland only to find out he was marrying her sister. Leaving home against her father's wishes to pursue a career as a concert violinist was India's only option to mend her shattered heart, leaving her to build a life in the arts and not in the family tobacco business. And while Travis's marriage to Elaina didn't last, India doesn't know if she is ready to risk her sister's love or her family to have the one man she's always wanted. But fate keeps putting Travis in her path as she reluctantly returns home to help her brother, Travis's best friend, win an election. VERDICT Politics, passion, and family drama combine to make a deliciously soapy second-chance, brother's-best-friend romance. Readers of Alisha Rai's "Forbidden Hearts" series or Reese Ryan's Engaging the Enemy will be tantalized and surprised by the many twists and turns.--Elizabeth Gabriel, Milwaukee P.L.

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 15, 2020
A violinist tries to ignore the attraction she feels toward her sister's ex-husband. Years earlier, India Robidoux suppressed her feelings of attraction toward her sister Elaina's on-again, off-again boyfriend, Travis Strickland. India and Travis shared an incendiary kiss on the night of her 22nd birthday while he and Elaina were on a break. India hoped it would be her chance with Travis, but she was devastated when Travis instead proposed to her sister two weeks later. Unable to cope with her feelings, India fled and spent the next six years in Europe playing violin with an international orchestra. India finally returns home to Jackson Falls, North Carolina, intending only a brief stopover before an audition with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, but she's immediately pulled into the family orbit to support her brother's Senate campaign. The romance between India and Travis is on the back burner as Williams (His Pick for Passion, 2019, etc.) introduces the Robidoux family and many substantive but soapy subplots, most of which center on the machinations of India's father, Grant. As the CEO of Robidoux Tobacco, Grant has meddled in his children's lives to shore up the respectability of the family and the company. India loves her father but is determined not to let him decide her fate. As she and Travis reconnect, they find it impossible to ignore their simmering attraction. Travis is less hesitant about his feelings for India, not willing to make the mistake of letting her go again. Even though the romance gets off to a slow start, this is a pleasingly angst-y novel about forbidden lovers finding each other. A romance for readers looking for equal parts passion and family drama.

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January 1, 2020
Soap opera-style drama is the inspiration for Williams' new contemporary romance series featuring a prominent African American family who made their fortune in tobacco but are now seeking to expand their legacy. After four years touring abroad as a concert violinist, India Robidoux returns home to Jackson Falls, North Carolina, to find that preparations for her brother Bryon's Senate announcement are underway. She is roped into helping the campaign, along with Travis, her secret crush and her sister Elaina's ex-husband. Travis Strickland will do anything for the family that helped pull him out of poverty and made him a success, despite his failed marriage to Elaina. But the memory of a hot night four years ago with India tempts him to reject propriety and take what he wants most. India can feel the scorching heat that still exists between them, but is afraid that going after the man she's always wanted will cause a scandal that could ruin the family's reputation. Fans of Elle Wright and Jamie Pope will be seduced by this charming and passionate family saga.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)