Alaina Ryan’s father is dying.  She makes him a promise to take him home to Ireland to die and so they set off for the Emerald Isle.  Unsure of what she is going to find there, Alaina is unprepared when her father tells her that he wishes for her to marry a stranger.  The stranger is Torin O’Brien, the son of a childhood friend of her father’s but still a stranger.  Ever since the Civil War, Alaina has had a hard time being around men.  Torin is no different and she is unsure if she will ever be ready to be touched again.

Torin O’Brien has his own ghosts to contend with.  Feeling responsible for the death of his first love, Torin doesn’t want to become involved with Alaina Ryan.  Sensing her turmoil, Torin’s resolve is challenged.  He is attracted to Alaina and knows she would make a lovely wife.  He just can’t marry her. Besides, would she really want to marry a man responsible for the death of another woman?

I love a good historical romance and was so excited to read the blurb for Alaina’s Promise.  I had extremely high hopes that I would be treated to a historical romance that would be well written, intriguing, and sensual.   Alaina’s Promise was well written.  I could sense the turmoil and trepidation of both characters.  Each of whom has ghosts to keep at bay just to live a normal life.  It was intriguing because until midway through the novel, I couldn’t figure out why Alaina was being such a scared and unobtrusive woman.  It was sensual in that the love they finally shared after getting through past hurts and harms was steamy and went soul deep.  

My only fault with Alaina’s Promise was the amount of time it took to get from point A to point B and I feared losing interest.  The plot seemed to drag in some places and I had to put it down more than once and come back and pick it back up again.  Once I got past that part of the book, my interest was once more in tune with what was going on in the setting and storyline and I ended up enjoying the rest of the book. More regency romance than historical in my opinion, Alaina’s Promise is more tension filled than I would have liked.  However, I will be the first to admit that I love how the plot ended and everything tied together.  I am going to read Meg Allison again, just maybe not this particular book.