Review of The Commitment by Virginia Hale

I’ve been a big fan of Hale ever since her debut Echo Point. I would go as far as to say that she’s made it onto my top 10 current favorite authors list. Her books are always different than the average WLW romance and I love that her stories feel unique with fresh ideas. This book was completely different than any of the romances I’ve been reading lately and I had a lot of fun with it. Angst lovers out there will be happy since this had plenty of that slow-burn relationship drama.

While I would call this a best friends-to-lovers romance, I actually have to put the fauxmance tag on this too. This was a very different take on a fauxmance so it took me a little to even realize it. This is a story about two women, who have been burned by previous relationships, deciding they want to get married to raise a family and live as married… best friends?! No one knows this engaged couple is marrying only as an arraignment, everyone thinks they are actually in love. This is actually half true because one of the women is in love, very much in love, but she knows her fiancée does not feel the same. How about that for a twist on the normal fauxmance?

Throwing in an unrequited love storyline, with a friends to lovers-fauxmance, is definitely a new take for me. You can just imagine the kind of angst that could go along with this type of storyline. To be very clear, if you’re not an angst fan, then this book is probably not for you. However, if you do want a lot of push-pull and angsty relationship moments, I think you will really enjoy this. I’m funny about angst where I like little to almost none, or I want a ton of it, and this fits the latter perfectly for me.

The characters are very interesting. One of the characters is extremely easy to root for, but the other is not. I can see people not liking Jen very much, she really is a work in progress and super stubborn at times. But for me, I like a character with flaws. If everyone is always perfect and nice, reading will become boring. Jen’s growth and her overall journey were one of the main parts of this book so I think she’s a character to give an extra chance to.

I always enjoy Hale’s writing and this was no exception. This book grabs you and doesn’t want to let you go. If anything, I wish it would have been longer. I was involved with these characters and I wanted to keep reading their story. Also, the living museum idea was genius. It reminded me of some of the old frontier towns and places like that. We have an old fort not too far away from where I live and we’d go on class trips and everyone would be in costume, shooting rifles and forging horseshoes and things of that nature. That little flash of living history was always fun and for this book to have that kind of setting and jobs for the characters, was just really well done.

In my opinion, Hale is four for four with her books and I think that is really impressive for someone with a newer writing career. I have not been disappointed by any of her books yet and I hope I never will. I love romance authors that are a little different from the norm and to me that fits Hale perfectly. I love her unique ideas and settings and it always makes me wonder what she could be writing for us next. If you are looking for an angsty slow-burn romance, this book is for you. 4.25 Stars.

An ARC was given to me for a review.