I really enjoyed the setting in England for this civil war novel - puts another view on everything. I liked the fictional storyline with the young couple and I liked the more historical storyline about Charles and Henry Adams; but they did not fit very smoothly together. ( )

Found this to be a well-crafted, relatively suspenseful story about a perilous moment in American history, wrapped around a significantly less suspenseful but unobjectionable romance.

The novel recounts the early/middle years of the U.S. Civil War. Well-trodden literary territory, to be sure, but this novel blazes fresh ground by focusing on the U.S.'s relations with England during this time. Through the eyes of Charles Francis Adams, son of President John Quincy Adams and U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain during the U.S. conflagration, historian Hoffman recounts enough political intrigue, grand-standing, and fumbling to make the knees of any American quake: I'm a bit of a history buff yet I never realized how close the two countries came to war over England's surreptitious support to the Confederacy. Proof - if proof is needed - that fact really can be more fascinating than fiction.

The love story is pleasant if unremarkable: the characters are likeable and extremely politically correct. But it serves as a nice counterpoint to the other plotline, adds depth by providing the author a chance to explore in greater depth life in a Union prisoner of war camp (where Baxter Sams, the male lead, spends some time after - endeavoring to smuggle desperately-needed medical supplies to army medics - he is nabbed trying to breach the union blockade of the South), and undoubtedly helps book sales by widening the market beyond history buffs.

In summary, found this story to be well-written, well-paced, intelligent, and worth the 3hrs I invested in it, which is more than I can say of a lot of historical fiction being promoted by the large bookstore chains these days. ( )

It’s 1861 and civil war has come to the United States, pitting the North against the South. Charles Adams is sent to England by President Lincoln to be the minister for the Union, along with his wife Abby Adams and son Henry. Henry’s old college friend Baxter Sam attends the Royal College of Surgeons to become skilled in the trade of a physician and falls in love with London resident Julia Birch. While Charles and Henry politically battle those in England supplying the Confederacy, Baxter struggles with his loyalties to friends, his love, and his family.

I completely loved Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman’s Broken Promises. The cover, like the book, radiates sophistication and English reserve. I liked Julia from the very beginning, and although I wasn’t sure I’d like Charles Adams I very much enjoyed reading about him and his family. All the characters were extremely likeable, and I felt a strong connection to every one of them. Julia’s romance with Baxter was forbidden by society and judgmental parents, difficult in the way that the couple had to work to overcome barriers in their relationship, tender, and most importantly to me, clean. Just the way I like my love stories.

The muddied logic of war and how it impacted friendships and relationships was expertly woven into the story, most memorably with Baxter’s split loyalties. He’s against slavery, yet all his friends and family live in the south. His home is being attacked, his brothers are in the war, what else can he do but help? I was frustrated along with Charles and his son Henry as they attempted to aid the Union from London against Britain’s overwhelming favor of the Confederacy despite being neutral and the government's reluctance to interfere with those supplying the south.

The language was exactly what I would have expected from that time period, and had lots of big words. The kind that left me scrambling for a dictionary like inauspicious, asinine, punctilious, aplomb, itinerant, assiduous, sangfroid, perspicacity and others. Words you don’t hear every day. I enjoyed them greatly, but I bet there are some who wouldn’t like the lesson in vocabulary. The beginning of each chapter had a quote from famous people, journals, books, letters, and newspapers, equally split between views supporting the Confederates and the Union.

The details about Charles Adams’ family, time in England as minister, and letters were all true, as well as the reactions and viewpoint he had on the war. The newspaper articles and editorials he read, as well as the people he met were meticulously researched, not to mention battle dates, conditions in the prisons, English culture, and any number of other aspects of this novel, which could have only gotten harder considering she wrote this book while teaching in Ireland. Days upon weeks of hard-core historical reading created this amazing book where the true life of Charles Adams is mixed tastefully with a fictional romance in a completely realistic picture of the Civil War.

I applaud this book that definitely deserves 5 stars, and will be recommending it to my friends. I received a copy of this book free from Book Divas in exchange for an honest review. ( )