Promise Me Always by Christine Lynxwiler

Shady Grove's resident widow, Allie Richards isn't keen to face another birthday to remind her what could have been. Trying to provide for her young daughters and the loss of her job forces Allie to tentatively reach for a dream, to own a successful landscaping business. When the bank fails to come to the party with a loan, Allie is talked into entering the Beautiful Town Landscaping Competition by Lark, Rachel & Victoria, her friends from childhood aka the Pinky Promise Sisterhood.

Winning the competition will enable her to establish her business and hold the Shady Grove landscaping contest but it comes with a catch. The contestants will have their movements filmed for a reality program for Shady Grove's local TV station, hosted by the spiteful Blair Winchester with the assistance of cameraman and former Shady Grove bad boy, Daniel Montgomery. It seems Allie may have more to lose than she thinks!

Promise Me Always is the perfect antidote for a gloomy day! Filled with humour, poignancy and delightful characters, Christine Lynxwiler has created a town and characters begging for you to meet them. The Sisterhood are erstwhile friends, each with their own difficulties but bound together by their past and their faithful commitment to love and support each other. While a romantic comedy at heart, Christine adds depth to her characters with snippets of back story. I particularly enjoyed the difficult relationship between Allie and her brother Adam which develops throughout the book. I am looking forward to more of the Pinky Promise Sisters as the series continues.