Celebrate Lit Blog Tour: A Promise Engraved by Liz Tolsma

May 29, 2022

Book: A Promise Engraved

Author: Liz Tolsma

Genre: Christian Fiction/Historical Fiction/Romance

Release date: May, 2022

Can Promises Made in Times of Struggle Endure 200 Years?

Visit historic American landmarks through the Doors to the Past series. History and today collide in stories full of mystery, intrigue, faith, and romance.

Young, spirited Josie Wilkins life is about to take a turn when faced with political turmoil and forbidden love in San Antonio of 1836. John Gilbert has won her heart, despite being a Protestant preacher who is forbidden to practice his faith in Texas. Will either of them survive an epic battle for liberty to create a legacy of love?

Nearly 200 years later, Kayleigh Hernandez takes breaks from her demanding job as a refugee coordinator working with Mexican migrants to attend flea markets where she has found a uniquely engraved ring. Enlisting the help of appraiser Brandon Shuman, they piece together a love story long forgotten. But will dangers linked to Kayleigh’s work end her own hopes for leaving a legacy built on hope, faith, and love?

Click here to get your copy!

A Promise Engraved by Liz Tolsma is a Historical Fiction with a Dual-Time Spilt. It is Book 8 in the Doors to the Past series published by Barbour Books with varying authors for the books. I have been reading through the series and enjoying it very much. Liz Tolsma is one of my favorite authors, so I was excited to read this book!

The time is 1836 and Josie Wilkins from San Antonio, Texas is going through a lot of life changes. San Antonio is going through a lot of Turmoil as the Battle of the Alamo is surging. John Gilbert, a Protestant preacher, is someone that Josie has known for a while. She knows is falling in love with him and is fearful that he has been killed in the Battle. She is grateful when they are reunited when the battle is over. Fast forward to current times and Kayleigh Hernandez is a refugee coordinator working with Mexican migrants. She decides to take a break from her job and spends time at Flea Markets. She discovers a unique ring at one of the Flea Markets and it has a special Engravement. Kayleigh unlists the help Jeweler, Brandon Shuman, to help her discover the history behind the ring. Kayleigh may have to give up her quest to find the history behind the ring due to her job. Will Josie and John live a life together? Will Kayleigh and Brandon discover the story behind the Unique Ring? Will there be a Romance between Kayleigh and Brandon?

The book was a definite Page Turner with the action between 1836 and the present time. I have become a fan of the Dual Time Spilt novels within the last year and this one did not disappoint. I really LOVE the Historical lesson in this book. I learned some new things about the Battle of the Alamo that I never knew. The characters in this book are so inspiring and intriguing, especially Josie and John. I really LOVE how determined Kayleigh is to uncover the history of the ring. I LOVE the outcome of the book! The Doors to the Past Series books are Stand Alone books! I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Historical Fiction, and dual-time spilt novels! GREAT BOOK!

Liz Tolsma is the author of several WWII novels, romantic suspense novels, prairie romance novellas, and an Amish romance. She is a popular speaker and an editor and resides next to a Wisconsin farm field with her husband and their youngest daughter. Her son is a US Marine, and her oldest daughter is a college student. Liz enjoys reading, walking, working in her large perennial garden, kayaking, and camping. Please visit her website at www.liztolsma.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter (@LizTolsma), Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest. She is also the host of the Christian Historical Fiction Talk podcast.

More from Liz

The Story of Susannah Dickinson, Alamo Survivor

When asked how many died at the Alamo, many would answer that everyone did. While it’s true that all fighting on the side of Texas independence perished, there were survivors, all women and children and one slave. The only white woman (the rest were of Mexican descent) was Susannah Dickinson, along with her daughter Angelina. Susannah had followed her husband, Almaron, to Mexican Texas in 1831. They had married two years before when Susannah was just fifteen. She never learned to read or write.

She and the other women hid in the sacristy of the church, one of the surviving buildings in the mission and what we now think of as the Alamo. Her husband died, but Mexican General Santa Anna found them and spared their lives, sending them to Sam Houston with $2 each and a blanket.

She married again the following year but divorced him almost immediately on the grounds of cruelty. She married a third time the following year and was married for five years until her husband died of alcoholism. A fourth marriage occurred in 1847, but she divorced again in 1857, this time allegedly because she was having an affair. That same year, she married for a fifth time. This marriage lasted until her death in 1883.

The ring in A Promise Engraved is based on a cat’s eye ring supposedly given to Angelina by William Travis before the battle. Angelina was Susannah’s only child. She married and had three children, but that marriage ended in divorce. She gave the ring to a man she’d become involved with in New Orleans. She married again and had one more child but died in 1869 from a uterine hemorrhage.

Today there are many descendants of Susannah Dickinson. If you visit the Susannah Dickinson house in Austin, you’ll see a quilt that is signed by many of her living descendants.