The Pendant’s Promise by Judythe Morgan is a Salute Military Event pick #militaryromance #giveaway
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    • May 25, 2023
    • 6 min read

The Pendant’s Promise by Judythe Morgan is a Salute Military Event pick #militaryromance #giveaway



Title: The Pendant’s Promise, Book 2 Promises Series


Author: Judythe Morgan


Genre: Military romance


Book Blurb:


When Green Beret Major Alex Cabot is classified MIA, presumed dead, Lily finds herself pregnant and alone. She fabricates a marriage and widowhood to protect her child from social stigma and begins a life of lies. Her safe world shatters twenty years later when her daughter’s fiancé turns out to be Alex’s godson.


When they meet face-to-face again, the years melt away, the passion returns. But he believes Lily betrayed her promise to wait for him. She’s convinced revealing the truth could cost her the only man she’s ever loved and the daughter she’s lied to her live.


Can the lies be forgiven, and the pendant’s promise fulfilled, or is it too late?


Excerpt:


PROLOGUE


Vietnam, 1972


Major Alexander Charles Cabot, called Ace, rested his back against the wall of his solitary cell in Hanoi’s Hoa Lo Prison. Better known as the Hanoi Hilton. A Hilton it was not.


Hours earlier, rapping on the walls, in a Morse code of sorts, word passed they’d lost another comrade. The communication tap signals began again. He swiped away whatever oozed from above his eye and cupped his hand over his ear against the wall. His heart raced. His body stiffened. What now?


Tap-tap tap-tap, tap-tap-tap-tap tap-tap, tap-tap-tap-tap tap, tap-tap tap …


He decoded the sounds. God Bless America. Next year stateside.


Next year? Doubt gnawed like a dog on a T-bone.


Years ran into the next in a gory haze marked by the patchwork scars he bore. He calculated he’d already spent five miserable years in this dark hole with nothing more than a flea-infested straw mat. Five years of smelling his urine, feces, and vomit. Five years of hearing men’s screams and death’s silence.


Today’s interrogation had been more brutal than most. No broken bones, as far as he could tell. New bruises on his gut and, no doubt, a new scar would form above his eye. But he’d given only his name, rank, serial number, and date of birth. He’d pledged his allegiance, sworn his oath. He’d die before he betrayed his country. Or Lily.


Sliding onto the mat, he slung one arm over his face and gave a despairing sigh. Maybe tomorrow they’ll leave him alone. Pain curled him into a fetal position. He squeezed his eyes shut as blackness threatened. Why hadn’t he died with John in the crash?


Lillian Reed, the answer came. Lily is waiting.


CHAPTER 1


Fourteen years later, 1986


Lillian Reed Johnson walked toward the green awning in Arlington National Cemetery where General Benjamin Mackland’s casket lay. Her neck tingled. She turned and caught a glimpse of a military sedan on the road. Red flags hung from the bumper, designating the occupant’s rank as brigadier general. Ace? He could be a general by now.


Lieutenant Colonel David Sands, Mack’s former aide-de-camp, blocked her line of vision, and she couldn’t see who was inside.


The G3 gang from her Eighth Army days in South Korea had gathered to say their goodbyes to their former boss. Being together again rekindled memories of the one missing one among them. In the few short weeks we were altogether, Ace Cabot had stolen her heart and altered her life forever.


Scents from sprays of gladiolas and wreaths of carnations and roses hung like a mist as they took their seats under the canopy. Lily focused on the buzzing bee darting in and around the flowers. Anything except Mack’s casket and thoughts of the Green Beret she’d never stopped loving. The chaplain’s words droned on and on until, at last, the “Attention” command sounded.


Seven soldiers raised rifles, aiming at the white clouds in the cobalt sky. She rose slowly, pressing her heels into the artificial turf for balance, and glanced Aggie’s way. She couldn’t imagine the composed, competent Army wife being anything less than perfectly collected, but was ready if the woman, more mother than friend, needed her.


Aggie stood solemn and stable, her face set. Beth flinched as the first volley fired over the rows of crosses in the surrounding field. Lily took her daughter’s hand and squeezed. Sunlight glinted on the rifle barrels as two more volleys completed the twenty-one-gun salute.


The smell of gunpowder filtered through the air as the cannon shot faded into silence with a heavy finality. Taps followed, echoing across the headstones on the green rolling hills.


White gloved hands folded the American flag with practiced precision. Fold, smooth. Fold, smooth. The rectangle flipped into a tight triangle. The receiving officer bowed and gave the keepsake to Aggie, offering condolences. The same, white-gloved hand pressed Lily’s in a brief, formal handshake, and unstoppable tears rolled down her cheeks.


People lined up to offer their sympathy. The hairs on Lily’s arm began to prickle, and tension filled her chest. She searched the faces. No one appeared focused on her, so she lost herself in the whispered words, consoling pats, and loving hugs. When the last person left, they walked to the waiting limousine.


“Grandma Aggie, is that someone Grandpa Mack knew?” Beth indicated the same vehicle Lily had spotted early. Now an officer stood beside the black sedan with general’s flags from earlier.


“No.” The caustic tone in Aggie’s voice had Lily turning.


A startling mask of anger replaced the shroud of grief on the older woman’s face. It lasted only a moment, but the intensity made Lily step back.


She lifted the veil on her hat and squinted toward the general watching their departure. The sun distorted her vision, but something about the man’s stance and the way he wore his beret made him seem familiar.


Her pace slowed. Unbidden, the memory of Ace waiting by another jeep flashed through her mind.


David stepped beside her, clasped her elbow. “How are you doing?”


“Okay,” she said and wanted to mean it. “It’s just… that general up there reminds me of Ace.”


David tucked her into the curve of his arm. “It’s not. But if Ace were alive, he’d be here. That guy’s probably waiting for us to leave so he can visit a fallen comrade.”


She shifted from his embrace. As much as she needed comfort today, she didn’t want to send the wrong signals. Again.


“I know,” she murmured, but the words rang hollow. Ace Cabot had been buried in a Vietnam jungle for twenty years and despite what his return might have meant, the hope that he’d survived lingered in her heart.


Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):


Free to read on Kindle Unlimited!






What makes your featured book a must-read?


The Pendant’s Promise came from my life as military brat and spouse. I saw so many love stories unfold over the years. Lots involved promises to wait and even pendants. I centered on a story set around my time working at Eighth Army Headquarters, Yongsan, South Korea during the Vietnam War.


It’s a love story that spans years in an era that touched so many lives. Alex and Lily face hard choices in gray areas and nearly loose their second chance. One Amazon reviews puts it this way: “This is one of those stories that make you weep and cheer and wonder long after you put the book down.”



Giveaway –


Enter to win a $20 Amazon gift card:



Open Internationally. You must have a valid Amazon US or Amazon Canada account to win.


Runs May 23 – May 31, 2023.


Winner will be drawn on June 1, 2023.



Author Biography:


After years roaming as an Air Force daughter and then Army wife, I now call a small town in Texas home along with my hero-model husband and our Old English sheepdog named Finnegan MacCool. We have eleven grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and nine granddogs. Our lives are filled with fun and laughter.


You’ll find my award-winning stories full of twists and turns drawn from my life experiences as a schoolteacher, an antique dealer, a former mayor’s wife, and sometimes a church pianist. All my stories feature strong characters tackling real-life situations from a Christian worldview.


Enjoy reading The Pendant’s Promise and all the books of the Promises series.


Besides fiction, I share a weekly blog with my urban farmer/music teacher daughter at www.judythewriter.com


Social Media Links:


Signup for my newsletter at https://judythemorgan.com/contact/

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