"The Promise" (book title) -- Sid Rich, author (Austin, Texas)

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
This manuscript has been completed and edited. We are shopping it with agents in New York.

It was young love and, though no one believed it at the time, it was true love as well. But Samantha Summer's father, Elliott, moved her family to San Francisco, deliberating severing her relationship with her beloved and covering up a sensitive family secret.

Samantha is resettled in California and a college professor's recommendation helps her gain a foothold in the literary community, taking the young and talented future agent to New York City. After Samantha's forced departure, Mike Montgomery proceeds with his life by earning a degree in psychology, but the war in Vietnam would postpone his practice and change his life.

When Mike and Samantha see one another at a high school reunion 20 years later, they find that neither time nor separation has diminished the passionate love that began when they were teenagers. No longer under age or the influence of overbearing parents, they contemplate the future. A monumental confession, however, remains unspoken: Mike is on a leave of absence from the Catholic priesthood -- and of the promise that has so influence his life and dictated his destiny.