Diane is the member of the Thomas family from Dean Hughes’ best-selling Hearts of the Children series who left her abusive husband Greg to protect herself and her daughter Jenny. Hughes says the
question he hears most at book signings and other public events is, “What happened to Diane after she left her husband?” Promises to Keep: Diane’s Story (Deseret Book, $17.95, Softcover), a stand-alone novel and not a part of the previous two series, seeks to answer that question for readers.

The story picks up years after Diane left Greg. She is a single mom in her late thirties, and her daughter Jenny is about to turn sixteen. Like most teenagers, Jenny is seeking her independence, and she and Diane are feeling tension in their relationship. Greg seems to offer Jenny the freedom she desires, and she keeps threatening to go live with him, causing Diane to look at the meaning of her own life. She has met Spencer, a man she is willing to consider marrying, but the complications in both families make such a marriage seem impossible. In which direction does happiness lie—or can Diane find it within herself?

Promises to Keep: Diane’s Story by Dean Hughes is available at Deseret Book and DeseretBook.com.