History Professor Brittany Engles has achieved much in her professional life. Sadly, though, she's allowed her past at the hands of emotionally negligent parents, and an unfounded sexual scandal heaped on her by a (psychologically) ugly colleague, to squirrel away any hopes for a private life that includes love. It's not for her, and so she intentionally works to stay away from any possibilities for such happiness. Until she meets Dr. Jeffrey Ryerson. In fact, she's prepared to find him arrogant, rude, and totally disposable. The only reason she even takes the time to cross his path is to convince him that he needs to re-think his land purchase in the oceanside town of Cape Gleason, Oregon. She's been sent there to rescue a very important part of the old town's history by the university where she teaches.

Dr. Ryerson, a successful, wealthy OB/GYN from Vancouver, Washington, is recently divorced and still dealing with an unstable, erratic ex-wife. He purchases Cape Gleason's old courthouse to re-locate his practice just across the Columbia River from Vancouver because of Oregon's lack of community property laws. His plan is to forestall any efforts by Stacey, his former spouse, to siphon more money from his wallet by amending their divorce agreement. She wants his money. He wants to keep his money and so purchases the Oregon property. The history doesn't interest him.

The hereafter comes into the picture on the first page, even before these well-crafted characters make their debut. The Gatekeeper, as indicated in the book's title, has promised something, of eternal importance, to three widows from diverse backgrounds . . . and from different time periods. You see, each widow is dead. Each has been, thus far, denied entrance past the Pearly Gates into Heaven because each did something that, in any century, is against the Golden Rule -- all three murdered their husbands.

There's a bit of a moral quirk here that I found appealing. These three thoroughly loveable ladies committed acts of violence for which they were paying into eternity. Yet they had killed their spouses only after being subjected to physically and emotionally damaging situations perpetrated upon them by those spouses. The concept behind Gatekeeper's Promise is that love does indeed conquer all but, still, it does not preclude any of us having to pay for our sins. The ladies are given a chance to retrieve their place in Heaven. They must help Brittany and Jeff see beyond all the obstacles in the way of love on their parallel paths to a happiness that has, to this point in their separate eternities, alluded them.

It took me a little while to flesh out the mood of this story. I wasn't sure if it was to be quirky and humorous, or possibly frightening, or sexy . . . or all of the above. Though it has the initial feel of not taking itself too seriously, the characters are so engaging that I soon got beyond the genre-crossovers. Its strength is in the living people (even the ghosts!). There were some structural issues that made me stop reading on occasion, and re-read, but nothing that took away from the overall experience. With Gatekeeper's Promise, Ms. Emory weaves a great tale.

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Mildly Sensual

Reviewer: Linda Alexander
September 3, 2003