After All – Laurie Winter – Book Review

In After All we meet middle school teacher Drew and small-town police officer Molly. Their attraction is undeniable but Drew had a stringent plan for his life and Molly knows she’ll never be what he needs. Let’s sit back and watch as these two figure out if love really can conquer all.

AFTER ALL by Laurie Winter

Publication Date:  April 18, 2018
Publisher:  The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Romance
Length: 250 Pages
Purchase: Amazon 
Story Rating: 5/ 5
Romance Rating: 3/5

Hey everyone! This ebook was kindly provided by the author/publisher prior to release.

Description:

Two years after lifesaving surgery left her infertile, Molly Hernandez is running full steam toward her goal of becoming a DEA Special Agent. She won’t be distracted by falling in love with an Army veteran who’s focused on settling down and making babies.

Drew Atwater delayed marriage and family until his Army career ended. Now, he has a one-year plan to find the woman of his dreams. Unfortunately, the only woman he wants is a spirited cop determined to leave their peaceful town.

While working with troubled teens, Molly and Drew discover they make a powerful team, but their opposing goals threaten to pull them miles apart. Can the power of unselfish love prove their future together will surpass any dream they could accomplish alone?

Review:

I want to start this by thanking the author for writing this book. When I saw infertility brought up in the summary, I knew I had to read it. I was worried this would end up being a book that glamorizes and minimizes a heartbreakingly tragic situation many women find themselves in and I’m so thrilled to say it’s not like that at all.

Some topics addressed in this book are infertility (of course), domestic violence, teen pregnancy, and the choices that come with it. The author handled these topics in a brutally honest way with more compassion and understanding than I would have ever expected. My heart broke so many times as I was reading this book, but she told such a beautiful and important story.

I think this book has the power to offer support and validation to women in a number of situations. We get to know Molly, who is infertile; Whitney, who is a pregnant teen and facing a very difficult decision; and Brenda, who has spent way too long living under the control of her abusive husband. There’s someone we can all relate to on at least some level.

The thing I appreciated most about this book was its honesty. Molly is infertile, and she feels unworthy, less than, and ashamed because of it. It’s her dirty little secret, she doesn’t want anyone to know. I can think of several women in my life who know those feelings all too well.

Whitney is 17 years old and 6 months pregnant at the beginning of the book. She knows giving birth to a child isn’t going to magically make all her problems go away. Don’t we all know at least one of two people who went through this? It’s been a long time since I was a teenager but Whitney gave me a whole new perspective on what my pregnant classmates must have been going through.

Brenda is too afraid to stand up to her physically abusive husband. She’s caught in the middle of the cycle of abuse. I think this is the first time I’ve seen this cycle so realistically constructed and so compassionately addressed in a book. We’re never made to dislike Brenda or think of her as less than. That’s so important because even if we’re lucky enough not to have personal experiences with domestic violence, chances are someone we know isn’t so fortunate.

On top of all that, Molly is such a strong woman. She’s a police officer, we see her kick butt (literally) in her kickboxing class.

Oh, and to make it even better, there’s a love story here. Like an actual story, not just an afterthought. I can’t say enough good things about this book.

After All is a beautiful story about women overcoming hardships. It deals with some heavy topics but I think it’s an important book to have out there.

If you enjoy reading books like this, you might be interested in reading Ryders Ridge.

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