NEW-TO-ME AUTHOR REVIEW: “Aftermath” by Cara Dee
During New Author Spotlight Week, we challenged our review team each to pick an author they’ve never read (“new-to-me”) from the list of those first-time-published in 2013, and read/review their book…
ABOUT:
Austin Huntley and Cameron Nash are like night and day. One is a family man, works in a nice office, drives an expensive car, and is content to be content. The other one is an antisocial car mechanic with a short fuse.
Some things don’t change. Others definitely do.
After surviving a five-months long kidnapping together, they struggle to return to normalcy, all while realizing that they’re more drawn to each other than they ever could’ve imagined.
“I know I’m not normal, but I’m not fucking stupid.”
“Define normal,” Austin countered quietly, meeting Cam in the doorway. “And for not being normal, you’re the only person in the world who makes sense right now. What does that say about me?”
Warning: This story contains violence and scenes of an explicit, erotic nature between two men and is intended for adults, 18+.
REVIEW:
Give me a high-5 people, ‘cause here’s a book I can really back.
It’s clear from the reviews going around that this is the type of book that you’ll either really love or not care for, and I’m totally in the LOVE category. It’s got everything I want in a book. There’s psychological analysis, there’s a slow build between the MCs, there’s a baddy, there’s family and real life problems, there’s sexy time, there’s unexpected turns, there’s power plays, and there’s love against all odds. Gimme another high-5.
Another thing I love about Aftermath is that it’s different. There’s barely any romance, no cute-meet and no courting. What we get instead is two people thrown into hell together and then pushed to their limits.
“In captivity, they had patched each other up as best they could. They’d been each other’s nurse, doctor, shoulder to cry on, and punching bag. Because it’d be a lie to say Austin and Cam got along from the beginning. They still butted heads, especially with Austin’s newfound anger and Cam’s short fuse, but they made it work somehow.
Austin hoped they’d be able to patch up each other’s emotional wounds, too, even if it was going to take years.”
It all made sense to me: these men endured horrors together and cultivated a believable trust in one another. You see how it happens and you understand their reasoning.
Thankfully, unlike many books I’ve read recently, there’s actual plot and detail all the way through – none of this starting off swell business and then the middle of the book becomes slow and tedious, and the ending simply closes neatly. In Aftermath, there’s a constant focus on the small details, the moments where their care for each other blossoms. You see how they forge a bond.
“In a moment of defeat and despair, Austin leaned back and sought out Cam’s shoulder to rest his head on. All curled up, he felt small and weak. The thought didn’t cross him mind, but it was Cam’s bad shoulder. However, Cam didn’t say a word; instead he silently encouraged Austin to lean on him, take comfort from him for once, and rested his cheek on the top of Austin’s head.”
It’s not without it’s flaws; there’s typos and grammatical errors which should have been picked up – but really, that can be forgiven when the rest of the book is so f*cking fabulous. Like this little nugget of truth:
“Friends could leave, wives and husbands could divorce, passion could fade, but the love you feel for your child was forever.”
So yeah, I’m totally pumped that Outcome (Aftermath #2) is in the pipeline. Gimme more Cara Dee, gimme more!
RATING: 4.5 STARS
BOOK INFO:
Title: Aftermath (Aftermath #1)
Author: Cara Dee
Publisher: Cara Dee
Pages: 211
Release Date: August 6th, 2013
Purchase Links: Amazon
*high-five* :)
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I’m so with you on all the things that work for you in this one. I can’t wait to read it! Great review, Sue. :)
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Oooo, sounds good to me!
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Reblogged this on Munika Sulistiawati's Education.
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