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My Review:Title: Afterglow
Author: Aria Wyatt
Series: Busy Bean #10
Published by: Heart Eyes Press
Release Date: September 13, 2021
Format: eARC
Pages: 359
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Source: Heart Eyes Press
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2021 COYER Summer, Lenoreo's 2021 Diversity Reading Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks
My rating:
Blurb:I’m a numbers girl.
Or at least I thought I was, until my formula fell apart. Back home in Vermont, with my dream on hiatus, I’m working at the Busy Bean and taking online classes. As long as I keep my focus, I’ll be back in New York City next semester. Hopefully.
When Declan O’Shaughnessy storms into the café, all muscles and tattoos, wielding his sexy Irish brogue like a weapon, the only equation I can solve is one that lands me in his bed. Even more dangerous, is my growing affection for his cherub-faced little boy.
But Declan has complications of his own. He’s cagey, but I’ll win him over.
Yeah, about that focus… mine is all on him. Can we have a harmless fling without getting hurt?
I received a free copy through Heart Eyes Press in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.
4.5 stars — Wow, this book was an intense rollercoaster ride. And I mean that in more than one way.
The book started off solidly, I was pretty hooked and intrigued. Then I had some…concerns and my interest was kinda conditional (I’ll get there). BUT!!! Then the plot fucking took off and I was all in with a grin! The ending is giving it the extra half star bump today folks, I’m so glad I let my wariness go and just plunged ahead.
Solana was fantastic. I mean, she was mixed up and damaged, but I think that made watching her journey more satisfying. Not only that, it made the moments of sunshine and light and kindness from her so endearing, b/c you know she didn’t have enough of that growing up. She goes through some STUFF. Both in the past and in the present. It was interesting to see her struggling with her anxiety, and like so many of us with mental health issues, avoiding doing the things that might help. She had moments where she frustrated me, and if she had been any other heroine with any other past, I probably wouldn’t have granted her as much leeway. But I feel like it made sense, so I accepted it.
Declan — wow. That is one complicated character. In general I really loved him. He was profoundly damaged himself, though in a completely different way. It was interesting to see him struggling with his addiction, and seeing how he coped with things. I rooted for him, I ached for him, I wanted him to grow that backbone just like all his friends. BUT…he encapsulated much of the wariness and concern I mentioned at the start of this review. I was uncomfortable with his temper. It wasn’t violent to others, but I was concerned with his yelling, especially the one incident with Liam. It felt…harsh. But I’m not a parent. I really don’t know if that was all resolved in a reasonable way. I think I was (and maybe still am) a bit concern that he’s not getting help for that. Maybe I’m taking it as a bigger deal than it was, but that’s where I stumbled with him. The thing is, he had so much else going on inside him, and a lot of that was delightful. So I kind of rode it out and let it go, and was a happier reader for it.
Their romance was interesting. The steamy scenes were epically steamy, and while sometimes I felt it to my bones, sometimes I felt disconnected. But that could be just my mood, it happens. I did appreciate the way they were there for one another, the way they listened without judging. The way they offered different perspectives to the other. The way they helped each other grow. That was the highlight for me.
Lots of fascinating secondary characters. Obviously there was Liam, and he is just as cute as you would imagine…but still realistically 4. I definitely ached for him. There were some great friends on both sides, with Ethan for Dec, and Will and River for Sunny. I loved seeing them support their friends and help them through.
And then there’s Darcy and Cody. I can’t really say much about these two without giving something away, but just know that I was concerned that they would not be redeemable, that they would be black and white, but they were 3 dimensional, and in general I really believed in the growth of the relationships there, and was satisfied with the end.
Oh yeah…I can’t forget Moira. I wish I had more Moira time, b/c that croissant loving girl was the best pony-sized dog ever.
So there you have it. Lots of emotions. Lots of anticipation while I was reading. Lots of heartache, and lots of love.
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