Valerie Worley

Beautifully written story!

Reviewed: 08-12-24

Waiting for the Flood, Chasing the Light, and Aftermath are all intertwined. In Waiting, we meet Edwin and learn how he's handling losing Marius and how he can move on. In Chasing, we see Marius's side of things. Aftermath is the epilogue to both that we've been waiting for!

The writing is so beautiful and vivid. The characters are very well written and relatable. I read this book slower than I usually do so that I could savor the writing. I easily conjured mental images from the descriptions given. I love having these stories as companion stories. Both the Flood event and the boat situation took the characters out of the everyday and brought them into an almost limbo situation where they could have some of their issues. I truly was drawn into the characters and their relationships, and I loved watching the journey of both couples. The theme that everyone is wishing and deserving of love is beautiful and really hits home.

In Waiting, I could really relate to Edwin, with his insecurities, trust issues, and self doubt. Adam was so warm and loving and felt like a giant teddy bear. I loved his outlook and how he helps Edwin. My only complaint is that I wish it were longer, as I didn't want to say goodbye to these two. I really enjoyed these two characters.

In Chasing, Marius gives us a glimpse into his thoughts and redeems himself. I can relate to how he feels about his art and how fragile it is. Leo has so much patience and is so honest. He's an interesting contrast to Marius. Marius's mom is wonderful.

Aftermath was the beautiful closure that wraps everything up. I was happy to get to read it! I won't go too much into it too keep this spoiler free.

I loved reading the bonus material and annotations. The audiobook was wonderful and the narration was fantastic!! Will Watt did an amazing job! I highly recommend this book!

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1 person found this helpful

Great summer read!

Reviewed: 06-30-24

I really enjoyed this book and this trilogy! The writing is so good!! Abby is a wonderful author, and I really appreciate her books. She writes such vibrant and three dimensional characters. The characters always feel so real to me! I always get so invested in the books and the characters! I hope she writes more in this universe! I love the little connections to all of the books. I definitely give this book five stars!

I appreciated the PTSD rep and thought it was handled brilliantly! It's an important topic and Abby did a great job of showing all sides of it.

I loved both Emma and Justin. I love Emma's positivity and how she fights through adversity. I loved Justin and just being himself. He was such a fun character and such a sweetheart. He made me smile! I'd love to have someone like him in my life. Maddie was so awesome and so protective! Everyone deserves such a wonderful best friend! I love her too!! It was great to see that Neil has grown! Amber drove me crazy! It was wonderful to read about all of these characters. I couldn't put it down!

The narrators for this book were wonderful! I'm big fans of them both, and they captured the characters perfectly!

I highly recommend this book!

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Great Holiday Romance!

Reviewed: 02-20-24

I really enjoyed this book! This was another great book from Annabeth Albert! This was a fun holiday romance and has low angst. I really appreciated that! I had a fun time reading this!

Zeb and Atlas were nicely well-rounded. I appreciated that neither of them was perfect, as this made the characters more relatable. The names of all of the characters were a little quirky but helped amp up the fun factor. I loved Atlas’s bi-awakening journey. I felt this was believable as well.

Overall this was a fun read with great characters! It made for a wonderful holiday romance! I definitely recommend it!

The audio narrator was great! I love listening to him and he brought a nice dynamic to the story!

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2 people found this helpful

Loved this book!

Reviewed: 10-23-23

I’ve been waiting for this book and it didn’t disappoint! Annabeth does it again! I was really happy with this book!

I enjoyed the age gap romance and appreciated having an older character in the mix. Knox and Monroe were great characters, and I really appreciated the pacing of the relationship. It felt believable, and I was rooting for the characters the entire way!

I also appreciated the low angst in this novel. Especially with personal stuff going on, I’m glad the angst was lower level angst.

I really loved the theme of found family and the importance I’d that. I felt that was really special.

This book gave me all of the feels with a right balance of sweet and spicy! Overall, I really loved this book!

ARC received from the author in exchange for an honest review.

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Wonderful Book!

Reviewed: 01-13-23

I had been eagerly waiting for this book, and it definitely lived up to expectations, probably even surpassing them! I loved it!

Bad Deal is book 3 in the A-List security series. This book features Harley and a new character Ambrose. We get appearances from Cash And Danny as well as Duncan and Ezra from the first two books. This book features one of my favorite tropes, the fake boyfriend trope. I also appreciated the cameo of Rainbow Cove (from that series). This book gave me all the Feels!!

It was wonderful to see Harley's journey, both in self acceptance as well as opening up and letting us see the softer side of him. I liked him even more for the vulnerability he showed. I could relate to his journey.

It was amazing to meet Ambrose, someone new but just as endearing. It was great to see him pushing through his issues as well. I could relate a lot to him. I also appreciated the fact that both characters are in their 40s, something we don't get to see a lot of in romance.

Overall, this is well done and I was hooked from the start! I highly recommend it!

ARC provided by author in return for an honest review.

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Loved this book!

Reviewed: 01-09-23 Listener received this title free

First, I just want to say that I adore Annabeth's books, and this one didn't let me down! I loved it!

Second, I will try to give a review of it. (I'm pretty new to reviewing books). This is the second book in the A-list Security Series. Duncan (brother to Danny from book 1) is hired to be a bodyguard to Ezra (Danny's best friend). There is an age gap and definitely an opposites attract vibe, which created more tension. I really enjoyed their dynamic and how they grew to fall in love! At some points, it put me through the emotional ringer. Overall it was well-written and everything I was looking for. I loved the rock star / bodyguard dynamic is well. I can't wait to read more from this series!

ARC received in exchange for an honest review.

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Such a wonderful book!

Reviewed: 12-02-22

I just finished this book and am trying to wrap my head around it. It's not your typical romance novel, but I could really appreciate that. I adore Alexis Hall's books, and this one didn't disappoint. I give it five stars! I have a hard copy of the book as well as the audio book. I truly enjoyed this book (and got stressed out at times, like I do), and the audio narration was fantastic.

As always, Alexis had created very fully realized characters that you can relate to in both Paris and Tariq. I appreciated how each of them were portrayed, and I truly appreciated all of the representation in this book. There was not only the journey of the baking show but of each of the men themselves as well as their relationship.

I could really relate to Paris. I realize he could be a lot for some people, but he spoke so much to me. I felt seen and understood in a way that I usual don't. I finally felt like I wasn't alone in this anxiety battle. Alexis did an amazing job at capturing Paris and his journey. I'm so grateful to have a character like him in a book.

Overall I just loved this story and the characters. I definitely recommend reading this book!

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