– A fake relationship? √- Lovers to enemies to lovers? √- A steamy one-night stand turned into a wild publicity stunt? √
A hot & cocky Hollywood actor meets his match when he falls for the sassy girl next door in AFTER ALL. Light, fun and sexy as sin, it’s the PERFECT SUMMER READ. From the NYT and USA Today bestselling author of The Pact and Before I Ever Met You.
Emmett Hill is the … and Before I Ever Met You.
At least that’s what his PR team wants the world to think.
Tall, handsome, and wickedly charming, Emmett is in the midst of a career comeback, having landed the role of a villain in a popular TV show. The only problem is, Emmett has come a long way from the “nice guy” characters he used to play and his old squeaky clean image is quickly being tarnished by bar fights, womanizing and bad boy behaviour. Considering he’s two years shy of forty, it’s an act he needs to drop. And fast.
Enter Alyssa Martin.
At twenty-eight, Alyssa is tired and ready for a change. Her job as office manager has grown stagnant and unfulfilling, while she’s become continuously frustrated with Vancouver’s lackluster dating scene, always searching for Mr. Right in a city of Mr. Wrongs.
When Emmett and Alyssa’s paths cross at a mutual friend’s wedding, their chemistry is off-the-charts hot, culminating in a steamy one-night stand.
What neither expected was for the media catch wind of their coupling – and run with it.
Now Emmett has to convince Alyssa to date him for the sake of his image. Her curvy, cute and “normal” persona is just the ticket to smoothing out his reputation, while Emmett provides Alyssa with the excitement and change her life has been lacking.
The only problem is, the two fight like cats and dogs outside of the bedroom.
And considering their arrangement is just for show, they shouldn’t be in the bedroom with each other anyway.
Right?
Try telling them that.
Note: After All is a spinoff of Before I Ever Met You, however it is a complete standalone novel. You do not need to read Before I Ever Met You to enjoy After All as it follows different characters.
***4 ‘Passion Over Performance’ Stars***
Talk about being hooked from the very first page. That prologue had me NEEDING to know how everything would turn out. That Emmett and Alyssa would get their HEA because it just wouldn’t be fair if they didn’t and, as always, Ms. Halle delivered. While After All is about two people finding love, it’s so much more. It’s about them working through their issues and finding who they are at their very core so that they can not only give their hearts to another and trust that they won’t bruise, but also that they can accept another hearts into their care, have their backs and make them stronger.
Emmett…yes, he’s a scoundrel and a man-child but I loved him. His life hasn’t been easy, but he’s persevered and come out alive, even if a little battered and has chosen to wrap himself in kevlar. He definitely had his moments, but there was an honesty to him and when you looked close enough, you could see that he could be a good man with a good heart when given a chance (and at times a swift kick in the arse.)
I had a bit of a time with Alyssa. I loved her in Before I Ever Met You and was totally psched when it was announced that she would be getting her own HEA, but things didn’t start out the way I thought they would. She was prickly, and I have no issue with that at all, but there was just something that made it hard for me to be #TeamAlyssa right away. But as the story progressed and we got to see under the prickly, my ambivalence towards her lifted and I found that what I loved about her when I first met her was back and that I was rooting for her to achieve all that she wanted.
A fake relationship between “enemies” playing out under the bright flashing lights of the paparazzi? What could go wrong? Or better yet, what could go right? I have to say that Emmett and Alyssa’s journey was a fun one because the more they tried to keep their distance from each other the closer they got, and most of the time it was done unconsciously which gave it a realistic and tangible feel. They were fun, flirty, snarky and oh so smexy…I mean Emmett is…yeah. The big ‘ole blow up was one that made sense but I was firmly #TeamEmmett and loved the grand gesture that put them back on the road to getting the HEA they both deserved.
Ms. Halle brought her A game with After All and I loved watching Emmett and Alyssa confront their demons and evolve as the story progressed. Catching up with Will and Jackie, as well as Ted and Tiffany, was fun. But my absolute favorite was Carla. She was everything, especially towards the end. I wanted to high five her and make special brownies for her. But all in all, this was a great read and I wouldn’t have a problem spending more time with characters down the road.
~ Copy provided by the author & voluntarily reviewed ~
NO SPOILERS!
After All was an amazing, entertaining, addicting, and heartfelt contemporary romance, and I absolutely loved Emmett and Alyssa’s story! Karina Halle’s writing style was excellent and the storyline and characters she created in After All were extraordinary. I honestly didn’t think I could love her books more than I already did, but she gets better with every novel she writes, and she completely blew me away with After All. It has been my favorite novel from her to date and I am so excited to see what she comes up with next.
Emmett and Alyssa were amazing and I immediately fell in love with them and their story. I loved their personalities, and even though they clashed with each other from time to time, their chemistry together was off-the-charts HOT and I truly loved reading every single page of their story. I wasn’t a huge fan of Alyssa’s “prickly” personality in the beginning, although it was understandable given her past, but I loved how Emmett and Alyssa’s story and relationship progressed throughout, and I thought Ms. Halle did an excellent job with the pacing of this book. I was constantly entertained and never found myself bored. To be honest, I devoured their story in two days, that’s how good it was. The banter between Emmett and Alyssa was highly entertaining, swoon-worthy, and sometimes frustrating, but I loved every minute of it. I seriously didn’t think Ms. Halle could write a hero sexier and more charming than Will McCallister (Before I Ever Met You), but she truly outdid herself with Emmett Hill. He was handsome, charming, and had a wicked and dirty mouth, but he was also compassionate and caring and I completely fell in love with him. Alyssa was a strong heroine and I loved that she was honest, stubborn, and spoke her mind most of the time. They were a perfect match for each other, and it was a privilege to go on this journey with them. I loved reading the book from both Emmett and Alyssa’s POV, and I was beyond ecstatic with the conclusion to their story.
The secondary characters were amazing as well, with the exception of a few, and I absolutely loved getting to see more of my favorite characters (Will, Jackie, Ted, and Tiffany) from Before I Ever Met You. They made several appearances throughout and it definitely made the story more interesting and entertaining. Plus I loved knowing what else happened to them in their lives after BIEMY. I loved that all of them, including Emmett and Alyssa, were super close and had wonderful relationships with each other. I was very happy that Ms. Halle decided to include them in the story.
After All was fun, sexy, and the perfect summer read, and I couldn’t have been happier with the outcome to Emmett and Alyssa’s story. Karina Halle is a brilliant author and I honestly can’t wait to see and read what she writes next. If you haven’t read any of her books, especially her contemporary romance novels, then you need to do so ASAP!
“She’s my first act and she’ll be my last. There will never be anyone else for me.”
Karina Halle is now officially number 2 on my list of Most Read Authors with 24 books. What I love most about her writing is that she can do it all. She has written books in so many different genres and I have enjoyed them all. So I am always up for a new book by her. Normally, the fake relationship trope doesn’t do it for me that much. However, I really enjoyed it in this book. I think the biggest reason for that, was because of the very interesting characters. I was hooked on Emmett right away, and he got me all hot and bothered. I loved how they first met, and I really liked that Alyssa didn’t fall all over him right away. However, the chemistry between them was incredible. I loved their banter and their sexy foreplay. Emmett definitely found a woman who could stand up to him. She said what was on her mind without a filter, and that really made me appreciate her. However, you shouldn’t always judge a book by its cover. Alyssa made some assumptions about Emmett that weren’t completely true, and it sometimes resulted into emotional scenes.
I really loved how they interacted, and enjoyed the character development for both of them as individuals and as a couple. It had a very organic growth and nice flow. The writing was great as always and easy to read. This book had some very funny moments that made me laugh, but also sad ones that had me tearing up. One thing I didn’t like was the drama at the end, it felt a bit forced and could’ve definitely been left out in my opinion. It did trigger something in the characters but it felt a bit cliche and unnecessary. Overall After All was a great stand-alone contemporary romance with awesome characters. I also loved catching up with Will and Jackie (from Before I Ever Met You), and wouldn’t mind other characters from this book getting their own story.
A Karina Halle book? Yes, please. It’s no secret that I’m drawn to Halle’s darker book but she has had my heart wrapped up in so many of her lighter books as well. I’m always surprised how much I enjoy them. And I mean that only because I love my dark reads. One thing about Halle is that I just love her writing style. It’s always quick paced and flows easily. I always feel it is descriptive enough to make me feel like I’m in the story with everyone.
After All is a standalone but it does give us a little bit of Will and Jackie from Before I Ever Met You. In fact, that is how Emmett and Alyssa met. Though their wedding. Which by the way, was a fun scene. Getting a little bit more of Will and Jackie and then throwing in Emmett and his scandalous mouth was just fantastic.
Emmett has been labeled as the hot-headed playboy. That temper of his just gets the best of him and he’s constantly being told that he needs to revamp his image. So when things start to spiral and the media locks on to a shared moment between him and Alyssa, a new plan is formed. She’s going to clean up his image. He has the perfect plan for it. What he didn’t plan on was how fast and how deep his feelings would go when it came to the blonde spitfire.
I’ll admit I’m a book whore. I always swoon for the hero and sometimes really like the heroine. This time, I think I actually fell for Alyssa more than I did Emmett. Don’t get me wrong, I throughly enjoyed his dirty mouth. The things he said and did to Alyssa was seriously HOT! I just overall liked Alyssa more. She is stubborn, blunt and feisty. She certainly gives Emmet a run for his money and holds nothing back. Except when her feelings start changing. But that just shows the vulnerable side to her and it makes her more real and honest.
Overall, I had fun with this book. Karina Halle delivers us a fun, witty and true love story at a pace that will keep you emerged.