After The Storm ~ Faith Andrews ~ Review

Noah and Willow know not to mix business with pleasure. They've both been burned in the past, he thinks she's too young, and she definitely shouldn't hook up with her boss. So, they don't. Instead, they build a friendship, while fighting an obvious attraction. 

But when Noah's called back East after a natural disaster that threatens his home and the loved ones he left behind, he's forced to face his past with Willow by his side. 

Will their turbulent pasts hold them back from giving into fate? Or will the two of them realize that they've been each other's calm before the storm?

Goodreads ~ Amazon

Elizabeth's Review

3.5 Stars - Worth A Reader's Time

Review Copy Provided by Author

I seem to be on a mission to work my way through Ms. Andrew's back list, but not necessarily in order. When the opportunity to read After The Storm presented itself, I jumped at the chance even though I have not read book 1 in the Dreams series.

When we meet Noah, he is in his early 30's, living in San Diego and running a successful construction company. His life is work and meaningless hook ups because he is still nursing a broken heart. He is also fighting an attraction to Willow, his 20 something office manager. He has a laundry list of excuses of why he shouldn't go after anything with Willow, but they are just that.

It was fun to watch Noah fight his attraction to Willow, especially when situations at work force them to spend more and more time together. Willow isn't issue free and her problems resurface over and over once they give in and pursue the relationship.

Willow is my biggest frustration with After The Storm. I love her and Noah and while I can sympathize with how she feels about her past and the impact it will have on her future, I also wanted to reach into the book and shake her. She lets the past and her situation insert itself into her relationship with Noah so many times that it would have served her right if he had thrown his hands up and walked away. That said, the way Noah fights for Willow and their relationship makes me like him even more.

The supporting cast of After The Storm is small, but that helped us keep the focus on the characters we were supposed to be getting to know. Ms. Andrews did a wonderful job of showing us how two wounded people can bring each other back into the land of the loving and begin building a life together.

 After the Storm works well as a stand-alone. The little bit of cross over with book 1 is explained in such a way that everything is easy to understand. The only thing I might have changed, is that I would have left some of the epilogue details out, things ended up being tied into a bow that was almost too neat. That is strictly personal preference for me, I have to defer to the expert (Ms. Andrews) on that because her characters knew where they wanted to go.