Hold Me

Life After the Outbreak #3

by L.J. Baker

Nothing comes easy in a post-zombie-apocalyptic world and Andi is used to losing the people she cares about. But when Will gets infected so soon after getting him back, she can't accept the possibility that her life may have to go on without him. She clings to Dan for support through one impossible situation after another, and although there are some bright spots, the darkness just keeps rolling in.

When finally things seem to be settling down, and she thinks she might actually have a shot at a normal life, the unthinkable happens. She struggles with knowing nothing will ever be the same again and moving on to honor the memory of the one person she thought would always be there. But that's easier said than done, and Andi finds has to fight harder than ever just to hold on.

Genres: Zombies, Dystopia, Romance, Horror, Young Adult, Post Apocalyptic, Fantasy

274 pages, ebook

First published April 1, 2014

About the author

L J lives on the Jersey Shore with her husband, four kids, two cats, and an inherited dog from hell (a.k.a. the sewer gremlin). Though writing has always been her first passion, she got a degree in psychological counseling and worked in the mental health field for awhile, which she finds very helpful in dealing with her crazy family. She is a lover of all different types of music and books, switching between genres so wildly it sometimes makes people wonder if she has multiple personalities. She is most likely to be found writing romance stories of all kinds (contemporary, erotic, new adult, young adult, fantasy, paranormal, etc.) . When she's not writing, she prefers to spend her time reading, taking photos, watching Doctor Who or Supernatural, or spending time with her family. She loves to hear from readers so visit her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AuthorLJBaker or check out her website at www.lj-baker.com

Reviews

[Ashleyjo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't believe that I actually read this entire trilogy. It was that impending train wreck that you see coming. It's awful! It's tragic! But, morbid curiosity keeps you from looking away. I wish I could "unlook" this book:/

Annoyances At Every Turn

The female mc just couldn't have been made any more annoying if the author slathered her in itching powder. She remained this childish, wishy-washy, narcissistic follower that wanted to have her cake and eat it too in the romance department. Dan made his feelings clear... She chooses Will... Yet, she still holds tight to Dan under this guise of being BFF. No one would encourage such suffering from someone they supposedly loved. She's selfish, immature, & cruel. Plus, she's basically useless. I really thought that the author could use the things she experiences to grow her character into a better person, a more adept survivor, and a more mature woman. No! She can't fight for shit, constantly makes poor decisions, can't cook, refuses to kill her own food, cries and must be coddled at every turn, let's the guys take all the risks and treat her like a teacup, etc..

Will was childish and mildly annoying in his jealously and adolescent romantic behavior, too, but what finally put the nail in his likability coffin is that he was directly responsible for hurting the female mc twice - once he grabbed her arm in anger in an earlier book and left a bruise & again here when he pushed her away and she twisted her ankle. He didn't believe her on several occasions and didn't listen to her on several other occasions, unlike Dan, who always supported her.

I think Dan is what kept me reading. The love & devotion he gave her and even Will was so undeserving. It was infuriating to watch this play out with him as the scapegoat guy to care for everyone, save the day(s), and show vs say his love.


Plot Holes Are This Author's Specialty

The author goes into all these plot points, but never finishes them...

*weird lab experiments and what the female mc sees in the lab? What's the fucking point?
* possibly of cutting off infected limb to prevent virus? True or not, and, again, what was the fucking point?
* a psychic that never predicts a single fucking thing? Okay, is she psychic or not?
* this psychic having a vision that she needs to accompany the female mc on a manhunt only to have a seizure and be returned to base. Nothing else mentioned about the vision at all?!? Again, what was the point?
* the whole "she's gonna get you killed" hush, hush convos that occurred between Jane and Will were never explained.
* Jane suddenly changing her attitude, the looks between she and Will, and the sudden transition from hate to sister love shit was never explained?!?
* the military suddenly removing and burning dead bodies?!?
* the attic and why it was so fascinating to Dan and so familiar to her?!?
*Will's ring?!! Wtf was the point? What else did the psychic want to tell her before she left the room?

I could go on, but there are just too many plot points just like the above that make a big, repetitive deal about a subject and then get abandoned by the author.

Love? Really? This Must Be A Joke?!?

This is a bit of a rant, but it's a pet peeve for characters to be used, abused, and discarded!

It's very possible to love two people. But, what's annoying is when a character is constantly second guessing what she feels... making grand declarations of surety... then turning around to behave in a completely contradictory way... which in turn makes her question everything all over... Make more declarations.. And so the cycle repeats FOR THREE BOOKS before a default HEA with the guy the author purposefully downplayed in comparison to the other.

It makes no sense for this author to WRITE the emotional feelings that the mc has for Will, with no rationale behind it, while all the actions point to two people that don't belong together, and then SHOW the emotional connection she has with Dan through actual conversations and how he treats her, but WRITE that's it's all moot and can never be because she loves the other one in a "different" way.

The entire thing is a farce to make us fall in love with Dan and root for him to get this stupid ass chick that we don't even believe deserves him.

Fine if the author wants her character to end up will Will, and clearly this love triangle had to be resolved somehow, but why do EVERYTHING possible to make it clear that Dan is a better match for her, kill him, and go to a HEA where she grieves the guy she didn't choose like he's her soulmate while continuing to say how much she loves who she ends up with?!? Is that really this author's idea of romance?

How is it romantic for readers to a) see who loves, believes, and respects her with no if, ands, or buts & yet see her end up with the lesser of the two b) have her constantly thinking about Dan, the guy she doesn't choose c) have her actually say she regrets not giving Dan a chance after he's already dead and it's too late & you're about to read a HEA with someone else?

To add insult to injury, the author's note says she's going to write a novella where the female mc reads Dan's journal full of his tortured love for her before his death. No thank you! Why the fuck would I want to read the journal of this guy the author emotionally tortured before giving a lame ass death????? Nah!

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

After basically losing myself for a day in Find Me, to say I was eager to get my hands on this book would be an understatement.

This series makes me absolutely giddy in that the main character is a strong, independent young woman, but at the same time she also knows when to accept help from others. Andi has given up some of her stubbornness from the first two books and now will allow others to be there for her. That's a great lesson to learn! Of course, that's not the only life-lesson Andi learns in the span of the series.

Just when you think things are going smoothly and you can enjoy some quick wit and enlightening conversations between characters, all hell breaks loose. But, that's what makes this book exciting. It started out crazy and just seemed to roller coaster from there.

Because this is the final book of the series, I'm going to be extra careful not to ruin it with spoilers.

I will say that Andi and friends fight evil individuals, love completely, and suffer great loss. By the end of the book I was sobbing. A complete wreck. But it was completely worth it!

What a beautiful story and talented author!

Christy @ Captivated Reading

[Kelli W · Rating 2 out of 5]

*****i am editing my review to include a prefice. I have great criticism, which I express in the following. however, I want to state, I forgot this was authors first series debut. And the reasons that greatly disappointed me about these books, still all came from strong ideas and high potential that didn't get developed and executed correctly. I think there is potential for this author.*****

I take tragedy as well as I can, understanding it's expected, significantly, within zombie novels. but when an author overloads the readers, with "potential" for so much love and happy endings, So much build up included for the good moments, but plot never expand beyond cruel tameness when good parts actually occurred., It isn't meaningful or beautifully traffic, this series was BS. the good parts, the parts that are supposed to make you care and invest in a story, were always just an arm length away. enough to make you care for these characters, enough to make you cry if any of them died. but not anything else. on a "feeling scale", the good parts were closer to the numb side. it was simply half ass. the bad parts, scary parts, were well done, and they were stressful, scary, hurt to read. but only 25% of these books are devoted to parts that should have helped round out the story. nothing else was substantial, and because of that, the death of any main character's, was tainted. all the tears any reader sheds for those heartbreaking deaths, it now feels like the author was just being a dick, and enjoyed toying with us readers. reading through the books, i felt like I was set up to have hope, only to have each death destroy a chunk of that hope and it was never replenished, not ever, from the first page until the last. I got no sense of satisfaction, not even from the minimal times that good things prevailed. I'm not angry because sad things happened. zombie novels have more tragedy than most genres and I have read enough of them that I still love it regardless. this was a series that faked sincerity, I couldn't tell you why, but it's enough to make me ignore this author now. I'm pissed I wasted my time reading this. regardless of the emotional disaster of this series, which is more subjective, objectively, the strong parts of plot were ruined as well. For those who have already finished series, are you not annoyed for all of the following open ended or wasted story points? the reader is left with no explanations, no satisfaction of completion to 90%, of the "enemies" plots and the story line antagonists.
-The scary lab at military base?
-Soldiers watching lab doctors, after one accidental bite, they refuse to step in and allow them to be eaten to death instead of shooting them to stop suffering?
-The screams Jack heard from people experimented on in lab?
-The fear of the military base, derived from the lab, for 2 of 3 books, is then never mentioned again in the 3rd, finale?
-you never find out how Andi's mom died, just an idea was not even alluded.
-Did Andi go back to say goodbye to home later?
-Did there end up being a main cure, or vaccination?
-Did the military lab finally spread they're knowledge to other groups, pass it onto the whole US, or other countries?
-Why and how did it even start to make zombies, at least a mini idea.
-For Christ sakes...is Hadley psychic at all, or just prone to seizures?!?
Really? Nothing, not even a sentence in final book, not even a mention towards any of these huge plot points?
total annoying waste of my time

[Dena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story mad a big impact because of how much death was in the story. I envy those who have not experienced it because somedays it becomes raw and consuming. I think Dan and Will were amazing and supportive. I thought the story was compelling and I couldn't wait to read more. Alas, it has come to an end.

[Veronica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy Jesus Mother of Frankenstein! This book is the best of the three... DAN!!!

[Paola A Sánchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to The Weeknd’s ‘In Your Eyes’ during this entire trilogy and well, it helped me go through the parts I dislike and the parts I just loved and enjoyed like L.J. Baker’s writing style which let’s face it, it’s fucking magnetic, and I’ll be reading more of her in the future.
IT WAS NOT PERFECT.
Let’s face the facts. This trilogy is dated, truly dated, and I’m not a teenager any more so this book’s intended public wasn’t me, but still, I liked it. With its many, many flaws (like the sexism and how dependant dear Andi is of others now, and let’s not mention the abandoned plot devices) I liked it, though I still wish we got to see what was the point of you know letting the zombie eat that female scientist or what was in the USBs that Andi’s mom left in her box? Many good questions unanswered.
UPSET THERE WASN’T ENOUGH GORE.
You know I was pretty disappointed with people not using the “arm-cutting” technique in a zombie-infested world in the last book, but c’mon here they had the perfect chance with Will almost dying but now let’s put him some medicine and a surprise vaccine, so we won’t have to cut his arm. I mean that was too convenient even for L.J. Baker and her happy ending YA-ness, I wanted a cut limb since this is a zombie book trilogy, no fucking gore, and just deaths all over the place. I’m not happy with that creative choice.
FUCKING L.J.
In my last review, I left it clear that I didn’t like Dan nor Will, both were pretty sexist violent dicks who emotionally manipulated Andi. So when you tell me Dan’s dead, and we’re in Andi’s POV, of course, I was gonna shed a tear because well according to her psyche he was a “sweet friend”, right? So I didn’t fucking need her reading his diary with sad depressive broken-hearted entries, just no! Don’t make me feel bad for him! I cried like I cared for that bastard, damn. I even played MGK’s ‘play this when I’m gone’ for all those 3 or 4 chapters to help me deal with that sadness. Jesus, thanks a fucking lot L.J. And now you’re telling me you’re working on publishing his diary since 2017, wtf?! I’m not emotionally ready for that!!

[S.T. Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Predictable but that doesn't mean bad

Listen I had little hope for any subverted expectations going into the final book of this trilogy. I held out a slight bit of hope after the cliffhanger at the end of book 2 but inevitably this went down pretty much how I expected. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I firmly believe tropes are tropes for a reason and I find them enjoyable. But something about Andi just wasn't for me. As much as I tried to like her I couldn't and that leaves the entire series on a bit of a low note in my opinion. I don't think it would stop me from reading something else by this author but I'm definitely done with Andi's story.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG, L. J. Baker, you made me cry my eyes out 😭, loved this series, loved Dan... Thank you so much for this...
Also, I really Love that you're a supernatural fan 😉 wink wink "Jensen Ackles" poster, black impala 1967 foto, and the main character name, andi shepard hey maybe Mark shepard fan 😉 wink, and best of all, a doctor who fan 😁

[Christina Botchway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Satisfying end to series

Not going to lie, I was routing for a throuple. I thought the cover picture was just to throw us off. It’s a new world so nothing wrong in doing things differently. This was a very satisfying end to the series even though a few tears were shed. I will definitely follow this author’s post apocalyptic stories. Loved it 😍

[Abi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating - 3.5

[Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even better then the first ! Love the storyline. Love the characters. Can’t wait for the next book to see what happens.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say about Hold Me? It was the end of a trilogy that will always have a special place in my heart! A zombie apacalyptic love story I couldn't have ever imagined. I held my breath, cheered, and bawled like a baby especially in this one. No spoilers though, don't worry.

Rarely has an author ended the story of much beloved characters like, Andi, Will, and Dan to my satisfaction. To anyone's satisfaction. But, amazingly, LJ Baker did just that! Sure, I wasn't "happy" about everything that happened. But.....I think things did indeed need to happend the way they did. Do yourself a huge favor. Read, Save Me, Find Me, and Hold Me and see what things might be like in life after the outbreak.

[Allie Rashkow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ummm....I cannot believe you did that?!?!?! I mean seriously? And I mean...really? I guess I knew something like that would have to happen but SERIOUSLY?? I couldn't have even gotten one little, earth shattering kiss? Seriously? That's my one regret for this book. With that kiss it would have been a perfect conclusion to a fantastic series. Why couldn't I have that one little kiss? Honestly, I might have been happier if the situation had been reversed. Yes I know this is a confusing review. It will all make sense once you've read the final book, "Hold Me," in the "Life After the Outbreak" trilogy by L.J. Baker. So...go read it!

[Danielle Reeder · Rating 2 out of 5]

WHY?! WHY?! W H Y?!?!? This book is so freaking draggy and inferior to the other two books of the trilogy. It took me MONTHS to get through it. I hated the main character, Andie, in Hold Me. She so freaking blind and not to mention, dumb. And Will! Ohmygod Will. I just wanted to strangle him every time he called her "babe"(and he said it like like, a lot). The only character I looked forward to seeing was Dan, but freaking LJ Baker likes to make dumb literary decisions and kill off the only good character. Like why? She should have ended up with Dan and Will should have died when he was infected in the beginning. I can't even deal with this.

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was chomping at the bit to get my hands on this book after the cliff hanger we were left with in Find Me. My mind was going in so many directions as I tried to figure out what was going to happen next. LJ Baker did not disappoint with the twists and turns in this book. Even though I found myself yelling at my Kindle and crying... A lot. Andi has grown so much as a character and I love that this book has so much more Dan! This is a must read. It's a fantastic way to end a great series. Well done! I can't wait to see what she writes next!

[Brandy Rivers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the end of the series, or at least an end to the main story arc.
Andi has really grown.
Will finally figured out a few things.
And I still love Dan best.
A lot happens, then again that's the case from the start of the series, this is no different.
The twists and turns were great, but I won't spoil anything.

[Nykki · Rating 5 out of 5]

omigodomigod. this book... umm.. I don't know how to not spoil it but, this series was wrapped up beautifully!!! I read it twice, and I plan to read it again. Andi, Will, and Dan.... sigh, swoon, Dan... you want this, nope, you need this book!

[Norma Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

You did it anyway!

I put in a request to the author that she not kill off any more of my favorite characters. I'm telling on you!

[JenniferR · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure why I read this in the first place. Will not reread.

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I loved this series. This book just didn't take the story to the next level like I was hoping but it was enjoyable. This author has a lot of potential.

[Faith Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this series! It was such a fun ride and I’m sad it’s over. I laughed, I cried. So glad I decided to read it.

[Lori Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

The whole series kept me on the edge of my seat. Loved it. This goes on my keeper shelf.

[Louise Venter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great series, was a little disappointed with the ending.