Aftermath: Love

by Serenity Bea

382 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 16, 2026

About the author

Serenity Bea writes emotionally charged, psychologically rich stories that explore the quiet complexities of human connection. Her characters are flawed and painfully real, often grappling with identity, morality, and the invisible forces that shape their lives.

Serenity’s writing is intended to spark conversations, question assumptions and to provide the reader with the opportunity for meaningful reflection that can shift perspectives.

Her debut novel Aftermath made the Top 15 in the 2025 international New2theScene writing competition, marking her as a fresh voice to watch in literary fiction. Her work blends immersive storytelling with thoughtful social commentary, creating narratives that not only resonate, but challenge.

Drawing on her degree in Applied Psychology, she brings sharp, compassionate insight to her writing—unearthing the hidden fears, longings, and misbeliefs that drive her characters’ decisions.

When she’s not torturing fictional characters in emotionally complex ways, she’s likely listening to Hans Zimmer and sipping a margarita.

She has incurable insomnia, a cat who thinks he's her co-writer, and a dog who's convinced he should be.

Reviews

[Christie Stoneback · Rating 5 out of 5]

After surviving the pandemic and the journey half way across the country, Ellen, Cole and Daryl find themselves in Arcadia. All three need healing, whether it is physical or emotion and they are able to find an other survivors, like themselves, to build community with and start fresh.

As the weeks and months pass we see their personalities rise and we see how their pasts have shaped their present and continue to influence their futures. Depth and emotion are so intense in this book! I found myself rooting for them, scolding them and yearning for them! I was invested from page one and am so incredibly eager for the next book to come out so I can see what happens next!!!

Start with the first book, Aftermath: Loyalty, to meet our trio of survivors. You’ll be hooked with the journey they have to endure through this dystopian world. Then engage your heart for this second book, Aftermath: Love, as you grow with each character and their personal stories. Then, like me, you’ll be sitting on the edge of your seat waiting with complete eagerness to see what happens on book three!!

[Arianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: 5 ⭐

This is a riveting sequel that follows the characters from the first book and their lives in a dystopian world where a pandemic has wiped out most of humanity. Aftermath: Love picks up right where our previous story hung, leaving no gaps to be filled between the then and now. Due to this, we are immediately thrust back into the tense atmosphere that is packed full of anger, guilt, worry, and grief. Where the first book, Aftermath: Loyalty, was packed to the brim of action and focused on the survival of the external elements such as shelter or food, Love focuses more on the state of humanity within the post-apocalyptic world.

As the characters dive deeper into the inner turmoil that they are dealing with, such as remorse, grief, and secrets, we get to uncover more of their past and what has led up to the pandemic. So many new characters are introduced to us that I either fell in love with and cherished deeply, hated with a passion, or felt connected to. Each main character that we followed found wisdom and compassion, but each of them also faced a version of betrayal.

Serenity knows exactly how to evoke feelings of happiness, sadness, mourning, and frustration in her writing. While reading this I felt like I was on an emotional roller-coaster that I didn't want to leave. Many moments made me cry, smile, audibly gasp, and by the end I was hugging the book to me. We were left with another cliff-hanger that has me wanting the next installment ASAP.

The Aftermath series would definitely be one of my first recommendations as a series to anyone who loves post-apocalyptic settings where even the smallest communities struggle with hardships and control, who love the similar feeling of The Walking Dead or The 100, and stories that stay with you forever.

[Seth Hobbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first book enough in this series to check out the second one and the author continues with decent sequel here. I like the continuity of the covers as well, which tell a nice story about the emotional complexities that exist here. It is a different take on the apocalypse, but has echoes of The Walking Dead or Z Nation and similar stories, though this disaster is more about a virus and the effects on reproduction, etc. It would probably help to read the first book, so that you connect more with many of the characters and have a good foundation for the dystopian background. If you want to follow the gang and explore Arcadia, check out this heavy sequel.

[Debbie Pyette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is book two of a fantastic, emotion-filled series. It is a roller coaster ride and I got very invested in the characters and cared deeply about their well-being. I was sad to see it end.