What do you think?
Rate this book
The Aftermath
What if you had to spend one year face-to-face with the biggest mistake of your life?
Daniel Rhodes is looking for an anonymous night of fun with his fake ID in the big city, an hour away from his tiny hometown in rural Washington.
“You play pool?” Daniel asks the stranger, eyeing him.
“Uh, yeah. I do,” the man says in a clipped, cocky way. “Do you play pool?”
But when an intriguing stranger flirts with Daniel, he’s desperate not to lose the man’s attention. The man is smooth, older, and funny — dark and handsome with a physical presence that has Daniel’s blood running hot. Without thinking about it, Daniel starts hustling him.
“A little,” Daniel lies. “You up for a game?”
“You’re damned right I am.”
What starts as a simple con changes as their chemistry crackles. Daniel wants this tattooed stranger, and he’s willing to bend the rules to get him on his knees. The young hustler makes the bet of a lifetime — getting him exactly what he wants.
But the anonymous fun becomes a nightmare when Daniel meets the stranger in his hometown days later, thrown into a situation that leaves them no choice but to work together.
. . .
On the advice of his friends, perpetual loner Wilson Morrow has quit his job at a state university to accept an offer in the small town of Chewelah. The university is all he’s known since he escaped a turbulent childhood in Alabama, and Will spent his twenties forgetting the memories of what happened there.
But his fresh start in a new town is a disaster from the start... Because staring at him on the first day of his promising new job is the biggest mistake of his entire life: Daniel Rhodes. They both know that with a single word, Daniel could ruin Will’s whole career.
. . .
They want to hate each other for what they are and the dishonest way they met. But as they’re forced to work together, Daniel finds that Will is changing the way he views himself, literature, and the future before him. In the gregarious and hot-tempered Daniel, Will finds someone he cannot help but care about — but he knows that the best thing he can do for Daniel Rhodes is to leave him alone.
Try as they might, something bigger than themselves always pushes the two of them together.
Nothing stays the same for either man as they navigate the minefield of a love they must keep secret. For the first time in either man’s life, they begin to build rather than repair, to forge their own future instead of treading in a wake, and to create something more important than simple survival in the aftermath of a chance encounter.
(The Aftermath is an erotically-charged emotional romance with hurt/comfort, no cheating, and a happily ever after ending.)
Daniel Rhodes is looking for an anonymous night of fun with his fake ID in the big city, an hour away from his tiny hometown in rural Washington.
“You play pool?” Daniel asks the stranger, eyeing him.
“Uh, yeah. I do,” the man says in a clipped, cocky way. “Do you play pool?”
But when an intriguing stranger flirts with Daniel, he’s desperate not to lose the man’s attention. The man is smooth, older, and funny — dark and handsome with a physical presence that has Daniel’s blood running hot. Without thinking about it, Daniel starts hustling him.
“A little,” Daniel lies. “You up for a game?”
“You’re damned right I am.”
What starts as a simple con changes as their chemistry crackles. Daniel wants this tattooed stranger, and he’s willing to bend the rules to get him on his knees. The young hustler makes the bet of a lifetime — getting him exactly what he wants.
But the anonymous fun becomes a nightmare when Daniel meets the stranger in his hometown days later, thrown into a situation that leaves them no choice but to work together.
. . .
On the advice of his friends, perpetual loner Wilson Morrow has quit his job at a state university to accept an offer in the small town of Chewelah. The university is all he’s known since he escaped a turbulent childhood in Alabama, and Will spent his twenties forgetting the memories of what happened there.
But his fresh start in a new town is a disaster from the start... Because staring at him on the first day of his promising new job is the biggest mistake of his entire life: Daniel Rhodes. They both know that with a single word, Daniel could ruin Will’s whole career.
. . .
They want to hate each other for what they are and the dishonest way they met. But as they’re forced to work together, Daniel finds that Will is changing the way he views himself, literature, and the future before him. In the gregarious and hot-tempered Daniel, Will finds someone he cannot help but care about — but he knows that the best thing he can do for Daniel Rhodes is to leave him alone.
Try as they might, something bigger than themselves always pushes the two of them together.
Nothing stays the same for either man as they navigate the minefield of a love they must keep secret. For the first time in either man’s life, they begin to build rather than repair, to forge their own future instead of treading in a wake, and to create something more important than simple survival in the aftermath of a chance encounter.
(The Aftermath is an erotically-charged emotional romance with hurt/comfort, no cheating, and a happily ever after ending.)
583 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 19, 2016
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 180 reviews
June 11, 2016
I had a hard time rating this book but I finally give it 4 stars because it was a riveting read and I was glad to discover this author.
It starts with 2 men meeting in a bar, having quite a good time, then great sex. It could have stopped there for both of them, but a few days later, reality hits hard : Daniel is 18, a high school student who went into this bar with a fake ID just to have fun before school started and Will is an English teacher, brand new in the little town of Chewelah. Both are stunned to realize they will have to spend one year together as student and teacher.
Through the whole first semester, both men slowly adjust to their dynamics together.
It’s a long book, not that it bothers me at all and I never lost interest during my read, but there lays my conundrum : for such a long book, there are still so many things that I felt were left out. About Will : Will’s relationship with his mother which obviously did a number on him, his drinking problems, what pushed him to relocate to Chewelah. About Daniel : why he is so afraid of college, how he’s mapping out his future. About the secondary characters who would have benefit more than only being shadows in my opinion. And, the ending : too abrupt for my taste, all wrapped up in the epilogue, and I’m still wondering if it can qualify as an HEA.
Still, despite the frustrating feeling this story is not being complete, the development of the relationship between Will and Daniel during their first semester as student-teacher and lovers is beautifully written. Will’s loneliness is heartbreaking, the growth of Daniel is fascinating, the discussions about literature is a nice touch, the love scenes are so much more than only steam, which is there in spades, it’s about worshipping. As mentioned, the writing is brilliant and the story is gripping and packed with emotion.
When a story is this good, it raises my expectations very high, thus my frustration about what I believe was missing for it to be perfection.
It starts with 2 men meeting in a bar, having quite a good time, then great sex. It could have stopped there for both of them, but a few days later, reality hits hard : Daniel is 18, a high school student who went into this bar with a fake ID just to have fun before school started and Will is an English teacher, brand new in the little town of Chewelah. Both are stunned to realize they will have to spend one year together as student and teacher.
Through the whole first semester, both men slowly adjust to their dynamics together.
It’s a long book, not that it bothers me at all and I never lost interest during my read, but there lays my conundrum : for such a long book, there are still so many things that I felt were left out. About Will : Will’s relationship with his mother which obviously did a number on him, his drinking problems, what pushed him to relocate to Chewelah. About Daniel : why he is so afraid of college, how he’s mapping out his future. About the secondary characters who would have benefit more than only being shadows in my opinion. And, the ending : too abrupt for my taste, all wrapped up in the epilogue, and I’m still wondering if it can qualify as an HEA.
Still, despite the frustrating feeling this story is not being complete, the development of the relationship between Will and Daniel during their first semester as student-teacher and lovers is beautifully written. Will’s loneliness is heartbreaking, the growth of Daniel is fascinating, the discussions about literature is a nice touch, the love scenes are so much more than only steam, which is there in spades, it’s about worshipping. As mentioned, the writing is brilliant and the story is gripping and packed with emotion.
When a story is this good, it raises my expectations very high, thus my frustration about what I believe was missing for it to be perfection.
September 2, 2016
Hago update para recomendar los bonus chapters que la autora ofrece al final del libro si te apuntas a su Newsletter, si os ha gustado el libro merecen mucho la pena, a mi me han encantado.
-----------------------
Willson y Daniel se conocen una noche, juegan al billar, lo pasan bien... Y a los dos días se dan cuenta de que Willson, con 28 años, es el nuevo profesor de Literatura de Daniel. A partir de ahí, y en 600 páginas, la autora nos cuenta con todo detalle y de una forma muy hermosa, cómo dos personas se enamoran, se hacen daño y aprenden a confiar el uno en el otro. Un libro en el que parece que nada ocurre, excepto todo lo que sentimos cuando alguien pasa a ser el centro de nuestra vida.
Lo mejor del libro, sin duda alguna, son Willson y Daniel, deseas con fiereza que todo les vaya bien, que encuentren su manera de seguir juntos. Willson, tan inseguro, tan introspectivo, tan culto, tan necesitado de amar y ser amado, maravilloso con sus tatuajes y piercings. Daniel, tan joven y a veces tan maduro, con esa forma tan especial de analizar todo lo que le rodea, tan tierno. La autora construye poco a poco su relación haciendo que el lector la viva con ellos. Imposible no comentar la cantidad de referencias literarias que contiene el libro, que para alguien amante de la Literatura como yo, ha sido un bonus con el que he disfrutado muchísimo.
No todo es perfecto, las razones por las que Willson acarrea tanto odio hacia sí mismo y le cuesta confiar en él y en los demás, no están muy desarrolladas. He echado de menos saber algo más de su experiencia personal (es posible que la autora nos prepare un segundo libro), aunque esto ha permitido que la historia se pueda centrar más en los dos. Los personajes secundarios son maravillosos, pero algunas cosas quedan en el aire, queremos saber más de ellos, una vez más es posible que en vistas a otros libros. La naturalidad con la que Daniel y sus amigos viven su sexualidad es maravillosa, pero en ocasiones parece demasiado idílica. Como ya he comentado, la forma de escribir de la autora me ha gustado muchísimo, mucho sentimiento, aunque a veces parece que ella mismo se está perdiendo en sus pensamientos, la edición podría haber sido mejor.
No es un libro perfecto, ni mucho menos, y no es un libro para todo el mundo, pero a mi Will y Daniel me han hecho vivir su historia de amor como mía y por eso le doy las cinco estrellas. Ha sido una sorpresa muy agradable.
-----------------------
Willson y Daniel se conocen una noche, juegan al billar, lo pasan bien... Y a los dos días se dan cuenta de que Willson, con 28 años, es el nuevo profesor de Literatura de Daniel. A partir de ahí, y en 600 páginas, la autora nos cuenta con todo detalle y de una forma muy hermosa, cómo dos personas se enamoran, se hacen daño y aprenden a confiar el uno en el otro. Un libro en el que parece que nada ocurre, excepto todo lo que sentimos cuando alguien pasa a ser el centro de nuestra vida.
Lo mejor del libro, sin duda alguna, son Willson y Daniel, deseas con fiereza que todo les vaya bien, que encuentren su manera de seguir juntos. Willson, tan inseguro, tan introspectivo, tan culto, tan necesitado de amar y ser amado, maravilloso con sus tatuajes y piercings. Daniel, tan joven y a veces tan maduro, con esa forma tan especial de analizar todo lo que le rodea, tan tierno. La autora construye poco a poco su relación haciendo que el lector la viva con ellos. Imposible no comentar la cantidad de referencias literarias que contiene el libro, que para alguien amante de la Literatura como yo, ha sido un bonus con el que he disfrutado muchísimo.
No todo es perfecto, las razones por las que Willson acarrea tanto odio hacia sí mismo y le cuesta confiar en él y en los demás, no están muy desarrolladas. He echado de menos saber algo más de su experiencia personal (es posible que la autora nos prepare un segundo libro), aunque esto ha permitido que la historia se pueda centrar más en los dos. Los personajes secundarios son maravillosos, pero algunas cosas quedan en el aire, queremos saber más de ellos, una vez más es posible que en vistas a otros libros. La naturalidad con la que Daniel y sus amigos viven su sexualidad es maravillosa, pero en ocasiones parece demasiado idílica. Como ya he comentado, la forma de escribir de la autora me ha gustado muchísimo, mucho sentimiento, aunque a veces parece que ella mismo se está perdiendo en sus pensamientos, la edición podría haber sido mejor.
No es un libro perfecto, ni mucho menos, y no es un libro para todo el mundo, pero a mi Will y Daniel me han hecho vivir su historia de amor como mía y por eso le doy las cinco estrellas. Ha sido una sorpresa muy agradable.
May 18, 2023
Took a little warming up right there in the beginning but then the deeper you go, the more all-consuming it gets. It’s a long ride at just over 500 pages but if you are looking for a really well done teacher/student romance, this is it.
I loved every single interaction with every single character. I only wish the last 20% would have been condensed and the epilogue didn’t really feel necessary.
I definitely want to re-visit this book again. I’m going to miss so much about it. Thanks to my buddy James Berry for the rec!
4.5 ⭐️
Gold standard for student/teacher romance as far as I’m concerned.
I loved every single interaction with every single character. I only wish the last 20% would have been condensed and the epilogue didn’t really feel necessary.
I definitely want to re-visit this book again. I’m going to miss so much about it. Thanks to my buddy James Berry for the rec!
4.5 ⭐️
Gold standard for student/teacher romance as far as I’m concerned.
February 10, 2025
4.5 stars ...
Re-read: Feb. '25
(Original review: Aug. 2018) - This one did not hook me right away, but I stuck with it and soon found myself completely sucked in! I found that I related to my namesake extremely well; 28 year old Will ... not so much, except for his love of literature. Bottom line ... when I finished, I was a hot mess! There were some laughs, usually courtesy of Daniel's best friends, Manny and Henry ... and there were many tears. As others have said ... if you can set the teacher/student thing aside (which I personally have zero issues with ... Daniel is "eighteen, almost nineteen" 🤷♂️), this is a very real, very emotionally intense story with very real characters. A book I initially had doubts about but ultimately LOVED! ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
How do you say no to the other half of your goddamn heart, Daniel wonders. How can you get a guarantee that you won’t hurt this bad again, other than walking away?
“I’m not some living lesson about love, Will — you can’t pick me up when you’re interested and put me down when you’re scared —”
“You’re right,” Will says.
Daniel takes a step forward, raises his hands as if he’s going to fight the other man — or maybe as if his hands could block Will begging, Will admitting his faults — “I’m not a goddamn chapter for you — something you use —”
“I know that Daniel,” Will says. “I am wrong for you in every way I can think of — but none of that changes the fact that I love you.”
Finally, he has said it.
Re-read: Feb. '25
(Original review: Aug. 2018) - This one did not hook me right away, but I stuck with it and soon found myself completely sucked in! I found that I related to my namesake extremely well; 28 year old Will ... not so much, except for his love of literature. Bottom line ... when I finished, I was a hot mess! There were some laughs, usually courtesy of Daniel's best friends, Manny and Henry ... and there were many tears. As others have said ... if you can set the teacher/student thing aside (which I personally have zero issues with ... Daniel is "eighteen, almost nineteen" 🤷♂️), this is a very real, very emotionally intense story with very real characters. A book I initially had doubts about but ultimately LOVED! ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
How do you say no to the other half of your goddamn heart, Daniel wonders. How can you get a guarantee that you won’t hurt this bad again, other than walking away?
“I’m not some living lesson about love, Will — you can’t pick me up when you’re interested and put me down when you’re scared —”
“You’re right,” Will says.
Daniel takes a step forward, raises his hands as if he’s going to fight the other man — or maybe as if his hands could block Will begging, Will admitting his faults — “I’m not a goddamn chapter for you — something you use —”
“I know that Daniel,” Will says. “I am wrong for you in every way I can think of — but none of that changes the fact that I love you.”
Finally, he has said it.
June 19, 2023
Quite a ride!
This story definitely had it’s emotional highs and lows! Daniel was a perfectly lovely character! Some reviewers say that this has more of a HFN ending than a HEA but I think it has a hopeful HEA. Plus there’s a free 10k word bonus story that I got from the author’s website! I may have to update this review after I read that! Until then, I give this 4.75 stars. The last few chapters going back and forth in time was weird and that’s where it lost the 0.25 from me! Excellent story and very highly recommended though!
Edit: I read the free extra chapters. They were worth reading but didn’t add much to the story that we didn’t already know.
This story definitely had it’s emotional highs and lows! Daniel was a perfectly lovely character! Some reviewers say that this has more of a HFN ending than a HEA but I think it has a hopeful HEA. Plus there’s a free 10k word bonus story that I got from the author’s website! I may have to update this review after I read that! Until then, I give this 4.75 stars. The last few chapters going back and forth in time was weird and that’s where it lost the 0.25 from me! Excellent story and very highly recommended though!
Edit: I read the free extra chapters. They were worth reading but didn’t add much to the story that we didn’t already know.
Read
December 11, 2022DNF @20 %.... No rating
And I have questions:
Why is this book almost 600 pages long?
I couldn't read 100 of them let alone 600.
Why is this book ALWAYS recommended to me when the teacher-student trope is mentioned?
You should know better 😏
For the readers who told me this book was even better than CP Harris's The Boy Who Loved Wicked: Shame on you! 😆😆😆
But really....
Both characters are kinda douchebags and very far from loveable. I got bored pretty quickly.
My review: Meh.
And I have questions:
Why is this book almost 600 pages long?
I couldn't read 100 of them let alone 600.
Why is this book ALWAYS recommended to me when the teacher-student trope is mentioned?
You should know better 😏
For the readers who told me this book was even better than CP Harris's The Boy Who Loved Wicked: Shame on you! 😆😆😆
But really....
Both characters are kinda douchebags and very far from loveable. I got bored pretty quickly.
My review: Meh.
Did Not Finish
June 27, 2016Did not read. MCs are teacher and teen student. That is super, duper far outside my comfort zone and a hard limit.
I hope others enjoy the book!
I hope others enjoy the book!
September 5, 2019
2.5 stars
While this started out really good, the story slowly got away from me until I got to a point where I just wanted it done.
This is a story about the romance between an 18 year old high school student and his 28 year old English teacher. Daniel meets the tattooed sexy man, when he is playing pool in a bar he got into with his fake ID. The two end up in the bathroom together with Will on his knees for Daniel, after a game of pool and lots of flirting. Daniel tricked the older Will, by hustling him in a game of pool. The loser had to give the winner a bj in the bathroom.
After this memorable night, they suddenly meet again when Daniel meets his new English teacher at school Monday morning….
Will is scared shitless when he comes face to face with the guy he blew in the bathroom. He then finds out Daniel is only 18 and not 21 like he thought.
After a couple of weeks of ignoring each other, Daniel ends up asking Will for an explanation. He doesn’t like to be ignored, and is fed up with this treatment. But Will tells Daniel they can’t be anything more than student and teacher.
When Will gets a call that Daniel has gone to the bar they met to hustle some more, he knows he has to save Daniel. When Will gets there he is just in time to rescue Daniel from being beaten up. Daniel has already taken a few punches, but nothing too bad.
Daniel ends up at Will’s apartment for the rest of the weekend and it’s clear neither man can resist the attraction any longer...
The first 50% was pretty good. I liked how the relationship developed so far. Then from 50 to 80% it was a bit boring. Nothing really happens. And the last 20% was a jumbled mess. We suddenly got all these weird time jumps (31 december, 24 december, 31 december, 26 december). It was very confusing. And of course we got the ANGST I was waiting for from the start. Not the angst I expected, but this just annoyed me more.
And while I started off liking Will a great deal, his self-loathing really started to get on my nerves and I was constantly rolling my eyes when he polished off another bottle of whiskey. This dude was an alcoholic, but the author treated it as if it was no big deal he spent most of his days drunk off his ass.
While I expected it to be a big deal that Will was Daniel’s high school English teacher, that fact was not the main source of problem in their relationship. That was all Will and his self-hatred. Daniel was definitely the mature one in the relationship even though he was only 18.
So, while this started out good, it dragged in the middle, and was angsty and messy at the end.
This does have a HEA, but it didn’t feel all that happy to me. Might be because I was still upset over all the angst.
Oh, and I have to mention the weird 'Introduction' at the start of this story:
This book takes place in a world different from the one that you and I inhabit, where consequences are much lower than they are in reality.
Nobody uses condoms, for example. Nobody goes to jail (at least in this story, though jail of course exists in this universe) for doing bad things. As a reader, I hope that you can trust me to tell you this story and that you can suspend disbelief at some of these elements. It takes a certain level of patience and trust in me as a writer to read these fantasy elements and not be taken out of the world of the story.
If you don't want your MCs to use condoms, don't 'create' an alternate universe please. Have them use condoms, or have them talk about not using them.
While this started out really good, the story slowly got away from me until I got to a point where I just wanted it done.
This is a story about the romance between an 18 year old high school student and his 28 year old English teacher. Daniel meets the tattooed sexy man, when he is playing pool in a bar he got into with his fake ID. The two end up in the bathroom together with Will on his knees for Daniel, after a game of pool and lots of flirting. Daniel tricked the older Will, by hustling him in a game of pool. The loser had to give the winner a bj in the bathroom.
After this memorable night, they suddenly meet again when Daniel meets his new English teacher at school Monday morning….
Will is scared shitless when he comes face to face with the guy he blew in the bathroom. He then finds out Daniel is only 18 and not 21 like he thought.
After a couple of weeks of ignoring each other, Daniel ends up asking Will for an explanation. He doesn’t like to be ignored, and is fed up with this treatment. But Will tells Daniel they can’t be anything more than student and teacher.
When Will gets a call that Daniel has gone to the bar they met to hustle some more, he knows he has to save Daniel. When Will gets there he is just in time to rescue Daniel from being beaten up. Daniel has already taken a few punches, but nothing too bad.
Daniel ends up at Will’s apartment for the rest of the weekend and it’s clear neither man can resist the attraction any longer...
The first 50% was pretty good. I liked how the relationship developed so far. Then from 50 to 80% it was a bit boring. Nothing really happens. And the last 20% was a jumbled mess. We suddenly got all these weird time jumps (31 december, 24 december, 31 december, 26 december). It was very confusing. And of course we got the ANGST I was waiting for from the start. Not the angst I expected, but this just annoyed me more.
And while I started off liking Will a great deal, his self-loathing really started to get on my nerves and I was constantly rolling my eyes when he polished off another bottle of whiskey. This dude was an alcoholic, but the author treated it as if it was no big deal he spent most of his days drunk off his ass.
While I expected it to be a big deal that Will was Daniel’s high school English teacher, that fact was not the main source of problem in their relationship. That was all Will and his self-hatred. Daniel was definitely the mature one in the relationship even though he was only 18.
So, while this started out good, it dragged in the middle, and was angsty and messy at the end.
This does have a HEA, but it didn’t feel all that happy to me. Might be because I was still upset over all the angst.
Oh, and I have to mention the weird 'Introduction' at the start of this story:
This book takes place in a world different from the one that you and I inhabit, where consequences are much lower than they are in reality.
Nobody uses condoms, for example. Nobody goes to jail (at least in this story, though jail of course exists in this universe) for doing bad things. As a reader, I hope that you can trust me to tell you this story and that you can suspend disbelief at some of these elements. It takes a certain level of patience and trust in me as a writer to read these fantasy elements and not be taken out of the world of the story.
If you don't want your MCs to use condoms, don't 'create' an alternate universe please. Have them use condoms, or have them talk about not using them.
July 18, 2016
Llegué a esta lectura por casualidad, no sabía qué me iba a encontrar y me he llevado una sorpresa muy agradable. Desde el principio he tenido la sensación de encontrarme ante algo diferente y especial, así que se me hace un poco cuesta arriba escribir esta reseña porque, si bien sé localizar y explicar aquello que no me ha convencido del libro, me cuesta más encontrar la forma de expresar por qué me ha gustado tanto.
Entre lo que no me ha convencido está el conflicto interno de Will. A pesar de que me ha llegado y lo he sentido, lo he encontrado algo forzado y he echado en falta más contenido. Se nos presenta a un personaje atormentado pero se nos deja un tanto en la sombra en cuanto a los motivos para ello. Además que, para tener 28 años, Will se retrata como un hombre maduro curtido por el paso del tiempo (en un momento dado se habla de su “weathered chest” O.O) anda, Will, no me lloresssss… Que tengo casi 10 años más que tú y estoy en lo mejor de la vida ;D
Por otra parte, su relación con Mark y Lou se deja un poco a medias
También he echado en falta más presencia de Daniel, la relación con su familia, su background, y, sobre todo, su conflicto con Manny, del que apenas sabemos nada y que, al menos para mí, es muy importante.
Pero sobre todo me he quedado con la miel en los labios respecto a la historia de
Estoy pendiente de leer los capítulos extra, quizá aquí se dé conclusión a todas estas cosas, y espero, ESPERO, que tengamos libro sobre Manny. Te miro a ti, Kay.
Bueno, pues hasta aquí lo que me ha parecido más flojo del libro, pero ya digo que pesa mucho más lo que me ha gustado de esta historia y ha hecho que le haga un volquete de estrellas, lo malo es que no sé si voy a saber transmitirlo en condiciones, porque lo que me sale ahora mismo es un AAAAWWWW, POR FAVORRRR, QUÉ AMORRR, JO-DERRR!!!
Los momentos entre Will y Daniel… los sientes, los vives, los palpas, a veces es como si pudieras ver la corriente eléctrica entre ellos. (No sé expresarlo mejor) Y la autora consigue transmitir toda esta intensidad sin caer en ningún momento en lo facilón ni en lo cursi.
Y es que aquí el amor no es la panacea, la solución a los problemas ni la razón de existir de sus personajes. La relación entre ellos se desarrolla de una forma muy honesta y coherente, y el romance no se resuelve tomando el camino fácil. Este enfoque es muy refrescante y muy de agradecer.
Si bien algunos aspectos de la narración no me han convencido, encuentro que, en general, está muy bien escrito (esto siempre en mi modestísima opinión), es una lectura agradable y fluida que se me ha hecho corta a pesar de sus casi 600 páginas.
Los diálogos me han gustado mucho, sobre todo en lo que respecta a Daniel.
Daniel… Maravilloso… A pesar de su madurez y su inteligencia, lo compro como adolescente. Me ha cautivado.
Encuentro que la atmósfera del libro es envolvente, me ha recordado mucho a In The Middle Of Somewhere, puede que por el MC profesor de literatura y la ambientación. Por cierto, que aquí también hacen referencia a The Secret History… ¿Soy la única que no pilla este libro??
Y las escenas de sexo… Way beyond steamy.
En definitiva, diferente, precioso, intenso y muy emotivo. Lo recomiendo sin temor.
Entre lo que no me ha convencido está el conflicto interno de Will. A pesar de que me ha llegado y lo he sentido, lo he encontrado algo forzado y he echado en falta más contenido. Se nos presenta a un personaje atormentado pero se nos deja un tanto en la sombra en cuanto a los motivos para ello. Además que, para tener 28 años, Will se retrata como un hombre maduro curtido por el paso del tiempo (en un momento dado se habla de su “weathered chest” O.O) anda, Will, no me lloresssss… Que tengo casi 10 años más que tú y estoy en lo mejor de la vida ;D
Por otra parte, su relación con Mark y Lou se deja un poco a medias
También he echado en falta más presencia de Daniel, la relación con su familia, su background, y, sobre todo, su conflicto con Manny, del que apenas sabemos nada y que, al menos para mí, es muy importante.
Pero sobre todo me he quedado con la miel en los labios respecto a la historia de
Estoy pendiente de leer los capítulos extra, quizá aquí se dé conclusión a todas estas cosas, y espero, ESPERO, que tengamos libro sobre Manny. Te miro a ti, Kay.
Bueno, pues hasta aquí lo que me ha parecido más flojo del libro, pero ya digo que pesa mucho más lo que me ha gustado de esta historia y ha hecho que le haga un volquete de estrellas, lo malo es que no sé si voy a saber transmitirlo en condiciones, porque lo que me sale ahora mismo es un AAAAWWWW, POR FAVORRRR, QUÉ AMORRR, JO-DERRR!!!
Los momentos entre Will y Daniel… los sientes, los vives, los palpas, a veces es como si pudieras ver la corriente eléctrica entre ellos. (No sé expresarlo mejor) Y la autora consigue transmitir toda esta intensidad sin caer en ningún momento en lo facilón ni en lo cursi.
Y es que aquí el amor no es la panacea, la solución a los problemas ni la razón de existir de sus personajes. La relación entre ellos se desarrolla de una forma muy honesta y coherente, y el romance no se resuelve tomando el camino fácil. Este enfoque es muy refrescante y muy de agradecer.
Si bien algunos aspectos de la narración no me han convencido, encuentro que, en general, está muy bien escrito (esto siempre en mi modestísima opinión), es una lectura agradable y fluida que se me ha hecho corta a pesar de sus casi 600 páginas.
Los diálogos me han gustado mucho, sobre todo en lo que respecta a Daniel.
Daniel… Maravilloso… A pesar de su madurez y su inteligencia, lo compro como adolescente. Me ha cautivado.
Encuentro que la atmósfera del libro es envolvente, me ha recordado mucho a In The Middle Of Somewhere, puede que por el MC profesor de literatura y la ambientación. Por cierto, que aquí también hacen referencia a The Secret History… ¿Soy la única que no pilla este libro??
Y las escenas de sexo… Way beyond steamy.
En definitiva, diferente, precioso, intenso y muy emotivo. Lo recomiendo sin temor.
February 9, 2017
Excellent first read from this author!
If you can get past the student/teacher thing, this is a great romance. (No underage stuff happens.) I loved the writing style and especially the dialogue here. The banter felt so natural. The use of poetry, which does typically does nothing for me, was beautiful.
The student/teacher aspect of the story was balanced by Daniel's emotional maturity. Will is a good guy (or at least has good intentions) from the beginning, but he is emotionally stunted af. Daniel is open, perceptive, and feels deeply. There's a theme about how your secrets destroy you, and watching Will's transformation as he learns this is beautiful.
This was my first from this author, and I'm thoroughly excited to read more. Yeah, the circumstance is sticky, but if you can look past that, I'd highly recommend this.
If you can get past the student/teacher thing, this is a great romance. (No underage stuff happens.) I loved the writing style and especially the dialogue here. The banter felt so natural. The use of poetry, which does typically does nothing for me, was beautiful.
The student/teacher aspect of the story was balanced by Daniel's emotional maturity. Will is a good guy (or at least has good intentions) from the beginning, but he is emotionally stunted af. Daniel is open, perceptive, and feels deeply. There's a theme about how your secrets destroy you, and watching Will's transformation as he learns this is beautiful.
This was my first from this author, and I'm thoroughly excited to read more. Yeah, the circumstance is sticky, but if you can look past that, I'd highly recommend this.
March 23, 2017
The Aftermath es una historia de amor, es lo que nos dice la autora al principio, yo, hasta cierto punto la he vivido más como una historia de crecimiento personal y "coming of age" más que como un romance.
He tenido mis más y mis menos con la historia, principalmente por como están estructuradas las voces narrativas, el estilo en general me ha terminado resultando algo pesado, lo que empezó con una prometedora primera parte no ha terminado de convencerme, y mira que lo siento, porque no sabéis las ganas que le tenía a éste. Buen epílogo, y necesario, porque el final, es quizás, apresurado para todo lo que había en el asador.
El personaje de Will, mi favorito (ya sabéis que tengo querencia con los personajes con pulsión autodestructiva), es el que me parece más interesante y es del que menos sabemos, Daniel, quizás porque lleva menos recorrido vital está mejor retratado.
Me ha recordado mucho, mucho a ITMOS de Roan Parrish, Daniel y Will podrían ser cuasi gemelos, la atmósfera que rodea ambas historias es muy parecida y el otro Daniel y Rex son una especie de "salvadores" de esas almas torturadas, el plot nada que ver, tranquilos. peo yo me quedo con la Parrish, qué queréis qué os diga.
He tenido mis más y mis menos con la historia, principalmente por como están estructuradas las voces narrativas, el estilo en general me ha terminado resultando algo pesado, lo que empezó con una prometedora primera parte no ha terminado de convencerme, y mira que lo siento, porque no sabéis las ganas que le tenía a éste. Buen epílogo, y necesario, porque el final, es quizás, apresurado para todo lo que había en el asador.
El personaje de Will, mi favorito (ya sabéis que tengo querencia con los personajes con pulsión autodestructiva), es el que me parece más interesante y es del que menos sabemos, Daniel, quizás porque lleva menos recorrido vital está mejor retratado.
Me ha recordado mucho, mucho a ITMOS de Roan Parrish, Daniel y Will podrían ser cuasi gemelos, la atmósfera que rodea ambas historias es muy parecida y el otro Daniel y Rex son una especie de "salvadores" de esas almas torturadas, el plot nada que ver, tranquilos. peo yo me quedo con la Parrish, qué queréis qué os diga.
June 18, 2016
Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.
That's a difficult review to write.
So, first off - the writing is a lot better than in your average romance (tm). It has a faint purplish hue now and again but that's just fine. The story is competently written and in the beginning I was pretty smitten. It took me back to the days before university made my love for literature die a quiet death and I appreciate that a lot.
What I also liked is that the school experience is refreshingly devoid of sports. I'm German. Our school system is radically different from the US system and all the tropes about the jocks and the cheerleaders and the nerds go right over my head (on an existential level - intellectually I understand them just fine) because things like sports/music/theatre are mostly extracurricular activities here. It just doesn't matter that much. Whatever. So the school depicted in this book does not have the caste system I associate with American high-schools. I liked reading about people who don't have to pretend that learning is the worst thing in the world without getting harassed about that attitude.
However...
The star rating system (once again) fails me because the book is on so many levels really brilliant and I don't want to put it on the same level as some books I yawned my way through on a lazy Sunday afternoon but really - sometimes it's a case of "It's me. Not the book." and then I won't give a rating but this time. Yes, it is me but it is also the book. So there. Three stars. Sorry about that.
But - those of you who know me are going to GASP! - the book is too long. Seriously. It's too long. First thing - the sex scenes. Sigh. How can you write a book that talks so much about why certain scenes or characters or tropes pop up in a work of literature and what they signify - and then write a sex scene that is 40 pages long? It's rather well written sex, I'm not denying that but what is the actual fucking purpose of it? Really - in terms of e-book readers as myself - 6% of a really long book for one sex scene. I could have quietly skipped it if it had been the only one but no. I think that if all the sex had faded to black at least 15% of the book would have been just gone. I don't mind a well-written sex-scene, and they ARE well written but again - what the ever-loving duck for? That's an honest question I can't answer. I thought it was just distracting from the real issues.
And then there is Will blowing hot and cold all the time. I thought it was a bit exhausting. I can see why the author wrote him that way but again – less would have been more IMO.
In case people are worried about the age gap - Daniel, the student, is the more mature one of the two. Seriously. So I was okay with that.
All in all I think that a bit more of judicious content editing (as in cutting 100 – 150 pages) wouldn't have gone amiss.
[EDIT: One thing I forgot to mention (and which drove me really nuts) is the repetitive use of epithets. I'm too tired to make my kindle count for me but really "the younger man", "the smaller man", "the other man", the "*something* man" - enough already! Time and time again. It's well written otherwise but any decent editor should have caught that! It's annoying.]
That's a difficult review to write.
So, first off - the writing is a lot better than in your average romance (tm). It has a faint purplish hue now and again but that's just fine. The story is competently written and in the beginning I was pretty smitten. It took me back to the days before university made my love for literature die a quiet death and I appreciate that a lot.
What I also liked is that the school experience is refreshingly devoid of sports. I'm German. Our school system is radically different from the US system and all the tropes about the jocks and the cheerleaders and the nerds go right over my head (on an existential level - intellectually I understand them just fine) because things like sports/music/theatre are mostly extracurricular activities here. It just doesn't matter that much. Whatever. So the school depicted in this book does not have the caste system I associate with American high-schools. I liked reading about people who don't have to pretend that learning is the worst thing in the world without getting harassed about that attitude.
However...
The star rating system (once again) fails me because the book is on so many levels really brilliant and I don't want to put it on the same level as some books I yawned my way through on a lazy Sunday afternoon but really - sometimes it's a case of "It's me. Not the book." and then I won't give a rating but this time. Yes, it is me but it is also the book. So there. Three stars. Sorry about that.
But - those of you who know me are going to GASP! - the book is too long. Seriously. It's too long. First thing - the sex scenes. Sigh. How can you write a book that talks so much about why certain scenes or characters or tropes pop up in a work of literature and what they signify - and then write a sex scene that is 40 pages long? It's rather well written sex, I'm not denying that but what is the actual fucking purpose of it? Really - in terms of e-book readers as myself - 6% of a really long book for one sex scene. I could have quietly skipped it if it had been the only one but no. I think that if all the sex had faded to black at least 15% of the book would have been just gone. I don't mind a well-written sex-scene, and they ARE well written but again - what the ever-loving duck for? That's an honest question I can't answer. I thought it was just distracting from the real issues.
And then there is Will blowing hot and cold all the time. I thought it was a bit exhausting. I can see why the author wrote him that way but again – less would have been more IMO.
In case people are worried about the age gap - Daniel, the student, is the more mature one of the two. Seriously. So I was okay with that.
All in all I think that a bit more of judicious content editing (as in cutting 100 – 150 pages) wouldn't have gone amiss.
[EDIT: One thing I forgot to mention (and which drove me really nuts) is the repetitive use of epithets. I'm too tired to make my kindle count for me but really "the younger man", "the smaller man", "the other man", the "*something* man" - enough already! Time and time again. It's well written otherwise but any decent editor should have caught that! It's annoying.]
June 4, 2016
4.5 stars. Just my kind of romance. Beautiful writing and an intense, emotionally riveting love story. First chapter totally hooked me in. Younger Daniel being the hustler was subversive and funny. Loved the great characters, the length of the story, the toe-curling sex and the literary references. Slowed a little at the end. Being fully immersed in the thoughts of the protagonists as they navigate the good and bad of falling in love is my weakness. Can't believe it only cost 99c. Enthusiastically recommended.
June 14, 2026
Kay Simone writes really well. One Giant Leap is a 10-star DIK—a book that weaves together seamlessly the technical intricacies of space travel and the romance of the stars, delivering a unique (and funny) love story. Totally recommended. (You're the One That I Want is also worth a look.)
Some of that magic is present in The Aftermath too. Time and again I was stopped in my tracks by something thought-provoking:-
It’s clear from the wide range of authors, writers and poets her characters get lost in that Simone’s steeped in poetry herself. At one point Will reads Daniel part of a poem by Philip Levine, beginning:
“So many poems begin where they
should end, and never end.
Mine never end, they run on…”
While that did send me off to discover more of Levine’s poetry, it’s also, rather sadly, a fitting description of The Aftermath itself.
The book begins with a bang: the short, well-paced and funny prologue tells how Daniel & Will meet. And perhaps The Aftermath should have ended with its own beginning too. Because the rest of the 170k book gets lost in detail, in picking over discussions, in a downbeat description of a highly problematic relationship, where neither party seems happy or content.
The affair between 18 year-old Daniel and his 27 year-old teacher, Will, is problematic for very obvious reasons—though the ramifications of a student-teacher relationship seem to be referred to only in order to provoke the guilt and distress of hiding the affair.
It’s also a problem because I need to believe in an HEA, and Simone makes it very hard to feel there will be one. In spite of his youth, Daniel is streets ahead of Will in emotional maturity: he’s understanding, patient, and remarkably tolerant of Will’s constipated to-ings and fro-ings. Will is holding back not just because he’s Daniel’s teacher, but because of lightly sketched in parental problems. So lightly sketched in that though we’re often in his PoV, it’s really not clear why he is quite as chewed up as he appears to be—and we really need more background to have much sympathy for him.
So without a real plot to drive things forward, the navel-gazing dissection of each encounter has nothing to ground it; Simone’s writing comes across as unfocussed—and at 170k words, self-indulgent.
That’s not to say there is nothing here: I was invested just enough to finish the book; Simone is literate; the Eng Lit discussions were genuinely revelatory; there’s an attempt at a forward-looking HFN.
But in the end, I filed this on my “Mothballed” shelf and went off to read One Giant Leap again.
Some of that magic is present in The Aftermath too. Time and again I was stopped in my tracks by something thought-provoking:-
Each teacher seemed to have at least one…book so old and decrepit that its yellow pages were held together by countless layers of tape and grime. Or not held together at all. Some were so broken that the book needed to be laid out flat and each page turned individually.
Why not, Will always wondered, just buy the same damn copy the class was reading? Why not only hang onto these odd relics but also parade them in front of your class each week?
It’s more understandable now, with Will on the other side of the teacher’s desk.
He holds a copy of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man in his hands, feeling the familiar weight. You don’t forget the subtle nuances of an object that you’ve cradled in your hands for hours and hours, on buses and in the back seats of cars, over lunches and — later — whiskeys.
Will knows, now, that treasuring these old crippled books is about much more than holding onto your glory days with a random relic you’ve assigned value to. This book is less an object to Will and more a place. It’s a place he’s visited many times throughout his life, and each time he has learned more about who he is, what his purpose is.
It’s clear from the wide range of authors, writers and poets her characters get lost in that Simone’s steeped in poetry herself. At one point Will reads Daniel part of a poem by Philip Levine, beginning:
“So many poems begin where they
should end, and never end.
Mine never end, they run on…”
While that did send me off to discover more of Levine’s poetry, it’s also, rather sadly, a fitting description of The Aftermath itself.
The book begins with a bang: the short, well-paced and funny prologue tells how Daniel & Will meet. And perhaps The Aftermath should have ended with its own beginning too. Because the rest of the 170k book gets lost in detail, in picking over discussions, in a downbeat description of a highly problematic relationship, where neither party seems happy or content.
The affair between 18 year-old Daniel and his 27 year-old teacher, Will, is problematic for very obvious reasons—though the ramifications of a student-teacher relationship seem to be referred to only in order to provoke the guilt and distress of hiding the affair.
It’s also a problem because I need to believe in an HEA, and Simone makes it very hard to feel there will be one. In spite of his youth, Daniel is streets ahead of Will in emotional maturity: he’s understanding, patient, and remarkably tolerant of Will’s constipated to-ings and fro-ings. Will is holding back not just because he’s Daniel’s teacher, but because of lightly sketched in parental problems. So lightly sketched in that though we’re often in his PoV, it’s really not clear why he is quite as chewed up as he appears to be—and we really need more background to have much sympathy for him.
So without a real plot to drive things forward, the navel-gazing dissection of each encounter has nothing to ground it; Simone’s writing comes across as unfocussed—and at 170k words, self-indulgent.
That’s not to say there is nothing here: I was invested just enough to finish the book; Simone is literate; the Eng Lit discussions were genuinely revelatory; there’s an attempt at a forward-looking HFN.
But in the end, I filed this on my “Mothballed” shelf and went off to read One Giant Leap again.
May 31, 2016
I won’t get into too much detail because I don’t want to ruin the book for anyone (I'm hiding more detailed review with spoiler tag below). I do what to say the blurb is utter and complete garbage. I do think as the author says initially you have to suspend some belief for the book to work. Particularly with regard to Will’s friends reaction to the relationship and Arthur being in a somewhat similar situation.
BUT while I had a real personal issue with the entire story as it played out…it was written wonderfully. I got way into it. It hurt my heart, it brought me joy, I went to bed at 75% in a state of unease. As someone who hates happy endings strangely I have never wanted one more.
BUT while I had a real personal issue with the entire story as it played out…it was written wonderfully. I got way into it. It hurt my heart, it brought me joy, I went to bed at 75% in a state of unease. As someone who hates happy endings strangely I have never wanted one more.
March 10, 2018
Wow wasn't expecting that
So I wasn't sure whether I'd like this one given the setting but what an absolute joy it was.
The use of language is glorious and maybe it's because I'm a literary nut but I absolutely fell in love with the way novels and poetry were intertwined as part of this story.
The angst was true and heartfelt, believable because of the situation and I loved how grounded everything felt.
I'm really glad I gave this one a chance as I fell in love with it all, the characters, the setting and the stunning use of language and the guy on the cover with his beard and brooding eyes!
So I wasn't sure whether I'd like this one given the setting but what an absolute joy it was.
The use of language is glorious and maybe it's because I'm a literary nut but I absolutely fell in love with the way novels and poetry were intertwined as part of this story.
The angst was true and heartfelt, believable because of the situation and I loved how grounded everything felt.
I'm really glad I gave this one a chance as I fell in love with it all, the characters, the setting and the stunning use of language and the guy on the cover with his beard and brooding eyes!
June 28, 2016
No.
No. No. No.
Y'all - I have read some pretty fucked up stories, we all know this. That being said, I just cannot do a Teacher/Student story line. I can do a Professor/Student story line where the MC's are at the collegiate level (and preferably above the age of 20) but when it comes to high school students - I have decided its a no go for me.
The fact that Daniel is 18 really gave me the creeps. Will is 28, which granted that's not a huge age gap, but at some points it gave me the heebie geebies. Look, I have said this once so I'll say it again in case you missed it: Teachers have a level of power over students that should be respected and protected. Especially at the middle school/ high school level it is important that the students are protected.
The author did give a forewarning that we, the reader, should suspend our views of reality when reading this book, but even with doing that I just can't. I am not even sorry....I just can't.
No more (high school/middle school) Teacher/Student story lines for Kayley. Not my kink at all.
On to the next!
January 2, 2017
Review contains minor spoilers:
The Aftermath is heart-breakingly beautifully written and it captivated me from the first to last page. It’s exactly the type of romance novel that I love – character driven and heavy on the (engaging, witty and emotionally satisfying) dialogue, explicitly steamy with a HEA. Bonus points for emotionally damaged and vulnerable characters – of which The Aftermath has one. There’s a moderate level of angst – but not the stabby homicidal angst born out of infidelity and betrayal (which in my mind there really is never any coming back from) – but rather the angst created by the emotionally wounded character who shoots himself in the foot at every opportunity because that’s so much easier than accepting happiness.
The Aftermath is the story of Daniel Rhodes, 18 year old high school senior, pool hustler and emotionally mature beyond his years and Wilson Morrow 28 year old baggage carrying, fucked up, emotionally stunted English teacher (or as Daniel says to Will, “You have the emotional maturity of a toddler” – no lie. If the age difference doesn’t bother you, then the whole teacher-student vibe really isn’t very squicky at all because – the first meeting between Daniel (and his fake ID) and Will takes place in a bar where Will assumes Daniel is of age and flirts with him and buys him drinks, while Daniel hustles him in a game of pool in order to win a blow job in the bathroom. Daniel is the sexual aggressor, not inexperienced or naive. Of course neither of them are happy to find themselves facing each other several days later and discovering that their new identities are student and teacher. Will for his part is doing the “Holy mother of fuckbuckets” while he tries not to vomit. His first order of business is to find out how old Daniel is, breathing only a small sigh of relief to discover that he’s at least legal and then making an extremely valiant effort to stay as far away from him as he humanly can – while still teaching him English.
But the connection between Daniel and Will is palpable and despite their only interactions being discussions of literature during English class the connection, along with their attraction and understanding of each other grows. Trying to ignore each other is making them both sick; but again it is Daniel that takes the bull by the horns and confronts Will that adults can’t just pretend something didn’t happen when in fact it did and it’s the elephant in the room and it’s affecting everything even though you want to put your head in the sand and pretend it isn’t. (or as Daniel says to Will: Yeah, I’m getting a sense that you’re not exactly proactive when it comes to problems). Despite the age difference and Will’s greater life experience – Daniel is by far the more emotionally mature, and more “adult” character.
Not much happens in The Aftermath – the story is strictly about the development of Daniel and Will’s relationship and the conflicts created along the way because of their designation of student and teacher, because they have to hide and keep secrets and because Will is so monumentally fucked up. But they are just so darn sweet and cute, and so absolutely “right” together that you can’t not want to see them get it right. There are several steamy scenes which I thought aside from being really hot; highlighted the intensity of their connection both physically and emotionally.
Despite that I loved the story and couldn’t put it down I do have some complaints. The secondary characters could have had more of a presence in the story. I would have enjoyed at some point seeing the progression of Daniel and Will’s relationship into the public realm and how they and their friends and family dealt with and adjusted to their relationship. Also what exactly was up with Manny and DON? Weird foreshadowing that never developed (or was never explicitly explained) . My other complaint centered around the Bonus chapters. Once you get to the end of the story you can sign up for the author’s newsletter and if you do – you get 5 bonus chapters – 2 take place before the actual story ends and 3 take place after the epilogue. Awesome right? More of an undeniably good thing that I can’t get enough of? Yes! But….The Aftermath ends with a HEA and you can draw your own conclusions. The Bonus chapters go slightly beyond – into Daniel’s first semester of college – and end with a HEA that left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Will’s still emotionally fucked up. It’s a testament to the author’s skill at story telling that I love Will – because normally he would fall into my “whiny little bitch” category.
Will has abandonment issues from childhood, unresolved Mommy issues and he deals with them by licking the bottom of whiskey bottles. He has the whole self loathing vibe going on and the I’m so bad for you Daniel – but for a smart guy – he doesn’t get it at all. He thinks he’s bad for Daniel because of the age difference and because of how their student/teacher experience casts a shadow of impropriety over their relationship. That’s fluffed up insignificant bull shit. He’s bad for Daniel because he’s an emotionally stunted alcoholic – and he knows this – and despite all of his “I don’t want to stop you from having formative experiences and don’t spend all your time with me – and all his martyred efforts to not be “bad” for Daniel – that only hurt them both – he doesn’t do the one thing he should do to be GOOD for Daniel which is to join AA, get a sponsor, get in counseling and get his shit together. I was sad to see that the last bonus chapter – my last glimpse of Will and Daniel – was to see Will still falling apart (although granted not as epic-ly or disastrously as usual) and Daniel taking care of him. I would like to see them both whole and healthy and on truly equal footing. Maybe there could be another bonus chapter or two?
The Aftermath is heart-breakingly beautifully written and it captivated me from the first to last page. It’s exactly the type of romance novel that I love – character driven and heavy on the (engaging, witty and emotionally satisfying) dialogue, explicitly steamy with a HEA. Bonus points for emotionally damaged and vulnerable characters – of which The Aftermath has one. There’s a moderate level of angst – but not the stabby homicidal angst born out of infidelity and betrayal (which in my mind there really is never any coming back from) – but rather the angst created by the emotionally wounded character who shoots himself in the foot at every opportunity because that’s so much easier than accepting happiness.
The Aftermath is the story of Daniel Rhodes, 18 year old high school senior, pool hustler and emotionally mature beyond his years and Wilson Morrow 28 year old baggage carrying, fucked up, emotionally stunted English teacher (or as Daniel says to Will, “You have the emotional maturity of a toddler” – no lie. If the age difference doesn’t bother you, then the whole teacher-student vibe really isn’t very squicky at all because – the first meeting between Daniel (and his fake ID) and Will takes place in a bar where Will assumes Daniel is of age and flirts with him and buys him drinks, while Daniel hustles him in a game of pool in order to win a blow job in the bathroom. Daniel is the sexual aggressor, not inexperienced or naive. Of course neither of them are happy to find themselves facing each other several days later and discovering that their new identities are student and teacher. Will for his part is doing the “Holy mother of fuckbuckets” while he tries not to vomit. His first order of business is to find out how old Daniel is, breathing only a small sigh of relief to discover that he’s at least legal and then making an extremely valiant effort to stay as far away from him as he humanly can – while still teaching him English.
But the connection between Daniel and Will is palpable and despite their only interactions being discussions of literature during English class the connection, along with their attraction and understanding of each other grows. Trying to ignore each other is making them both sick; but again it is Daniel that takes the bull by the horns and confronts Will that adults can’t just pretend something didn’t happen when in fact it did and it’s the elephant in the room and it’s affecting everything even though you want to put your head in the sand and pretend it isn’t. (or as Daniel says to Will: Yeah, I’m getting a sense that you’re not exactly proactive when it comes to problems). Despite the age difference and Will’s greater life experience – Daniel is by far the more emotionally mature, and more “adult” character.
Not much happens in The Aftermath – the story is strictly about the development of Daniel and Will’s relationship and the conflicts created along the way because of their designation of student and teacher, because they have to hide and keep secrets and because Will is so monumentally fucked up. But they are just so darn sweet and cute, and so absolutely “right” together that you can’t not want to see them get it right. There are several steamy scenes which I thought aside from being really hot; highlighted the intensity of their connection both physically and emotionally.
Despite that I loved the story and couldn’t put it down I do have some complaints. The secondary characters could have had more of a presence in the story. I would have enjoyed at some point seeing the progression of Daniel and Will’s relationship into the public realm and how they and their friends and family dealt with and adjusted to their relationship. Also what exactly was up with Manny and DON? Weird foreshadowing that never developed (or was never explicitly explained) . My other complaint centered around the Bonus chapters. Once you get to the end of the story you can sign up for the author’s newsletter and if you do – you get 5 bonus chapters – 2 take place before the actual story ends and 3 take place after the epilogue. Awesome right? More of an undeniably good thing that I can’t get enough of? Yes! But….The Aftermath ends with a HEA and you can draw your own conclusions. The Bonus chapters go slightly beyond – into Daniel’s first semester of college – and end with a HEA that left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Will’s still emotionally fucked up. It’s a testament to the author’s skill at story telling that I love Will – because normally he would fall into my “whiny little bitch” category.
Will has abandonment issues from childhood, unresolved Mommy issues and he deals with them by licking the bottom of whiskey bottles. He has the whole self loathing vibe going on and the I’m so bad for you Daniel – but for a smart guy – he doesn’t get it at all. He thinks he’s bad for Daniel because of the age difference and because of how their student/teacher experience casts a shadow of impropriety over their relationship. That’s fluffed up insignificant bull shit. He’s bad for Daniel because he’s an emotionally stunted alcoholic – and he knows this – and despite all of his “I don’t want to stop you from having formative experiences and don’t spend all your time with me – and all his martyred efforts to not be “bad” for Daniel – that only hurt them both – he doesn’t do the one thing he should do to be GOOD for Daniel which is to join AA, get a sponsor, get in counseling and get his shit together. I was sad to see that the last bonus chapter – my last glimpse of Will and Daniel – was to see Will still falling apart (although granted not as epic-ly or disastrously as usual) and Daniel taking care of him. I would like to see them both whole and healthy and on truly equal footing. Maybe there could be another bonus chapter or two?
July 7, 2023
5 stars for the writing
4 stars for those gorgeous sex scenes
3 stars for the length, amount of sex scenes, and sometimes pretentious prose
2 stars for taking a taboo subject and making me uncomfortable in a gross and not sexy dirty way most of the time
This book was a long and winding car ride on a boring road trip that had a bunch of exciting stops along the way. I wanted to stop at about 50% out of boredom. My god was the journey to get the two MCs together delicious. Those first few sex scenes were phenomenal. They were epically long and so hot the entire time. Then the author just keeps hitting you over the head with the fact that her teenage (18) MC is an “adult” and, for some reason, that makes it worse than just knowing he is. The first half was taboo and fun and very PLLs wrong. I knew what I was getting and I’m always prepared for suspending my disbelief and morals for enjoyment. That part was fun.
The second half just ruined it for me. Don’t get me wrong, the writing is still phenomenal. The setting was downright ethereal and the talk of books was mostly on the right of pretentious, but the author almost did too well in convincing me of one of the MC’s POV on the standard 80% drama. And that drama was standard without having enough character growth to justify it. I was told there was character growth, but it just wasn’t believable. I tried not to skim, but I probably skimmed the last 30% just to get to the point of what I knew was coming. By that point, I wasn’t into the relationship anymore and really wanted the two MCs to not be together.
I probably won’t do taboo again with this author, but I definitely want to read more from them.
4 stars for those gorgeous sex scenes
3 stars for the length, amount of sex scenes, and sometimes pretentious prose
2 stars for taking a taboo subject and making me uncomfortable in a gross and not sexy dirty way most of the time
This book was a long and winding car ride on a boring road trip that had a bunch of exciting stops along the way. I wanted to stop at about 50% out of boredom. My god was the journey to get the two MCs together delicious. Those first few sex scenes were phenomenal. They were epically long and so hot the entire time. Then the author just keeps hitting you over the head with the fact that her teenage (18) MC is an “adult” and, for some reason, that makes it worse than just knowing he is. The first half was taboo and fun and very PLLs wrong. I knew what I was getting and I’m always prepared for suspending my disbelief and morals for enjoyment. That part was fun.
The second half just ruined it for me. Don’t get me wrong, the writing is still phenomenal. The setting was downright ethereal and the talk of books was mostly on the right of pretentious, but the author almost did too well in convincing me of one of the MC’s POV on the standard 80% drama. And that drama was standard without having enough character growth to justify it. I was told there was character growth, but it just wasn’t believable. I tried not to skim, but I probably skimmed the last 30% just to get to the point of what I knew was coming. By that point, I wasn’t into the relationship anymore and really wanted the two MCs to not be together.
I probably won’t do taboo again with this author, but I definitely want to read more from them.
July 20, 2020
For those who Loved Kulti will love this book!
Finally a romance that is deserving of 5 stars !!!
I Really could not find a well written romance much anymore. And I have a few authors I
love turning to. I am adding Kay Simone to the list.
Well written meaning I found the romance and chemistry sweet and the story
flowed along quite well. The story flowed along well and I enjoyed it so much!
Thanks Kay
Finally a romance that is deserving of 5 stars !!!
I Really could not find a well written romance much anymore. And I have a few authors I
love turning to. I am adding Kay Simone to the list.
Well written meaning I found the romance and chemistry sweet and the story
flowed along quite well. The story flowed along well and I enjoyed it so much!
Thanks Kay
Read
August 14, 2023DNF @ 20%
I can't get into it.
I can't get into it.
December 17, 2017
I did it!!!!
I did it! I read all 549 pages. I feel like I deserve an award, just saying :-)🏆 Anyhow, once I got beyond the 30% mark it started getting better. I’m not going to lie, the story still had its lulls.
I do have to say that I love the whole student/teacher dynamic, however when I usually read this type of trope it’s in a college setting. Regardless, this story didn’t bother me since the kid was of legal age and they met in another town during summer break, not knowing how their lives would intersect. Even when reality came crashing in on them, IMO their path was already set.
The Epiolgue, just like the beginning of the book, stared off a bit slow; eventually finding its ground. It was nice to see how things ended up not just for the two MCs, but for Arthur, Henry and Manny as well.
All in all, the story was just okay and I can now check it off my list :)
I did it! I read all 549 pages. I feel like I deserve an award, just saying :-)🏆 Anyhow, once I got beyond the 30% mark it started getting better. I’m not going to lie, the story still had its lulls.
I do have to say that I love the whole student/teacher dynamic, however when I usually read this type of trope it’s in a college setting. Regardless, this story didn’t bother me since the kid was of legal age and they met in another town during summer break, not knowing how their lives would intersect. Even when reality came crashing in on them, IMO their path was already set.
The Epiolgue, just like the beginning of the book, stared off a bit slow; eventually finding its ground. It was nice to see how things ended up not just for the two MCs, but for Arthur, Henry and Manny as well.
All in all, the story was just okay and I can now check it off my list :)
December 22, 2019
Crushing on his English Teacher
A sweet, incredibly long love story. Very realistic -- except for the lack of condoms, which the author warns us are the only part of this to be ready as purely made up fiction. Lol.
The prince Albert is super hot. Oh, and tattoo covered English majors.
I'm not going to fib, the original intro novella was my favorite part. If I'd just been rating that, it would be 5/5.
I felt this was a little too drawn out at times. I love long books, but the length wasn't adding to the story.
Will was definitely an alcoholic, it was his primary coping mechanism for every negative experience. It's amazing one of the plot points wasn't alcohol poisoning.
I did find myself enjoying some of the literary references. I was intrigued enough that I downloaded the free follow-up story, but I don't think this will be a re-read.
A sweet, incredibly long love story. Very realistic -- except for the lack of condoms, which the author warns us are the only part of this to be ready as purely made up fiction. Lol.
The prince Albert is super hot. Oh, and tattoo covered English majors.
I'm not going to fib, the original intro novella was my favorite part. If I'd just been rating that, it would be 5/5.
I felt this was a little too drawn out at times. I love long books, but the length wasn't adding to the story.
Will was definitely an alcoholic, it was his primary coping mechanism for every negative experience. It's amazing one of the plot points wasn't alcohol poisoning.
I did find myself enjoying some of the literary references. I was intrigued enough that I downloaded the free follow-up story, but I don't think this will be a re-read.
June 11, 2017
The fact that I am conflicted about this book is proof of the ability of Ms. Simone. I would have been horrified by the love story between a high school student and his English teacher but the characters are complex, the writing really good (at least in the first half) and the book made me think about my own prejudices and values.
Student/teacher relationships are a taboo for me (I teach also, at the college level). Yes, Daniel is 18 and a consenting adult, and Will's effort to keep Daniel's at bay was well done too. But I kept thinking "if my kid did this, I would go crazy" so I was really hard for me to root for the main couple and I didn't at the beginning. In fact, I stopped reading for about three weeks.
Eventually, I came back to it because the characters are engaging and their struggle is convincing. It is one of very few books where the relationship moved beyond the initial all-consuming infatuation and matured. Usually, the main characters fall in love, run in some kind of trouble, then move past said trouble to a HEA. Here, we see the characters understand they have keep their individuality within the relationship and work toward it. The literature and poetry discussions added an interesting dimension to the story and I enjoyed it a lot.
The reason for taking off one star is two-fold. First, the writing became uneven. The book is in third person POV present tense and the focus bounces between Daniel and Will more than a ping-pong ball in a championship game. And then the timeline was all over the place making it very confusing. The book needs a good bit of editing in the second half. Second, the author took the convenient way out by warning us that the story is set in a 'universe where there is no condoms and people don't go to jail'. I wish she had taken the effort to set it in our world.
Student/teacher relationships are a taboo for me (I teach also, at the college level). Yes, Daniel is 18 and a consenting adult, and Will's effort to keep Daniel's at bay was well done too. But I kept thinking "if my kid did this, I would go crazy" so I was really hard for me to root for the main couple and I didn't at the beginning. In fact, I stopped reading for about three weeks.
Eventually, I came back to it because the characters are engaging and their struggle is convincing. It is one of very few books where the relationship moved beyond the initial all-consuming infatuation and matured. Usually, the main characters fall in love, run in some kind of trouble, then move past said trouble to a HEA. Here, we see the characters understand they have keep their individuality within the relationship and work toward it. The literature and poetry discussions added an interesting dimension to the story and I enjoyed it a lot.
The reason for taking off one star is two-fold. First, the writing became uneven. The book is in third person POV present tense and the focus bounces between Daniel and Will more than a ping-pong ball in a championship game. And then the timeline was all over the place making it very confusing. The book needs a good bit of editing in the second half. Second, the author took the convenient way out by warning us that the story is set in a 'universe where there is no condoms and people don't go to jail'. I wish she had taken the effort to set it in our world.
March 31, 2024
4.5 stars
This is only the second book I've read by Kay Simone, but boy, can they write actual romance! I'm not talking about the kind of insta-lust that is so prevalent in a lot of contemporary romance now, I mean actual, honest-to-gods romance of the kind that makes you tear up and go weak in the knees.
The story begins with eighteen-going-on-nineteen-year-old Daniel Rhodes going to a bar armed with a fake ID. When a hot, older guy sits down next to him and buys him a drink, Daniel suggests a game of pool. The chemistry is zinging between them, and Daniel - who is a much better player than he lets on - suggests the stakes; winner gets a blowjob in the bathroom. He wins, of course; the other guy realises he's been hustled, but he pays up.
Monday morning and Daniel, who is in his final year at a local private school, arrives for his first lesson of the new school year - only to find that the guy who blew his mind is his new English teacher.
Oops.
This is a teacher/student romance done right. Daniel and Will know they're playing with fire, but the pull between them is too strong to resist, no matter how hard they try - and Will does try, really hard. The author develops and explores their relationship so well, and the sex scenes are beautifully written and emotional - they're steamy but are about so much more than that, illuminating and exploring the thoughts and feelings of the characters.
The ten year age gap is well handled, too - Daniel is intelligent, insightful and mature for his age - sometimes, he's more mature than Will! - and it's very clear that their mutual love for literature and language is the basis for the very strong emotional bond that forms between them.
It's a long book by romance novel standards, but I never felt it or lost interest - although I wish the author had used some of the page-count to explore a few things that were just glossed over, such as why Will went to teach at a high school in Chewelah when he was happy at the university he was at before; I'd have liked to know a bit more about his relationship with his mother, because it's so clearly at the root of many of his problems; why Daniel is so reluctant to think about college or to map out a future. And the ending is very abrupt, despite the presence of an epilogue set the following summer.
Despite those criticisms, I really enjoyed The Aftermath. The romance is beautifully developed, the depths of Will's loneliness is heartbreaking and Daniel's growth is superbly written. I'm definitely glomming Kay Simone's backlist!
This is only the second book I've read by Kay Simone, but boy, can they write actual romance! I'm not talking about the kind of insta-lust that is so prevalent in a lot of contemporary romance now, I mean actual, honest-to-gods romance of the kind that makes you tear up and go weak in the knees.
The story begins with eighteen-going-on-nineteen-year-old Daniel Rhodes going to a bar armed with a fake ID. When a hot, older guy sits down next to him and buys him a drink, Daniel suggests a game of pool. The chemistry is zinging between them, and Daniel - who is a much better player than he lets on - suggests the stakes; winner gets a blowjob in the bathroom. He wins, of course; the other guy realises he's been hustled, but he pays up.
Monday morning and Daniel, who is in his final year at a local private school, arrives for his first lesson of the new school year - only to find that the guy who blew his mind is his new English teacher.
Oops.
This is a teacher/student romance done right. Daniel and Will know they're playing with fire, but the pull between them is too strong to resist, no matter how hard they try - and Will does try, really hard. The author develops and explores their relationship so well, and the sex scenes are beautifully written and emotional - they're steamy but are about so much more than that, illuminating and exploring the thoughts and feelings of the characters.
The ten year age gap is well handled, too - Daniel is intelligent, insightful and mature for his age - sometimes, he's more mature than Will! - and it's very clear that their mutual love for literature and language is the basis for the very strong emotional bond that forms between them.
It's a long book by romance novel standards, but I never felt it or lost interest - although I wish the author had used some of the page-count to explore a few things that were just glossed over, such as why Will went to teach at a high school in Chewelah when he was happy at the university he was at before; I'd have liked to know a bit more about his relationship with his mother, because it's so clearly at the root of many of his problems; why Daniel is so reluctant to think about college or to map out a future. And the ending is very abrupt, despite the presence of an epilogue set the following summer.
Despite those criticisms, I really enjoyed The Aftermath. The romance is beautifully developed, the depths of Will's loneliness is heartbreaking and Daniel's growth is superbly written. I'm definitely glomming Kay Simone's backlist!
June 27, 2016
-4 stars-
Beware, this is looooooong, but really good. I loved the MCs and the dynamic between them, seeing how much Daniel grew and matured, and having my heart break a little at Wills loneliness and depression. I wasn't sure how I'd feel with the whole high school student thing, but it was mostly fine. The only thing that really let me down was the ending, not because it was bad per se, but I really needed a HEA several years down the track, not a HFN. This normally wouldn't bother me, but given what the story was about, and all the drama and angst given they were a student and teacher, I needed more, needed to know they would be ok, especially with the long distance relationship. Would have liked some questions answered to, such as what everyone thought when they finally found out.
Overall a great read, so yes I recommend.
Beware, this is looooooong, but really good. I loved the MCs and the dynamic between them, seeing how much Daniel grew and matured, and having my heart break a little at Wills loneliness and depression. I wasn't sure how I'd feel with the whole high school student thing, but it was mostly fine. The only thing that really let me down was the ending, not because it was bad per se, but I really needed a HEA several years down the track, not a HFN. This normally wouldn't bother me, but given what the story was about, and all the drama and angst given they were a student and teacher, I needed more, needed to know they would be ok, especially with the long distance relationship. Would have liked some questions answered to, such as what everyone thought when they finally found out.
Overall a great read, so yes I recommend.
May 29, 2018
2.5-3 stars
I can't tell you how many books I read and complain about all the "getting to know you stuff" being off page. Well, this book is looong. And it's looong because it's pretty much all on the page. And yes, at first it worked for me. I saw the relationship develop and grow over time. And while it was pretty slow it was also kind of wonderful. But at about 80% my goodwill started to wane and as the angst started piling up I just wanted this to get wrapped up. I started skimming. And skimming. And skimming.
And then came the epilogue from hell. It was soooo long and all over the place. With time jumps and so much flowery coming-of-age realisation crap that I almost lost interest in these men. And it isn't even a solid HEA. Just a mostly HFN.
All in all I'm calling this one sweet, and hot, and angsty af. Enjoyable, but not for everyone. And also about 150 pages too long.
I can't tell you how many books I read and complain about all the "getting to know you stuff" being off page. Well, this book is looong. And it's looong because it's pretty much all on the page. And yes, at first it worked for me. I saw the relationship develop and grow over time. And while it was pretty slow it was also kind of wonderful. But at about 80% my goodwill started to wane and as the angst started piling up I just wanted this to get wrapped up. I started skimming. And skimming. And skimming.
And then came the epilogue from hell. It was soooo long and all over the place. With time jumps and so much flowery coming-of-age realisation crap that I almost lost interest in these men. And it isn't even a solid HEA. Just a mostly HFN.
All in all I'm calling this one sweet, and hot, and angsty af. Enjoyable, but not for everyone. And also about 150 pages too long.
July 21, 2016
This alternated between 2 and 4 stars. We are warned to suspend disbelief in the beginning, but we are in no way prepared for what is required. But things happen and keep happening and people keep doing the things they keep doing, and eventually, if you're still reading, you've accepted that these people made these choices and now you are invested in the consequences. Or the aftermath, as it may be. Well, forgetting how it all started, or rather, how the aftermath started, once it's begun it is done quite well. The feels especially.
My analysis:
Prologue: Hot
Initial MC judgement: dumb as fuck... Moving on...
Why?...
No!...
Mid novel analysis: 40 page sex scene I skimmed lost you a star and a half
No!...
Dumbass mother father!...
Again, moving on... What! That's the end?
My analysis:
Prologue: Hot
Initial MC judgement: dumb as fuck... Moving on...
Why?...
No!...
Mid novel analysis: 40 page sex scene I skimmed lost you a star and a half
No!...
Dumbass mother father!...
Again, moving on... What! That's the end?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 22, 2016
I struggled with this rating on this book. The writing was smooth, the characters were interesting and the relationship was turbulent but good. I love May/December books. I mean I love them a lot. Daniel is a student in Will's class, but seems to be more mature to me. He is so exuberant and intelligent and Will brings out the best in him. But, Will has issues. He needs therapy big-time. The mother in me wanted to tell Daniel to run away, that even though you love Will, his problems are lifelong and just too much heartache for such a spirited student. Will just pushed Daniel away one too many times for me. I think I will re-read this at a later time and maybe I will feel differently.
July 2, 2016
2.75 Stars. Obviously from the ratings I am in the minority so it's probably just me but I was bored through nearly the entire book. I nearly DNF'd at about 30% but figured it has to get better. Nope. There wasn't anything especially bad I can point to I just never became engaged.
Maybe the fact that the eighteen year old high school senior seemed to be the adult in the relationship with his twenty eight year old teacher was the problem for me.
Maybe the fact that the eighteen year old high school senior seemed to be the adult in the relationship with his twenty eight year old teacher was the problem for me.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 180 reviews