BLOG TOUR REVIEW: After All by Kristen Proby

The last sizzling novel in Kristen Proby’s Romancing Manhattan series finds a widower falling deeply in love again with a woman who has scars of her own.

After All by USA Today, New York Times, & Wall Street Journal bestseller, Kristen Proby, is now live! 

When Carter Shaw’s wife died five years ago, he was left to pick up the pieces not only of his own broken heart but also that of his devastated eight-year-old daughter, Gabby—leaving him with no time for anything else, let alone dating. But recently, Carter has noticed women again and soon even begins dating. No one has stuck around for long, mostly thanks to one very angry Gabby.

Nora Hayes has worked as Carter’s assistant for years. Recently divorced herself, Nora spends many hours at the office and helping Carter with his daughter whom she adores. Despite loving her job and being wrapped up in the Shaw family, Nora’s never given her handsome, kind workaholic boss a second thought, especially in the romance department.

But then the snowstorm of the century hits, and Nora finds herself stranded at work with Carter overnight. And suddenly, she sees Carter in a whole new, sexy light. The sadness that’s lived in his eyes for so long has now been replaced with pure, unadulterated lust—and Nora isn’t quite sure what to do about it. For after the pain of her divorce, she never thought she would give love a second chance.

Carter and Nora have always believed in never combining business with pleasure. But how can they possibly deny the all-consuming chemistry between them…?

My Review

‘After all the stops and starts

We keep comin’ back to these two hearts

Two angels who’ve been rescued from the fall

After all that we’ve been through

It all comes down to me and you

I guess it’s meant to be, forever you and me, after all’

As soon as I saw the title and the blurb for the third book in Kristen Proby’s Romancing Manhattan series, Peter Cetra’s hit song ‘After All,’ immediately popped into my head and it stayed with me during my entire time reading Carter and Nora’s story because they are two people who have lost in love, and even though, the things that happened to them were not the same – his wife passed away while her and her husband got divorced, in some ways, they are kindred spirits, trying to figure things out again as someone who’s single…someone who’s afraid to give love a second chance, and although they’ve worked together for many years, what allows them to see each other in a different light – one that could make them believe in love again seems to be fate interceding, but with everything on the line – their business relationship and the fact that she’s already a significant and important part of his and his daughter’s lives, there’s a lot at stack…maybe too much considering all the other factors that have to be sorted through as well.

The transition to more between Carter and Nora seems to happen suddenly, which means there are bound to be miscommunications and second-guessing happening, and while some of their missteps are frustrating to witness, they also make sense given the nature of their relationship as well as a certain 12-year-old girl who doesn’t know how to handle this new phase in her father’s life. The way that Proby handled Gabby’s feelings when it came to her mother’s death, being a teenager, and her father’s dating life fit the situation well, and while Gabby does act out and makes things more difficult than they should be, it makes sense given all that she’s going through as well as the new role that Nora seems to be taking in Gabby and her father’s lives, which has to be incredibly confusing for her.

There are a lot of variables that Carter and Nora have to work through in order to give something happening between them a fair shot, but when it comes right down to it, both of them deserve to be happy, deserve to be loved, deserve to feel desired, which means after all they’ve dealt with, both together and individually, they’re exactly where they’re meant to be.

4 Poison Apples

About Kristen

Kristen was born and raised in a small resort town in her beloved Montana. In her mid-twenties, she decided to stretch her wings and move to the Pacific Northwest, where she made her home for more than a dozen years.

During that time, Kristen wrote many romance novels and joined organizations such as RWA and other small writing groups. She spent countless hours in workshops, and more mornings than she can count up before the dawn so she could write before going to work. She submitted many manuscripts to agents and editors alike, but was always told no. In the summer of 2012, the self-publishing scene was new and thriving, and Kristen had one goal: to publish just one book. It was something she longed to cross off of her bucket list.

Not only did she publish one book, she’s since published close to thirty titles, many of which have hit the USA Today, New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestsellers lists. She continues to self publish, best known for her With Me In Seattle and Boudreaux series, and is also proud to work with William Morrow, a division of HarperCollins, with the Fusion Series.

Kristen and her husband, John, make their home in her hometown of Whitefish, Montana with their two pugs and two cats.

Connect with Kristen

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BooksByKristenProby/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Handbagjunkie Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristenproby/ BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kristen-proby Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2kBRdpj Amazon: http://amzn.to/2BD4vfq Website: https://www.kristenprobyauthor.com/ Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/kristenproby/newsletter-sign-up