Deborah Raney's After All ~ Reviewed

After All

Deborah Raney
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Howard Books; Original edition (May 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416599959

Description:

Eighteen months after the tragic Grove Street Fire took the life of her husband and four other heroic firefighters, Susan Marlowe thinks she’s finally beginning to heal. But then she discovers that David carried a secret to his grave-a secret that changes everything she thought about their marriage. For the sake of their sons, can Susan forgive the unforgivable?

Andrea Morley lost her closest friend in the fire. But she has no right to mourn him. Instead, she must forever grieve in silence-for someone else’s husband. Peter Brennan carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. As Hanover Falls fire chief, he was responsible for the brave firefighters who lost their lives that awful November night. Can he ever shake the feeling that he could have somehow prevented the tragedy? And now it seems he might find comfort in the arms of the woman he least expected.

Review: 

Accomplished writer Deborah Raney concludes her Hanover Falls trilogy with After All,  an engaging and moving love story between two forty somethings, dealing with tragedy and loss and the fragile hope of a new relationship.  Deborah’s experience and skill is revealed in the authenticity of her characters, heartfelt prose and sensitively entwined spiritual truths. Susan and Peter are very appealing as much for their strengths as their weaknesses, as they navigate single hood and then new attraction. There were times that I wanted to smack Peter for some thoughtless behaviour, yet that only underlined the realism with which Deborah writes. The underlying mystery is not intense but adds to the depth of the story and reveals an interesting twist at the end that I’m still in two minds about!  Deborah’s stories never disappoint and I highly recommend After All and the entire Hanover Falls series.

Reviewed by: Rel Mollet