After Yesterday
Jacqueline Hayley

A great, gritty, hot follow up to After Today

Blurb:

Surviving the virus was one thing, surviving humanity after is another.

Rachel Davenport has always liked things ordered and neat, so when the Sy-V virus decimated the world around her, she was left reeling. With winter closing in and danger everywhere she turns, the last thing she needs is the unexpected arrival of her former high school sweetheart—a man who left her without so much as a goodbye.

When James O’Connor crossed the country to declare his love for Rachel, the girl he left behind eight years ago, he knew he’d have a fight on his hands. But the girl he left has become a woman he struggles to recognize. As the apocalypse forces him to balance his morality against Rachel’s determination, can he cross the chasm growing between them?

As humanity crumbles around them and survival becomes everything, James and Rachel must choose between what is smart, and what is right.

The stakes are higher than ever… can love survive a second chance?

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Author’s note: After Yesterday is the second book in The After series of post-apocalyptic romance novels. If you love reading stories by Kate L. Mary, Kate Morris, T.L. Payne and Kyla Stone, then you will love this series.

After Yesterday is a standalone story with no cliffhangers and a HEA, however will be enjoyed further by reading the other books in the series. Possible trigger warnings for violence against women and consensual rough sex; this is mature content written for 18+ readers – there is unsavory language and gratuitous sex. Lots of it.

The second book starts off a bit before the climax of the first. It’s from the point of view of Rachel and James, who were secondary characters in the first book. There is a good recap of what has gone on before. I wasn’t lost even when it had been months since I read the first book.

To remind you: Jake and Mackenzie had escaped Sanford, but Rachel, James, and others were still stuck there under Townsend’s cruel dictatorship. There, they were kept prisoner, made to work, and given little food and heat. Rachel and James are stuck together and not getting along.

“James could take one for the team,” she offered helpfully. “I wouldn’t mind so much if he got shot.”
He winced. “Harsh, Davenport.”

James and Rachel had been sweethearts in high school, but James left, abandoning Rachel. He returned to Sanford just before the pandemic hit, intent on winning her back. After his betrayal, Rachel grew strong and tough but cold. She needs that strength to get through this apocalypse and fight for what she believes is right. I really liked how badass Rachel was.

“You are such a beautiful, fragile woman,” he murmured, reaching out a finger to run it down the tip of her nose.
“Fragile?” She pulled back, smile slipping.
“Not like a flower,” he hurried to reassure her, mentally kicking himself. “You’re fragile in the way a bomb is fragile. Powerful and potent and explosive.”
She narrowed her eyes, thinking. “Okay, I can accept that.”

Now I knew the Council of male-chauvinists was evil from After Today, but this clinched it for me:

Two armed guards would sweep a house first, identifying dead bodies and shooting any pets that had been left behind. When James, anticipating Rachel’s outrage, asked if they couldn’t just release the pets and leave them to their own devices, he’d received a rifle butt between his shoulder blades. They all took that as a no.

The Council had to die!

Dex, Mackenzie’s dog from After Today, was thankfully alive!

James: “Why did I wake up naked, spooning a dog?”

Once again, the action was very well written, and there was a lot of it. There are compelling cliffhangers at the end of chapters and sections. I just raced right along reading this and couldn’t put it down. Some great moments of humor relieve the bleakness of the story.

“Can you believe there was a book in the library on lock picking?” Jake said to Quinn, shaking his head.
“Who needs the internet when you have books?”

“These gangs, exactly how fucked up are they?” Even as he asked, James wasn’t sure he wanted to know. Why did it seem like Sy-V had upset the ratio of asshole to normal human beings, with the assholes coming out on top?

I liked all the characters and the chemistry between them. The sex scenes, of which there are many, are scorching hot. James is dominant and Rachel is submissive in the bedroom, but it’s only in the bedroom. This was handled well with there being a true partnership in the rest of life. This aspect of sex isn’t so kinky that it needs a trigger warning. There is no non-consent. There is much more story than sex, a good ratio. The plot kept me reading, and the sex spiced it up.

Overall, I loved this. It’s a great follow up to After Today, and I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this series!

Contains graphic sex scenes. Very hot ones.

Occasional foul language.

3rd person past tense from Rachel and James.

Errors were fixed after I sent them to the author.

284 Pages

$5.99 at Amazon.

I received a copy of this for my honest review.

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After Yesterday also contains the novella, The Beginning of the End.

The Beginning of the End
Jacqueline Hayley

Blurb:

It’s the beginning of the end…

Seventeen-year old Cassie is home alone planning her first ever house party, unaware the deadly Sy-V virus has begun to ravage humanity. But when most of her classmates fail to show for the party, she can’t contact her parents, and her best friend becomes sick, in the blink of an eye her entire world changes.

Stephen has lived next door to Cassie forever, only as the virus tears their friends and family apart, the boy-next-door suddenly becomes a hero burning brightly in the devastating dark of their new world. But no way could she fall in love. Not at this moment. With this boy. Right?

This novella is a prequel to The After series, which begins with After Today.

It’s about Cassie and Stephen, the teens we’ve seen in the novels. It covers their experience of the virus break out and the take over of the Council. It’s very short but very good!

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After Today
Jacqueline Hayley

Realistic, immersive, and hot apocalyptic romance that kept me up way too late!

Blurb:

Can love survive an apocalypse?

After a deadly virus ravages Chicago and destroys Mackenzie Lyons’ carefully curated world, Mac escapes the devastation and horror to her childhood hometown with the help of her best-friend’s little brother, Jake. But the small-minded community of Sanford isn’t exactly welcoming, and the virus isn’t the only battle brewing.

Jake Brent has secretly loved Mac forever, and while this isn’t the way he’d dreamed of their relationship beginning, with the uncertainty of the outbreak he’ll take every opportunity with Mac he can and hope—pray—for a better future.

But when Sanford’s misogynistic council torment the survivors with horrifying demands and a lawless motorcycle gang threatens their fragile sanctuary, somehow Jake and Mackenzie must form new alliances and face down dangerous enemies in a struggle far worse than the outbreak.

Surviving the virus was one thing, surviving humanity after is another.

Mackenzie was totally unprepared for the end of the world.

She wasn’t a heroine in some Hollywood blockbuster. She was a twenty-six-year-old environmental lawyer, living in Lincoln Park and trying to forget Sanford, the hometown she knew had forgotten her the moment she’d skipped out.

The story starts with a pandemic brewing out of Syria, having moved into Europe, and it may be within the US now. The President is denying it. People are saying it is a hoax to control us, much the same as people are now saying about COVID in real life.

“This whole Syrian Virus is a hoax—it’s a conspiracy to control us.”

“It’s a plan-demic! Big pharma is behind it!”

Jake risks everything to go get Mackenzie from Chicago when things start to disintegrate.

“I’ve been in love with you since that day you sprained your ankle at the lake. Remember? I carried you to the car so you could go get it x-rayed.”

“That’s seven years ago, Jake.”

I found the beginning very realistic, especially with what we’ve seen actually happen. The insanity of a panicked city population with the looting, wanton destruction, and guns was very realistically described as Mackenzie and Jake tried to gather supplies before leaving Chicago.

Mackenzie cries, whimpers, and complains quite a bit. But it is a realistic reaction. She watched soldiers gun down civilians, ran home barefoot and got lots of blisters, got through the looting, and is now walking on her blistered feet and witnessing death all around her. She is an environmental lawyer, a city dweller, book smart instead of street smart, and tends to live in her own head, blocking out much of reality. So she isn’t prepared for this. All in all, I think she holds up well in the beginning. I expected she would grow stronger, turn into a survivor as time passed.

It was hard not to succumb to “damsel in distress” when every step rubbed her raw feet, her shoulders ached with the heavy pack, and she was tired. So tired.

Jake quickly became Mackenzie’s rock. He’s a mechanic, just the sort of man I would want with me in the apocalypse.

He welcomed—hell, he relished—the responsibility he felt for Mackenzie. Even when he dated other women, she was always somewhere in the back of his mind. Now, the instinct to care for her, to protect her, had strengthened to a tangible level. He could feel his dedication to her in the thrumming beat of his heart.

Jake’s declaration of love and Mackenzie’s budding attraction to him made her uncomfortable at first. Jake was her best friend’s little brother, just three years younger, so nothing weird. So it took some time for Mackenzie to change her view of him.

Jake was energized with purpose and Mackenzie took a moment to admire his assertiveness, the straightforward manner in which he’d taken control, allowing her a comforting warmth in his steadfast protection. Who knew making someone feel safe could be sexy?

I loved this novel. I found the situation and the characters to be very realistic, so it was immersive to read. I know I keep repeating this “realistic” bit, but it truly is remarkable in this genre. I didn’t have to suspend disbelief – I believed!

I truly liked the main characters. Neither is perfect, so that makes them relatable. They are both strong when they need to be and vulnerable with each other. There is a nice build to the relationship. Jake lays his heart bare, but he doesn’t push Mackenzie. He’s not an alpha male, you’re mine, type. This was refreshing and sweet.

It was a very fast read with excellent pacing. There was quite a bit of action, which was very well written – clear but concisely described, so things moved along very quickly. There are some scorching hot sex scenes, but this is definitely much more story than erotica. I felt it added the right level of spice to the meat of the overall story.

I don’t want to give too much away, but Mackenzie does grow throughout this novel, eventually becoming a bit of a badass. I absolutely loved that she didn’t need a man to save her! Girl power! Woot! Woot! 😊

Amongst the chaos are little moments of very welcome comedy.

“Don’t get weird on me. It’s just an erection. Happens most mornings.” He grinned.

“No. Nope, not going there.”

“It’s a normal bodily function.”

“Jake, stop! We are not talking about your dick.”

“You just did.”

It relieves the tension here and there and stops this from being too depressing. As Jake says:

Why was everything so damn hard? Nothing was easy anymore. He prided himself on being resilient and practical, but was it too much to ask for a simple home ransacking to go to plan?

And Mackenzie is a dog lover! My love of her grew exponentially the moment I found that out! 😊

This had my rolling with laughter:

“That’s…. psychopathic, right? Who plays fantasy apocalypse?” Mackenzie’s question was met with silence…

Writers of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic novels do. Hey! That’s us! So a little fun was poked at the author herself. Loved it!

If you’re with us, fantasizing about the end of the world, picturing yourself driving down a completely empty interstate instead of being in your traffic jam reality, this is a must read!

This is the first book in a series but can be read as a standalone. Future books will be centered on other main characters, but we will see Mackenzie and Jake as secondary characters. This has a great ending. We know the story continues, and it definitely makes me want to read the next book. But we aren’t left with a nasty cliffhanger. Like the characters, I can wait, and plan, and survive.

Contains graphic sex scenes. Very hot ones. But only really three.

Occasional foul language. I loved Mackenzie’s mantra.

3rd person past tense from Mackenzie and Jake.

Errors: 8 (misspelled words, wrong word, missing word, a name spelled differently in two places, inconsistent punctuation, a missing quotation mark) Not bad at all! I sent these errors to the author, so I hope she’ll fix them soon.

UPDATE: Errors have been fixed!

258 Pages

$5.99 at Amazon.

I received a copy of this for my honest review.

Book 2 is available for preorder but won’t be out until April 2022.

Die For You
A Dark Post-Apocalyptic Romance
Catastrophe Series Book 1
Michele Mills

Possessive alpha male post-apocalyptic romance with a ménage kink

A strain of Ebola has just killed 99.99% of the world’s population. Rachel is somehow immune. As soon as she leaves her home in San Diego, she runs into Adam, a Hispanic former marine. Adam is much older and has a kink – he likes to share his woman with other men in ménage situations he controls completely. Rachel is a virgin, and Adam tries to stay hands off, but he’s only human.

It was good, but I’m not fangirling. I’m curious about the next book, thinking of reading it, but thinking there’s got to be better stuff out there. Why? It dragged a little. The writing just didn’t keep me needing more. I read this in pieces during my lunch breaks and wasn’t compelled to read it at home instead of watching movies or while I’m supposed to be working.

There were some very good descriptions of the changed world in the beginning, full of dead bodies, some gore, and reminiscent of The Stand. The cause of the virus is known, opening a strong plot element that wasn’t explored, at least not in this first novel. I liked the mixed-race aspect. There were some funny scenes. I appreciated them but wanted more.

I did love that our lead female didn’t need her man to save her. She kicked ass when it counted. I wasn’t a fan of her starting virgin status, but it didn’t bother me too much. Her horrible self-image got annoying.

The sex scenes were okay. It was hotter when they were just talking about sex than when it was actually going on. There was a little bit of talking during sex, which I liked, but not enough. Overall there weren’t enough sex scenes to really make this an erotic novel. There also weren’t enough plot elements to make it a good non-erotic novel. So I’m stuck in mediocre.

3^rd person past tense alternating between the main characters. HEA, graphic sex scenes, some foul language, some violence. Contains an off-camera rape concerning a secondary character. No cheating. No OW/OM drama. Does contain one consensual ménage scene. Speaking of, a huge deal was made of Adam’s kink. Rachel not being able to accept it and Adam not being able to be himself sexually was touted as a deal breaker. But we got one sex scene and the issue goes away at the end. This was very unrealistic. Either the setup or the ending was false.

Very few grammar mistakes other than no commas between independent clauses, which is consistent so accepted as style. Three missing words. One wrong word. One missing comma after an introductory clause. One case of head-hopping within a section. One unnecessary dialogue tag.

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Favorite Quotes:

“Unfortunately for you, I’m a breast man.” – Adam

“He was so confident, so sure of himself. Like Babe Ruth pointing and calling an out-of-the-park homerun before he’d even picked up the bat.”

“She glanced at all three men, still amazed to have been left alive with these three perfect specimens of masculinity. How did this happen? Apparently, in this new world there would be no potbellies, no receding hairlines and no man boobs. No, not here. It was like they’d been outlawed.”

“Nice man.” He chuckled. “Have you seen my gun collection? I think you have me confused with someone else.” – Adam

• 

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More than Survival
A Zombie Apocalypse Love Story Book 1
Kate L. Mary

Post-apocalypse is just a backdrop for this set of sex scenes

Previously published as More Than Survival by Camryn Lynn

I didn’t enjoy this. It has many positive reviews, so I wasn’t expecting to be so disappointed. I’m a huge fan of post-apocalyptic romance, especially those with some smut in them. But this just didn’t do it for me.

There isn’t much world building here. The story doesn’t leave the cabin. Uncle Seamus disappears and Sawyer appears. Nothing else happens besides sex. There really isn’t a plot here. A post-apocalypse is just a backdrop for this set of sex scenes.

There was too much sex, and I found the sex scenes unrealistic and somewhat boring. There was barely any dialogue during the sex scenes. The dialogue is usually my favorite part and what makes a sex scene hot for me. I didn’t find any of these hot.

I didn’t like how ignorant Lucy was about sex. At 18, she hadn’t learned the basics and had never tried touching herself. This is difficult to believe. I hated that she tried to get pregnant on purpose to keep Sawyer with her and that after she had decided she wanted to wait, he decided to chance it. There was never a discussion about having children.

I never connected with Lucy. She was a survivor and able to take care of herself, hunting, cooking, chopping wood, etc. But she didn’t feel emotionally strong. She was lonely, and her focus was on keeping Sawyer happy so he would stay. I got the impression that if she hadn’t been lucky and some abuser had come along instead of a nice guy, she would have accepted the abuse to not be alone.

Fortunately, Sawyer was a nice guy. I didn’t feel that Sawyer was a developed character either. We never get his point of view or learn much about him. Both characters were unrealistically beautiful and perfect.

I hated that it ended on a cliffhanger. We never find out what happened to Seamus or if Sawyer returns. Near the end, I was so bored that I started skimming, looking for something to happen, and then it ended abruptly. I thought there was much more to the story because I was only at about 70%, but the rest is another novella. So turned out I had started skimming during what should have been the climax of the novel. Not good.

Error count: 12 before I started skimming in Chapter 8. 4 in the Prologue, but they became less frequent after.

M/F, no cheating, no OW/OM drama. 3^rd close to h only, past tense. Lucy is a virgin, but Sawyer is not. His sexual history is not revealed.

Skin
Flesh Series Book 2
Kylie Scott

Post-apocalyptic dark romance with zombies

This is the second book in the Flesh Series. I gave the first, Flesh, four stars as well. I enjoyed this one just as much. Flesh was a ménage, but Skin is a dark romance. Nick buys Roslyn and chains her to the bed in the beginning. There is some nonconsensual kissing and touching but no rape. He didn’t want to keep her chained up forever and was hoping he wouldn’t have to resort to that, but she cracked his head open with a wine bottle as soon as he got her home. Watching these two sort out their differences was entertaining and often made me laugh.

Nick was not a bad guy. He was just in a bad situation and made some mistakes. He is an alpha male but not over the top. I liked that Roslyn was strong, didn’t give in to Nick right away, and had the guts to stand up to baddies. The sex scenes were hot. The action scenes were well written and paced without too much gore in the book overall.

Just like Flesh, the story grabbed me from the start. There isn’t too much backstory at the front. It is set in Australia, but if it wasn’t explicitly stated, I wouldn’t have known. There is no dialect speech, not a lot of “mate”s and such. Just a little flavor thrown in.

M/F, no cheating, no OW/OM drama, contains several graphic sex scenes, contains a bit of foul language and a good dose of violence, standalone, HFN.

Error count: 11. There are many comma splices (sentences with two independent clauses joined with a comma but not a conjunction). It happened so often that I have accepted this as style. I’m not a fan of the style, but that’s probably because my brain keeps yelling, “Error!” while I’m trying to enjoy the story. I do think it may add to the fast pacing.

Favorite Quotes:

“He was a beast, an animal reeking of sweat and ready to pounce, rock hard and hurting. His hard-on gave Godzilla a run for its money. If he swung it about, Tokyo would be leveled.”

“Men were such complicated creatures. Women were so much more straightforward.”

Flesh
Kylie Scott

Hot post-apocalyptic ménage romance with zombies

I love The Walking Dead and Z Nation TV series, but I generally prefer post-apocalyptic novels without zombies. That said, I did enjoy this. It is a post-apocalyptic ménage romance with zombies.

Ali has been holing up in an attic since the zombie apocalypse started. When she runs out of food, she goes foraging in empty houses. There she finds Dan and points her shotgun at him.

This novel started out with a whoosh instead of a lot of backstory, which I enjoyed very much. The action kept on going, with the zombies and other humans and in the bedroom. It contains several graphic sex scenes, M/F and M/F/M, because along the way, they meet Finn. I loved the characters in this, especially Dan, who is very funny. This novel made me laugh out loud a few times. I liked that they are in their 30s and 40s. I also loved that Ali is a strong woman. She helps herself, fighting back instead of waiting to be saved. She’s no annoying damsel in distress!

It is set in Australia, but if it wasn’t explicitly stated, I wouldn’t have known. There is no dialect speech, not a lot of “mate”s and such. Just a little flavor thrown in.

Everything is totally consensual. There is no cheating or OW/OM drama. It contains foul language. There is lots of sex and quite a bit of violence. For a zombie story, I wouldn’t say it was gory.

I thought it was well written with good pacing. I caught only 6 outright errors, which is fantastic. There are many comma splices (sentences with two independent clauses joined with a comma but not a conjunction). It happened so often that I have accepted this as style. I’m not a fan of the style, but that’s probably because my brain keeps yelling, “Error!” while I’m trying to enjoy the story. I do think it may add to the fast pacing.

If you like ménage and zombies, I recommend it. I plan on reading the next in the series, Skin. This is a standalone novel but part of a series, with different characters in each book.

Surviving Seduction
The Shattered World #2
Maia Underwood

Entertaining But OM/OW Drama Is The Story

This is the second book in the series and continues right where the first left off. There wasn’t a cliffhanger, so you don’t have to read this one.

I enjoyed parts of this. The fight scenes were especially good.

Other Man and Other Woman drama is the core story here, so if you hate that, stay away. There is a fake out dream scene – we are subjected to a sex scene with OM. Even if it isn’t real, we still had to read it.

If you enjoy OM/OW drama, go for it!

I would love to read the third book the author planned, but she seems to have disappeared from the book world around 2012.