Tabs’ review of After We Fall (Take the Fall, Book 3) by Marquita Valentine
Contemporary Romance published by Loveswept 26 Apr 16
Two survivors of domestic violence find love and acceptance in the latest Take the Fall book from Marquita Valentine. I have to admit that, even though I have previously enjoyed this series, I was nervous about the premise of this book before I picked it up. Luckily, Valentine takes her subject matter seriously. I’ll add a trigger warning for domestic violence and abuse before I get deep into my review because the depictions of abuse, abuse triggers, and emotional recovery are pretty graphic and they hit me where it hurts more than a few times while reading.
Hunter first encounters Evangeline a few months before the book opens when he is patrolling and finds her wandering down the highway shoeless and blood-soaked and brings her into his station and then to a women’s shelter. He hasn’t been able to get her out of his mind since that day, even though he knows that he damn well should. Hunter also has a traumatic past. He grew up in an abusive household and carries his own regrets and scars.
Evangeline is more than shocked to find that the man living across from her new apartment is the same one who saw her at her lowest point. She is very much in a starting-over phase. She’s still trying to come to terms with the abuse she suffered. She’s still trying to rebuild her life and make friends and slowly be herself again. The last thing she wants is a serious relationship, especially when she’s not even sure she’s capable of being in one. Hunter understands that she needs time and only wants what she can give him. He makes a point of telling her, more than once, that his love doesn’t come with strings.
While the subject matter this book deals extensively with is sad and deeply upsetting at times, the romance is sweet. I do think that the ending went a little bit off the rails and that the characters’ reactions to some things occasionally don’t ring entirely true. Despite those minor issues, it’s a good book. It’s a bit more melancholy and less over-the-top than previous entries in the series, but I’m still game to keep going from here.
Grade: B
Summary:
A tough cop with an even tougher past, Hunter Sloan has never let anyone stop him from getting what he wants—and he wants Evangeline Ambrose bad. With her gentle curves and raw vulnerability, Hunter’s beautiful, mysterious new neighbor awakens his protective side. Determined to do right by a woman who’s gone through hell and back, Hunter could be the one to take away the pain—so long as his own secrets don’t sink their relationship before it begins.
Having escaped an abusive marriage, Evangeline simply wants to start over in the small, quiet town of Forrestville. She’s also avoiding all contact with the opposite sex, because she just can’t trust her instincts when it comes to men—not even with the sinfully sexy cop next door. So why can’t she stop thinking about him? Hunter has darkness in his soul, and yet no one ever made her feel so safe. For all her best laid plans, Evangeline didn’t count on choices this hard—or temptation this hot.
Other books in this series:
