Reviewed by Amber
SERIES: Through Hell and Back
TITLE: After the Fire #2
AUTHOR: Felice Stevens
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: 253 pages
BLURB:
A single bullet destroyed the dreams of Dr. Jordan Peterson. With his lover dead, Jordan descends into an endless spiral of self-destruction that nearly costs him his friends, his career and his life. When Jordan finds himself working closely with the aloof Lucas Conover, the investment banker’s mysterious past and unexpected kindness shocks him back into a life and emotions he’d thought lost forever.
The betrayal by the foster brother he’d worshiped, taught Lucas Conover never to trust or believe in anyone. Living a solitary life couldn’t free him of the nightmare of his former life; it reinforced his belief that he would never fall in love. When the death of one of his clients forces him to work closely with Dr. Jordan Peterson, he meets a person whose suffering exceeds his own. Though Jordan rejects his effort to help, something within Luke pushes him discover more about the first man to ever get under his skin.
As Luke lets down his guard and Jordan lets go of his pain, desire takes control. Each man must come to terms with past struggles if they are to create a future together. And learning to trust in themselves and love again after tragedy and a lifetime of pain, may be the only thing that saves them in the end.
REVIEW:
This author was not joking when she named this series “Through Hell and Back.” Damn, these men are tortured souls. When book #1 ended I really didn’t know how Jordan was going to survive that huge loss. I knew it was going to be bad but I wasn’t prepared for how bad it actually was. This series is so painful, but it also has these incredibly beautiful, hopeful moments too.
Dr. Jordan Peterson lost the man he was going to marry to horrible violence. It’s been months and he still hasn’t been able to move on with his life. He’s also been drinking more heavily and has noticed his dependency on anti-anxiety medication. His life is spiraling out of control and he’s at a loss on how to stop it. One day he gets a letter from his late partner’s financial advisor letting him know he’s needed to finalize Keith’s plans on opening a center that helps control illegal guns on the streets. The letter sparks a fire in Jordan he thought long dead.
Lucas Conover has spent his whole life rising up through poverty and horrible abuse from his childhood. He’s now a successful financial advisor in New York City and he oversees millions of dollars. He’s also in mourning. One of his clients and friends, Keith, died from gun violence but one of his wishes was to take some of his money and open a center. In order to do that he needs to get his late friends partner, Jordan to respond to his letters. One day he’s surprised to learn that Jordan has made an appt to see him and discuss Keith’s plans.
Lucas and Jordan’s first meeting is fiery, explosive, and passionate. Jordan feels threatened by Lucas. Lucas feels Jordan isn’t taking Keith’s wishes seriously. They both have to learn to work together and the attraction between the two is immediate and electric.
Jordan has been morning Keith for almost a year and he feels like he is betraying him with his interest in Lucas. Lucas wants Jordan to let go and love again. But Jordan is still drinking heavily and his doctor stopped prescribing him anti-anxiety meds so he’s resorted to getting them illegally.
With the help of Lucas’s love and his strong support system of close friends and family he makes the effort of putting his life back together. We also get to see Ash reunite with one of his long lost foster brothers. It’s angsty but amazing and right
Like I said before this book was painful but necessary for Jordan to heal and have a life again.
This book was really good, but at times I felt the mushy gushy moments were all too frequent. It almost got overdone which made it seem a little forced. Other than that this was very enjoyable and a great addition to this series. A must read but make sure you read book 1 first!!!
RATING: 
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