Love After All (Hope, #4)

by Jaci Burton

[Cocktails and Books]

Jaci Burton is a newer author to me and having read one of the earlier books in the Hope series, I was excited about the opportunity to read Love After All, the 4th entry. I was thrilled to discover that reading all of the books in the series was not necessary to enjoy this book; it works great as a stand-alone novel. Having read one or more of the prior books in the series only makes this book stronger as it gives the reader more back ground on some of the secondary characters and also provides an opportunity to get an update on what they are doing now.

In Love After All, we are spending time with Chelsea and Sebastian (Bash). I could relate to Chelsea. She’s in her early thirties, she’s got a job that she loves, has great friends, but feels that “something” is missing. Chelsea is determined to find the “perfect” man and firmly believes that is not Bash. Even though I could relate to Chelsea, I have to admit to actually liking Bash more. He’s a good guy and I struggle with why Chelsea resists her attraction to him as much as she does. They have been friends for a long time, but it seems like she doesn’t know him all that well.

I was glad with Chelsea and Bash finally connected, even if it felt a little cold on her side. It really seemed that Bash accepted his growing feelings for Chelsea before she was willing to acknowledge that he might be a great guy for her. They had a period of really smooth sailing and fantastic sexy times and it appeared that they were on track for their happy ever after when Bash got scared and was a jerk.

Both Chelsea and Bash handled the post jerk time period with class. The way her friends, also his friends, handled it seemed a little high school-ish, but it is a small town where everyone is in everyone else’s business so that can be forgiven.

I am definitely looking forward to reading the other books in the Hope series both to learn the stories behind some of the people I “met” in this book and to see what happens next.

Reviewed by Elizabeth B for Cocktails and Books