Review: After We Fall

After We Fall by Melanie Harlow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5 I'll want to keep you

Margot is pushing thirty, single, and living a rather boring life. Her ex-boyfriend wears pants with whales on them. WHALES! She isn't happy, but she isn't unhappy. She's just living. Carrying on, being a good Thurber woman.

Until her idiot ex stops by one night and proposes. Like the smart, educated woman she is, she declines.
But then she starts to reconsider his offer. I mean, she is almost thirty and good Thurber women are married with a family by this point.
And then, at an event for her father, Margot sees that idiot ex with his...girlfriend turned fiance! This may have caused Margot to Cause a Scene. It also may have the socialites up in arms. It may have been a Scene that had her mother urging her to get out of town.

"You're a scone cold bitch, you know that!"

So, Margot does just that. She takes a job that has her visiting the Valentini Farm.

Jack Valentini is a war vet, widowed, and living a life of pain. His wife died in a tragic accident and he blames himself for her death. He's not living so much as he's surviving.

Until Margot shows up at his farm and turns his life upside down. Being the man he is, he believes he deserves to live his life in pain, he doesn't deserve happiness, and he doesn't think a city girl like Margot Thurber Lewiston has a place on his farm.

Asking to learn more about the farm she is trying to help, Jack is the one who does the day-to-day chores. This leaves Jack to take her around and show her the ropes. He doesn't have high hopes for Margot's ability on the farm, but she's a fast learner and he's quickly mesmerized--although he'd never admit it.

The last thing I needed was to drag her ass around all day, explaining things. Or stare at her ass all day, imagining things.

This is one of those books where opposites attract and the ride is so much fun that I never wanted it to end. I mean, they are so completely different. He calls her "city girl" for Christ's sake! But really, they are freaking adorable. He's cranky and grumpy and only seems to really come out of his self-imposed prison when Margot is around.

"Don't worry, Farmer Frownypants, your secret is safe with me." She patted my leg. "I won't tell anyone how sweet you really are." I leaned over to whisper in her ear. "And I won't tell anyone how dirty you really are."

These two are explosive in the bedroom. Chemistry is off the charts. And damn, if it doesn't make me want a farmer/cowboy of my own.

Margo sweet and bubbly in broad daylight was tempting enough--Margot feisty and looking for trouble in the dark was downright dangerous.

Why can't life be simple and these two people realize that they have to be together? Why do they make me stress about things like whether or not they get their HEA? Why do they insist on making it difficult?
Anyway, that's what they do, but it's okay. I have come to accept the difficult with my romance. It happens. There has to be conflict. Jack and Margot are no exception to this rule.

"Fuck you. I want this. I don't even know why I want this so badly, but I do."

Melanie, where can I find a Jack? I think I need one.

She grinned devilishly, her blue eyes lighting up. Sometimes I wonder if it was that smile that did me in.


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