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javalenciaph's review
5.0
Note: An ARC was provided by Heart Eyes Press.
Oh, my word... This is it. Afterglow is the 47th book and it's the last one (waaah!) in the epic book universe that is Sarina Bowen's World of True North. One of my favorite things about this book collection is that I've discovered quite a few new-to-me authors that I've happily added to my list of authors to keep my eye on--and Aria Wyatt is one of those authors. Solana Delgado and Declan O'Shaughnessy's story is one they share with his young son, Liam, and what a story it was. This had so much of what I look for--a single parent, an age gap (she's 21 and he's 34), a grumpy hero, and a resilient heroine. It was sweet and steamy and had a great deal of heart. If I could have chosen how to close out both the Busy Bean series and WoTN, it would have been with this five-starred read.
Oh, my word... This is it. Afterglow is the 47th book and it's the last one (waaah!) in the epic book universe that is Sarina Bowen's World of True North. One of my favorite things about this book collection is that I've discovered quite a few new-to-me authors that I've happily added to my list of authors to keep my eye on--and Aria Wyatt is one of those authors. Solana Delgado and Declan O'Shaughnessy's story is one they share with his young son, Liam, and what a story it was. This had so much of what I look for--a single parent, an age gap (she's 21 and he's 34), a grumpy hero, and a resilient heroine. It was sweet and steamy and had a great deal of heart. If I could have chosen how to close out both the Busy Bean series and WoTN, it would have been with this five-starred read.
jodydiakow's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
claudia_fosca's review
5.0
Afterglow is the last book in the Busy Bean series, set in Sarina Bowen’s World of True North. It is a standalone, so it can definitely be enjoyed by itself.
There’s so much I want to say and I don’t have the words. It’s the story of Declan and Solana, two wounded souls finding themselves and each other, finding true love and solace and healing and redemption and forgiveness and happiness. There’s so much to say about it. It’s heartfelt and soulful and heartbreaking and heartwarming. It’s sweet and romantic and steamy and emotional. It’s everything. It’s also funny at times. It made me smile and cry and laugh out loud. It also made me angry. It just made me feel all the feels. And I loved it so much.
I loved the complexity of the story and the characters. Solana and Declan are very different people in different places in their lives, but have also a lot in common. Their chemistry and their connection is established from the first time they meet and it only grows stronger. The way their relationship and the story evolves is just brilliant. It’s like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get. It surprised me in more than one occasion and I just didn’t want to stop reading. I couldn’t put the book down.
Solana is almost 22, and is back in Colebury for the semester after having to leave her dream college in New York after getting overwhelmed by her anxiety and her inability to cope with her panic attacks. She has a tragic past and is having trouble moving on. Declan is a divorced father who has issues with the mother of his kid. He’s 34 years old and is trying to make up for the mistakes he made. The attraction they feel for each other is so strong they can’t stay away from each other. They start a friends with benefits arrangement that keeps getting more intense and complicated. It’s definitely a roller coaster with ups and downs and unexpected twists. It is a wonderful ride. The way Solana and Declan heal themselves and each other is one of my favorite aspects of their story. Their strength and the way they rebuild themselves after being broken is a beautiful thing to watch.
One of the things I enjoyed the most while reading Afterglow was the way the author built her own world within the World of True North. The way she melded her own characters and their stories and their personalities with Sarina’s. The impact and influence of Audrey and May Shipley or Zara and Alec Rossi was just perfection. Then you have Ethan and Liam, Darcy and Cody, Will and River, all side characters that give the story so much weight and depth. They are so well developed and have such an influence in the story that you can’t help but want to read their stories too.
I have to make a special mention of Liam. He’s Declan’s almost five year old son. And he’s a delight. I love kids like him in romance novels. He’s witty and sweet and adorable. He’s so smart, and one of the highlights of the story is his relationship with Declan and his relationship with Solana. Every scene he’s in is a treat. I dare you not to fall in love with him. I just wanted to hug him and buy him a jelly doughnut. One of my favorite kids ever.
The setting of the story also gives it a lot of depth. The Busy Bean, the Gin Mill, the Winooski River, Colebury and even the Colebury Diner are places that play an important roll in the story. There’s enough Vermontyness to make my True North loving heart happy.
Aria Wyatt is an amazing and talented writer. I have fallen madly and deeply in love with her words. I have read her Compass series and loved every word. And Afterglow is just more of her awesomeness. I just loved every single thing about this book. I highly recommend it. It’s so good!
There’s so much I want to say and I don’t have the words. It’s the story of Declan and Solana, two wounded souls finding themselves and each other, finding true love and solace and healing and redemption and forgiveness and happiness. There’s so much to say about it. It’s heartfelt and soulful and heartbreaking and heartwarming. It’s sweet and romantic and steamy and emotional. It’s everything. It’s also funny at times. It made me smile and cry and laugh out loud. It also made me angry. It just made me feel all the feels. And I loved it so much.
I loved the complexity of the story and the characters. Solana and Declan are very different people in different places in their lives, but have also a lot in common. Their chemistry and their connection is established from the first time they meet and it only grows stronger. The way their relationship and the story evolves is just brilliant. It’s like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get. It surprised me in more than one occasion and I just didn’t want to stop reading. I couldn’t put the book down.
Solana is almost 22, and is back in Colebury for the semester after having to leave her dream college in New York after getting overwhelmed by her anxiety and her inability to cope with her panic attacks. She has a tragic past and is having trouble moving on. Declan is a divorced father who has issues with the mother of his kid. He’s 34 years old and is trying to make up for the mistakes he made. The attraction they feel for each other is so strong they can’t stay away from each other. They start a friends with benefits arrangement that keeps getting more intense and complicated. It’s definitely a roller coaster with ups and downs and unexpected twists. It is a wonderful ride. The way Solana and Declan heal themselves and each other is one of my favorite aspects of their story. Their strength and the way they rebuild themselves after being broken is a beautiful thing to watch.
One of the things I enjoyed the most while reading Afterglow was the way the author built her own world within the World of True North. The way she melded her own characters and their stories and their personalities with Sarina’s. The impact and influence of Audrey and May Shipley or Zara and Alec Rossi was just perfection. Then you have Ethan and Liam, Darcy and Cody, Will and River, all side characters that give the story so much weight and depth. They are so well developed and have such an influence in the story that you can’t help but want to read their stories too.
I have to make a special mention of Liam. He’s Declan’s almost five year old son. And he’s a delight. I love kids like him in romance novels. He’s witty and sweet and adorable. He’s so smart, and one of the highlights of the story is his relationship with Declan and his relationship with Solana. Every scene he’s in is a treat. I dare you not to fall in love with him. I just wanted to hug him and buy him a jelly doughnut. One of my favorite kids ever.
The setting of the story also gives it a lot of depth. The Busy Bean, the Gin Mill, the Winooski River, Colebury and even the Colebury Diner are places that play an important roll in the story. There’s enough Vermontyness to make my True North loving heart happy.
Aria Wyatt is an amazing and talented writer. I have fallen madly and deeply in love with her words. I have read her Compass series and loved every word. And Afterglow is just more of her awesomeness. I just loved every single thing about this book. I highly recommend it. It’s so good!
clarynathanwill's review
4.0
Thank you to Aria Wyatt, Sarina Bowen, Jenn Gaffney and the rest of the World of True North team for the advance reader copy of Afterglow, the tenth story in the Busy Bean series.
Read all my World of True North reviews here. Time for the final World of True North book!!
Check out the entire review here.
Read all my World of True North reviews here. Time for the final World of True North book!!
Check out the entire review here.
paddlefoot55's review
4.0
ARC received for an honest review
Well, hello sexy Irish single dad!
We have another grumpy lumbersexual in Declan. The light to his dark is Solana/Sunny and she is strong and feisty.
Declan has his dramas - names an ex wife who needs a strong slap about the head. Boy, what a cow is that one.
And don't get me started on Sunny's brother - that one needs a nut punch. Like, a kick that moves his balls to his throat lol
There is an absolutely scene stealer that will run far far away with you heart.
Sunny and Declan are two broken souls who find a light in each other, and bring light to those around them.
This is the end of the Busy Bean series, and I am going to miss them
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phoenixinthecity's review
3.0
I didn't expect this to be as angsty as it was, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
Solana left school in NY to return to Colebury because the panic attacks she suffers from were getting worse, and Declan is a recovering alcoholic that struggles with his sobriety every day which we see on the page.
There're cameos from Audrey and Zara as we'd expect but also an unexpected one from Jude since Declan helps her replace her car battery and orders replacement tires for her not long after they meet and if that's not love, I don't know what is, lol.
TW/CW: MC in car accident as a child that kills her parents; attempted sex assault on page
Solana left school in NY to return to Colebury because the panic attacks she suffers from were getting worse, and Declan is a recovering alcoholic that struggles with his sobriety every day which we see on the page.
There're cameos from Audrey and Zara as we'd expect but also an unexpected one from Jude since Declan helps her replace her car battery and orders replacement tires for her not long after they meet and if that's not love, I don't know what is, lol.
TW/CW: MC in car accident as a child that kills her parents; attempted sex assault on page
lenoreo's review
4.0
https://celebrityreaders.com/2021/09/14/afterglow-by-aria-wyatt/
I received a free copy through Heart Eyes Press in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.
4.5 stars — Wow, this book was an intense rollercoaster ride. And I mean that in more than one way.
The book started off solidly, I was pretty hooked and intrigued. Then I had some…concerns and my interest was kinda conditional (I’ll get there). BUT!!! Then the plot fucking took off and I was all in with a grin! The ending is giving it the extra half star bump today folks, I’m so glad I let my wariness go and just plunged ahead.
Solana was fantastic. I mean, she was mixed up and damaged, but I think that made watching her journey more satisfying. Not only that, it made the moments of sunshine and light and kindness from her so endearing, b/c you know she didn’t have enough of that growing up. She goes through some STUFF. Both in the past and in the present. It was interesting to see her struggling with her anxiety, and like so many of us with mental health issues, avoiding doing the things that might help. She had moments where she frustrated me, and if she had been any other heroine with any other past, I probably wouldn’t have granted her as much leeway. But I feel like it made sense, so I accepted it.
Declan — wow. That is one complicated character. In general I really loved him. He was profoundly damaged himself, though in a completely different way. It was interesting to see him struggling with his addiction, and seeing how he coped with things. I rooted for him, I ached for him, I wanted him to grow that backbone just like all his friends. BUT…he encapsulated much of the wariness and concern I mentioned at the start of this review. I was uncomfortable with his temper. It wasn’t violent to others, but I was concerned with his yelling, especially the one incident with Liam. It felt…harsh. But I’m not a parent. I really don’t know if that was all resolved in a reasonable way. I think I was (and maybe still am) a bit concern that he’s not getting help for that. Maybe I’m taking it as a bigger deal than it was, but that’s where I stumbled with him. The thing is, he had so much else going on inside him, and a lot of that was delightful. So I kind of rode it out and let it go, and was a happier reader for it.
Their romance was interesting. The steamy scenes were epically steamy, and while sometimes I felt it to my bones, sometimes I felt disconnected. But that could be just my mood, it happens. I did appreciate the way they were there for one another, the way they listened without judging. The way they offered different perspectives to the other. The way they helped each other grow. That was the highlight for me.
Lots of fascinating secondary characters. Obviously there was Liam, and he is just as cute as you would imagine…but still realistically 4. I definitely ached for him. There were some great friends on both sides, with Ethan for Dec, and Will and River for Sunny. I loved seeing them support their friends and help them through.
And then there’s Darcy and Cody. I can’t really say much about these two without giving something away, but just know that I was concerned that they would not be redeemable, that they would be black and white, but they were 3 dimensional, and in general I really believed in the growth of the relationships there, and was satisfied with the end.
Oh yeah…I can’t forget Moira. I wish I had more Moira time, b/c that croissant loving girl was the best pony-sized dog ever.
So there you have it. Lots of emotions. Lots of anticipation while I was reading. Lots of heartache, and lots of love.
I received a free copy through Heart Eyes Press in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.
4.5 stars — Wow, this book was an intense rollercoaster ride. And I mean that in more than one way.
The book started off solidly, I was pretty hooked and intrigued. Then I had some…concerns and my interest was kinda conditional (I’ll get there). BUT!!! Then the plot fucking took off and I was all in with a grin! The ending is giving it the extra half star bump today folks, I’m so glad I let my wariness go and just plunged ahead.
Solana was fantastic. I mean, she was mixed up and damaged, but I think that made watching her journey more satisfying. Not only that, it made the moments of sunshine and light and kindness from her so endearing, b/c you know she didn’t have enough of that growing up. She goes through some STUFF. Both in the past and in the present. It was interesting to see her struggling with her anxiety, and like so many of us with mental health issues, avoiding doing the things that might help. She had moments where she frustrated me, and if she had been any other heroine with any other past, I probably wouldn’t have granted her as much leeway. But I feel like it made sense, so I accepted it.
Declan — wow. That is one complicated character. In general I really loved him. He was profoundly damaged himself, though in a completely different way. It was interesting to see him struggling with his addiction, and seeing how he coped with things. I rooted for him, I ached for him, I wanted him to grow that backbone just like all his friends. BUT…he encapsulated much of the wariness and concern I mentioned at the start of this review. I was uncomfortable with his temper. It wasn’t violent to others, but I was concerned with his yelling, especially the one incident with Liam. It felt…harsh. But I’m not a parent. I really don’t know if that was all resolved in a reasonable way. I think I was (and maybe still am) a bit concern that he’s not getting help for that. Maybe I’m taking it as a bigger deal than it was, but that’s where I stumbled with him. The thing is, he had so much else going on inside him, and a lot of that was delightful. So I kind of rode it out and let it go, and was a happier reader for it.
Their romance was interesting. The steamy scenes were epically steamy, and while sometimes I felt it to my bones, sometimes I felt disconnected. But that could be just my mood, it happens. I did appreciate the way they were there for one another, the way they listened without judging. The way they offered different perspectives to the other. The way they helped each other grow. That was the highlight for me.
Lots of fascinating secondary characters. Obviously there was Liam, and he is just as cute as you would imagine…but still realistically 4. I definitely ached for him. There were some great friends on both sides, with Ethan for Dec, and Will and River for Sunny. I loved seeing them support their friends and help them through.
And then there’s Darcy and Cody. I can’t really say much about these two without giving something away, but just know that I was concerned that they would not be redeemable, that they would be black and white, but they were 3 dimensional, and in general I really believed in the growth of the relationships there, and was satisfied with the end.
Oh yeah…I can’t forget Moira. I wish I had more Moira time, b/c that croissant loving girl was the best pony-sized dog ever.
So there you have it. Lots of emotions. Lots of anticipation while I was reading. Lots of heartache, and lots of love.
lowkeyreader's review
4.0
This is such a beautiful, real, and raw read. You'll find yourself smiling reading Declan and Solana's story. But there are still emotional moments, some twists and turns in it. It wasn't an easy journey for these two. So it was a roller coaster ride of emotions. They got me hooked on their story from the beginning though. And Declan’s son, Liam, was so adorable.
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