A review by rjordan19
After the Wedding by Courtney Milan

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥 (1-2ish scenes. I didn’t take notes. There were a few scenes that were short and I wouldn’t count them as a full scene. At least one full scene though!)
Humor: a touch
Perspective: third person mostly from the hero and heroine (there is a bit from a side character’s POV towards the end of the book)
More character focused or plot focused? kind of a mix but probably more character
How did the speed of the story feel? medium
When mains are first on page together: There’s a bit of prologue that’s a jump ahead in the story but they aren’t interacting much – it takes a bit for them to be on page together but not overly long (I didn’t note it specifically, sorry!)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after for the couple
Epilogue: I think there was a bit of one? Sorry my notes were terrible with this read...the final chapter I think is from
Format: listened to the audiobook from the library (Hoopla)

Should I read in order?
Ideally yes. The series flows together and the story is about the Worth family and you’ll get a better feel for what the family has been through if you’ve read in order, and a stronger sense of their reconciliation.

Basic plot:
Camilla and Adrian are compromised and forced into marriage.

Give this a try if you want:
- Victorian romance – 1867
- compromised heroine
- marriage of necessity (hero gets married at gunpoint)
- finding lost family
- light secret identity from both mains
- working class mains
- lower steam – 1-2 full scenes. I didn’t take good notes. Most scenes were pretty short but there was one that was countable for sure and some kisses.

Ages:
- heroine is 20, didn’t catch hero

My thoughts:
I think one is my best liked of the series so far.

These characters are both individuals you are rooting for – they both have differing obstacles they face and I enjoyed how they really listened to each other and respected each other while trying to resolve their problems.

I remember a reader saying that Milan likes to take tropes and turn them on their heads and I can really see that in this ‘compromised heroine’ trope – it doesn’t go at all like you think it will go. There’s a lot of honesty, vulnerability and self reflection in our mains and they both desperately deserve their HEAs.

I do find myself struggling with this series a bit. Maybe it’s the….heaviness of it? They aren’t necessarily heavy books, but they are very real with real characters with flaws and real obstacles. They face racism and misogyny and insurmountable odds aren’t always overcome – but they do always find happiness.

This series feels not so much romance as it is family love and I am getting a bit attached to the family.

Few random reading stats for this author
# of books read: 7
Average rating: 4 stars
Favorite book: The Governess Affair

Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- racism
- employee abuse
- lost family


Locations of kisses/intimate scenes, safe sex aspects, consent, pregnancy/child in the story:
 
Safe sex: I didn’t take notes! So I’m not sure...I want to say no
Hows the consent? 
  It’s good! 
 
Pregnancy/children in story?  (Please note this is the best to my memory/note taking. If you see something I missed please feel free to message!) 
  No children in the story and I don’t think there’s any planning of children – they want an annulment so they refrain from sex most of the story