After the Storm by Amy Knupp
Released: October 30, 2012
Contemporary Romance
Harlequin
Reviewed by Mandi
The blurb of this one really caught my attention so I thought I’d give this new to me author a try. Nadia Hamlin lives on a small island near Texas. She is the definition of a workaholic, and ignores the hurricane evacuation warnings and runs back to the office to grab more files. As she is leaving, a big sign slams into her car. Scared, she calls the fire department. The first firefighter on the scene is Penn Griffin. She has known Penn for awhile, and recently went on a disastrous date with him, where she ended up leaving before the food even came because work called. Nadia’s family owns a hotel on the island and she manages events. It is a very demanding job, and when she leaves during dinner, it doesn’t sit well with Penn. But they put those feelings aside as Penn starts to get Nadia to safety. Unfortunately, a piece of the parking garage falls off onto Penn, severely injuring his back.
Penn lands in the hospital and has surgery. His firefighting career is basically over and to say he is devastated is an understatement. He is also pissed at Nadia, blaming her for being stupid during a hurricane. Nadia feels horrible and guilty and decides she needs to help Penn get through his recovery. Breaking through his anger and defensive barriers will be a great challenge for her.
I really like this one. Penn is a jerk for a lot of the book but I think him acting this way is a realistic aftermath of his injury. He is so bitter and has so much self loathing as he goes from the high adreneline job to laying in bed all day. And he has so much anger towards Nadia, yet I still feel like their relationship develops at a steady pace. Nadia is stubborn and pretty strong when Penn blows up at her multiple times. I think she understands the depth of his pain, both physically and mentally. She has patience, maybe a little too much, but I liked that about her.
This story felt very full. We get the budding relationship between Nadia and Penn, which turns out to be quite sexy. We get Nadia’s journey through her life as she is faced with an exhausting job and maybe an unsteady future with her mother. Penn’s mother and sister come to help with the recovery and they work out issues between them. We also get some comic relief from Cooper, Penn’s roommate and fellow firefighter. I really like him. I felt all of these different storylines really worked well together and brought forth a very engaging story.
My complaint is that I wish Penn had showed Nadia a little bit more remorse at the end for all of his awful behavior. A bigger apology as I think that part is rushed. Otherwise, I liked this one and I’ll be reading the next from this author.
Rating: B
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I like the sound of this one. Might have to try it!
This sounds really good. I’ll have to give it a try. I love finding new authors to read.
I do not like the whole jerk thing, I mean you did your job, do not blame her
Why wouldn’t he blame her for his injury? After all, she wilfully ignored evac orders and put emergency workers’ lives in danger as well as her own. The bitterness sounds realistic to me.