Review + Excerpt // Everly After by Rebecca Paula

Wow, just wow is how I’m going to start this review! What we have is two characters who are so broken that they nearly fighting for their lives. Throughout the entire story you’re literally sitting on the edge of your seat, sitting in suspense. I don’t know if it was the same for everyone, but I was captivated by their story and so scared to read what would happen next. You’ll have your assumptions and know exactly what I’m talking about when you’re reading this story.

How can two broken people find love in each other, especially where you’re so concerned for the other and afraid to say something because it might send them off running? 

Everything about this story felt real, the people, their experiences, and just the journey they went through to be together. With Beckett, returning from being captured while on assignment in Afghanistan, Rebecca painted that picture for us beautifully, but it’s just so heartbreaking and daunting to put yourself in his shoes. And lets not mention his teenage years and all that he has experienced, you wonder how he’s still standing today.

And Everly; lies, betrayal, and loss is what brought her into this darkness. Immersing herself into alcohol and drugs to drown her reality out and try to stay afloat. How can you see the light at the end of the tunnel for the both of them?

I loved seeing their personal growth as well as the development in their relationship. I envision it as a flower bud slowly blooming; little by little their relationship expands into something more. After all that they go through, by the end, they’re still getting to know each other. It was a very different element to read about in a story that I’ve never come across before. Their patience with each other was impeccable especially with Beckett and having a curious nature in general. He never pried, even though I wanted him to … so many times!

Their story is so beautiful and very broken, your hearts will shatter with them, but it will also mend as you get closer towards the end of the book. There were a few times, where I literally had to stop reading and just sit there and take in all that I’ve read. As a reader, you’re constantly pulling onto every little thread of hope because you want it to work out for them SO BAD! I thought this book was going to be one of those that would just gut you with a not so happy ending, man if that were the case … you have no idea haha.

I found a new author that I love and can’t wait to read more of her work!

MY RATING // 4.5 STARS

I sink onto the step beside her, my legs spread wide. My finger stretches across the small distance between us, and I brush her soft skin until she faces me.

“Do you want to go for a walk maybe? Or something?”

She shakes her head, her eyes pinned to my face as her finger mirrors mine, tracing small circles over my arm. We stare at each other, silent.

It’s her eyes, how they hold her secrets. Everything else about her is the picture of innocence. The honey hair, the flawless skin, the heart-shaped lips. She looks like a doll, all except for her sad, navy eyes.

There’s no such thing as perfection. People aren’t perfect, and I’m an idiot if I ever fool myself into believing Everly is the exception. Because she’s not. She can’t be.

“How’s your knee?” I break the silence, feeling that the longer the quiet passes between us, the more I fall into the idea of perfect a girl who’s clearly broken. A beautiful lie, like I first thought. And yet, here I am, moving closer, allowing myself to touch her because I’m hungry for it. I want her. Despite everything, I still want her, and that’s the trouble.

I’m the trouble.

I’m the one who’s going to get burned.

She drops her hand. “It’s just a scratch.” Her lips curl into a gentle smile.

And I’m just an idiot chasing after the wrong girl.

Meet the Author

It began with a boy who survived a plane crash in the wilderness.

I discovered my love of writing during a fifth grade writing assignment for Hatchet. After that, I knew I wanted to be a writer.

Always the hopeless romantic, I write late Victorian and Edwardian historical romances as well as contemporary New Adult romances.

I am a member of Romance Writers of America (RWA), as well as the New Hampshire chapter (NHRWA) and the New England chapter (NECRWA). I contribute regularly to the Modern Belles of History blog, a site dedicated to writing, reading, and researching 20th century women’s historical fiction.

When I’m not writing, I’m most likely reading or daydreaming about my next travel adventure. I live in New Hampshire with my husband and our cat, Bella.