A sweet second chance love story that I couldn't put down. A fabulous start to this new series by the amazing Heidi McLaughlin, After All will capture you heart and soul from the very beginning and it will not let you go.
Returning home for the first time in 15 years, Brooklyn Hewett is facing a painful past. My heart ached for her and I couldn't help but hope for her to get her HEA.
I couldn't get enough of the characters in this one, and I fell in love with the small town and it's incredible views. McLaughlin had me feeling like I was sitting seaside in Cape Harbor and I didn't want to leave! I cannot wait to take another trip to Cape Harbor!

Oh wow! Get ready to set sail on this amazing rollercoaster of After All.
A beautifully written story that will pull you in and tug at your heartstrings.
The chemistry Bowie and Brooklyn had blow me away. They pretend to hate each other one minute but then the next minute all that changes.
After All has lots of twists and turns and when a long standing secret is revealed where will that leave Bowie, Brooklyn and the relationship they are trying to rebuild.

Definitely one to add to your reading list, you will not be disappointed!

After All by Heidi McLaughlin is a beautifully written loved story about loss and second chances. This book has lots of twist and turns with secrets revealed. It will hook you from the first page. I loved this book and highly recommend it!

Fifteen years after leaving Cape Harbor, Brooklyn has returned with her teenage daughter to restore the town’s inn, owned by her deceased love’s mother. Since she left without a word all those years ago, she knows she will have to try to repair the broken relationships she left behind. What she didn’t count on was seeing Bowie and finding out he will be working with her to restore the inn.

Bowie can’t believe his eyes when he sees Brooklyn again. He’s never got over the anger and hurt caused by her sudden departure. But the heart wants what it wants. Knowing she’s the one for him, he will need to find a way to forgive her if they have a chance of moving on together.

This book has all the feels - drama, heartache, guilt, grief, and redemption. Brooklyn made a lot of mistakes and hurt a lot of people. Bowie has a big heart and tried to understand how and why Brooklyn left so suddenly. He knew it was just a matter of time that he would forgive her. This was a great read and hopefully there will be future books of their friends!

It’s been fifteen years since the most painful night of Brooklyn’s life when she an accident stole the man she loved and after the way she handled her grief she thought she had no other option but to leave her hometown as well as everyone she loved behind. She never planned on coming back but and intriguing offer brings her and her daughter home to face her past.

Bowie had always loved Brooklyn, but he also knew that nothing would ever happen to them as she was involved with his best friend. When she returns home, he has mixed feelings as he was devastated when she left but has missed her as well. His company will be handling the construction on the Inn that she is helping to renovate, and this will either be their opportunity to heal from the pain of the past or cause further heartbreak that they may never recover from.

This is an emotional story featuring two compelling characters and a great cast of secondary characters. With each secret that is revealed your heart will break a little more, but the ending makes the journey worthwhile.

Emotional, story brimming with passion.
This small town second chance romance, was written with interesting characters. Even the small town of Cape Harbor became a secondary character.
Heartfelt and intriguing the storyline had a little bit of everything making it that much juicer. The beginning of the story felt a little slow but after a few chapters it took off beautifully!
Can’t wait to see what’s next in this series.

It was nice to get lost in the world that Heidi McLaughlin wrote. Small town second chance romance mixed with a little hate to love. Lots of favorite troupes in this one. This one was a slow build that involves getting over past loss and hurt... and moving on.
The only issue with the book was trying to keep up with all the characters and the third person point of view.

3.75 Stars. This second chance at love storyline is a slow burn read. It is an enjoyable story with a bit of angst to keep you hooked until the end.

Imagine living in a community where everyone knew all of the comings and goings in your life. Living in Cape Harbor for fifteen years, Brooklyn knew all too well how your past followed you into the present. While growing up, Brooklyn was the girlfriend of Austin Woods. Then tragedy struck and life would never be the same for this small town.

Determined to leave the stigma of her past behind, Brooklyn left Cape Harbor as soon as they said their ‘goodbyes’ to Austin. There were so many secrets about the reasons behind Austin’s choice to take his boat out in a storm. Keeping her own secrets about that night, Brooklyn chose to raise her daughter far away from the place that she once called home.

Over the years, the inn that Austin’s family once kept open to travelers was now a bit run down by age. Austin’s mother has convinced Brooklyn to come back to town and restore the inn to its former glory. In order to do that, old friends will come back into the picture to pull off this huge project. The largest construction company in Cape Harbor answers the summons to work on this project, a job that will keep Bowie’s business out of the red for another season.

Brooklyn knows that she needs Bowie to help her finish the project, but wasn’t prepared for the lingering feelings from their past. Fifteen years may have passed, but the duo certainly felt the same effects of their attraction that existed long ago. With so many secrets swirling about the past, Brooklyn knows she has to make peace with the gravity of the life she left behind.

What an amazing palate cleanse I found when turning the pages of After All by Heidi McLaughlin. There are times as a reader that I find myself wanting to delve into a romance that pulls at your heartstrings. Brooklyn and Bowie provided a backdrop to a romance that definitely left me smiling when I turned the last page. There are secrets the residents of Cape Harbor are keeping that will unfold as the story progresses. Some will lead you to solving a little mystery that wasn’t really hidden that well, but definitely doesn’t spoil the end result.

After All is a wonderful and sweet romance that gives you faith in overcoming the hardest days in your life. Life in Cape Harbor is definitely worth the ‘drive’.

After All by Heidi McLaughlin is set in the town of Cape Harbor and is the second chance romance story of Brooklyn Hewett and Bowie Holmes. Brooklyn left fifteen years ago when the love of her life, Austin Woods, was killed. Now it's time to go home except in doing so she has to face her best friend, Bowie.

Bowie has loved Brooklyn from afar yet never revealed his feelings due to her being Austin's girlfriend. With Austin gone and Brooklyn back in Cape Harbor, Bowie is determined not to let her slip through his fingers. That's not to say there aren't unresolved feelings due to her leaving without telling anyone she was going.

After All symbolizes forgiveness. Bowie has to forgive Brooklyn for leaving and Brooklyn has to forgive herself for Austin's death. All in all it's a beautiful journey you're going to need tissues for. It was so beautiful seeing Brooklyn and Bowie finding their way back to each other, even fifteen years later.

I give After All 5 stars and highly recommend it to anyone who loves small town second chance romance.

This book will grab you by the heart and take you on an emotional journey of love and forgiveness. The cover is stunning and suits the book beautifully. I love the characters personalities. They were stubborn, emotional, brooding, sassy and some had humor tossed in. I hope we see more books for the secondary characters they really added another level to the story. I loved the plot a second chance to make your future right. It was a beautiful journey and I couldn't put this book down I had to finish it in one sitting. The writing was perfection and the pace was done just right. I never felt like the story was rushed or too filled with fluff. I recommend you grab a copy you won't be disappointed.

Heidi McLaughlin has proven that she can write a great small town romance (made into a movie even). Even better, she has a way with words that really create the scenery for you. I could picture the beauty of everything she described, from the ships leaving port, to the beautiful sunrise, the the quaint stores and hangouts of the gangs youth. While you feel like you know what will happen early on, Heidi takes on a journey of discovery for Brooklyn and Bowie and Carly. Brooklyn must learn to forgive herself for what was clearly not her fault. Bowie must learn to forgive Brooklyn for leaving the way she did. Carly must learn to LIVE. A wonderful second chance romance with a twist or two as we go along. Did I get true closure? Maybe not right now but I'm sure other Cape Harbor stories may shed some light into what I thought was missing or unclear.

This 5 star story gave me all the feels. I was consumed and addicted to these amazing characters.

Brooklyn is back in the town she had made connections as a teenager. She has been gone for many years. She will come face to face with her past.

I was addicted to this amazing story about a small town full of secrets. Beautifully written with an amazing storyline. The characters were perfectly created and developed. Bottomline this is a must read.

Standalone told in the third person with an HEA. I strongly recommend this story.

After All is a story set in a small town filled with love, loss and second chances. It is a heartbreaking and heartwarming story wrapped up in one.
Brooklyn returns to Cape Harbor after a fifteen year absence. She abruptly left and has not been heard from. She left behind friends, her high school love Austin and a lost love, her best friend.
Bowie always loved Brooklyn from afar, but she was his best friend Austin's girlfriend. After a marriage and a divorce, he knows he can't lose Brooklyn a second time.Carly, Austin's mom, brings them together to fix up her Inn. She wants to make things right from mistakes in the past.
After All tells the story of friends reuniting, second chance love and forgiveness of each other and oneself. In a small town there are no secrets and no hiding from the truth. When all is said and done, will these two star crossed lovers, find their way back to one another or let the past stand in their way again.
I enjoyed this story, the characters and the small town setting. It has a great cast of supporting characters especially Bristol and Luke.
Looking forward to more in this new series by Heidi McLaughlin.

This was ok read in the end but it took me a long time to get into it. The writing itself was ok but the story very slow. There was a twist that was done well and the ending satisfying.

I really, really struggled with the writing style on this one. A lot of my favorite books come from this publisher, so I didn't hesitate to check out this new-to-me author, but the extremely internalized, clean, and subdued writing felt more like one of my grandma's romance novels than something from 2020. That combined with a lackluster plot and a couple of frustrating elements have me dropping this rating lower than I normally go. There were parts of it that I liked, but they were far outweighed by the things I took issue with.

Essentially, the story is about Brooklyn and Bowie as they reconnect after 15 years of not seeing each other. When they were younger, Brooklyn dated Bowie's best friend, so he spent years keeping quiet about the feelings he harbored for her. One night changed everything, ending with Brooklyn's boyfriend dead and Bowie and Brooklyn's relationship in tatters. Years have passed since they've seen each other, but there are still old feelings that linger... made all the more complicated by the fact that Brooklyn is now a single mother to a 14-year-old girl.

I did like the personalities of both Bowie and Brooklyn, as well as the small town charm of the book. We get to see their relationship both in present day and in flashbacks, which helps give a better sense of their feelings. There was definitely potential in the story, but unfortunately the execution was lacking. Have you already guessed the twist? So did I. Why can't the characters? That alone dropped this a full star for me, because... really?

I didn't get the warm and fuzzies from this one; for a book that's focused on romance, the romance was actually kinda lacking. It's more like these two go from awkward, angry interactions to love, and the last 15 years never happened. I could go on, but I think you get the point. I appreciated receiving an ARC via NetGalley (and am voluntarily leaving a review), but this didn't work for me.

4 Stars a Sailing!

Bowie loved Brooklyn from the first time he met her in high school ... but Austin had met her first and she fell in love with Austin. In their early 20s Austin dies in an accident and Brooklyn leaves Cape Harbor to get away from the memories. Fourteen years later Carly, Austin’s mother, hires Brooklyn to renovate her inn, so that she can spend more time with her granddaughter (Brooklyn’s daughter). When Bowie shows up with his construction crew to help with the renovations, he’s surprised to see Brooklyn. And even more surprised that all those old feelings come rushing back.

This is a sweet hometown romance that will tug at your heartstrings. One minute I was laughing and the next my heart was breaking. Even though I found the story predictable, it was heartwarming with likeable characters.

I received an early copy courtesy of Montlake Romance through NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

Brooklyn fled Cape Harbor to hide from a secret she's kept for 15 years but now she's been called back by Carly, mother of Austin, the love of her life, to help renovate the family inn. Why does she agree to go after all this time? Well, she has to because otherwise there wouldn't be this second chance romance where secrets play a role. Bowie was Austin's BFF and now he's a tad hostile toward Brooklyn, at least at first,. You know these two will overcome their reluctance to reconcile and that there will be a happy ending, don't you? What you don't know is what a good journey it will be to get there. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A nice small town, an HEA, and well, generally good vibes from this one.

Review: 4.5/5 stars

This was a great read that had some predictable twists in it. I liked that it had many different themes: love and loss, heartache, and redemption. This book provided me a good palate cleanse that I desperately needed. I felt like I became friends with the characters, and I was sad to see the story end.

After All is a sweet romance that renews your hope in love and shows that love overcomes all.

Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

💗 Book Review 💗
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After All | Heidi McLaughlin
Pub Date: 3/24/20
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Rating: ⭐️ 3.75/5 ⭐️
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SYNOPSIS: Brooklyn hasn’t been back in Cape Harbor in 15 years, since her boyfriend Austin died at sea and she’s left with raising her 14 yr old daughter. Austin’s mom called asking her to come back and renovate her Inn, forcing her to finally face her feelings and friends she’s left behind, including Austin’s best friend Bowie who shared a special connection with Brooklyn all those years ago as well....
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RATING: I’ll start by saying this took me a little bit to get into — like 8 chapters... but it got so good!! Heidi’s writing was beautiful and boy did my heart just ache for Brooklyn and Bowie (mostly Bowie — I mean bless his heart!) A few little twists but nothing completely mind blowing. This forbidden love romance took you through so much of their lives without feeling rushed, and wrapped up perfectly. I have no complaints once it got going!
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I will say if you wanted to like Lydia Bird but found it too grief forward and not enough love/romance this one is a perfect balance and I thoroughly enjoyed this read!!
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So thankful for Heidi McLaughlin, @netgalley and #montlakeromance for the eARC to read and review!