Tuesday, November 4, 2014

ARC Review- After the Rain by Renee Carlino


Publisher: Atria Books
Expected Publication Date: November 11, 2014
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: ARC-Netgalley


Synopsis:
From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Sweet Thing and Nowhere But Here comes a deeply emotional contemporary romance about the second chances waiting beyond the shattered dreams of youth.

Under the bright arena lights of a rodeo show, young Avelina Belo falls for a handsome cowboy with a larger-than-life personality. After a whirlwind courtship, she happily moves away from her family in northern California and settles into married life with her cowboy on a seven-thousand-acre cattle ranch in Montana. One freak accident later, Avelina’s hopes for the future come to an end.

Nate Myers graduated from UCLA medical school at the top of his class, ready to follow in the footsteps of his father, a superstar cardiothoracic surgeon. Six years later, Nate’s career is being ruined by a malpractice suit. Questioning himself for the first time, he retreats to a Montana cattle ranch to visit his uncle and gain perspective. There, he meets a beautiful young woman named Avelina who teaches him more than he ever knew about matters of the heart.
 
Review:
"Sometimes there's no reasonable explanation why shit happens. We can take all the precautions, go through our lives being terrified of everything, and still there's a chance that we'll walk out the front door and get hit by a stray bullet meant for someone else."

This. This is exactly what I've been looking for. Have you ever picked up a book where you knew by the first page that you were going to love it? How about trying to read as slowly as possible to savor every last word only to realize that you're already on the last page?

From the moment I read the very first sentence of After the Rain, I knew that this book was "the one". And after the first page? I was a goner. This is my first Renee Carlino book, even though I do have her previous works on my kindle. I've only ever heard good things about her and now I'm beating myself up for waiting so damn long to read her books. Her latest book had destroyed me and I mean that in a good way!

The story follows both Avelina and Nathaniel as they go on a journey together to strive to find peace within themselves. Both have to endure different types of tragedy beyond what anyone should ever have to experience in a lifetime. The real test is finding the strength to do the hardest thing of all...move on and accept the fact that sometimes life isn't a pretty picture. It's dark and cruel and honestly that's what I believe is the true beauty of it. Without a little bit of rain, we would never fully appreciate the sun.

"When we're young, we want so badly to connect with others that we end up reflecting them, losing ourselves in the process."

Avelina gets married young to a cowboy named Jake; he's full of laughter and life. She's blissfully happy and one moment is all it takes for it to be taken away. Nate is well on his way to becoming a top notch heart surgeon. It's something he's dreamed about his whole life. He's living day to day as a workaholic when it all comes crashing down. Resulting in him taking a break on a ranch in Montana.

"I don't have to hide because no one's looking."

Ava, what Avelina likes to be called now, is struggling to make it through the day without thinking back to that horrible moment when everything changed. Life can be so cruel. When Nate shows up on the ranch she's been living on and working at, they form a friendship. But Nate wants more; something Ava just can't give him without bringing all her demons along.

Will Ava ever be ever to let go of all the pain from the past? What about Nate, will he be able to help lure Ava out of the wall she keeps herself behind?

After the Rain is a gut-wrenching, heart-squeezing, ugly-crying, and deeply satisfying read. One look into this book and you won't ever want to get out. The heartbreak yet heartfelt feelings you get while reading the book will have you flying through the pages as if they aren't even there. Although the book has many dark moments, it shines with light as we realize that sometimes when you least expect it, life can truly surprise you.

It's obvious Carlino has such a way with words that you can't help but feel like After the Rain has a life of its own. The characters are flawed and that's what makes them perfect. I highly recommend this novel. And if you're a newbie of the author like I was, just go ahead and do yourself a favor by buying her books.  

Buy Links~
  
About the Author:
Renee’s first friends were the imaginary kind and even though her characters haven’t gone away, thankfully the delusions have. She admits she’s a wildly hopeless romantic and she blames 80’s movies staring Molly Ringwald for that. She lives in Southern California with her husband, two sons, and their sweet dog June. When she’s not at the beach with her boys or working on the next book, she likes to spend her time reading, going to concerts, and eating dark chocolate.  

Twitter:
@renayz 

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