After the Fire

Through Hell and Back, Volume 2

By: Felice Stevens

Narrated by: Kale Williams

A single bullet destroyed the dreams of Dr. Jordan Peterson. With his lover dead, Jordan descends into an endless spiral of self-destruction that nearly costs him his friends, his career and his life. When Jordan finds himself working closely with the aloof Lucas Conover, the investment banker's mysterious past and unexpected kindness shocks him back into a life and emotions he'd thought lost forever.

The betrayal by the foster brother he'd worshiped taught Lucas Conover never to trust or believe in anyone. Living a solitary life doesn't free him of the nightmare of his youth; it reinforces his belief that he would never fall in love. When the death of one of his clients forces him to work closely with Dr. Jordan Peterson, he meets a person whose suffering exceeds his own. Though Jordan rejects his effort to help, something within Luke pushes him discover more about the first man to ever get under his skin. As Luke lets down his guard and Jordan lets go of his pain, desire takes control. Each man must come to terms with past struggles if they are to create a future together. And learning to trust in themselves and love again after tragedy and a lifetime of pain, may be the only thing that saves them in the end.

©2017 Felice Stevens (P)2017 Felice Stevens

Absolutely loved this

This may be my favorite Felice Steven's book yet. It was so emotionally charged and sucked you in with no way out. I also listened to the audio version and it was perfect. The narrator was incredible. He really made you feel the emotions the characters went through.

Without giving away details, the main characters in this book both had extremely rough lives in the past. To watch them overcome together was heart melting. In other words, read or listen to this book!!

Amazing

I have never listened to a book that made me shed tears.
Amazing book highly recommend

4.5 > Love this man's voice!

Two men in an intimate pose, somewhat faded and vague. Bold title. Strong author print. Synopsis sounded interesting, emotional.

POV ~> Third-person

Reeling from the sudden and senseless loss of his fiance, Jordan is on a downward spiral. It takes the threat of being replaced as President of his deceased lover's charitable organization to push him back into the land of the living (sort of). His friends see he's struggling, but he's in denial and hiding the depth of it from everyone (or so he thinks).
Lucas (Luke) is the financial advisor and CFO of the organization. He sees Jordan as a waste of time at first, but slowly sees the pained and troubled man hiding behind the crass and crappy behavior. Both Jordan and Lucas had been through hell. Neither are flawless and perfect, but they are good for one another. Add a stray dog, a cast of friends and some bad guys, and there's plenty of dramatic elements to keep the story moving along nicely.
While it is not imperative to read the first book, A WALK THROUGH FIRE, prior to this one, key players were introduced and a deeply emotional backstory played out in it that could benefit the reading/listening experience now. As with book one, this one provides an implied HEA for our lead guys, catches us up on the latest between Drew and Asher (from book 1) and leaves enough of an opening for the next book in series.
Kale Williams has a crisp articulation and easy speaking pace that allows the story to flow smoothly. His voice is pleasant to listen to and he gives Felice Stevens' cast of characters each a unique sound so as to not be confused easily. It made for an enjoyable, pleasurable listening experience.
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Book Rating: [R] ~ Score: 4.175 ~ Stars: 4
Narration: 4.5 ~> Overall: 4.34
Triggers: Mention of past sexual abuse of a minor, rape and prostitution. Current timeline struggle with drug addiction and a home invasion resulting in injury.

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⭐ ⭐ **** Disclosure of Material: I received a copy of this book from the Author/Publisher with the hope that I would voluntarily leave unbiased and unsolicited feedback. I was not asked, encouraged, or required to leave a review - nor was I compensated in any way. I am posting this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising". ***** ⭐ ⭐

Emotional and a great story

After reading the first book in this series, A Walk Through Fire, I had found Jordan overbearing and thought he went way too far in telling Drew exactly what he thought of Drew’s relationship with Ash. But by the end of that story, with what happened to Jordan’s fiancé, I was totally ripped up for him and couldn’t wait to hear his story.

Jordan went from being a high-handed, pushy jerk in book one to an entirely devastated, grief-stricken, broken man her in book two. He’s virtually sabotaging his life as he self-medicates through alcohol and prescription drugs, closing himself off from his friends. It’s only when something related to his dead lover is about to be taken away from him that he snaps out of it enough to push back—at least a little.

The man he’s pushing against, Lucas, has had a rough start in his life—a rough start that included Ash and has thoroughly pitted him against the man, shutting Ash out of his life no matter how hard Ash tries to see him and explain. Lucas and Jordan are both hurt, but in this story we get to see them heal each other…even if they are both fighting it the whole way. For Jordan, it’s a second chance at love; for Lucas, it’s the chance to love at all.

Emotions run high in this story, and it’s that which made this a fantastic read for me. There were still times that I became frustrated with both Jordan and Lucas, but in the end this was still a 4.5-star read for me. This story is meant for readers 18+ for adult language, sexual content, and adult situations that include prescription drug abuse.

The narration: Kale Williams did a good job with great pacing and interpretation of the characters' emotions. It was a little difficult for me at times to differentiate between the different characters’ voices though; many of them sounded quite similar to each other, so I had to rely more heavily on cues from the story to determine who was speaking. Even so, the narration still gets 4 stars from me.

Riveting narration. Intense, emotional story

If you could sum up After the Fire in three words, what would they be?

Intense, hopeful, loving

What did you like best about this story?

I love character driven stories. I love following characters as they struggle through and cope with what life throws at them. I love actually feeling and experiencing the emotions as they do. This book has that in spades. The plot was complex, branching out to involve more than just the relationship between Luke and Jordan, especially in the form of Ash. Indeed Ash and Drew play major roles in this story. I loved the follow through there with storylines from the prequel, A Walk Through Fire. I cared about all of the characters.

Which character – as performed by Kale Williams – was your favorite?

I would say Luke. Kale has such a smooth narrative style, and with Luke it really shines. Kale let Luke's somewhat dormant Georgia accent out here and there when most plausible, especially notalbe were the scenes when Luke was feeling lusty towards Jordan - sexxyyy! Kale is super talented. All of the characters were voiced distinctly and pretty much exactly as I thought in my head when I read the book. No caricatures, and nothing strained or over the top, he puts just the right amount of emphasis on the emotions in any given scene. Kale has become one of my favorite narrators.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I appreciated when Luke got rightfully pissed about Jordan’s drug use but didn’t drop Jordan for it. Rather, they discussed their issues, past and present until their souls were bare. It was great to see Jordan and Luke ultimately finding their own strength by being vulnerable with each other. The trust and love that built as the two gradually let down their guard and shared their burdens was indeed well earned.

Any additional comments?

I can't wait to hear Kale's rendition of the third wonderful book in this series, Embrace the Fire

Sweet but Not Hot

I did enjoy this series but c’mon...the point of using certain language to describe a sex scene is to make it a hot one. This author starts the motor running and then it stalls out. Ms. Stevens’ men “finish” faster than a virgin on prom night.
If you’re looking for sweet love stories, you’re in for a treat. If it’s smoking hot action you’re looking for, you’re in for dry toast.
The narrator was OK. He’s no Joe Arden or Shane East but he was OK.

After the Fire

Any additional comments?

After the Fire is book 2 in Felice Stevens' Hell and Back series. I really think these books, or audio books, should be read/listened to in the appropriate order to get full enjoyment from the series. After the Fire is the story of Jordan, who we met in book 1, and Lucas. In the first book, Jordan suffered a terrible loss and in this story, we get the aftermath of him almost a year later trying to pick up the pieces. In the first book, Jordan wasn't the most likable character. He was arrogant, rude, judgmental, cocky, brash, bossy and unwilling to budge on his thoughts. In this story, we meet a completely different Jordan. Don't get me wrong, he's still rude and cocky, but he also has a weakness that's made him reevaluate himself.

Technically, Luke was a new character in this series, but we already had knowledge of his existence due to Ash. I wasn't a big fan of Luke's at the beginning. I knew that his childhood couldn't have been easy after learning Ash's story, but he put himself on a pedestal of judgment over everyone. When Jordan needed support, he offered judgment until he walked away. And his behavior towards Ash was horrible. I completely understand and empathize with Luke and what he suffered. But, now that he's an adult, I question why at some point he didn't stop and consider that Ash left when he was still a teen and that maybe there was a reason he had to leave. Luke was very short-sighted, and though he felt Ash and Jordan were selfish, I thought it was a strong trait in himself. But, that's not to say I didn't come to like Luke, just like I did Jordan, but he had to work for it.

The narrator of this book was Kale Williams. For the most part, I think the narrator did a great job with a very emotional story. My one complaint would be the character voices not being different. Some voices were so similar that I couldn't differentiate them, so it didn't allow me to sink into the story because I was trying to figure out who was speaking. Otherwise, I think the narration was good, with a good pace.

This is an emotional story with a lot of difficult topics handled within the pages. It has two imperfect, broken men finding love and family when they've both given up on having it. Though the characters can be difficult to like, they really do redeem themselves and make this story (and series) one you really should read, or listen to. And, maybe listening to the audio on my way to work wasn't always the best idea when I found myself crying at what was happening in the story. I highly recommend you check out this series, in whichever format you prefer!

Overall: 4.5 Stars
Performance: 4 Stars
Story: 5 Stars

great finish

slow to start but great finish same with the first book. want to hear the next though

The audio made me love this book even more!

Kale Williams hit the mark with this book. He brought out all the emotions I wanted to feel for Jordan but couldn't. Kale was able to show Jordan's vulnerability and emotions. I had felt bad for Jordan but his giant ego was a big turnoff for me. Even when he lost Keith and fell apart, he still maintained that arrogance. But as he started to fall in love with Lucas, I started to see what Lucas did.

What a heart wrenching story

Well worth your time and well worth a credit. Felice Stevens is a master story teller.