andiii13's review

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adventurous inspiring lighthearted
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

reneetc's review against another edition

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3.0

Out of the 11 stories in After Happily Ever After, there are five that I have not read. Instead of being satisfied with what happened after the HEAs, I've become more curious as to what happened before the HEAs. This statement is especially true for the stories written by Zett, Nolan, and Blue, who are new-to-me authors. With that being said, here is my take on some of the stories.

Favorites:
“The Brutal Lie” - I’ve read The Brutal Truth multiple times, and Elena and Maddie rank high on my favorite couples list. “The Brutal Lie” has a good mix of chivalry (on Elena’s part), sexiness, romance (again on Elena’s part), commitment, and the successful use of power with precision (Elena yet again). Yeah, I’m definitely reading this one again!

“Partners” - I haven’t read Under a Falling Star. However, knowing that Dee and Austen’s journey includes family drama, someone having a tree topper dropped on them, and one of the MCs going from being a tough-as-nails COO of a Fortune 500 company to co-owner of a tiny company that makes toys for pet birds, was all I needed to make Under a Falling Star my next read. (Hopefully, there won't be any hurling staplers and stress balls in the original story.)

Bummers:
I had high hopes for “Love Is Not Nothing” by Lee and “Water into Wine” by Sinclair because they are two of my favorite authors. The stories are well-written; however, they are just too similar to have really satisfied my curiosity about what happens next with Natalya/Alison and Mir/Ari. I read “Water into Wine” last year on AO3, which I enjoyed more because of the second POV towards the end.

Hopefuls:
“No Going Back” by Blue was okay, but the ending did make me feel as if I missed something. Perhaps there’s a to be continued in the mix?

Zett's "The Cat Emergency" and Nolan's "Two Hearts-One Mind" both have just enough information about the MCs' past to make me want to read how the couples met and fell in love.

Jae is another one of my favorite authors. Damage Control has been on my "Read at Some Point" list for a while now. Grace and Lauren's sweet and sexy story in "Dress-Tease" just bumped Damage Control up my "Read Before the End of Summer 2020" list.

Meh:
Victoria and Anna's journey in Keeley's The Music and the Mirror was just okay for me. The romance was just not there for me in the original story. As a result, "Interlude" is my least favorite in this anthology.


Overall, After Happily Ever After was a decent read, and I look forward to reading books by Zett, Nolan, and Blue.

arthurgdean's review against another edition

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4.0

Recensione presente anche su BookLover

Libro ricevuto da Ylva in cambio di una recensione onesta.

Questa è una raccolta di racconti di personaggi visti nei vari romanzi delle autrici. Personalmente ho letto solo uno dei libri da cui originano le storie brevi, quindi ho letto le altre storie come se fossero normalissime storie brevi.

Interlude - Lola Keeley 3/5
Dress-Tease - Jae 4/5
The Cat Emergency - Chris Zett 3/5
Love is Not Nothing - Lee Winter 3.5/5
Water into Wine - Roslyn Sinclair 3.5/5
All Wrapped Up - G Benson 4/5
Not going back - Cheyenne Blue 3.5/5
What Happens At Game Night - Alex K Thorne 4/5
Two Hearts-One Mind - RJ Nolan 4/5
The Brutal Lie - Lee Winter 5/5
Partners - Jae 4/5

Come potete vedere, la raccolta in sé è molto consistente per quanto riguarda la qualità dei racconti. Queste sono autrici che conosco per i loro romanzi (come Jae, Lola Keeley e Lee Winter) o per altre raccolte di storie brevi pubblicate da Ylva Publishing.

Ho dato il massimo alla storia di Lee Winter perché conoscevo già i personaggi e mi è piaciuto rivedere le protagoniste di The Brutal Truth, letto, se non erro, l'anno scorso.
Adoro anche Jae, l'autrice di cui ho letto più romanzi (ma non quelli da cui provengono i personaggi delle storie brevi), che si è rivelata costistente con la qualità dei suoi scritti.

Interlude e The Cat Emergency, rispettivamente di Lola Keeley e Christ Zett, sono le storie che mi sono piaciute di meno, non solo perché non conoscevo i personaggi e non mi è parso di poterli davvero capire, ma perché, rispetto al resto delle storie nella raccolta, le ho trovate a un livello minore, almeno per me.
Altra storia che ho adorato è What Happens at Game Night di Alex K Thorne, perché si può leggere benissimo senza aver letto il romanzo, come anche Partners di JAe e Two Hearts-One Mind di RJ Nolan.

Nel complesso, vediamo coppie già insieme da molto (o poco) tempo lavorare per restare nella relazione, o proporre il matrimonio, o avere tempo da sole. È un buon mix di emozioni e scene osé, momenti di crisi e momenti di estrema felicità. E poi, ormai lo sapete, le raccolte di racconti solitamente beccano dei voti bassi da parte mia, ma questa mi è piaciuta parecchio per il buon mix di autrici.

Ovviamene Jae è una delle mie autrici preferite in generale, ma ho apprezzato molto lo stile di altre autrici che spero di poter leggere presto, o comunque leggere, ecco.

Per me, Ylva Publishing non si smentisce e ci dona un'ottima pubblicazione come sempre. Ovviamente, consigliato.

wickedregal's review against another edition

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5.0

Normally it is difficult to review a book full of short stories from different authors. You usually find some you love, some you just downright want to skip, and then others that fall in the middle. But this particular collection is a happy exception. :) Some of these authors I truly love and have read all of their things so it was like saying hello to old friends you've missed with their characters. Those that I haven't read from, or much from, it was lovely to get to know. All in all this is truly a wonderful collection of stories and characters.

mjsam's review against another edition

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4.0

ARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.

This is a compilation of ‘epilogue’ type stories for past Ylva books. I’d read four of them previously (Dress Tease by Jae, All Wrapped Up by G Benson, Two Hearts One Mind by RJ Nolan and Water Into Wine by Roslyn Sinclair) but it was still nice to touch base with those characters again.

I had mixed feelings about the new stories, Chris Zett’s Cat Emergency was fairly silly, Alex Thorne’s What Happens at Games Night was alright. I enjoyed the re-visit with Austen and Dee in Partners (though the business they were setting up seems to low key for Dee, but maybe that’s just me). Cheyenne Blue’s No Going Back didn’t feel like it should be included here, it’s an actual sequel rather that a follow up with the original characters, and while I loved Music and the Mirror, I found Interlude by Lola Keeley to be a bit... not depressing, but not really uplifting either, it just didn’t seem like it advanced Anna and Victoria’s story any. If anything I felt bad for them both.

The true delight in the newer stories was Lee Winter’s The Brutal Lie, her follow up to the awesome The Brutal Truth. Elena and Maddie shine here, ably supported by their circle of friends, and it also features a topic many of us no doubt feel strongly about. The end of that story had me feeling all the feels.

There’s plenty to enjoy here for fans of all of the previous stories. 4 stars.

brennooth's review against another edition

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5.0

Oh god, the brutal lie? Perfection. I love them.
Alina? I want to hug so bad because she’s just... gah.
Dee and Austen? I missed them and they’re still adorable and Dee’s father is still a dick.
Requiem feels.
And all the rest... just yes.

rogue_lurker's review against another edition

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4.0

A nice collection of follow-on short stories for a number of Ylva novels. It's always nice to check in on the characters I've enjoyed reading about and there were a couple of the stories that made me go back and re-read the original books because I was reminded how much I enjoyed them.
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