After the Night by Linda Howard Review

Author: Linda Howard
Date Published: December 1, 1995
Publisher: Pocket Books
Language: English
Genre: Romance, Romantic Suspense
ISBN: 0671019708
Edition: Paperback
Size: 362

goodreads

FAITH DEVLIN: A poor, outcast child in Prescott, Louisiana, she'd always adored the town's golden boy from afar. But he called her white trash that sultry Southern night when his rich, respected father disappeared, along with her pretty Mom. Now Faith wanted to hate Gray Rouillard...not to feel a powerful surge of desire. But she couldn't quench her passion, any more than she could hide the truth about the past she had waited so long to unravel.

GRAY ROUILLARD: Even when he raised hell, he did it with style. Reckless, charming, and backed by Rouillard money, Gray controlled the town of Prescott -- and Devlin was a name he never wanted to hear again. But when he gazed at Faith Devlin, all he saw was a swirl of tangled sheets and her silken flesh beneath him. To care for her was impossible, unthinkable...because Gray Rouillard planned to use all his power to ruin her.

Review

I don't know what made me pick up this book. Not the subtlety of the art cover of course, that at first glance wouldn't tell a romantic story, but I'd been out of reading books for more than a month that my Goodreads Reading Challenge deadline is catching up on me that a change of scenery, so to speak when it comes to my usual genres, is more than welcome.

I thought this book was one of those typical romantic stories, but it's a hell of an emotional roller-coaster ride! It's not that heart-wrenching but emotionally gripping all the same. I hate it when one's formative years is concerned. There's just no running away from a fucked-up childhood. Far too many characters here have a really traumatizing childhood and I could relate especially when it comes to a cold mother.

There's one incident where the narration says that Freud would have had a field day with a character. I would agree. But what's disturbing was my physical response... I had this bad need to get off because of it. XD Well, better this book than watching more disturbing things one can pick up on the weird side of the internet.

I love the imagination of the author. It's not easy to pick up a plot and deliver well with emotions. I wonder if Linda Howard had something to base this story from. The emotions that which this book could elicit are real, no matter how deep you've fallen in a book slump.

What's important to note was how this book shifted in pace, when it turns to mystery. At that part, I no longer care about the romance of the main characters, I was more interested with the mystery aspect. I want questions answered. When you think you already had suspicions to a certain character, new leads would surface on other characters, and you just keep on guessing. Of course, you're wondering what I'm talking about but I'd rather be mum about it because the question will pop up midway in the book.

I might not be emotionally-invested with the male lead, Gray Rouillard, but he's definitely the kind of book boyfriend that any romance junkie would love instantly. Too bad for me, I just have to be emotionally-invested with the female lead too to be in love with the male lead (with the exception of Westley in The Princess Bride). Not that Faith Devlin is an unlikeable character, it's just that I had an expectation on her that was just ruined by the author for character development purposes. I was just disappointed with her in one tiny detail that is trivial to most people but highly important in my culture. It's just a personal thing.

This book was more of a mystery thriller (sans guns and agents; that isn’t that thrilling) than romance to me, but the romance was good too.