After Life Lessons
BOOK 1
LAILA BLAKE & L.C. SPOERING
Available: April 8, 2014
Format: E-book & Paperback (POD)
Genre: Post-Apoc Romance
Length: 81,000 words
BLURB:
Hulking shadows emerge out of the chaotic flurries of the blizzard. Something is dying, and so they come, like vultures.
After months of struggling south to escape the zombie-infested remains of New York, a snowstorm traps 23-year old artist, Emily, and her son in an abandoned gas station. Starving and desperate, they encounter Aaron, an Army medic on a mission of his own, who offers them a ride to ease the journey.
The road is a long and dangerous place to travel, and every day brings a new threat. But fear and adrenaline also drive the two closer together; they find laughter and a budding attraction that starts to thaw at their numb and deadened feelings. And that's when the pain really starts to hit, when places long thought lost prickle back to life. Eventually, they will have to fight not just for survival, but for a future together, or their broken world will swallow them whole.
Warnings: Contains language some might find offensive, some gore and situations of a sexual nature.
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Kobo | Smashwords | Goodreads | Lilt Literary | Pinterest Board
Excerpt:
“I dream of him dying over and over. Over and over they jump him and he disappears under their bodies for so long…” Emily opened her eyes, but stared ahead, wide eyed and holding her breath. “And I hate… I hate that he was alone at the end. I should have been there, but I… I left him alone. He was all alone.”
Aaron was quiet, and so she continued: “Song used to think he’d come later, you know, find us. I never had the heart to… to really say the word. I dunno. I guess I was jealous Song still had that hope. And every time I dream it, I want to be faster but… I’m never faster.”
“You’re not gonna be, Em.” He’d not picked up that he’d shortened her name, but it came out that way all the same. “It’s happened, and it’s horrible. And I can’t tell you the nightmares get better, but you can’t blame yourself, you know. That is never gonna help.”
“He really likes you,” she whispered then, unable to continue without feeling like her chest was torn apart. “Song, I mean.”
“I like him, too.” He smiled again, catching some of her tears with his thumb and wiping them down her cheek. “He’s a good kid. You got lucky, huh?”
“Oh yeah,” she smiled, wet and tired, but she leaned into his touch. “He must have come out like this, all beautiful and smart and perfect.”
“He’s lucky to have you, too, you know.”
She couldn’t agree with him, and wanted to wave away the compliment, but this time there was just a hint of a smile. “It’s good to have someone…” she whispered and without meaning to at first, her lips brushed over his wrist.
His hand froze in place, but just for a beat.
“Yeah, I think so.” He breathed out, the exhalation warm on her face, close again, and the kiss that followed it was less of a surprise to them both, than the one just a couple nights before. It was wet and sticky with her tears, if less so than before, and they eased into each other faster, harder. Emily cradled his large face in her small hands; they had always been calloused and rough from her work with hard materials, and now they were cracked and dry. They could be tender though, girl’s hands still.
It was likely the wrong time to be kissing, but there seemed no right time for anything, not anymore—and both of them were lonely and aching, and whatever small amount of connection a kiss afforded seemed like enough, in the cold clear of the night, hidden off the road.
Aaron didn’t push further, but, at the natural break, didn’t pull away, top lip resting on her bottom one, eyelashes clotted with the moisture from her cheeks. Her fingertips brushed over his jaw, found the stubble of this beard. Her hands were shaking and she held on tighter.
“I like you, too…” she whispered finally.
My Review:
I received a free copy of the book from the author for my honest opinion.
Emily and Song her son or more accurately her boyfriend's son but she calls him her son and he calls her Emmy. Emily has been taking care of Song since he was two years old when his mother brought him to Emily and her boyfriend and just left him with them. Emily loves and cares for Song as if he is her own child. She always has and always will. She will protect him with her life. Sullivan was bitten by a zombie; he gave his life so that Emily and Song could live. Sullivan was a musician and was hardly ever at home. Emily and Song miss him so, so much.
Just when they have just about made it to the end of their own road they meet this man who was a medic in the Army, Aaron. Aaron has been going around the country trying to help out different people who have made new homes in different places or their own homes, safe places hopefully away from the zombies. Aaron goes from place to place gathering up supplies that he thinks these people needs and he takes the supplies to them. Aaron takes Emily and Song with him.
Emily and Song both fall in love with Aaron and want him to stay with them and not leave. Song is so tired of everybody leaving him so it upsets him when he thinks Aaron is going to leave them and of course he blames Emmy. The one person that has been a constant in his life and the one he loves the most. He is hurting and being so young he doesn't know how to handle it. He has lost his dad and everyone he has ever known except Emmy. Emily is only twenty-three years old herself and is very young to be raising a child one her own much less a child that is not even hers. Emily is a very strong and mature woman to be able to take care of such a young child. You can just tell by the way she talks to and deals with Song that she has a very big heart with a whole lot of love to go around. She is so young herself to have gone through what she has experienced and felt. She loved Sullivan very much for someone so young.
Now Emily and Song have both fallen in love with Aaron and neither one of them are sure if they are going to get to keep him in their lives. Is he going to be just like Sullivan? Is he going to be gone most of the time and then maybe come by to see them when he is in town just to bring them the supplies they need? Can Aaron lay down his past and all that haunts him to stay with Emily and Song to be a family? Can they both stop running away long enough to have the love and life they both and all three deserve?
Want to know the answers to all of these questions? Well then I recommend that you grab your copy now to find out what they all decide to do. You will not be disappointed as I was not. I loved reading Emily, Song and Aaron's stories and about their lives and would like to know more about them. Although I do wish that there would have been more zombies and they would have had more zombies to have fought. But all in all I would have to say that After Life Lessons was a great read.
About the Authors:
L.C. SPOERING
LAILA BLAKE
L.C. and Laila met in 2010 on an online forum and have been inseparable ever since. Having supported each other in their individual writing projects for years, they finally decided to work more closely together in a cross-continental cooperative writing partnership. Together, they host the podcast Lilt and started their micropublishing venture Lilt Literary in 2013.
L.C. (generally known as Lorrie) lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband, kids, and too many pets. Laila is a nerdy German translator, living in Cologne with her kitten and a lot of sparkly lights.
Lilt Literary links: Lilt Literary | Facebook | Twitter | Podcast
L.C.'s Links: Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest | Instagram | Tumblr
Laila's Links: Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | Goodreads | Pinterest | Instagram | Tumblr
Giveaway:
0 comments:
Post a Comment