Review: Forever After All

Forever After All by Catharina Maura
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Forever After All is a confusing journey through a labyrinth of genres, leaving the reader unsure of where exactly they have landed. While the characters boast captivating backstories that cry out for further exploration, the narrative barely scratches the surface of their familial dynamics and leaves much to be desired. I have liked to have seen more of them. Sure, the family dynamic is brushed upon, but we never really get our teeth into it.

Is it a romance? Well, not quite. It's a marriage of convenience, strangers into lovers set up. Sure the romance flickers around the edges of the story, but it's not what carries us through, the actual romance feels more like a side dish than the main course.

Is it a spicy book? Oh, there's plenty of spice, served up again and again like a never-ending buffet. But the frequency of certain scenes borders on monotony, with a relentless barrage of possessive reminders. I mean, sure if you like a woman being reminded every ten pages or so that she's nothing more than a possession, then this might be your thing, but honestly, almost every scene is the same and, well, it all gets a bit repetitive. Warning: if you're one of those readers who has issues with the words "panties" and "panting", you're not going to enjoy this! Also, there's more thumb-swiping than a Tinder marathon!

Credit where it's due, the predictably predictable ending that I was anticipating actually happened after about 60% of the book, which was a nice surprise. But unfortunately the story falls victim to the temporal confusion that seems to plague many contemporary novels, with time warping more than a malfunctioning TARDIS. At some point, "a couple of weeks later" starts to feel more like Groundhog Day than a legitimate narrative device. Towards the end, this gets worse and better in equal measure. Although I realise this is starting to become somewhat of a personal annoyance.

If you're looking for a romance that isn't too syrupy with just the right amount of heat that is kept at a steady simmer, then this might just be your cup of tea. The characters have charm and depth and promise a delightful trip into their world. But if you're craving something with a little more substance, prepare to leave this story feeling a tad underfed.