‘After Hours’ tells the romantic tale of Alex Michaels, a manager at a Wall-Street financial firm, and Nick Covington, a waiter at a gay club. The pair are struggling, both wanting to fulfill dreams elsewhere, with Alex’s culinary talents and Nick’s devotion to teaching children after his own rough childhood. However, as the pair grow close, they manage to lead each other onto the right path to reach them.

The moment I saw this gorgeous cover on Netgalley, I knew I had to read it. The summary sounded like the perfect read, the type to curl up to on a gloomy day, and I was not disappointed.

From the first page, Haze sets up this character to route for, Alex Michaels, as he works for an incredibly successful company and gradually moves up the ranks in his firm. Alex is dedicated to his job, yet devoted to his friends and coworkers, and the fact he wears his heart on his sleeve means it’s impossible not to fall for him. The dialogue between himself and his friends is heartwarming to read, adoring the banter among the group.

When the mysterious Nick Covington enters the picture though, the novel just seems to get better. Nick’s character was a personal favourite; I adore his flirtatious remarks at first before revealing the insecure man beneath. His history was explored in detail, my heart aching for the man and justifies his paranoid thoughts throughout the story. However, I would have liked there to be more dialogue explaining their childhoods, rather than mostly description; I think it could provoke more opportunities to explore their characters via reactions to each others lives. The romance between Alex and Nick bloomed beautifully, regardless of how it was the dreaded insta-love, as the interactions between the pair justified their instant spark; it was believable. Plus, the sex was well-written and interesting throughout; nothing was repeated, their boundaries gradually lessening each time and highlighted their trust of another.

Although, I don’t think there was any dislikable character, (minus Nick’s parents) Andrea was another personal favourite. I adored the instant connection between her and Alex, setting up another lovable character whose own story progressed beautifully to the romantic climax for herself. She deserved that happy ending too!

Overall, ‘After Hours’ is a heartwarming story of romance and discovering your true self. The characters are adorable, the plot is engaging and Haze’s writing makes for a perfect one-sitting read.

I love this cover. It's gorgeous and tasteful. My mom wouldn't raise her eyebrows at it. Which is good because I read this book over the Easter weekend, with tons of family around. With that said, the actual story was HOT! Absolutely not something I want to talk to my mom about.

The book starts out by introducing us to Alex, a Wall Street hotshot who has dreams of being a chef. Alex has a good life, but he's not fulfilled or happy. Until he meets Nick, that is. Nick is working at the gay nightclub After Hours to fun his education. Both characters were well developed, we learned a lot about their past, present and what they want for the future.

However, especially as far as Nick's story was concerned, I wish we didn't learn so much from the narrator. Nick has quite that track record when it comes to his past, and it's left him some self-worth and self-esteem issues. I would have loved to see him explain his hang-ups to Alex instead of just getting enough information to empathize.

Something I always appreciate in books is when there's a healthy cast of secondary characters. This author managed that task beautifully. We got to know a whole network of people from Alex's neighbor Eydie and her granddaughter Andrea, to the owners of a pizza place, to both Alex and Nick's coworkers.

Now let's talk about what really matters - the steamy bits. They were well written, obviously consensual, and sometimes creative. There was an awful lot of shower sex. The author managed to capture the sexy parts of the relationship without neglecting the realities of life. Sometimes, you're just too tired, sometimes work and other responsibilities keep you from spending all your time with that other person. I thought it was awesome that the author included those real-life problems in her book.

There were a couple things I didn't like. The main one being some scenes were repetitive - ever time Nick slept at Alex's place they had shower sex, every time Alex went to work with Nick he helped him dress. Early on they do the whole, 'I think I'm falling in love with you,' thing, then wonder if it's ok to think of the other as a boyfriend. It just didn't fit for me. Nonetheless, they were small issues and didn't take away from the rest of the book.

Overall, After Hours was a well written and engaging book. It was a sweet story about falling in love and finding yourself. It's sure to leave you with a smile on your face.