After All is a second chance, small town romance set in Cape Harbor. I can tell you 3 things right now....1.) I love this story. 2.) I love these characters. 3.) I want more. Brooklyn Hewitt is back after leaving 15 years ago after a tragic incident that left her packing her bags and never looking back. Bowie Holmes was her best friend and is deeply hurt she took off without an explanation. He struggles because he also has love for her. We are introduced to some amazing side characters (whom I hope get their own book) that make things easier or harder for Bowie and Brooklyn. This book definitely tugs on your heart strings and will have you feeling so much. It will make you sad, angry, happy, resentful, forgiving and full of hope. See lots of emotions packed in this story. You get pieces from the past and when you do you get a better understanding of why these characters end up the way they have today. Actions have consequences....some pay the ultimate price while others are better equipped to handle them. I enjoyed the journey and loved the twists I didn’t see coming.....makes for a better story and I’d love more!

Well-written story, but there was just something about it that I couldn’t connect to. It felt like there was so much internalization and many things felt unresolved. I was rooting for Bowie and Brooklyn so hard, but just didn’t feel their connection. They went from hate to love so fast, but there was no romance. This story has a lot of potential, but feel like we only scratched the surface.

This was ana amazing 2nd chance love story with all the feels. Heidi truly did an amazing job. I cannot wait for her fans to read it

This small town, second chance romance is absolutely phenomenal!! Left me speechless with a hangover. It is also one heck of an emotional rollercoaster that will suck every emotion out of you. I loved, laughed and cried. Everything about this story - the plot, characters, surrounding - is fantastic and a must read!!!

Five Stars for ‘After All’ (Cape Harbor) by Heidi McLaughlin

Many thanks to NetGalley, Montlake Romance, and Heidi McLaughlin for an ARC in exchange for an honest book review of ‘After All’ (Cape Harbor). My thoughts and opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advance copy.

Synopsis: “From New York Times bestselling author Heidi McLaughlin comes a heartfelt story about overcoming great loss and forgiving past sins to find happiness again.

Brooklyn Hewett hasn’t set foot in Cape Harbor for fifteen years—not since an accident claimed the love of her life, Austin Woods. Desperate to move forward, Brooklyn has focused on raising her daughter for the past fourteen years. But when the opportunity comes along to renovate the old Driftwood Inn, Brooklyn knows it’s time to go home.

But it won’t be easy. For one, Austin’s best friend, Bowie Holmes, still lives in Cape Harbor. Brooklyn hasn’t quite been able to forget him: not since the night they spent together—the same night they both lost Austin. Separated by tragedy and guilt, they’re brought together by the Driftwood project. And as they rebuild the inn, they discover they’re also rebuilding something else.

Brooklyn’s always been desperate to move on, not knowing that she first needs to reconcile past transgressions. She can’t forget, but she can forgive—Austin, Bowie, and herself—on her way toward long-awaited happiness”

Author Heidi McLaughlin sends the readers and the characters on a journey to finally deal with what exactly happened on a stormy night fifteen years ago that sets the story in motion in ‘After All’. We’re given bits and pieces and it draws you in to the circumstances of one fateful night that changes the futures of everyone in Cape Harbor and beyond.

This captivating book is a beautifully written story of overcoming grief in a myriad of ways, some good and others bad; of the lengths people will go to for love and to overcome guilt and obtain forgiveness; of a small fishing town in the Pacific Northwest that is so finely wrought that you can practically smell the sea and feel the grit of the sand under your feet. All of the characters are compelling and I was completely drawn into their lives. I read 'After All' in one sitting.

'After All' leaves you with some questions that may make you ready to go to your book club and discuss this book until you run out of wine. Mainly, you might have opinions on what motivated certain characters to do things. I would like to attend all of those book club meetings! I look forward to more of the Cape Harbor series from Heidi McLaughlin!

#AfterAll #NetGalley

Wow, what a beautiful story that will give you all the feels! You'll laugh, cry and fall in love! Heidi blew this out of the water, I love these characters! 5 shining stars for this one!
Brooklyn has to head back home, to a place she swore she'd never return to. Along with her 14 yr old daughter Brystol, they head back to Cape Harbor to help her daughter's grandmother with renovating the Inn. While there she runs into her old best friend Bowie, who will have you swooning along with his dog Lucky!
Follow along as Bowie tries to break down the walls Brooklyn has put up after losing what she thought was the love of her life Austin. I feel you need to read along and experience all the feels yourself, so that's all I'm giving you!!
This is one of the best stories I've read! If you love Heidi's books you're going to love this one! Grab it asap!

Some books should come with a warning label!
Heidi McLaughlin has a wonderful talent for crafting small town second chance romances. Her Beaumont series is a huge hit with lovers of this sub-genre of romance and McLaughlin knows how to give readers what they want. The Cape Harbor series gets off to a great start with After All and has the potential to be popular with readers.
Between the beautiful cover of After All is a captivating read sure to have readers laughing out loud or sobbing into their tissues.
Carly is a woman who has lost her will to live. Losing both her husband and son to the waters beyond Cape Harbor has seen her withdraw into herself. Owning the once filled to bursting local inn and closing its doors to the public, Carly has become a recluse with only her faithful friend to keep her company and much-anticipated summers with her beloved granddaughter.
Brooklyn is a woman haunted by her past and the ghost of Austin, the man she loved so much she gave up her dreams to be with him. She is tormented by their last conversation, falling into the arms of his best friend and losing Austin to the water - all in the same night. She gets a call from Carly to come and renovate the inn she spent so many hours in and returns with her daughter in tow, hoping to avoid her former friend and the one man who could undo her.
Bowie is a man tormented by the same past, ghost and loss. The night he took his best friend's girl to bed, he lost him and following the funeral, lost the only girl he'd ever loved. But now she is back. Carly has thrust Brooklyn and Bowie together to renovate her inn, Austin's childhood home.
Bowie harbors a lot of resentment toward Brooklyn for leaving.
Brooklyn is furious with Bowie and their friends for ignoring or forgetting Carly in the fifteen years since Austin's death and terrified they will blame her for it.
Brystol, Brooklyn's daughter wants to settle in Cape Harbor and go to a real school, the school her parents went to and make real friends after years of homeschooling.
Carly wants Brooklyn back to stay. She has secrets she needs to share and she knows now is the time to do it.
These individual paths merge in an emotional rollercoaster revealing long-held secrets and hidden emotions that keep you turning the pages to find out what happens.
I am really looking forward to the next book in this series.

Loved this story. Connected with the characters quicky and it's a story that's hard to put down. The story is full of a lot of emotions. Great read