After browsing Netgalley I came across this cover and was immediately intrigued. After getting accepted I couldn’t read this book fast enough. I loved that it was divided into three sections because it felt like binge reading a series.

The book was devastatingly good. I’m usually not a fan of anything dystopian or post-apocalyptic but this book made me a believer. At first when the book starts and it is announced that the story line revolves around a virus that is causing a massive pandemic shutting countries around the world it hit close to home, but the writing was so exquisite that I physically couldn’t stop from looking to see what happens next. We follow Frankie through the horrifying loss of her husband, her taking on a role as a parental figure for a newly orphaned boy and the way everything is written it feels like you are in survival mode with her. How she kept moving forward absolutely racked my brain, how she clung to hope made hope sprung up in my chest as well.

Yorke on the other hand is survival mode came to life. Where Frankie lacks any former training for a horrible event like this one, Yorke is all guns blazing and knows exactly how to move in this new world.

I absolutely loved the dynamic between these two. I respected the slow burn so much in order for Frankie to grieve properly, so when the connections started flying and they finally verbally expressed how they both felt I was fist pumping the air. Have to give it to this author- she knows how to write spicy scenes.

Overall, masterpiece of a book. The only reason I subtracted one star was because part two of the book felt a bit dragging, but was made up for later on in part 3!

Would absolutely 100% recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.

Thrilling, profound and deeply intensive this bundle containing the first three volumes of what can only be described as one of the best apocalypse sagas to come along in quite some time will keep the reader glued to the pages as its climatic events unfold.
Strangers Frankie and Yorke find each other in this grim new reality and their story of survival and love brings a little hope to a world that has been decimated by a virus and plunged into chaos.
This was a truly engaging read that catches the reader’s interest and holds it captive while they join Frankie and Yorkie on their mesmerizing journey together.

Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice: 🌶🌶/5
TW: violence, death, pandemic
Tropes/Kinks: apocalyptic love, found family

"The Walking Dead" (sans zombies) meets the COVID 19 pandemic in Imogen Keeper's "After the Plague." Despite currently living in a pandemic and fearing for my life and the downfall of humanity, I fell in love with Keeper's writing and the characters she's created. Too often have we been faced with the hypothetical question "what would you do in the apocalypse" and give answers that would make us out to be a complete badass hellbent on surviving. This book is much more realistic and relatable because yeah, I'd love to be a badass, but I'm simply used to a certain way of life and haven't been faced with trying to survive as the world crashes around me. That's what makes Frankie such a great character. She has gone through so much and is used to depending on others but the pandemic makes her visionary nature become a point of hope for all those around her. If I were to be asked about my apocalypse plan, I would give an answer I think Frankie would give.
And let's talk about Yorke. My God, Yorke. He is such a strong character and I love how he balances Frankie out. From the start, they have a very interesting chemistry that makes me want to root for them. I believe in Yorkie (what a fun pairing name, right?) and that they're going to be the critical hope of the future. Thrown together by terrible circumstances, Yorke and Frankie work hard to find sustainability and safety in a world that has shaved them down into broken people. The tension between them coils so tightly that every time I think it's going to snap, it tightens even more as they heal from their past and present.
If you want something that has heat but warms your heart first, then this is definitely a good series to start!

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC!

I’m not going to lie, I definitely had to wait for Covid cases to go down before starting this one- but that’s just because it felt so real! Imogen Keeper did an incredible job world building. Set about 20 years in the future, she balances the ideas of new tech with probability.

Frankie and Yorke find themselves in Washington D.C. at the height of a pandemic that makes Covid look like child’s play- at least a 90% mortality rate. Frankie loses her beloved husband early on, but her discovery of a young, newly orphaned boy (Auden) gives her the willpower to keep going. She meets up with former military Yorke when he warns a group she’s joined of a potential attack by a militarized group headquartered in the White House. The three (plus Auden’s dog, Beast) form a family, all helping each other cope with the terrible situation. They still need to get out of the city, though, and the White House Woman (WHW for… not so short) doesn’t want anyone to leave. Can they make it out to freedom and start a life?

This book is dark- especially now that we’ve all experienced the trauma of a pandemic (even though what’s in the book is far worse). However… I couldn’t stop reading! It helps that Frankie is hope incarnate (not in an annoying way). She does her best to bring joy to Auden’s life, and that brings enough light to the story ti keep you optimistic, even when things keep going wrong.

I had to wait to be in the right headspace for this book, but once I was it was well worth it.

Oh my goodness...all the feels while reading this, all the feels!

I don't think I have ever rooted for fictional people the way I did for Yorke and Frankie. Yorke...talk about the absolute best book boyfriend ever! He was broody and sexy and strong, ad I just loved him in every way. I did not bond with Frankie as immediately but by the end, I came to really like her. The two of them together...pure magic. Add in Auden and Beast...I never stood a chance!

This book made me so sad in some parts, angry in others, and of course, happy. I haven't read a series that ran me through a gamut of emotions in a while, so of course, I give this a rating of 5 stars. I recommend this to those who enjoy post-apocalyptic novels and some angst in their fiction. Trigger warnings include: death of a loved one, rape, and assault, so with those in mind, this is definitely not for persons below eighteen years old. There are instances of strong profanity and erotic acts, but these align with the genre and do not take away from the plotline.

I am definitely moving on to the fourth installment, I already downloaded it and am going to start immediately!

*A great many thanks to Netgalley, Imogen Keeper, and Mindless Muse Publishing for this ARC. It is important to note that I was under no commitment to provide a positive review, and all opinions are undoubtedly my own.*

I really enjoyed this book! It went into a lot of descriptive detail and I had a hard time putting this one down!

Thank you Mindless Muse Publishing for giving me an ARC of After the Plague!

I have to tell you, this book is absolutely breathtaking, from the characters, to the plot. I found myself in a magical haze where all I could do was flip through the pages and anticipate what happened. Imogen Keeper did not fail to amaze me with these books! They are absolutely amazing!

I was fully immersed in the apocalyptic world that Imogen Keeper introduces the reader to in these books! Honestly I felt like I was picked up and thrown into the world from the descriptions that the author used, and I felt a bondage with the characters. In this book, I felt very much like the main character LOL.

The fact that this book alone really brings you back to reality to what had happened to us during the COVID outbreak, makes me excited! I haven't read one book with the mention of the COVID outbreak, and so you can imagine how this made made me a new sense of what others might feel, and that was heavily portrayed from the characters Frankie and Yorke.

This is a Romance Sci-fi fantasy, and when I say that the Romance did not fail! The romance was so heartbreaking and wrecking, but it was also so very cute and the characters relationship development was well built with the plot.

Loved this book and it honestly exceeded my expectations!

After the plague 1, 2 and 3 is a romance series about Frankie, a young adult who after losing her husband finds an orphaned little boy and his puppy so she decides to face the post-pandemic world with them, and Yorke, a soldier who after finding Frankie, says that they must bring order to a world without rules.

The title was already interesting, but seeing what it was about, I was very interested in the idea of ​​rereading a dystopia, especially since I haven't read anything of the genre for a long time. I really liked that this was mixed with adult romance because the ones I had read were more juvenile and seeing more mature adult characters develop was a great experience.

Frankie is a very interesting character, she was always quite dependent on her husband Jimmy after living a very difficult life, but finding herself alone, with a very sweet boy and his dog in her care, decides to put on her big girl pants and take the responsibility to care for them. I loved seeing how she grew throughout the books learning and getting to know herself as she developed her relationship with Yorke.

I loved Yorke, he is a very loving and kind man under the soldier's cape that he has. Seeing him start to realize that he wanted to be with Frankie, Auden (the boy) and Beast (the dog) was super cute.

The writing is very light and it's great that it's not just romance, there's a troop of found family and a lot of action. The characters and romance are developed very well and I didn't feel it rushed.

In short, great books to spend an entertaining afternoon.

⚠️ TW: Death - pandemic - weapons - verbal and physical violence - attempted rape - kidnapping.

A virus, more dangerous than covid is killing the world population and there is no known cure. Entire cities are taken, and we follow four main characters through survival, loss, pain and hope.
The plot is what captivated me into reading this book, and though I couldn’t get attached to the characters, it was a good read.

This wasn’t a bad story! I loved the main characters personal journey through post apocalyptic relationships and trials. However, I don’t feel that the book is ‘finished’. It felt like reading fan fiction or a collection of short stories rather than a book. I downloaded book 4 to continue reading and even at the end of that the author leaves a message to say she plans on numerous more books…. It just makes me wonder what the point of them continuing is. Hypothetically, they could never end but what would I personally gain from reading so many books? They lack depth and are perhaps written so that they would make a good TV show, but don’t grab my ongoing attention in their current format.

A solid post-apocalyptic steamy romance. I enjoyed it enough to consider the sequels.
Writing: 3 stars
Plot: 3 stars
Character Development: 3 stars

This is such a heart wrenching and fast paced post apocalyptic. I loved every second of it and read it in just about one sitting! Frankie is pure hope and heartache all wrapped into one, and I found my latest book boyfriend in broody Yorke. This book was sheer perfection to me, I don’t often read a post apocalyptic book that I would find realistic. Too often authors write characters too strong or skilled to be realistic in post apocalyptic books, but these characters were so genuine and likable with real faults and hold ups. Overall a great story with a lot of uniqueness to it and relatable characters, will always recommend this.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I love books like this, but this one was just confusing. I didn't like it.

After The Plague (volumes 1,2 &3)
By Imogen Keeper
Thank you NetGalley, Imogen Keeper and publishers for giving me access to novel
After the plague (volumes 1,2,& 3)
A extremely contagious and deadly virus that wipes out most of the world’s population. In this post-apocalyptic world, We find our main characters Frankie, Auden and Yorke. Frankie an artist,Auden a young boy and Yorke a soldier and of course Beast the dog.
All of these characters have their own trails to go through that really test their strength and resolve. The characters come together and their journeys intertwine in a beautiful way. I truly love to see the strength of the human spirit and what we can overcome. When the world is falling apart and so many are choosing evil over good. I love to see the characters fighting and not giving up or giving in. The bond between Frankie and Auden was beautiful. The power children give us to keep going when we as adults can’t see past devastation is so real and powerful. Beast the dog was my favorite, such an addition to the story.
The different POV is something I enjoy in a novel, and It’s so interesting to see that in Yorke and Frankie. So many don’t understand the great burden Veterans live with, the way they see situations and make decisions is…it’s some what of a double edged sword. Yorke is strong and caring and has witnessed and dealt with so much and you see how that haunts him. Yorke’s need to protect and care for other and his training sometimes get in his way. But he continues to grow.
The story did move a bit slow at times IMO. But overall a really good book and the writing was great. #netgalley #imogenkeeper

After reading this book and checking some ratings, I am pretty sure I probably haven’t read the same book everyone else did. Or should I say books? Because what was marketed as three separate publications could have been just one. It also seems the way they are written indicates that this should be a single work, with three parts. But a single publication.

But I digress. This book was very confusing. I love Sci-Fi, it has been one of my favorite genres to read ever since I can remember so when I read the synopsis, I immediately thought I had to get my hands (and eyes) on After the Plague. Was I fooled? Yup.

“99% of the population dies due to a strange unnatural virus, leaving 1% grieving, scared, desperate, capable of anything, plunged into a world without laws and no one to enforce them anyway”. The premise sounds interesting and right up my alley. BUT what they should have also told people is that the strange virus is called the Australian Influenza (ring any bells?) and that everything from the symptoms to the cause of death seems taken straight out of the past two years we have been living in. With the other half of the plot taken from the first seasons of The Walking Dead. If the name of the disease doesn’t ring any bells, maybe the fact that people experience flu-like symptoms, included but not limited to fever and coughing, and the fact that everyone had to quarantine (to a higher level, but still) to prevent the virus from spreading, tells you something.

I don’t even know what to say about the characters. I have so many things to rant about, I don’t even know where to start. I mean, the author is not wrong when she markets this as an insatiable romance, given that the only thing that mattered to both the main characters other than Auden (never mind most of the population is dead and you must find a way to survive), the little kid Frankie found in a random house, was each other. To the point they got sexual in front of the kid and didn’t even think twice about it. I disliked Frankie and Yorke pretty much from the start, which had me thinking about DNF-ing the book multiple times. Frankie is the helpless little human who thinks she’s worthless and needs other people to constantly remind her she’s not a burden. An annoying damsel in distress, basically. Yorke is the big, muscled, hot guy who’s the best at everything and came to save everyone. And don’t worry about forgetting because I was reminded of it every few pages.

The book follows the story from Frankie and Yorke’s point of view. After we learn that there’s a virus that already killed most of the population on Earth, we are introduced to Yorke, coming back from military service abroad. After landing, he goes to the main city where he meets Frankie, they go their separate ways until something needs to happen for them to cross paths again. Apparently, Frankie doesn’t remember him, and he doesn’t bring it up either, so they start living their life together as if no major event is happening. For some reason I find it hard to believe that the world is chaos, the power went out everywhere save for places with solar panels, resources are becoming scarce, and you continue to live your life inside a house like a happy family while people are taking control of the White House, taking kids and killing others. Although this was all happening, I think what made me truly give up on the book was the fact that something major happened after Frankie was scavenging for food in a house nearby and its outcome. I refuse to believe that happened. And then Yorke constantly lied to Frankie about it, it was forcefully brought up in the last chapters and even then it seemed like it was no big deal? I’m sorry, but no.

I couldn’t really understand when the book was set. I think it’s supposed to be in this century, a few years from now, but some other events were brought up (like WWIII) like people were talking about the weather just to never be talked about again. Maybe it was to give a reason for Yorke to be in the military and have such great skills but we may never know.

I didn’t find this book “sexy, seductive, breathtaking, romantic, adventurous or hopeful”. I found it confusing and poorly developed. For me an adventure would be if they found a strategy to face and fight the WHW. Not literally run for the hills to live a life pretending like nothing happened, not knowing what those kids who were taken are facing. Or what the goal of the people taking the White House is. How can you have hope when you are planning for a life tied to a place, wanting to survive, while others may be needing your help? And what were we supposed to find sexy and seductive? Yorke constantly referring to Frankie’s “angel ass”? I hope this gets better in the next installment, although I won’t be finding out because I won’t be continuing with this “series”.

A gripping and timely read about the aftermath following a plague and the survivors left behind.

This was rather timely in the midst of COVID and executed in a clever way. From the beginning to the end it was a journey that I enjoyed.

Emotionally it’s a bit of a roller coaster but it’s balanced out by some witty banter between characters and a romance that i enjoyed more than expected.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Broken was a great start to this apocalyptic series. It was well written, had great pacing, and had both a heart-warming and heart-wrenching story line. Broken packs an emotional punch for a relatively short book. Frankie and Yorke are two people who I can't wait to learn more about!
Lost, the second installment from the After the Plague series, continued to entertain me. The first book really set up the fall of society and the heartbreaking loss of Frankie's husband. This one focuses on what happens months later as society is regrouping. It's a tough book. It's action packed and lots of hard stuff happens to Frankie and Yorke. A high point of the book was them meeting and developing their friendship/relationship.
Found was a satisfying third installment in the After the Plague series. These books are quick reads that keep you on the edge of your seats. This third volume was my favorite of the three. It had the emotion of the first volume with the action of the second all rolled into one. I absolutely recommend these to anyone looking for an apocalyptic romance series. Imogen Keeper exceeded my expectations with this series!

Thank you to NetGalley for the free digital book in exchange for my honest review!

After the Plague by Imogen Keeper

★★★★☆

◆ Post-apocolyptic/Dystopia
◆ Second chance romance
🛑 CW/TW: death, sexual assault, violence, kidnapping

I initially struggled to get through the beginning of After the Plague because of the current (IRL) pandemic. However once I started reading again, I couldn't stop. It started slow but picked up the pace quite quickly.

I've never before read a post-apocolyptic/dystopia type book before so this was a very pleasant surprise. To see the struggles Frankie goes through but manages to stay strong not just for herself, but also those around her, really resonated with me.

I think it needed another perspective and we got it with Yorke. I felt the POV changes were a nice addition to this book as I'm not entirely certain I would've been able to read this, even though I enjoyed her, had it solely been from Frankie's POV.

Overall, I liked the pace, I liked the characters, I liked the plot.

I look forward to reading Book 4 of this series.


Book received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book hits so close to home after two years of the pandemic, but manages to toe the line between seriousness and being uplifting at the same time.

It is told from a double perspective after most of the planet has been wiped out by disease. The characters are both interesting enough to keep your interest and their backstory along with the supporting characters makes the story seem like you’re watching a movie as it unfolds.

Would recommend if you enjoy dystopian type reads.

Oh wow. This book took me for a ride. It took me a while to get into this, not because of anything lacking in the story, but for how close to home this is by being a pandemic fiction book. But once I got past my own reservations, I was sucked in. I love the characters, especially Frankie, and how she deals with her quickly changing world. She is unpredictable and vibrant while also being honest and loving, and she compliments Yorke's down-to-earth get-up-and-go military attitude. Yorke wants to stay alive, Frankie wants to live and thrive. As soon as I finished, I was relieved to see that the next book is already out, so I'm looking forward to chunking through that as soon as I'm done with this review.

Thank you Imogen Keeper for the story. It was compelling, it made me nervous and scared and hopeful and laugh out loud, and I look forward to seeing what else comes from you.

Thank you NetGalley and Mindless Muse Publishing, LLC for the ARC.