Aftermath by L.A. Witt

Narrated by Greg Boudreaux and John Solo

Aftermaththe fifth book in the Vino and Veritas series – features a young hockey player whose career came to an abrupt end when he was seriously injured in a car accident, falling for a single dad in his early forties who was – or thought he was – happily married until his wife asked for a divorce. It’s a sweet and sexy romance between two men whose lives have been upended in different ways and who are both struggling to work through their grief for the lives they thought they were going to have while at the same time, going through a period of adjustment into whatever their new normal is going to be.

Brent Wayland was at the peak of his professional hockey career when the car he was driving was hit by a drunk driver. Brent was seriously injured and it’s a miracle he survived the accident, let alone that he can walk again. It’s been a long, hard and painful road to recovery and even a year later, he’s not there yet. Intense physical therapy hurts like hell and tires him out, his dad keeps going on and on about how other hockey players have come back from worse injuries and telling Brent he needs to snap out of it and get back on the ice, his body is never going to be the same, things are probably not going to get a great deal better than they are now, and he has no idea what he’s going to do with the rest of his life. It’s a lot to cope with – and truth be told, he hasn’t really been coping. Ever since he came home, he’s been more or less a recluse, venturing out only to attend his appointments and for weekly weekend lunches at his parents’ place. But at the urging of his best friend – mostly just to shut him up – Brent agrees to go out for a drink at the new-ish wine bar in town. He can have one drink then make an excuse to leave after an hour. It’ll be fine.

What Brent couldn’t have foreseen is the way he reacts to the guy who steps onto the stage to provide the live music that night. Whoever he is, he’s a gorgeous silver fox singing songs with achingly beautiful lyrics in an equally beautiful voice, and Brent is captivated. It’s been so long since he’s felt even the slightest stirring of attraction for anyone – since before the accident at least – and it kind of knocks him sideways. After the singer – Jon – has finished his set, he and Brent start talking at the bar, and it’s clear that the attraction Brent is feeling is mutual. Brent is excited and relieved that he can still get turned on – but as soon as he and Jon are behinds closed doors, he realises that something’s badly wrong. The spirit is more than willing but the flesh… isn’t, and embarrassed, he bolts, leaving Jon wondering what the hell just happened.

Jon Norquist has always known he’s bisexual and was happily married to Ashley for almost twenty years – until she asked for a divorce a couple of years before. They have a ten-year-old son, Cody (Ashley and Cody appear briefly in Unguarded) and now split custody between them. Jon is still finding his feet as a single man, and although he isn’t looking for another relationship right now, is certainly not opposed to having some fun. He’d been sure that Brent had been as into him as he’d been into Brent and is at a loss to know what went wrong.

Fortunately, Brent isn’t a total idiot and works up the courage to text Jon to apologise for running out on him, and suggests they meet for coffee and a chat. To Brent’s relief, Jon agrees, and even though it’s difficult for him, he explains why he acted as he did and talks a bit about his injuries and what his life has been like for the past year. He hadn’t expected Jon to be so completely accepting of his limitations, but Jon’s day job as a massage therapist means he has experience of working with people with chronic pain, so he has a very good general idea of the things Brent is up against.

After this, Jon and Brent embark upon what they agree is going to be a casual fling, something to help them both regain a bit of confidence as they adjust to their changed personal circumstances. They hang out – usually at one of their houses in the weeks Jon doesn’t have Cody home, otherwise, they text and face-time regularly – they eat together, sleep together (even though sex isn’t always on the table)… it’s clear fairly quickly that this isn’t a friends-with-benefits situation for either of them, although they both keep trying to persuade themselves that it is, allowing their insecurities to convince them that the other man isn’t on the same page. Brent worries that his physical limitations will eventually become too much for Jon to deal with; Jon thinks a hot, young former athlete who could have his pick of guys will eventually see he can do much better than a fortysomething single dad.

L.A. Witt is no stranger to featuring characters facing particularly difficult challenges in her stories, and I really appreciated her careful handling of a number of sensitive issues – depression, emotional abuse, chronic pain, sexual dysfunction – not often found in romance novels. At only twenty-nine, Brent has to come to terms with the fact that his life has changed irrevocably, to learn to adapt to all the limitations imposed upon him by his injuries – and realise that those effects are probably not just physical ones. Brent and Jon are three-dimensional characters with problems and insecurities that feel authentic, and I liked them together and individually. The author creates a strong emotional connection between them and there’s no question they’re good for each other – I could easily see them making it work long-term

With two very experienced narrators on board, Aftermath was bound to be an enjoyable listen – and it was. Greg Boudreaux performs the chapters from Brent’s PoV and John Solo those from Jon’s (which is the way around I hoped it would be!) – and taken individually, both narrations are very good; expressive and well-paced, with distinct characterisations for the two leads and the secondary roles, and clear differentiation between them all. It’s no secret that Greg Boudreaux can do no wrong in my ears (!), but while I’ve enjoyed performances by Mr. Solo, he’s less consistent; he has the tendency to do this weird thing where he over-emphasises certain words and phrases (I call it his movie-trailer announcer voice!), and gives his voice this odd almost-vibrato-like quality (so it sounds like he’s shaking) at moments of high emotion. So I admit that I had some misgivings about this particular pairing and would have preferred a solo performance by Mr. Boudreaux. I was, however, pleased to note that Mr. Solo is really toning down those vocal tics (I didn’t hear any of them here – yay!), but his delivery is too breathy in places, and the volume balance between the two voices is off. Mr. Solo’s chapters seem quieter than Mr. Boudreaux’s and – this is a small thing – his chapter headers (eg. Chapter Four – Jon) are so quiet they’re impossible to hear without adjusting the volume.

Despite those criticisms though, I did enjoy the narration and was pleased to revisit Aftermath in audio. It’s a tender, heartfelt romance with a hard-earned HEA, and I’m happy to recommend it.

Caz


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7 thoughts on “Aftermath by L.A. Witt

  1. I too love GB (thanks to your original rec) and sometimes JS (I especially loved his Will and Patrick) but also, like you, he’s a bit hit and miss for me. Were I just looking this up on audible I would have been sceptical about the pairing because often the four minute sample isn’t enough. But, I’ve enjoyed a lot of LA Witt’s work – so maybe, after your, as always, insightful review… ok, so it’s now in my mile long wish list on audible.

    1. I’ve given JS some good grades here and I agree he’s excellent in the WIll & Patrick books – although the exaggeration and “movie trailer voice” are still in evidence. I think this is actually his most “natural”/”least affected” performance (that I’ve heard, anyway) – but when you’re paired with someone as good as GB, any deficiences are glaringly obvious.

  2. I gave this pretty much the same grades, and agreed with your review. I appreciated the solid handling of some difficult issues, and felt the relationship growth was believable and emotional. I gave Solo a B-. I know the chapter header issue is minor, but it felt a little creepy to me to have him suddenly whispering in my ear. It took me out of the moment every time it happened. Other than that I liked his performance, although narrating alongside Boudreaux is a difficult spot to occupy! All-in-all, I would probably listen to this one again.

    1. I actually managed to find time to read this one when it came out and really liked the story and how Brent’s issues are handled in particular. It’s an audio I’ll probably return to as well, despite the uneven quality of the narration.

  3. Fantastic review! Do I need to read the previous books in the series or can it be read as a stand-alone?

    1. Thank you :) All the books in the Vino and Veritas series can be read as standalones and in any order. Characters from other books do crop up in supporting roles sometimes, but there are no overlapping storylines.

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