After She Falls

Written by Carmen Schober

Narrated by Frankie Corzo

She's always had that fire in her. She just needs to find it again.
Strong-willed Adri Rivera nearly achieved her goal of being a professional mixed
martial artist, but then she fell in love with a man who knocked all the fight out of
her. When their abusive, tumultuous relationship finally comes to a head, Adri
flees with their young daughter to her small hometown in the mountains of
Pennsylvania. There, she must face the people she left behind and put her broken
life back together again.
A hardened Max Lyons can’t believe Adri is back in town after abruptly cutting him
and everyone else off years ago. Despite the distance that grew between them, he
feels compelled to help her regain her independence and offers her a job at his
gym. But regaining each other’s trust is another matter, made even more
complicated by the lingering spark between them. As Adri dares to pursue her
dream again, she trains for a big tournament with Max’s help, but they’ll both
have to confront their own doubts in order to rise victorious.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9781705039151

Reviews for After She Falls

[brooke katz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A beautiful story of losing oneself and rebuilding on the solid rock. Carmen does a beautiful job writing characters that have depth. A storyline that feels realistic.

Christianity isn't cookie cutter and everyone's journeys are different so our stories should reflect that and that's what I love about Carmen's story telling. It's raw, painful at times but there is hope in the darkness and lessons in the mess. After she falls tells Adris story in a natural way it's not forced. You grow with the characters.

I love the fight scenes she describes them so well I felt I was there watching her fight. Roman is my favorite he is strong and shows that a father's love can come from a found father not just biological father. God provides and that's what I got from this story build your foundation on the solid rock and trust in him to provide.

[gpangel_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After She Falls by Carmen Schober is a 2021 Bethany House publication. Adri’s life veered off course when she married the wrong guy. Her career as a mixed martial artist fell by the wayside and she found herself living in a vicious cycle of abuse. She finally wakes up and gathers up her courage to leave, returning home with her young daughter, Eva. From this time forward, Adri hopes to get her life back in order and her first order of business is getting right with God. Along the way she reconnects with her former best friend, Max, with whom she also has romantic feelings for, and resurrects her dormant career, all while trying to cope with the ever-present threat her ex-husband might be considering.I liked many things about this book. One, Adri gets herself and her daughter out of a bad situation which could only come to a tragic conclusion. From there, Adri realizes her hope lies in her faith, and her spiritual growth is one of the most wonderful parts of this story.The one thing I had mixed feelings about, though, was Adri's career as a mixed martial artist. I was intrigued by her occupation, and thought it made the premise sound a lot more intriguing- but I also don't really get the attraction of watching two people punch each other until one of them loses consciousness. But, my curiosity won out in the end. Initially, was a little surprised by some innuendo and actions of the characters which were not exactly the type of material, I’d have expected in a book marketed as Christian Fiction. On the other hand, as the story progressed, the messages became a little stronger, and I got a lot more about living a Christian living in this book than in my previous experiences with this genre, where the story might have been ‘clean’ but the ‘Christian’ part was barely detectable. My one real complaint was that while categorized as a romance, I don’t think it truly fits into that category. There was the unspoken promise of relationship developments between Adri and Max, but that’s about it. Mainly, the story is about Adri pulling her life and career back together, turning to her faith to steer her in the right direction, and committing herself fully to living a Christian life. She still makes mistakes and errors in judgment, but eventually learns from her missteps- occasionally the hard way- but her will is strong and she triumphs in the end. Despite my reservations about the mixed martial arts career choice, I confess to feeling the adrenaline and excitement of the matches and found myself cheering Adri on. There was a 'Rocky' like atmosphere during those passages, and the author did a great job of stirring the reader's emotions. Overall, this is a solid debut novel from this author. I liked the characters, the mostly sound, positive spiritual messages, as well as the unique premise of the story. 4 stars

[debs4jc · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was refreshing, I really enjoyed following the progression of the main character. Adri is a fighter - literally and figuratively. When the reader first meets her she is desperate - desperate enough to flee from her abusive husband and return to the home of her uncle. She and her young daughter find refuge there, but Adri is worried about returning to the place that she fled from as a teenager. She burned a lot of bridges when she left town suddenly and never looked back - but the biggest one with with Max. Max and Adri used to be best friend, and even more, but when she left to join the fighting circuit and married her ex-husband, She broke Max's heart, but now he may be the only one who can help her. Max runs a gym in town Adri's skill as a mixed martial arts fighter is her best chance for making a living. But can she work for Max? And how does all of this fit into her new found desire to follow God's leading?I really enjoyed this story, it's definitely not a cookie cutter romance. Max and Adri have a lot of baggage to work through, and I even enjoyed learning more about mixed martial arts fighting, which is something I have never even watched before. Adri and Max were real and believable, and since I wanted them to succeed I got caught up in the story. I look forward to seeing more books from this author, and I would definitely recommend this one.

[beautyinthebinding · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After She Falls by Carmen Schober offers an intense, entertaining story that had me cheering for Adri until the end. I enjoyed this book and would read it again in the future, but I must note a few aspects of this novel.First, After She Falls features lots of romantic tension between Adri and Max as it is a second-chance romance with two characters who have lots of history together. There’s attraction, betrayal, anger, and a deep, sometimes inconvenient, connection between Max and Adri. The powerful emotions avoid angst, but sometimes the tension overpowered other aspects in the novel. Second, After She Falls tells Adri and Max’s story in third-person present tense. Occasionally, awkward wording pulled me out of the story, but this style shined during the fight sequences by depicting the actions in a quick, live-action way. Adri’s goal as an MMA fighter involves multiple fight scenes with punching, grappling, and bleeding. Third, the first chapter in After She Falls by Carmen Schober depicts domestic violence. The unpleasant happenings effectively hooked my attention and made me sympathetic toward Adri. However, the presence of DV situations could be a trigger for DV survivors. Wrapping up this review, I want to mention the beautiful themes of bravery, finding strength, and growing in resilience that are present in After She Falls by Carmen Schober. I loved how Adri strengthened her body, mind, and emotions. Quotable phrases peppered the narrative and I’ll leave one here: “Reconciliation involves an exchange in a relationship – exchanging brokenness and war for harmony and peace.”Disclosure of Material Connection: I was provided a copy of this book by the author or publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.

[arlenadean · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Title: After She FallsAuthor: Carmen SchoberPublisher: Bethany House PublishersReviewed By: Arlena DeanRating: FourReview:"After She Falls" by Carmen SchoberMy Opinion:"After She Falls" was a heartfelt and emotional story that keeps one turning the pages. Adri Rivera had been a martial artist, but her life changed after several incidents in her life. Being married to an abusive ex-fighter, Adri decides to return to her hometown of Sparta with her daughter, Eva, and their dog Rocky. Will Adri be able to pick up the life that she had left? Well, as the story continues, we find that MMA Fighting is still in Adri's blood, and so it seems like she is set for fighting again but will it be an easy road for her? Especially now that it looks like her life with her ex appears to rear its head back into her life. Yes, we know she was a Christian and all, but sometimes common sense wasn't used...like when she dealt with some of the issues with her friend Max Lyons and her reason for breaking up with him six years ago in the first place was rather strange. Yes, maybe Adri thought her ex-husband [Owen Anders] had changed for his daughter stake, but really, with everyone telling her differently and for her to be careful. Oh, well, sometimes people have to learn the hard way! The characters, especially Uncle Roman, Aunt Yvonne, Eva, Max, Boom, and others, added so much to this good story.By the end of the story, it looks like Adri has finally found her way but will it be with...this is where I say pick up "After She Falls" to see how this author will bring it all out to you, the reader.Thank you, NetGalley and Bethany House Publishers, with this review being entirely my own opinion.

[vintagebeckie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After She Falls by debut author Carmen Schober was a stretch read for me. What does that mean? Well, there were a number of elements of this novel that are definitely outside my comfort zone. The characters in the novel are MMA trainers and fighters. That’s mixed martial arts for those who are as clueless as me. ? There are a number of fight scenes that realistically depict the sport including broken bones and blood. Really not my scene, however, I had heard enough buzz to be intrigued. The main thing that definitely was within my comfort zone was the highly realistic and relatable characters. No, I’m not ready to take up boxing or judo, but I appreciated the real-life struggles these characters faced. They struggled with being good enough, with overcoming mistakes (many life-changing ones), and seeking a good and gracious God of second chances. Second, third, and maybe fourth chances are all depicted as the characters seek to make sense of the world and their place in it. The book is full of messy lives — I told you, realistic. While most of the characters are the same ages as my kids, I loved that Schober had two strong mature secondary characters that could share their own failures and triumphs. Their wisdom and guidance was important to the main character’s growth and mirrored the necessity of mentors in faith for any age group. I did find the reading process slow — the book is told in present tense which caused me to re-read passages. I’m not sure why I had trouble with this, but I did. But After She Falls was intriguing, interesting, and worth the time it took me to read.Recommended.Audience: adults.(Thanks to Bethany House for a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)