After Hours
Written by Cara McKenna
Narrated by Lucy Rivers
4/5
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About this audiobook
Kelly Robak is the type of guy that Erin has sworn she'd never get involved with. She's seen firsthand, via her mess of a sister, what chaos guys like him can bring into a woman's life. But she finds herself drawn to him anyway, even when he shows up at her door, not eager to take no for an answer.
What Erin finds even more shocking than Kelly's indecent proposal is how much she enjoys submitting to his every command. But he can't play the tough guy indefinitely. If they want to have more than just an affair, both will have to open up and reveal what they truly need.
Cara McKenna
Meg Maguire has published nearly forty romances and erotic novels with a variety of publishers, sometimes under the pen name Cara McKenna. Her stories have been acclaimed for their smart, modern voice and defiance of convention. She was a 2015 RITA Award finalist, a 2014 RT Reviewers' Choice Award winner, and a 2010 Golden Heart Award finalist. She lives with her husband and baby son in the Pacific Northwest, though she'll always be a Boston girl at heart.
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Reviews for After Hours
120 ratings10 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5love the book, but confused as to why the author mentions the race of characters ONLY when they’re not white. are we just supposed to assume that the “norm” is white? that white is the default? it was honestly distracting and annoying
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The setting was unique, and the sex scenes were hot but if I heard "but I'm a feminist" one more time, I don't think I could have finished the book.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5One of her weaker ones, to be honest.
The characters weren't as interesting and I didn't feel like her place of work was an actual place or the things that happened there would actually take place there. I probably wouldn't recommend this for anyone looking for genuine depictions of mental illness (though I'm sure McKenna did some research) the whole thing just feels unnecessarily gritty and was pretty boring. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5After Hours
5 Stars
Seeking a job closer to her sister and nephew, Erin Coffey takes a high risk nursing position in the locked ward of the Larkhaven Psychiatric Hospital. On her first day, Erin meets Kelly Robak, the physically intimidating and powerfully sexy orderly who epitomizes everything she doesn't want in a man. But Erin is drawn to Kelly's strength and finds herself agreeing to his not so subtle indecent proposal … will this be just a one night stand or will something deeper develop if Erin and Kelly can open themselves up to the possibility?
Wow! This books is amazing, incredible, fantastic and (insert your favorite adjective here)!
Even though After Hours is classified as erotica and there are numerous and detailed sex scenes, the intimacy between Erin and Kelly goes far beyond the physical, and the emotional depth of their connection increases as their relationship develops.
Due to her family history, Erin is wary of large and intimidating men and immediately jumps to the wrong conclusions when meeting Kelly. Yes, he is huge and scarred and scary, but he is also an amazingly gentle and deeply caring person. His dynamics with the mentally disturbed patients on the ward reveals a strength of spirit and goodness of heart that bely his formidable physical appearance.
Although Erin soon realizes her errors in judgment, it takes time for her to overcome her prejudices and the question of whether she is able to open herself up to love is a central conflict in the story. Suffice it to say that Kelly is well worth the effort.
The setting of the Larkhaven Psychiatric ward is original and gripping. McKenna manages to skillfully and subtly convey the threat that the patients pose, yet at the same time evokes strong feelings of empathy for their circumstances and suffering.
The audiobook narration is very good. It does take a couple of chapters to get used to Lucy Rivers' slow, clear pronunciation, yet once immersed in the story, her performance heightens the emotional and physical intensity of the situations, and her voices for both the male and female characters are well done.
All in all, a terrific romance with wonderfully engaging characters and I cannot recommend the book enough to anyone who enjoys a powerful romance. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5These characters, Erin and Kelly, seem so real with all their thoughts, fears and perserverance.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I really enjoyed this book. I can't wait to read more books by this author. I'm very intense intimacy scenes and I was just a little sad because I wish there were more.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Well, color me surprised.
I have a love/hate relationship with Ms. McKenna. Now, now, hear me out... I love the way she writes. Seriously love. Her characters and the snark and the sex (holy hell, the sex). However, I generally hate the types of books she writes. Now her alter ego, Meg Maguire? Exactly the stuff I'm looking for, but wish it was just a little (okay, a lot) hotter. If only there were a way to meld the two... Alas, I don't think I'm going to get my wish, so I'll pick and choose the McKenna pieces I can safely read. Which, sadly, aren't many.
But, surprisingly, this was one of them.
I wasn't sure I was going to like this. In fact, I was almost positive I'd have to flounce. See, I have a real problem with BDSM (no matter if it's true BDSM or BDSM-lite) and dominant assholes. And that's what I totally thought I was getting with this.
I didn't.
Sure, there were a handful of times my hackles were raised, but it wasn't anything that made me want to flounce (i.e. sleep on the floor like a dog, BECAUSE I'M THE MAN AND I SAID SO). It was just Kelly being bossy Kelly. And, I'll be honest, I really really loved him for the most part. He was strong and hard but wonderfully soft at the perfect times. The tiny glimpses we got of the tender Kelly were all the more special because of the man we knew he was.
As this was told in first person narrative, you pretty much have to enjoy the MC if you're going to enjoy the book, and I did. I liked Erin. I loved her self-awareness and her journey and how she grew by the end (Kelly too).
I'm eagerly awaiting Cara's next release so I can see if I can put it on my to-read shelf, or if I have to label it you can't read this don't even try. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Loved this. Different, honest and rather unique.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/54.5 stars
So very very good. Such a different unique setting. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If this were a just world, Cara McKenna would be raking in all the money and acclaim currently going to 50 Shades and the various knockoffs. Because if you are interested in erotic (a better description would be explicit -- very, very explicit) romance/sex featuring a man and woman who are believable and sympathetic this is SO MUCH BETTER WRITTEN I don't even know how to describe it. Erin is in her late 20s, starting her first job as an LPN on the locked ward of a psychiatric hospital. Kelly is an orderly on the ward, a big guy. They both have issues stemming from their family backgrounds. These are real people and I really appreciated the real world setting -- a psychiatric hospital in economically depressed Michigan -- as well as the descriptions of what it would be like to work in a place like that. And yeah, there's lots of explicit sex but it doesn't feel like one of those books where you're just stringing the narrative along between sex scenes.