After We Fall is a beautiful story about working past your fears to find love. We begin the story with Hunter, a uniformed cop who just can’t get a domestic abuse survivor whom he helped out of his mind. Months later, she moves in across from him. Evangeline, has endured years of horrific abuse at her husband’s hand and is just beginning to get on her feet again. She isn’t looking for anyone and she really isn’t looking for her rescuer, especially for him to be right across the hall from her.

Both Hunter and Evangeline have terrible stories to tell and while they do feature in the book, they aren’t the star of the book. I appreciated that. The book was about finding the courage to heal, to trust, and to love again. I loved the character development in the book. Sometimes I find that novels can be lopsided, with one doing more growing then the other. In this one, though, both Hunter and Evangeline grow and you can see it. They both find ways to overcome their pasts in their own ways. I think Hunter was just the right level of protective. He was sweet and knew what Evangeline needed. Evangeline was finding her way again; she was making friends and reconnecting with family. I loved that she was slowly finding her sass. The side characters add to the story, adding depth and humor. I loved Saylor (maybe more than Evangeline but shh, don’t tell her).

It was a bit of a slow build up for me but I once I got through it, I was engaged fully and couldn’t put it down. In the end, I really enjoyed the book. It was beautifully written and I look forward to reading more by the author. I plan on going back and reading the first two in the series.

ARC provided by NetGalley for in exchange for an honest review.