Book Review: After Nightfall | A. J. Banner

Secrets, secrets are no fun…

How well do we know those we consider closest to us? Our friends, our partner, our family… Do we really know their secrets? Can we tell if they are keeping something from us, or does our love for them blind us to the lies? Would we know if we were betrayed? Would we survive it?

This is my first book by A. J. Banner and I really love the way she writes! Her characters are very rich and developed. They feel like people you would know. The story feels like one that could happen down the road from you or to a friend of a friend. The authenticity of her writing is such a refreshing break from the over-the-top thrillers I tend to read (and enjoy). This one grips you in an entirely different way. You want to get to the end because you care about the characters and you want everything to be ok.

About the Book

On the day of Marissa Parlette’s engagement announcement she schedules an intimate dinner party at home with just close friends. But are they close friends? Her best friend Lauren is flirting with her fiancé in front of her. Her future sister-in-law is clearly hiding something. And her future step-daughter Anna seems less than enthused, even though her fiancé Nathan promised he’d break the news in advance.

As the party winds to a close, Marissa can’t help but feel unsettled. Why is Lauren, who is there with her own husband, flirting with Nathan? And what is this news that Lauren says she needs to tell her in the morning, something about her own marriage and about Marissa and Nathan? Has Marissa truly forgiven Lauren for her betrayal all of those years ago?

And then the unthinkable happens—Marissa wakes up to take her morning walk, and discovers Lauren dead on the beach. Did Lauren fall? Did she jump? Or is it possible she was pushed? Marissa needs to find the answers, to get the closure she has never had. But how can she get closure when the very person with all of the answers is dead?

Everything Marissa thought she knew about her friends, her fiancé, and her loved ones is thrown into question, and she is desperate for answers. The only problem is, what if the answers reveal secrets she wish she’d never uncovered?

Reflection

This is a wonderful, suspenseful women’s fiction book. I’ve grown to love Lake Union Publishing because they have some truly outstanding books that speak to women’s fiction fans in such an authentic way. The setting for this one is the rainy Pacific Northwest, a place where I’ve lived, and I love that setting. The chilly air, the wooded surroundings, the rocky cliffs, and the icy waters of the coast are so vivid and set an unsettling tone where dangers lurk. It was the perfect atmosphere for this story!

I really like Marissa, and she reacted as many of us would. We’ve all been there, wanting to forgive someone but not sure if we have truly let it go. Wanting to trust someone but doubting ourselves because of our naivety in the past. Marissa goes through all of this. And yet, Marissa still loves these people. But at the same time, how can she not question the drunken flirtations, the late night disappearances, and the explanations that don’t quite make sense?

This was a vacation read for me and I couldn’t put it down! I will definitely be reading more A. J. Banner!

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and A. J. Banner for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.