Review: After Hours by Cara McKenna

After Hours: Erin Coffey and Kelly Robak

After Hours on Goodreads

After Hours on Amazon

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

A dangerous infatuation with a rough and ready man…

Erin Coffey has been a nurse for years, but nothing’s prepared her for the physical and emotional demands of her new position. Needing to move closer to her dysfunctional family, she takes a dangerous job at Larkhaven Psychiatric Hospital, where she quickly learns that she needs protection—and she meets the strong, over-confident coworker who’s more than willing to provide it.

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.

After Hours by Cara McKenna

Erin Coffey and Kelly Robak

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

A dangerous infatuation with a rough and ready man…

Erin Coffey has been a nurse for years, but nothing’s prepared her for the physical and emotional demands of her new position. Needing to move closer to her dysfunctional family, she takes a dangerous job at Larkhaven Psychiatric Hospital, where she quickly learns that she needs protection—and she meets the strong, over-confident coworker who’s more than willing to provide it.

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.

Review:

Why oh why did I not read this book sooner?! It’s been hanging out in my needs to be read and reviewed pile for about a month now and just kept getting pushed back. I’ve never read Cara McKenna before and wasn’t sure what to expect so put it off a little. I am seriously regretting that now! This book was so freak’n good! What I think I loved the most about this book is that the characters are just so REAL! They are just everyday people very easy to relate too. No one is a young, hot billionaire or a hiding out actor who just wants to be normal. Erin and Kelly have problems like everyone else, a shared rough around the edges childhood which they managed to turn out ok despite of. Their issues while not fun and have affected them they are not too heartbreaking. Kelly has control issues, in that he needs to have it and Erin has “mother” issues in that she needs to feel needed and hates to ask for help. The romance that develops actually occurs quite fast but it doesn’t feel like it, it feels like they have known each much longer than they actually do. And even then there are no declarations of undying love after one week of knowing each other which tends to happen a lot in romance and erotica romance. It just feels like everything unfolds naturally and realistically.

Kelly is a dominating personality, he is an orderly at the hospital but his job is more to keep order among the disorderly, kind of a like a psych ward bouncer. LOL! He is very upfront and transparent. He knows what he wants and will tell you what it is, and he wants Erin. He wants her in his bed, in his shower, on the couch and anywhere else he can think of obeying his every command. He has a gruff exterior and demeanor but every now and then he lets us glimpse the softy inside and it has the same effect on the reader as it does Erin, it makes you melt a little on the inside. I want a Kelly for my very own. A man that you can depend on one that will give you the hottest sex of your life controlling your very orgasms but outside of the sack he’s a partner someone that that will be there through thick and thin.

I enjoyed Erin as a character, she is totally believable. As she is trying to keep her cool at work and keep an emotional distance from Kelly you are failing right along with her. She knows she is in way over her head with him and like women everywhere that bite off more than they can chew she struggles to maintain the separation between her heart and her body, but Kelly just does not make it easy on her. Every time he offends her feminist sensibilities he does something to make up for it. How do you defend against that!? You just can’t! She fights the good fight, but really you know she’s going to lose, she knows she’s going to lose but the fun is in the battle and Kelly and Erin have a great battle of wills. Erin’s biggest problems throughout the book are her assumptions. She wants to stick Kelly into the same category as all the men her mom and sister date but he just won’t stay in that category. She also assumes his intentions towards her. She assumes it’s a one-time deal, but Kelly has other intentions of taking her to bed as often as she’ll let him. If she didn’t make so many assumptions she probably wouldn’t have had so much internal conflict, but where is the fun in that, if it’s too easy? She also has some weird feminist views, I mean I kind of consider myself somewhat of a feminist but I’m not sure what being a feminist has to do with pubic hair or a man putting his hand in your hair while in bed play, but whatev’s, minor details. Lol

From beginning to end I adored this book, I’ve already read it twice and didn’t want it to end the first time round. The sex is off the chain hot, seriously sexy as hell! DAMN! The story is realistic and you get a very good idea of what makes each of the characters tick. In just over 200 pages you know who Kelly and Erin are, some full length books you can’t say the same of. Cara McKenna is also a fantastic writer. This book is incredibly well written. I’ve read some books lately whereas the story is good, the actual execution of writing, is not as good. I felt the difference in the quality of writing from the very first page. If nothing else you can appreciate a well written book.

I highly recommend this book to any romance lover out there! Ms. McKenna just bagged herself a brand new fan with this one!

*This book was provided through NetGalley for an honest review. No other compensation was provided.

*This review can also be seen on Let's get Romantical