After Anna by Theda Black

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Will has just lost his lover Anna: she was a drug addicted and died for an overdose. Will, being a cop, is eaten alive by guilty.

The book makes a count of the days after Anna's death and we see Will's journey out of depression, in a state of almost euphoria and step by step in an apparent normality. Along with him, for all his journey, there is Tyler, Will's cop partner. Will knows and understands that Tyler has feeling for him, and also Will has some indefinite feelings for Tyler.

But this is not our typical romance where two friends finally admitt they are in love and walking together to a roses and flowers happily ever after ending...

After Anna is not an erotic romance: sex is only a way to prove something in the story, but not the main aspect and sex is not written for pleasure. Sometimes sex in this book is all than pleasure: is guiltiness, is forbidden desires, is unspeakable words. Will accuses Tyler to not "speak" the words, and Tyler says "I proves them to you"... through sex.

In this book there isn't a dominant character. Even if Tyler is the man in love, he is not the weaker of the two. And told be truth, I don't think that neither Tyler or Will are gay. I think they are in love with each other, but it's more a thing of heart than body; maybe it's a very strong friendship that shapes in love when Will needs more a lover than a friend beside him.

After Anna is not an usual romance, and I think not all the romance's readers could understand it. And I think it's also a book that could appeal to a not romance's reader. It's not very long, less than 80 pages, and maybe I'd like to be longer, so maybe I'd be able to understand better both Will and Tyler and their reasons. But kudos to Theda Black to have chosen a not easy way to deal and end this one.

http://www.extasybooks.net/ebjmsite/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=ebook_flypage&product_id=3065&category_id=8&manufacturer_id=103&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=44

Amazon Kindle: After Anna

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle

Comments

[clarelondon.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you reviewed this one - I wanted to do so myself but I haven't managed to get around to it yet. I loved it - you're right, it wasn't a traditional romance, but the writing was very rich and tense and sexy and anguished and passionate, and I loved the way that the two men had a relationship already established that often touched on something more - but they'd always skirted around it in the past. The setting in the few days after Anna's death made it very atmospheric and claustrophobic.

Glad you enjoyed it too!
^_^

[blackbara.livejournal.com]

And now I've just found your review:)

I was so glad to read what you took from the story, especially the idea that these two are so in love that the fact that they're both male is almost incidental. First and of most importance to me is the fact that these two are in love, so I was pleased to see how you interpreted that. I tried to write a story that focuses very closely on the relationship and the strength of their feelings for each other, rather than the individuals or even their lives outside of that.

I decided to write a sequel shortly before this story was published. I didn't initially intend to write anymore about Will and Tyler, but they stayed in my head and wouldn't leave.

Thanks for the thoughtful review, Elisa - I do appreciate you!
Theda

[blackbara.livejournal.com]

Hi Elisa, I don't know if you're interested or not, but I wanted to give you a heads up in case you want a free copy of the new 2nd edition.

Today and tomorrow, After Anna is being offered free for the Kindle at Amazon. You can find it here
http://tinyurl.com/72ukb77

the sequel will have a 2nd ed, too, likely by the end of this month.

Hope you're had a good start off to the year:)