Deborah Raney is easily one of my favorite authors. Her stories are ones that I often think about for weeks after reading. She has a way of drawing me into a story, making me feel as if I personally know the characters, and that's just how I feel about the Hanover Falls series.

Susan Marlowe is dealing with the pain of losing her husband in the Grove Street fire, but a secret that he was carrying comes to light, a secret that breaks her heart, and has her wondering if she really knew the man she was married to. How will she deal with the hurt?

Even though this is the third book in a series, the story line still has the ability to provide a few twists and turns that kept me reading. There is still the mystery of who actually set the fire, as well as the emotional turmoil of losing loved ones, and trying to move on after such a tragedy. Susan is a commendable character. She is trying to keep the homeless shelter going, while dealing with the loss of her husband. When her son Davey not only drops out of college but also starts coming home drunk, she learns that he is carrying a painful secret, something that he knew about his father, her husband.

"After All" is the third and final installment of the Hanover Falls Series, and while this book can be read as a stand alone work, the series is filled with such amazing characters that you really are going to want to read all three books. While I enjoyed the way the author wraps up this series, I really am going to miss my visits to Hanover Falls. I highly recommend this entire series!

A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ( )

After All is the third book in the Hanover Falls series. I found the story to be engaging and full of mystery, romance and faith. Ms Raney's characters are realistic and heart warming and there are definitely a few plot twists that are sure to surprise you!

This book can be read as a stand alone but reading the series in whole really lends to understanding the nuances of this final book in the Hanover Fall series. I thoroughly enjoyed this book! ( )

I've not had the chance to read the first two books in the Hanover Falls series. And while I think that it would have given me a better understanding of the emotions that were associated with some of the parts of the story I don't feel like I had missed out from not reading them. The book was well written and it gave all the major background information so that I didn't feel lost in what was going on.

I liked the main character Susan. She was a bit naive though. I'm not sure if her naivety comes from the fact that she was so busy with her own life that she didn't have a chance to see what was going on around her or if she was just a naive person. Because she did seem to have things together. 18 months after the death of her husband she's running a homeless shelter by herself. And despite the town's objections to the shelter she seems to be doing at least an ok job with it. I know if I lost my husband it seems like it would take more strength than I have to be almost solely responsible for the lives of so many people. But I also think that her ability to throw herself into the homeless shelter comes from needing something to keep herself occupied so that she's not dwelling on the loss of her husband. As in the few times that she is alone with nothing going on her mind does seem to wander to her husband.

The story had quite a bit going on. There was a budding love story, some mystery, and tons of emotions. I didn't get a good sense of who most of the other characters really were, and I would have liked to have a bit more insight into Peter and even Susan's son Davie. But overall the story was good and it kept me hooked. I finished it in one day as I was just so drawn into everything that was going on. ( )

In the final book in the Hanover Falls Series, After All by Deborah Raney provides the reader with a sense of closure in one instance and a moving forward and new beginnings in another. Susan Marlowe is beginning to pick up the pieces of the life she knew that was destroyed in ashes just eighteen months ago, when her husband David and four other firefighters were killed in an accidental fire at Grove Street Shelter.

She was the one responsible for running the homeless shelter despite her husband David's misgivings about wondering if the shelter was doing more harm than good to the cities residents. Yet when fights, and threats began to break out there, David felt that Susan was opening herself up for more trouble than it was worth and their marriage began to take a turn for the worse, with each of them spending more time at their jobs than at working on strengthening their marriage.

Now that Susan has begun to rebuild the Grove Street Shelter in a building across from where the former one stood, she is once again making the headlines in the local paper, The Courier. Seems now that Bee Quinton, feels its her responsibility to seek the answers for two letters to the editor about the homeless shelter and its purpose in bringing out the worst criminals to the city. When Susan takes the bait in defense of the good the shelter offers families in need a place to stay over sleeping in their car, she does more harm than good in feeding Bee just what she needs to make the front page.

Fortunately for Susan, not everyone believes the homeless shelter is a bad thing for the city when Chief Peter Brennan speaks out in her defense reminding the citizens of Susan's diligence in having fire alarms and smoke detectors installed. Now if only he can keep his mind on the tasks of running the local fire station instead of romantic thoughts about Susan. However Peter finds himself the source of competition between Susan and fire inspector Andrea Morley, a first in his life since his previous wife Lana left him when they couldn't have children.

Just what type of closure will After All bid for its readers in this series conclusion? You'll have to pick up the book and find out. Even though this is the third and final book in the series, there is enough back story for the reader that this one can be read as a stand alone, but trust me, if this is the first book you've had the pleasure to read from Deborah, you'll definitely want to pick up the other two.

I received After All by Deborah Raney compliments of Howard Books, a division of Simon and Schuster for my honest review and LOVED it! Just the perfect amount of suspense and romance to keep the reader entertained and turning pages til the end. If you love Christian Romance novels or have a spark for firefighters, then this is a MUST read for you! I rate this one a sizzling 4.5 out of 5 stars. ( )

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