Cherry Adair – Afterglow

The second book in the Lodestone Trilogy series, published March 20, 2012.
Genre: romantic suspense, with a little psychic in it.



A deadly mission uncovers a lust worth killing for . . . in this breathtaking new novel from national bestselling author Cherry Adair.

Pleasure with a price.
A high-profile celebrity wedding in Monaco is the kind of A-list event security specialist Rand Maguire excels at. Everything goes like clockwork, until guests start inexplicably losing all their inhibitions. . . .
Painful secrets from the past.
Rand is no stranger to the effects of Rapture. His chemist father's attempt at a cure for depression caused Rand's mother's death years ago, and put his father away for her murder. Now, someone is circulating Rapture in a campaign of terror, intending to manufacture and sell it on a global scale. But with no leads, Rand feels the heat.
Passion with no limits.
Sexy Lodestone agent Dakota North is sent to help Rand kick-start his search, armed only with her uncanny sixth-sense. But what they discover in their race across Europe is more far-reaching and lethal than an erotic street drug. From a Barcelona bank heist to a million-dollar arms deal in Paris, Dakota and Rand giving in to an insatiable craving for each other in nights of pure carnal delight, no senses left untouched. No Rapture necessary.


I still have no idea if I did like the story or not. Which makes it very difficult to think of writing a review. To be honest, I found the story and the plot very over the top and totally unbelievable. Also, I really really dislike Rand. He is such a @$$hole, and how he treats Dakota is horrible. And if he really hated her as he claims, he would never have taken her with him on this roadtrip through Europe. Which is another beef for me. No matter that Europe is so much smaller than America, I really can’t believe the distance they travelled from country to country in the amount of time they used.

Also, the sex while under the influence of Rapture and their behaviour, I just cannot like it. Pushing each other away, and then kissing, and then saying no. Hurting each other. And if he loathes his parents, knows how mad they are, why did he believe them? His father is in prison in Italy for murdering his mother (who kept the pursestrings) and he really wants to believe he is innocent. But that means that Dakota was behind it all, and though she is the love of his life, and he immediately beliefs that?
And a prison in Italy, no matter how corrupt the country seems, I do not believe him capable of walking in and out at will, and being there just when they show up to talk to him …

I think I am really openminded in just going with the story, but this one really did not work for me. Rand turned to trust and believe way too late in the story, and for Dakota to not hold a grudge and make him grovel, I wish she had more of a backbone.
Also, there are some torture scenes in this book, which are just wrong. And icky.

So, an unbelievable story, a hero I dislike, absolutely crazy bad guys, and a journey that is all over the place, sex under the influence of drugs and crude talk about it later. Also, in the blurb there is talk about a weapons deal? Not in the book at all! Okay finished with ranting, and I have decided that I do not like the book, which does not mean it is a bad book.

Cherry Adair will still be an autobuy author for me, the next book has been pre-ordered, but this series really does not work for me.

6 stars, purely for the fact that I like the writing style, and some of the story or I would have never finished the book.

If you have read this book, please talk to me about it!

© 2012 Reviews by Aurian