Maya Banks – After the Storm

The eighth book in the Kelly/KGI series, published January 7, 2014.
Genre: romantic suspense
Cover: ugly, they should have left his head of completely, so I could just admire his arms.



The Kelly Group International (KGI): A super-elite, top secret, family-run business.
Qualifications: High intelligence, rock-hard body, military background.
Mission: Hostage/kidnap victim recovery. Intelligence gathering. Handling jobs the U.S. government can't…

Over the years, Donovan Kelly has fought relentlessly for justice, women and children always holding a special place in his heart. Working side by side with his brothers, Donovan has witnessed firsthand the toll it's taken—physically, mentally, and emotionally—on his loved ones, and the innocent lives caught in the crossfire. What he never expects is for his next mission to happen right on his home turf—or for it to take a very personal turn.
Picturesque Kentucky Lake is the perfect place for a soul in search of safe harbor. A beautiful stranger has arrived—desperate, breathless, and on the run from a dark past closing in on her and the younger siblings she has vowed to protect. Donovan must now draw on every resource at his disposal—if he wants to save a woman and the children who may prove to be his destiny.


I have read a few reviews about this book, when it was newly published. And those reviews made me decide to wait a while with reading this book, until I would have forgotten some of the negatives. To my own disappointment, I have to agree with the negative reviews, so I am sad that this book did not live up to my usual level of enjoyment a Maya Banks book gives me.

For me, this book lacks suspense, and battle scenes and planning. It has an enormous lot of feelings and emotions and Donovan thinking: they are mine, they are my family, I just know it, I will never let them go. In my eyes, he is a psychopath. The way he takes over their life completely, their care, how he is determined to deal with their bad past on his own, forbidding Eve to even think about it.
And his whole family just accepts this as normal behaviour, Donovan has not known these people for 5 minutes and he thinks as Eve as his, and her half brother and half sister as his kids. Yes, I know, in the other books his brothers acted much the same, just knowing the woman they are supposed to treat as a job, is much more, and can be the one. But there is still some courting, and not this complete taking over as Donovan is doing. He was creepy in his desires. Eve is still recovering from her injuries from the storm, very malnourished and weak, and he is determined to have her in his bed that same evening. No, just not. He talks about taking things slow, but he is a steamroller and just does whatever he thinks is the right thing to do.

And then there is Eve, who has been on the run from her stepfather for a while now, she is at her wits end. She doesn’t want to trust Donovan but she has no other choice. She also loves being his family, and with his family, something she has never known herself. (She grew up with an aunt as her stepfather did not want her, until recently). She fell for him, and did not question much about anything, until she thought he had betrayed her and only wanted the children.

I also did not really believe the behaviour of little Cammie, four years old, scared of everyone, and suddenly accepting of Donovan, wanting to call him daddy, and asking freely for food or toys, when she was absolutely conditioned not to.

What I did like was the little storyline of Rusty and Sean, which I had seen coming for a while now.

The other Kelly’s of course all play their part in this book as well, as it takes place in their hometown and later in the compound where they all live. The couples are all very happily married, and breeding like rabbits. But the attitude of those men for “the wives” really grated on me from time to time as well, keeping them out of everything, keeping them safe. Ignorant, pregnant and chained to the kitchen sink is more like it.

So, I liked the writing style, and the story itself, because it is Maya Banks. I would have DNF-ed the same book by another author for sure. I really dislike Donovan and his attitude in this book though, the characters act really unbelievable. I know this is fiction, but it still has to be believable in some sense for me to enjoy a book. I have to like the characters, and I really did not. Eve was not strong enough, she did not stand up for herself against Donovan and all those other Kellies who were just happy that Donovan found his future in her.

I liked the first part, with Travis working and supporting his sisters, but after Donovan took them into his house, I just did not like it anymore.

4 stars out of 10.

© 2014 Reviews by Aurian