Thanks Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

This was a great story. I feel like most books I read are all about finding your happy ever after and then that's it. This book bravely shows us what can happen AFTER. So much happens to Maggie in the book and it's so realistic that it's scary. I did like how some chapters were from others points of view, which added more to the dynamic. I really do wish we can see what happen after this ending.

I was given a free audiobook by the Author/Publisher through Netgally in exchange for my honest review.

Maggie is a 45 year old housewife. With her daughter soon to be leaving for college, her father in an assisted living facility with rapidly deteriorating health, and her marriage in a slump, she struggles with defining what makes her happy and what her purpose is. It's in this rut that she meets Michael, an attractive younger man, at the gym. He gives her the attention she's been missing from her husband and becomes her distraction from all of the stress in her life. After her husband finds out about her and Michael she has to decide which path to take. Is it worth throwing everything away to start over?

This book was written mainly in first person from Maggie's point of view with a few small sections written from other points of view (Her husband and her father) I especially liked the parts from her father's point of view that give an insight into what was going on in his head as his mind was slipping.

I enjoyed this book, instead of centering around characters in their prime it tackles real life issues faced in middle age.

I'd recommend to anyone in their 30s-50s struggling with an empty nest, aging parents or dull marriage.

She’s trying to get control of her life. I enjoyed this story about a woman whose daughter is now a teenager and husband works constantly. She cares for her aging father.

I found the narration speed at 1.0 X to be too slow and sped it up a tiny bit. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy of this audiobook.

The title piqued my interest, and the description of this book really spoke to me. A 45 year old SAHM who feels lost as her daughter prepares for college and feels taken for granted by her husband. The main character is also dealing with her aging parents - - pretty spot on for many 40ish moms! Unfortunately, I never connected with Maggie, the main character. I found her to be spoiled, whiny, and immature, and I was repeatedly frustrated by her poor life choices. You.Are.A.Grown-Up!!

I think this might be one of those books that is better in print than audio; I listened to the audio. For most of the book, Maggie is the narrator, but occasionally her dad or husband would narrate a chapter. Because there is only one voice reading the audio book, I wouldn't pick up on it right away. I've listened to several multicast audios, and this audio book could have benefitted from multiple readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for an ALC of After Happily Ever After in exchange for an honest review.

Maggie Dolan is 40. Her 17-year-old daughter, Gia, is leaving for university next year. Maggie's husband is a psychologist and, after 20 years of marriage, is not as caring as she would like him to be. He doesn't care what she does, he doesn't ask about her day, he simply doesn't want to spend time with her, though he does not say so in so many words. Maggie, who was a senior editor at a publishing firm, is now a stay-at-home mom who nobody notices.

If these problems are not already overwhelming, Maggie has to deal with her mother who is a borderline narcissist and a brother whom she does not trust. Maggie's father is suffering from Parkinson's and is in a care home. He is the one Maggie loves most in the world but now, even he is slipping away from her.

When everything becomes too much for Maggie, a stick appears to save her from drowning. The stick is Michael. But is Michael the saviour or will he push her into deeper waters?

I liked the story. It talks about anxiety in the 40s. The empty nest syndrome. The fear of losing your parents and not living up to the expectations of your spouse. It talks of the invisibility many SAHMs suffer from. The work gets done but no one bothers to ask about the worker. Even Jim's midlife crisis is well-described. The way he wants to just stop working and socializing and go away somewhere remote. The way he feels so guilty about it all but cannot help thinking about it. When Maggie's father slowly starts losing his memory and forgets even the simplest things (what does a circle look like? what day is today?), it is so heartbreaking to see him tell Maggie to "not visit me if I am going to forget about you."

What I did't like (or rather, WHO I didn't like) was Maggie. She came across as absolutely childish. In some parts, I wondered if <I>she</i> was not narcissistic. All she thinks about is herself. When Maggie's mother hugs her daughter, she feels resentful because her mother never hugged <I>her</i> like that. When she sees a teenager at gym, she is jealous of her youthful skin and toned body (a reminder that Maggie is 40 and the girl is 19).

<spoiler>She starts an affair with a much younger man. If anything angers me, it is infidelity in marriage. Please divorce your spouse then do whatever. Do everyone a favour.
Plus, Maggie is such a pro at gaslighting, I couldn't even. I mean, she blames her affair on her husband "Jim wasn't paying me attention, so what could I do than seeing another man?"
Well, lady, I hate to say this to you but there are PLENTY of other things you can do rather than cheating on your husband.
After all this, we are supposed to feel sorry for "poor Maggie."</spoiler>

The narrator, Tiffany Philips, did a good job of reading the book though I wish she had introduced some changes in the "Dad" and "Jim" chapters, especially as she changed her voice for these characters when the story was from Maggie's perspective. I'd also like to keep Leslie Rasmussen on my future TBR because her writing is surprisingly breezy - I couldn't believe this is a debut.

3 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley, Blackstone Publishing, and Leslie Rasmussen for the audio ARC.

3.5
This book was good. It’s well written and the story flows nicely. It deals with some very deep issues and I think I might have been just a little more emotionally drawn in because the character and I are about the same age and my father is going through something so incredibly similar right now it really hit home (now with the rest of the stuff going on in the book, nope no feelings of personal connections).
I did feel, at times, that Maggie really doesn’t consider the feels of most people when she’s going about doing her thing. I mean that in the general sense and with just about everything. She is also a bit bad at taking responsibility for her own actions and how what she does isn’t the fault of everyone else but that sometimes the things you do really are your own fault. I won’t go into detail there though because it’ll definitely hit spoilers.
I received the audiobook version of this book from NetGalley and, although it was good, the one thing that would have made it more difficult if I didn’t have a written copy is that at times the perspective switches to a different person. Male to female, the voice stayed the same in narration but was from first person. So, it was sort of like every character was the same female. The voices did minor changes when there was a conversation but it was tricky if not paying exceptional attention at all time.
All in all this is a good story that has interesting characters and is well written.

This story is beautiful but also a hard listen for me. This book deals with cheating, aging parents and finding out what you really want. The narration was great and it kept me interested. I will be looking for more from this author and narrator.

Oh man, did I feel for Maggie! With her daughter about to leave the house and her husband distant and ignoring her, Maggie has to figure out what she wants to do with the rest of her life.

I haven’t reached Maggie’s stage in life yet, but this book was so well written that I found Maggie incredibly relatable and had a very easy time putting myself in her shoes. I’m sure other moms will love this honest look into another family’s household, when it’s not all shiny and happily ever after. Maggie made some decisions that I don’t think I would have, but I could understand how someone in her position might want to. She missed a lot of red flags that were glaringly obvious to the reader, too!

I enjoyed this author’s writing style and Maggie’s snark. It was also interesting to get a couple chapters from her husband’s POV, to learn the things he wasn’t telling Maggie. The chapters from the POV of Maggie’s aging father were heartbreaking, as he struggled with losing his memory.

The audiobook production did a great job of bringing the listener into the story. I thought the narrator was a great fit for Maggie's character.

The ending was a little abrupt and I would have liked more resolution, but it did stick with the title’s theme.

I think this book will really resonate with moms, wives and adult daughters that are trying to do it all.

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 ⭐ book

4 ⭐ narrator

After Happily Ever After was a good debut for Leslie A. Rasmussen.

Maggie was relatable and a well developed character. As a mother she's approaching that age where she's needed to assist her aging parents, her daughter is gearing to leave the nest and her relationship is lack luster. She's unsure of what she wants and finds herself tempted with a younger man.

This younger man, Michael, just annoyed me! His character never won me over. I found him irritating and rather predictable.

Through life's challenges Maggie finds her way to advocating for what she wants and begins fighting for it all. But is it all for nothing and too late?

I will say this, I did not like how abruptly it ended. I feel like it just stopped and there was more to be said.

This book was full of potential but overall didn’t work for me. I found most of the characters unlikable and struggled with the lack of accountability the main character held for herself.

After Happily Ever After by Leslie A. Rasmussen
Narrated by Tiffany Phillips

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Maggie Dolan finds herself at forty-five at a crossroads in her life. Once a high-level executive, she’s chosen to be a stay-at-home mom for the last seventeen years. But now with her daughter, Gia, soon leaving for college, and her husband, disconnected and with secrets he hasn’t shared, Maggie decides it’s time to figure out what she wants for the rest of her life. As she begins her journey, she has to deal with a narcissistic mother, a brother who doesn’t like her and most damaging of all, the news that her father, her rock, has medical issues that may take him from her. Overwhelmed by all these issues, she’s led in a direction that could destroy what she’s built and make her question the choices she’s made. She’s torn between the life she’s always known and something more exciting that she never expected.

I listened to the audiobook version and I feel that I would have enjoyed it more had I read it myself - in places I struggled to keep track of who was narrating the chapter. I can see this being an enjoyable book club book as it has a lot of talking points. For a debut novel this was a nice enjoyable read, I just wasn't wowed by it.

Rating 3/5

Nicely written but I just couldnt relate to the characters. The narration was good. I also did like the different point of views but the book just came off whinny/annoying. This just wasnt for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for this ARC for a honest review.

After Happily Ever After by Leslie A Rasmussen is so relatable! As someone who has gone through similar thoughts as the main character (Maggie) in this book, I found it very accurate in some perspectives. The narration by Tiffany Phillips was well done. I found myself smiling and laughing while listening to this book. Thank you #NetGalley and #Blackstone Publishing for allowing me to listen to this book I requested. I really did enjoy it.

There’s lots going on in this book- most of it comes across as a midlife crisis. This book really sums up getting older- teenage children, poorly parents, love, Affairs, and questions about things you wish you had done.

This book was an emotional roller coaster and it was so real!

This book can happen to anyone of us at anytime. The story broke my heart and my soul hurts for these characters.

My mind was races with who was at fault and who I really disliked. But at the end of the book, I blame them both and I ❤️ them both!

Chapter 18 blew me away! All I can say is life is short! Hold your love ones close people!!!

P.s. I make dots on my calendar too! 😉

Thank you Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley!!!

I was surprised at the topics that this story really dove into. They were hard topics that involve a lot of emotion and the characters were very relatable. Between struggling marriages, dementia and aging parents, teenage sex, and mother daughter relationships, this book really packed a lot of reality within it.

Based on the title, I was not expecting there to be so many trials and tribulations that really brought the story together, but it was a welcome surprise. A book about humans and their flaws is refreshing because happily ever afters aren’t like fairytales in real life. I appreciated the realistic approach because family dynamics can be difficult sometimes and to see that rawness reflected in a fictional work was great.

Well this book was kinda depressing. I thought this book would totally be different. There were so many things I had problems with. I don’t really have anything positive to say. The main character was a spoiled women who is selfish and I honestly did not like her at all. There actually wasn’t really a character I liked. The one thing I really hate in books is cheating and characters who are fine with having something with someone who is already married. I hoped that there would at least be one uplifting moment. But the ending was left pretty open, wich sadly didn’t help.
So sadly this one was not for me at all.
Arc was provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

Name of Book: After Happily Ever After
Author: Leslie A. Rasmussen ~ Debut Author
Genre: Family Drama
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Pub Date: April 12, 2022
My Rating: 3.5 ~ rounded up!

I got this recommendation as several readers in one of my FaceBook Book Clubs enjoyed it.
Maggie Dolan is a forty-five, stay-at-home mom (by choice), teenage daughter Gia, who will soon be off to college. Her Dad, her rock, has Dementia is in a memory care facility and his health is failing rapidly. Her husband Jim is a Psychologist and is not happy with his job feels over-worked and not appreciated.
Her mother seems to be the same, their relationship was never great. In fact, Gia is much closer to her Grandmother than Maggie is to her Mom. Brother Jerry is six years young and never close. Jerry has always been jealous of Maggie’s relationship with their Dad.

Maggie is having a difficult time with all of this. She is torn between the life she has had for the past twenty years or moving on to something new.
She meets Michael a young, good-looking guy at the gym and is flattered that there is a connection.

She goes to his apartment and he offers her lunch ~ Top Ramen and a Joint. Maggie turns down both. Michael’s apartment décor consists of a pic of superman giving the finger and then there were action figures in fighting position in his bed room ~ seriously???
I am sure many readers laughed out loud but I just wasn’t in a mood for what seemed sooo ridiculous.
I felt that Maggie and Jim’s situation is all too real!!!
Story is written from the POV of several of the character; with Maggie taking the lead.
Sure kept me reading as I truly was hoping for a Happy Ending.

Audiobook is narrated by Tiffany Phillips and she did a good job with performing Maggie but not so much with the guys.

Want to thank NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for this audio eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for an honest professional review. Publishing Release Date scheduled for April 12, 2022.

After Happily Ever After by Leslie A. Rasmussen

Maggie is a middle aged stay at home mother who is dealing with all kinds of things within her family. She was a daddy's girl growing up. She is dealing with parental aging, daughter Mia growing up, empty nest, marriage problems this feels like it is happening all at once. This is typical how a middle aged women feels when all things happen at the same time or within a short period of time.

This is a debut book that really dives in on the perspective from a middle age women dealing with major issues and feeling like she is doing it all alone. Maggie husband Jim seems to be having his own crisis about his career but that was not explained in the detail that Maggie's midlife crisis was playing out. This book pulled at you emotional with what Maggie is dealing with it feels like Maggie cannot get a break. She finds a sliver of relief with a handsome younger man she meets at the gym.

I felt pulled in different directions about this story it felt like communication fell apart and this is the cause of the crisis playing out. I like that the author did not tidy it up at the end and make it all happy. It was a realistic play on what happens when all these forces come to roost in a short period of time and women feeling unappreciated and stressed to the max.

I enjoy the narrator it was very clear and engaging.

It is really nice to see this kind of book that looks at the reality of some middle aged women and if this appeals to you then this book would be good for you to read.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

Maggie is a struggling 45-year-old, she has been married for 20 years but feels that her husband is not interested in her anymore, her teenage daughter is 18, soon and will be leaving home and her father has just been diagnosed with Parkinsons.

I enjoyed this because of the raw themes in the novel, illness, death, family, affairs, depression and loss of identity. Parkinsons is extremely close to home for me, and to hear how it was interesting, although the diagnosis progresses within this novel to something else, this is still an illness that I was able to relate to in different ways.

The novel was mainly told through the story of Maggie, however, sometimes flicked to the characters of her husband, Jim, and her father. This gave the listener an understanding of what these other two characters were going through; the struggles that they were facing, and how they were dealing with them.

The actions that Maggie makes within this novel, although are not right, I can see as justified and happening, yes, she realises her mistakes, nearly too late, but again I found this to be realistic and flowing within the novel.

I also enjoyed this narrative as it showed the struggle in everyday life, it wasn't that everything was pretty and made to have a happy conclusion.
I can definitely see a lot of mixed reviews about this book, as the narrative does not take the direction that is expected, but I really enjoyed it and it kept me on my toes.