Can you say redemption? Because that’s exactly what this is. Sister Souljah returns with another book in the Coldest Winter Ever series. That last book was just not it, but we’re gonna leave that in the past, and we’re gonna focus on this one!

Love After Midnight gives us everything we were hoping for. Winter is back, and doing her OG stuff while finding love and trying to learn how to make money on her own. This book was everything I didn’t know I needed, and more. Sister Souljah did her big one with this, and I am excited that she is back where she belong.

I’m not a spoiler type of person, but let’s just say if you liked the first book in this series, then you will definitely like this one. I will warn you though, it will leave you with even more questions than you had before, but I will tell you, I think we have another book in the works here. So don’t feel as if this is the end of the road, because there’s some things that will let you know it’s not.

Winter is back you guys!

2.5 ☆
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I read the second book in this installment, "Life After Dark," and I have no comment. This book is what I was hoping would be different, and I was disappointed that it wasn't. Winter still hasn't matured at all. She is 30 and still label-chasing and doing reckless things. This series just wasn't for me.
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Thank you, Netgellay, and Atria Books for the Ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Despite her traumatic past, Winter Santiaga, who is almost 30 years old remains self-absorbed, materialistic, and focused on superficial pursuits. This third installment in the Winter Santiaga series continues this trend, with a plot that goes on aimlessly without clear direction.

The novel opens with Winter in a nightclub, admitting her addiction to drama and that she has not found a man who can truly captivate her. The following 429 pages are filled with frivolous nights out, business dealings about her reality show and fashion enterprise, and questioning who shot her. I was hoping to read about Winter meeting someone that checked all her boxes, and who helped her mature and challenged her to be her best self.

I admire Winter's business sense and her ability to capitalize on her life’s experiences and make her money through legal means. Although Winter is spirited, her lively and intriguing personality is overshadowed by her lack of maturity and accountability. Even though she holds grudges, I admire her loyalty to her word in putting Dutchess Mitchell on her team. While Winter has the support of her family, in fact her three younger sisters demonstrate more maturity than she does, I wish there was a character whom she respected, someone to mentor or guide her towards greater accountability, mindfulness, and being less materialistic and shallow. Throughout the book, Winter's character development is lacking, and I was left wondering about the author's underlying message.

While I continued reading in hopes of unraveling the mystery of Winter's shooter and the potential for love in her life, I ultimately found the novel unsatisfying. I anticipated witnessing Winter's growth into adulthood, her with more of a mature mindset, and her eventual meeting someone who would love her. The lack of plot development and character growth made it challenging for me to connect with Winter or to become invested in her story.

Sister Souljah is back with yet another sequel to The Coldest Winter ever. While this book is better than Life After Death, I still think the "magic" is gone. I first read The Coldest Winter Ever 20+ years ago, and the book was great. Fast Forward to 2024, and although the writing style and story is the same, I think that I am just simply too old to enjoy the narrative now.
Winter is starring in season 2 of her reality show, and is still searching for who shot her and put her in the coma. She is still label chasing, and trying to build her new empire apart from her sister's husband and his plans for her career. Ricky Santiaga is still in the picture as her manager.
I think the younger crowd will enjoy this, and I would still recommend it, but I'm also still looking for something better if that makes sense.
Thank you to #netgalley for this #arc

Love After Midnight is the third book in The Coldest Winter Ever series by Sister Souljah. There was a time when Winter Santiaga was that bitch. Allow me to re-introduce this classic character. Winter was the oldest daughter of a Brooklyn drug kingpen. Reigning hood loyalty until everything fell apart. Fast forward fifteen years and Winter was released from prison, only to be shot and sent to hell in the sequel, Life After Death. (A book that I DNF'ed with no regrets.)

In this third installment titled Love After Midnight, Winter is brought back to life with a mission to find out who shot her while trying to capitalize on newfound fame as the star of a reality TV show and creator of legitimate businesses.

I expected Love After Midnight to be a redemption novel. It started off better than the sequel but quickly became hard to follow, disjointed and confusing. There are no smooth transitions between chapters. New characters are introduced but not fully developed (or truly named). Winter's narcissistic antics and shallow behavior is almost comical. I don't even know what genre to categorize this book. The best I can describe it is urban fiction with themes of fame, revenge and relationships.

I can no longer try to figure out Sister Souljah's purpose for this series. Is it to prove that fame comes at a cost? To point out the difference between heaven and hell on Earth? To jumble readers' brains? Love After Midnight is written like Sister Souljah wrote random dialogue and narrative on index cards, shuffled them and transcribed to paper with no clear direction. The ending even seems out of place and incomplete, not in a traditional cliffhanger kind of way.

This review feels very much like a break-up. Very "it's not you; it's me." The whole time I was reading Love After Midnight, I was thinking that I'm no longer interested in Winter's shenanigans, ghetto princess behavior, hood friends and nonsensical actions. Girl, grow up! Evolve. Learn. Listen. Mature. I want to see Winter win but it's time I hop off this journey. This series is no longer for me.

Happy Early Pub Day, Sister Souljah! Love After Midnight will be available Tuesday, October 8.

Disclaimer: An advance copy was received directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins. ~LiteraryMarie

First I will like to start this review off by saying, The coldest winter ever is my all time favorite book , I was a kid when I read it and here recently my book club read it “ Books We Love To Discuss “ and as an adult it didn’t age well however it is still my favorite book! The also read Life after Death 😌 no comment! I read this with the best intentions of receiving a redemption from the last but I really love the cover so pretty 😍! I feel the storyline was all over the place and it was really hard to figure out what was going on. I finished the book however I am so confused. The ending didn’t feel like a ending, it felt like a to be continue but I don’t understand why 🥲

I missed the earlier books in this series and that could be why this one didn't resonate with me. Winter is not a likable character, at all. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Over to others who enjoy Souljah's work.

Nothing will ever top The Coldest Winter Ever. Its so unfortunate that all the other books from this author are not that great. The Coldest Winter Ever is an all time favorite for me.

I was really excited for this read , I was one of the few that really saw how great life after death was. However , this was very hard to get into and it felt as if the book was not connected to a story line .

Love after midnight brings back the fiesty and unpredictable Ms. Winter as she returns back to the spotlight after her near death experience . Coming from book 2 I just knew it was going to be a much deeper meaning , but it appeared very superficial . I felt as if the story line was different pieces that did not create a story . The ending was a cliff hanger , so it gives hope for the journey of Winter.

Thanks to NetGalley & Simon & Schuster for this Arc

Like most readers that are drawn to this book, I absolutely loved Coldest Winter Ever. I loved Midnight even more. However, I feel that the writing is dangerously out of touch with today’s culture. I had to DNF.

I was really excited to get into this book. I had really looked forward to it since I had read The Coldest Winter Ever. I was really dissapointed that I DNF'd this book I just could not get into it.

I had no idea this was planned or even due for release! So we jump right into Winter’s recovery. As well as how she seems smothered and how she has everything but it nv seems to be enough. I feel very strongly that although she is older she still has the mindset of a teenager, which I am sure happens more often than not when she was locked up so young. She suffered a lot of trauma from a young age as well as barely becoming an adult and suffering even more trauma on top of that. She does draw from her experinces with death but really not using the common sense she swears up and down she has! I will say that she is a character with a lot of layers. As I recall from earlier parts of her story( as well as Midnight s) I think she put her parents on way too high of a pedastool and she sees them as just her parents but not actual people or human beings themselves. This especially has done way more harm than good. For the life of me I could not remember which one of her friends shot her but I know it was mentioned and maybe theres lot s more pieces to the story that have yet to be revealed yet. I was hoping we would see Mercedes s wedding to Mightnight s son. I love love love that Midnight s twin daughters are all grown up and it s a full circle moment! I also think that there is so much more to the story that needs to be discussed for Winter to have a true happy ending.

This is the 3rd book of the series and just like with the 2nd book, I am disappointed. I read the Coldest Winter Ever in High school and reread it as an adult (in my 30’s) I was so excited to know that the author was giving us book 2 after two decades. Used my Christmas Barnes gift card to pre order and everything. The book was underwhelming . I believe the author took the feedback we gave for book 2 and messed with us with the same concept in book 3. To me, it seems as if the author is afraid to evolve. With time, things change. With change, we adapt and I feel like the author has not. This book was disappointing for me. But I would highly recommend others try it from themselves.

Thanks NetGalley for the free ARC! In my opinion, this is a highly engaging and entertaining novel. The storyline was great and I can see more sequels coming because it so entertaining and has twists and turns and leaves you wanting more. The only issue I had with this novel was the transitions, it seemed ideas weren’t always finished and made you wonder if you missed something. I would recommend this book for an engaging read.

Redemption! Sister Souljah has brought Winter back to life. Literally. And she has crafted a readable tale, in the process restoring her credibility in the literary space. I’m not going to revisit her last effort, let’s stay focused on this new novel. Winter is back, fresh out of a coma, and she is still the foul-mouthed narcissist she has always been. However, Winter is now profiting from her new found celebrity and trying to make serious money moves and establish legitimate businesses. So the story centers around Winter navigating her celebrity while trying to come up in the business world.

Souljah manages to mix several themes while consistently dropping social commentary throughout Winter’s struggles. It is a great redemptive work for Souljah, although the ending was very weak and will be the cause of some consternation and confusion. I think there are more Winter episodes to come, and I’m here for it. Welcome back Sister Souljah! Thanks to Netgalley and Simon&Schuster for an advanced DRC. Book will be available Oct. 8, 2024

I have to admit after reading Life After Death I was highly disappointed and definitely on the verge of not reading another Sister Souljah book. But she kinda redeemed herself in this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing this book, with my honest review below.

Like many who will be drawn to this book, I enjoyed The Coldest Winter Ever and had read some of Sister Souljah’s follow up books set in the same world, but had been eager for one focused on Winter (I did not read the first return to Winter book as the plot didn’t seem to my tastes). Love After Midnight focused on Winter as she gets back into the world she ran as a Brooklyn princess in her teens, complete with her father by her side, and I was eager to see if she had grown during her time in prison.

While Sister Souljah writes Winter in the same style for the character I got to know in The Coldest Winter Ever, the general writing and story felt disjointed and at times confusing. While some of that may just be my own tastes (as an example the first chapter opens with writing that seems to emulate the rhythm of a song, but it just didn’t work for me), others would apply for any reader (the last few chapters). On the positive side, I would view this as the promise of a good story emerging about Winter’s childhood friends betraying her and her continued shallowness despite a near death experience. Ultimately though, some of the chapters (see previous notes) just didn’t work for me and this felt very surface level throughout. Perhaps this is getting the reader ready for the next book (we end on a bit of a cliffhanger) which will dive deeper, but with so many places Love After Midnight could have taken me, I felt there was more than enough story available that could have been developed more deeply in this book alone.