After Happily Ever After by Leslie A. Rasmussen

Release: April 6th 2021
Format: Ebook
Publisher: SheWrites Press
Source: Suzyapproved Book Tours
Find it at: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N

Maggie Dolin is forty-five and isn’t dealing with getting older very well. Seventeen years ago, she gave up her job in publishing to raise her daughter, Gia—but now her only child is about to leave for college, and Maggie isn’t sure what her new purpose will be. She’s been the caretaker and nurturer for so long that she can’t even remember the last time someone took care of her.

She wishes Jim, her husband of nineteen years, would take that role on—but he’s been distracted and disconnected. And she’s sure he’s hiding something from her. Her self-involved, judgmental mother and resentful brother, meanwhile, are certainly no help, and her father—the only person in her life to come in support for her and asked nothing in return—is dealing with increasingly serious health issues, leaving Maggie without her rock.

As all these stressors pile on, a chance meeting with a younger man causes Maggie to act in a way that is completely out of character for her. As she gets deeper in, she’s forced to make some big decisions about what she wants and deserves—decisions that could change her life forever.

After Happily Ever After deals with love, marriage, family, the empty nest, aging parents and what happens when they all come crashing down at the same time.

About the Author:

Leslie A. Rasmussen is the author of After Happily Ever After: A Novel. She graduated with a bachelor’s in communications from UCLA and went on to write television comedies and is a member of Writers’ Guild of America, West. She wrote for Gerald McRaney, Burt Reynolds, Roseanne Barr, Norm McDonald, Drew Carey, and Ralph Macchio as well as The Wild Thornberrys and Sweet Valley High. Later, she earned a master’s degree in nutrition and ran her own business for ten years. Most recently, Leslie has written personal essays for online magazines such as Huffington Post, MariaShriver, and SheKnows. She loves dogs and besides having two adorable Labradors, she is a member of The Alliance of Therapy Dogs and has volunteered at The Burbank Animal Shelter. Leslie lives in Los Angeles and has two sons, and a husband she has been with since college. This is her debut novel.

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After Happily Ever After Review:

What happens when you have a mid-life crisis and your husband and daughter don’t give you the attention you crave? This predicament is what Maggie goes through in the story, and it was interesting to see the decisions she makes that could change her life.

The author did an excellent job in writing the debut. From the get-go, I could relate to Maggie and the emotions she went through. She makes some bad choices that don’t end up well, but oddly, I felt that a part of me would have done what she did if I were in her situation. The author also writes the family dynamics between Jim and Gia nicely. While Michael is someone I found charming initially, it was interesting to see how the author made me change my thoughts about him later.

However, one of my favorite story arcs was the storyline between Maggie and her father. I adored how the author gave him his perspective, and some of the scenes between him and Maggie were heartbreaking. On a side note, I had not even heard of Lewy Body Dementia until I read this tale. I also admired how the author makes Maggie resonate with her feelings for her father vs. her mother and why Gia behaves the same way with her bs. Jim.

But, I wish there were some minor parts that the author had detailed better. For instance, I never really got why Jim was so distant towards Maggie. Even though Jim explains the reason, it is a one-liner and doesn’t justify his behavior with her.

Apart from that, I enjoyed reading “After Happily Ever After” a lot, and kudos to the author for delivering a charming debut novel.