'Pain isn't remotely kind in that way. Pain wants its promised pound of flesh, ounce for ounce. It won't settle until you're left with nothing but a flaky shell of who you were. The burn of betrayal and the sting of rejection hurt, but nothing compares to the pain of being empty. Nothing hurts worse than not hurting at all and it makes no sense and perfect sense at the same time and I'm convinced I'm going crazy and I'm actually okay with that.'

The passionate story of Tessa and Hardin continues as family secrets, deep betrayals, and career opportunities threaten to tear them apart.

This is the sequel (continuation) of After. Hardin and Tessa's relationship will be tested in ways she never expected, but he knew of all along.

Tessa Young is an 18 year old college student with a simple life, excellent grades, and a sweet boyfriend. She always has things planned out ahead of time, until she meets a rude boy named Hardin, with too many tattoos and piercings who shatters her plans.

Stacey Williams had always loved Axel Teller. But he had paid her no mind. She wanted more than the meaningless flings they had. She wanted her love to be returned. She wanted to be loved back. She did everything to get his attention. She had one-night stands with countless boys - throwing away her innocence - and tearing apart her reputation. All for him. But Axel didn't notice Stacey as anything more than a girl to have a fling with on the side. And Stacey watched as the boy she loved fell for another girl, and they were happy and complete. And Stacey was alone and hated. Tarnished and scarred. She was the girl he left behind. [The first book won the 2015 Wattys for the Cover-to-Cover award and 2016 Fiction Awards. Book two won the 2018 Fiction Awards. #1 in Teen Fiction and Short Story.] book two is currently unavailable, it will be released late 2023.

Honestly what is the description of love? Is it a fairytale? Does the girl always get the prince? Are the villains always trying to mess up your storybook ending? Hell yeah. Just remember no fairytales start off happy. And this was damn sure not close to happy.