After All Is Said And Done: A Novel of Infidelity, Healing & Forgiveness

Two couples as much thrown together as they are torn apart by infidelity, this book drew me in from the start as I eagerly continued to discover what would happen next? Descriptive & well planned, the realism had me believing that the main characters within After All Is Said & Done were my colleagues. Men act like men as the women do what women do best in this moral wrenching take on professional life & what goes on behind closed office doors. I am happy to recommend After All Is Said & Done to all who enjoy this genre & hope that others in search of something new will give this new author a chance as I look forward to much more & a second glance.

The book was a delightful surprise. Although I have been an avid reader for years I have never read anything by this author. The plot grabs you from the first chapter and keeps you hooked for the entire book. Characters are well developed and interesting. It also contains enough twists to not be predictable. This book would make a great companion for a vacation on the beach or for relaxing at home. I look forward to reading other works by this author. I will be looking for them in the bookstore.

Excellent book. The story kept my interest and I throughly enjoyed it.

This is third book Ive read by Ms. Buchanan. Truly woven into the fabric of the lives many doctors and medical staff. I felt for each characters situations as Ive lived that hospital life. Although I was happily married, the main characters many things happening such as cheating doctors, cheating nurses, pregnant and lying by omission regarding childs biological father, the father who raised his son since birth only to find out that his wife had cheated on him again and he wasnt the biological dad but he was his sons dad blood or not blood related. The writer definitely pulled the issue of alcoholism into this book. I have seen what alcoholism does to ones body alone, and to ones psyche. I get the leather restraining that was, I get the various health since Im a registered nurse. No one need be a nurse to benefit from this entire book. Five shiny gold stars.

This is always a sign of a good book for me, when a few days after Ive finished a novel, Im still thinking about it. This is definitely the case with

After All is Said and Done is a powerful story, gripping and unputdownable right from the start. From the opening scene, you are caught up in the drama and the lives of these four characters, watching their joy, pain, anger and depression as though you are viewing it firsthand. Its a fast paced novel, with short bursts of scenes, some only a couple of pages long. It helps to keep the novel moving forward, so you do not even realize how long it is. Even with these brief scenes, you become enthralled with Ethan, angry at Jessica, disgusted with Gavin, and sympathetic to Sarah. There were times when I just wanted to reach out and hug Ethan during his trials... I just couldnt help it. Each character has their flaws and strengths, and you can relate to every one of them as they struggle in life to pick up the pieces and move on. This was such a great tale that I would highly recommend it. I am really looking forward to watching this author grow.

Sarah is married to Gavin, who has had an affair with Jessica, but she is married to Ethan, and pregnant with his child. They are all doctors sharing partnerships, friendships, and perhaps too much personal space all intertwined together. But right now everything is about to explode as Jessica goes into labor and has a son that everyone but Ethan knows is not Ethans. The affair with Jessica and Gavin was over, spouses had taken them back, forgiveness was extended, and then all the lies come out and the one night turns into a baby. Gavin comes clean with Sarah about the baby and their fragile relationship becomes cracked beyond repair and Sarah decides to move on without him. But Jessica and Ethan live under the guise of the babys parentage and Jessica is getting really good at keeping secrets she should be confessing. Jessica wants them to remain a couple and if lies are needed to make that happen, so be it. When Ethans father passes away the pressure of his life explodes like fireworks around him. Ethan crumbles under the stress from complicated family relationships, his supposed failures and misdeeds until the only comfort he finds is in the bottle of scotch sitting by his elbow. When the bottle creates new issues and no longer provides comfort Ethan starts to see only a dark tunnel with no light. When the worst that can happen to you already has what would your next step be? The long trip from infidelity to reconciliation is one paved with truces, promises and hope. When all those things turn into a huge deception no one is going to forgive or forget and the chance of moving on is almost impossible. Ethan, Sarah, Jessica and Gavin cause pain to one another but when you walk forward what is behind you may stay there and you can rise again from the ashes to build a new life if you are honest with everyone including yourself. This book had me daunted before I even started reading it because it has quite a few pages to it. But once you start the number of pages turns out to not be required to give you all the information you start to crave. The plot follows a clear path, with answers to questions, which all readers enjoy. What I did not like is chapters that are usually separated were run together and at times I had difficulty figuring out what was going on. Other than that - great read.

What a fantastic read. This book had me in right from the start. Well written, mature characters, interesting storyline and a decent size book (650 pages) for a change. I have read many books about cheating spouses and I can honestly say that this one strands out above the rest. A well deserved 5 stars. I will certainly be reading more from this author.

The story is a little unbelievable: that a man (Ethan), would want so much to stay with an unfaithful wife (Jessica) who bore the child (Ryan) of another man (Gavin). Ethan seems to be more condemned for his reaction to the deceit and betrayal than Jessica and Gavin are for having the affair. Ethan is taunted and belittled at work by Jessicas and Gavins comments and confrontations. Their flirting at the company Christmas party drives Ethan to create a disturbance there with both of them. Eventually Ethan is confined to the hospital psych ward through the conspiracy of his sister, Renee, and the hospital staff. Of course his adulterous wife and her cousin, Grace, are assigned to be his doctors and they torment him with humiliating examinations and force-feeding. Jessica is especially cruel by bringing their son, which was fathered by Gavin, to visit Ethan to further remind him what he has lost and her contempt for him. In the end there is no comeuppance for Jessica and Gavin who seem to have had all their desires fulfilled and, I suspect, later on get married and have a family with their son. The hospital staff all go on with their lives while Ethan is left to rebuild from the devastation that has befallen him. He marries Sarah (the other discarded spouse in this love quadrangle) and they move to England. I guess I was expecting more of a story about someone excising a cancer from their life and moving on & moving up. It just did not satisfy me that way.

Life and love are not always fair. The characters in this book made choices without considering the way others would be affected. The affair between Gavin and Jessica started a snowball of negative reactions that drove the content of the story. I greatly enjoyed the book and felt it dealt realistically with some tough issues.