AFTER DARK – M. Pierce
The Night Owl Trilogy , Book 3
St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN-13:  978-1-250-05837-9
March 2015
Erotic Contemporary Romance

Denver, Colorado – Present Day

After almost a year together, Hannah and Matt Sky have just overcome his “pretend” death.  Matt is a writer, a notoriously private writer, one could almost call him a hermit.  To promote his next book he agrees to go on a local television and explain why he did such an astounding thing.  Before the show, Hannah proposes to Matt, and he is instantly struck dumb.  As he goes cold and speechless before the cameras, he forgets everything they practiced and blurts out they are getting married.  Hannah thinks it's real, until afterward he is pleased with all the publicity he got and incredulous that she believes they will really get married.  Why, they barely know each other!  After going through Matt's pretend memorial service and letting his aunt and uncle and brother, Seth, believe he was dead, and then living through his return to life, Hannah is distraught.  Her life appears to be dedicated to keeping Matt sane, and yet everyday life brings up bigger and bigger problems between them.

Hannah has dealt with Matt during the past year, from their meeting to hiding in the hills to be away from media attention after an old girlfriend revealed that the writer of the best-selling books by M. Pierce is really Matt.  His brother, Seth, was especially hurt, particularly when everyone finds out the other brother, Nate, was in on Matt's disappearance.  After the television show, Hannah is astounded that Matt really doesn't intend to marry her, and she finds out about the journal he's been keeping for his therapist.  In it is every scenario he likes to play out with women.  Hannah realizes that Matt's mind is mainly full of what he wants, but does she have the will to confront his inner self and subject herself to his desires, which could gently be called erotic and not for everyone?

Matt is a guy full of insecurities, jealousy, and generally ignoring anyone else's wants and needs.  The reason the world found out about his not being dead but hiding out in the mountains is because he wrote LAST LIGHT, his recent book.  He has a great enjoyment in letting the whole world learn of his and Hannah's private life, and now he is writing AFTER DARK, opening all the rest of their secrets for the world to see.

M. Pierce has again written about the reclusive Matt and the always patient Hannah.  Written back and forth from each character's point of view, the story seems to go fast and gives insight into Matt's confused mind.  Hannah believes Matt is the love of her life, and whether he wears sweats or a tux, he is attractive to her in every way.  Matt calls Hannah his little bird, but is pathologically afraid of commitment and opening himself to anyone else.  I will admit I believe Matt has some serious mental problems, but whether he can work through them I don't know.

Secondary characters are Matt's brothers, Nate and Seth.  Nate is the responsible brother, and Seth is a member of a band and on the edge of crashing and burning from drugs.  Matt's hatred gets worse when he finds out about what happened between Seth and Hannah while he was playing dead.  Hannah's sister, Chrissy, also gets involved with Seth and brings Matt's hatred to a head, but it may also be his salvation.

AFTER DARK ends The Night Owl Trilogy , and you can definitely read by itself the history of Hannah and Matt and what has happened since their meeting a year ago.  Their entire relationship is intertwined in this story and the previous two books, NIGHT OWL (February 2014) and LAST NIGHT (October 2014). While Matt recognizes some of his problems, he doesn't really want to change his inner self; therefore it is whether Hannah has the strength and mental fortitude to deal with them.  Matt's main Interest is his lust for Hannah and how often he can satisfy it.  A flawed man, at the end Matt finds something that just might be what he wanted all along, even though Seth has a part in it.  If an imperfect man trying to deal with his inner demons intrigues you, this is the book to read this month.

Cece Johns