I'd like to welcome Sara York to the blog! She's written a wonderfully touching story After The End about two young men facing a very different life then either of them planned.
Things rarely turn out how we think. I remember having dreams and ambitions when I was in high school. Almost a quarter of a century since graduation, most everything I was positive would happen, hasn’t. I’m very happy with how my life has turned out. I love my kids, they are two of the greatest people I know. My marriage is good. It has lasted 23 years, so I’d say that it’s better than I really thought it would be. I’m not doing the job I thought I would be doing, but being an author is so much better than anything else I would have done. I do struggle with blog posts, but otherwise the writing is good.
Anyway, William and Dean have plans for after graduation, but everything changes when the Ebola virus mutates and spreads. Both William and Dean have choices they need to make at the end of high school. William’s choices leave him in Atlanta, but Dean is planning on moving to Boston. Dean has had it rough and needs to get away. When William gives him money, it drives a wedge between them that is so deep that it seems like nothing can bring them back together. However, the end happens and William and Dean are forced to rely on each other.
Love forged in the flames has the potential to be deeper. William goes searching for Dean, and brings him back to his house. In those first few days, Dean is unsure how he feels. In that uncertainty, Dean works through his issues, but nothing is how either one of them thought it would be.
I think the instability both William and Dean experience helps them to grow. They both become better men because of what they go through. I hope you enjoy their story. Both Dean and William are true heroes. They become stronger through the adversity as they learn what love really is.
Excerpt
The sharp sound of a siren jolted Dean awake. He slapped William’s chest and started to stand but got tangled up in the sheets. The floor came at him and he tumbled, bracing for the impact.
“Oof.” The air was knocked from his lungs, but he didn’t stay still. He started moving again, kicking his legs free from the sheets. “Will,” Dean screamed.
William groaned and said something, but Dean couldn’t make out the words over the loud noise. He moved to the wall, searching for the light switch. Nothing happened.
“The lights, they won’t turn on.”
William was beside him, his hands on the switch with Dean’s. They both flipped the lights then clutched each other. Dean reached for the door but William grabbed his hand.
“Don’t, it could be hot.”
Blood roared through Dean’s ears and the room spun. “Shit, I didn’t even think of that.”
“We need clothes. If the house is on fire, we should grab more than what we need right now.”
“Fuck.” Dean bent and searched frantically for their clothes. He picked up a pair of underwear then another, one was big, the other smaller. Something crashed downstairs and he jumped. He dropped the underwear then picked them back up, sliding on the smaller pair.
“Will, underwear?”
“What?” William stepped out of the closet. Though Dean couldn’t see his expression, he knew he was pissed.
“Underwear, here.” He tossed the underwear and William grabbed it from the air before ducking back into the closet. Dean heard a zipper and wondered what William was doing, but he didn’t go look. He tugged on the borrowed shorts and pulled on a shirt, not caring if it was his or William’s.
“What are you doing?” Dean called out.
“Getting some sweats and hoodies. The weather may be getting warmer, but it’s still cold out at night.”
Panic filled him when another crash sounded. He could hear the angry spit and pop from the fire. The noise grew louder, and he wondered how much time they had. “God, where are we going to stay?”
“I have a small tent in here. Let me grab it.”
Another crash from below and he jumped. “Damn it, William. The house is on fire. We don’t have time.”
“Babe, just let me grab some stuff.” William yelled, his voice going high. “My room is over the side porch. We can climb over the roof to the balcony. It’s only a five or six foot drop from there. Then we can go down the stairs by the pool.”
“Shit. How bad do you think it is?” The tone William used made Dean pause. He’d been upset and now William was even more upset. They needed to calm down if they were going to get out of this alive.
“No clue, but there is a fire suppression system. We’ll be okay in here as long as the water sprinklers don’t turn on.” William stepped out of the closet and Dean went to him.
“We’ll be okay, right?”
“I swear I’ll do all I can to make sure we’re oaky. If the sprinklers come on, run to the window and get out. For now, here is a sleeping bag. We might need this.”
William continued packing and Dean stuffed the bag along with some clothes into a backpack that William had given him. He went back into the bathroom and grabbed his bag that he’d tossed in to the room earlier in the day. Money might not be needed now that the world was going to hell, but they didn’t know that for sure yet and he didn’t want to be caught without cash if he needed it.
William stepped out of the closet with a flashlight that illuminated the room. Dean glanced to the door and saw that a bit of smoke was seeping into the room. He was glad he hadn’t opened it earlier.
“I don’t hear any sirens. My parents have an alarm that ties directly to the fire station. If there are any firemen left, they’ll be coming to help.”
“What if there is no one to help?”
“Then we’re on our own. We can deal with anything. You and I are both strong.”
Dean took William’s hand and tugged him close. “I’m scared.”
“Me too.”
Blurb:
With international flights crisscrossing the skies on an hourly basis, are we ever really safe? When a strain of the Ebola virus mutates; it spreads quickly leaving the medical community shattered. People are dropping in the streets and life, as most know it, comes to an end. Two city dweller survivors, Dean and William, are forced to flee the city and live in the wilderness—where dangers lurk behind every tree and in every valley. Not everyone alive after the end is good, and William and Dean are faced with challenges that would bring many to their knees. Growing up in the hood of Atlanta, Dean knows how to overcome trials, but he knows nothing of love. Can he sustain a relationship with William, or will his doubts end them before they even have a chance? From birth William has had a silver spoon in his mouth and two in each hand, but the end brings him face to face with reality where he has to take responsibility for his life. After the end, money has no meaning, and life is lived on the edge. Join William and Dean after the end and find out how close to the edge they come.
REVIEW:
Talk about a book hitting home. With both the ebola scare and the severe respiratory virus sending kids to the hospital around the country this book is timely to us all.
Dean is a senior in high school. He goes to a school on scholarship that is so out of his league he has hidden where he lives from everyone at school. William is the golden boy. His parents have his whole life planned out, including how many kids he will have with the girl he marries. Unfortunately William is gay.
William and Dean have been having sex for a while now. Hiding their hook-ups and when William offers Dean money after they have sex Dean takes offense. After he leaves William is contacted by his parents who are in London. He hears them die on the phone right after they warn him to stay inside and hide until the initial outbreak has passed. Once he gets over his shock the one person he wants to save is Dean.
Dean reluctantly comes back home with William but when William's house is set on fire they have to run for their lives. While Dean has taken care of himself for years this is a whole new world. Finding somewhere for them to stay and a way to live off the land while realizing what they mean to each other is the crux of the story.
This is the first book I've read by this author and I enjoyed it thoroughly. The characters are well thought out and represented. There is enough action to keep the story moving along. I would give this one 4 stars.
The Author:
Writing is Sara York's life. The stories fight to get out, often leaving her working on four or five books at once. She can't help but write. Along with her writing addiction she has a coffee addiction. Some nights, the only reason she stops writing and goes to sleep is for the fresh brewed coffee in the morning. Sara enjoys writing twisted tales of passion, anger, and love with a good healthy dose of lust thrown in for fun.
Website: http://sarayork.com/sarayork/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sara.york1?fref=ts
Twitter: @sarayork: https://twitter.com/sarayork
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