After Happily Ever After by Rasmussen, Leslie A.

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After Happily Ever After

Regular price $16.99
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“Smart and funny, After Happily Ever After is an exciting debut.” —Laura Dave, international best-selling author of The Last Thing He Told Me

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, Giabut 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 onbut he's been distracted and disconnected, and she's convinced 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 who's always been there 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 deservesdecisions 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.

Awards:

2022 Eric Hoffer Book Awards Honorable Mention in Commercial Fiction
2022 Independent Press Awards Distinguished Favorite in Contemporary Novel
2022 Reader Views Literary Awards Silver Winner in General Fiction/Novel
2022 Reader Views Literary Awards Silver Award Winner in General Fiction/Novel
2022 Independent Press Awards Distinguished Favorite in Contemporary Novel
One of Popsugar's Best Books of 2021
2021 Top Shelf Awards Runner Up in Fiction (Women’s)
2021 Literary Titan Book Awards Silver Winner
2021 Firebird Award Winner in multiple categories, including Contemporary Novel and Marriage
2021 Book Excellence Awards Finalist in Marriage
2021 International Book Awards Finalist in Fiction: Women's Fiction
2021 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Finalist in Fiction: Realistic
2021 Hollywood Book Awards Honorable Mention in General Fiction
2021 NYC Big Book Awards Winner in Marriage
2021 NYC Big Book Awards Distinguished Favorite in New Fiction (First-time published)
2021 IAN Book of the Year Awards Finalist in Fiction: Women’s Fiction

More Reviews:

"A soon-to-be empty nester learning to love herself one blunder at a time. After Happily Ever After is delightful..." Foreword Reviews

“Rasmussen is a freelance journalist and former TV sitcom writer and the latter is evident in the novel’s sharp, funny dialogue and Maggie’s wry, observational narration.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Leslie A. Rasmussen has written a fiction story that most women can relate to in one way or another with compassion and love. After Happily Ever After is a wonderful read that will not disappoint. I highly recommend After Happily Ever After to women both young and old.” —Readers' Favorite

“Leslie A. Rasmussen’s After Happily Ever After gives voice to many women in the ‘sandwich generation’—and the voice is a funny one.” —Leslie Lehr, prize-winning author of A Boob’s Life and What a Mother Knows

“With warm tenderness, peppered with humor throughout, Leslie A. Rasmussen has written a novel of fresh, relatable characters, easy to root for and easy to know. Anyone juggling the lives of loved ones while navigating their own will recognize the protagonist as she struggles to find the missing parts of a so-called life that turns out to be…herself.” —Sande Boritz Berger, author of Split Level and The Sweetness

After Happily Ever After is a road map for every empty nester whose marriage has lost its spark. You can’t help but see yourself on these pages.” —Adrienne Barbeau, actress and author of There are Worse Things I Could Do and the Vampyres of Hollywood series

“This book takes a very real look at the complex lives of forty-something women who are torn between their duties to all family members while still trying to fulfill their own desires. The characters ring true, and although there are heavy themes, the book manages to be very funny at times and also a fast, easy, read. Many women will see a lot of themselves in Maggie and will enjoy seeing how her circumstances and decisions will play out.” —Seattle Book Review

“Written with honesty and humor and grit, Leslie A. Rasmussen’s wonderful debut novel is filled with poignant and truth and so much clever. Yes, you will cry, and yes, you will laugh out loud and…fall in love with this book.” —Amy Ferris, best-selling author, screenwriter, and playwright 

“Author Leslie A. Rasmussen peppers the story with humor and sarcasm, making Maggie, the protagonist, likeable and easy to identify with. Her breezy writing style is entertaining, but there’s real meaning beneath her attitude. If you like women’s fiction, After Happily Ever After is worth your time.” —Story Circle Book Reviews 


Author Bio:

Leslie A. Rasmussen was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She graduated with a bachelor's in communications from UCLA and went on to write television comedies 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, Maria Shriver, and SheKnows. She loves dogs and besides having two adorable Labradors, she volunteers at the Burbank Animal Shelter in Burbank, California. Leslie lives in Los Angeles and has two sons, and a husband she's been with since college. This is her debut novel. She lives in Los Angeles.

 

Independently published with She Writes Press

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