After the Vows

A Decker Family Novel (Covert Affairs, Book 1)

De: Claudia Burgoa

Narrado por: Tyler Tetsuda, Emma Wilder

From USA Today best-selling author Claudia Burgoa comes an emotional, suspenseful new best-friend’s-little-sister romance.

His mission is to save the world. But can he keep his promise?

I’m still unsure how I got here. There was Vegas. Alcohol involved. And rumor has it, Elvis was our witness. All that happened 10 years ago.

Ten.

Tall, dark, and delicious, Seth Bradley is some sort of Double-O-Seven—and my childhood crush. One moment I’m Rachel Green discovering that she’s married to Ross Geller. Next, I have to run for my life. This isn’t how I imagined my happily ever after.

Right now, I’m just hoping to get out of this one alive.

After the Vows is the first book of the Covert Affairs duet. A propulsive book that will leave you gasping with a delicious cliff-hanger.

©2022 Claudia Burgoa (P)2022 Claudia Burgoa

What a great first book!💖

Covert Affairs duet
Book One

🔘Romantic suspense
🔘Married in Vegas
🔘Brother’s best friend

Oh my goodness, this novel was just what the doctor ordered! The tension had me on the edge of my seat, and the way the romance blossomed slowly was absolutely fascinating.

Seth, our tormented protagonist, carried the weight of his troubled past, which intertwined with Teddy's. They had undeniable chemistry, but they desperately needed to work on their communication.

The grand finale left me hanging off a cliff. There are many unanswered questions, and I have a feeling certain characters will come back to give much-needed clarification.

🎧This dual narration by the incredible Emma Wilder and Tyler Tetsuda was a delightful treat. Emma's performance was on point. Both narrators truly brought the story to life. Overall, if you enjoy romantic suspense, this is an ideal listen for you.
Thank you Forever and Always PR for this ALC.

Seth and Teddy (Theodora) together at last?

This is a whirlwind of a book! Seth and Teddy (Theodora) have had a long term relationship. But in this book, the simmering love-hate relationship starts to boil over. Seth and "The Organization" still have unfinished business and Teddy gets pulled in. They just can't seem to figure out how to make their relationship work.

There is a cliff hanger at the end of the book, but luckily the second book in the duet series is already available.

This is the first of the books of the Decker clan and although there was clearly a lot that happened in the past, I had no problem following the story in this book. It might have been better to have read previous books to understand the characters and what preceded this story.

There is sex, violence, and language so I recommend this book for mature readers.

I listened to the audio version of this book. Both narrators are wonderful.

Seth and Teddy, Part 1

This is the first book in the Covert Affairs duet, you must read/listen to both for the complete story.

Claudia Burgoa has become one of my favorite authors this year. Anytime I see her name, I snap it up and read/listen to it! I was fortunate enough to listen to this duet. The story was very good and this duet connects to all of the other Decker Family duets, but can be read/listened to as a pair. There were parts that were predictable, but it was so worth it!

Book receives 5 stars, hands down. The female narrator, Emma Wilder, is a 4 and male narrator, Tyler Tetsuda, is a 3.5.

Tropes:
Romantic Suspense
Grumpy/Sunshine
Secret Agent Romances
Best Friends Little Sister
Forced Proximity

**Be aware of the trigger warnings before starting this duet, it addresses sensitive topics**

Thank you for the copy, this is my honest opinion.

So intense

This book will take you through the entire range of human emotions in such a short period of time.I also listened to the Unexpected Everlasting duet immediately preceding this one, which was both a good and bad thing. Good because it gave me context for this book since the MMC is the son of Mason and Ainsley, but since that’s duet is also emotionally charged, I was drained by the time I finished this series. Claudia does an amazing job with the depth of these charaters and Emma Wilder and Tyler Tetsuda do an amazing job bringing Teddy and Seth to life in this heart wrenching story.

Narration: Dual narration, first-person present tense, POV

Tropes: Enemies to lovers, strong FMC, bodyguard, second chance, kidn@pping, secret life, trauma and therapy,

Overall: 4.5

Spice: 2

Humor: 1

Drama: 4

Darkness: 2.5

Seth is coming to a crossroads in his life where he will need to decide if he wants to be a part of The Organization, even though he already has his own company, or disengage from something he though was expected of him his whole life. A problem he thought he had dealt with years ago, appears to have returned, and has put Seth’s family and inner circle at risk, with Teddy (Seth’s dead best friend’s little sister) at the center of the danger.

While trying to determine the best way to take out the assailants, a secret is uncovered that shakes these two to their core. With the threat looming, will Seth be able to keep his promise and get closer to the woman who stole his heart and never gave it back?

Action, Romance, Angst - it really has it all

I couldn't stop listening to After the Vows, addicted to find out how Teddy & Seth's story plays out. I loved the characters connection and chemistry and throw in the action and it's a perfect mix.

Hurt so good!

I couldn’t get through this audio fast enough. Seth and Teddy’s relationship has always intrigued me and watching their story unfold hurt in the best possible way. I can’t tell you how much I adored these characters. Tyler Tetsuda and Emma Wilder made Seth and Teddy’s characters so real. The first half of their journey was brought to life with outstanding performances by the narrators. I jumped right into book 2 after the epic cliffy of this book!

On the run with Seth and Teddy

4.7 stars

This is the first book in the Covert Affairs series and it is an aural delight as Tyler Tetsuda and Emma Wilder bring this book to life with their narration. Seth and Teddy are two people trying to deal with their feelings when they are gobsmacked by an action undertaken years ago at the behest of Archer, Seth’s best friend. When the details come to light, Seth and Teddy need to come to grips dealing with the situation when something more pressing arises and forces them to be together. These two have off the charts chemistry but it is colored by their pasts. The wit and banter between them keeps the drama flowing as nuanced by the tonal quality of the narrators' voices. It started a little slow but that just gives more strength to the complex nature of the character development showing their vulnerabilities, flaws and their ability to forgive and move on to do what needs to be done, articulated beautifully. The story ends in a cliffhanger and I cannot wait to see how much more emotion will be pulled from me until this adventure comes to its conclusion.

Action packed part 1

These books are a duet and must be read together. I’m not a fan of cliffhangers (and oh what a cliffhanger this one was…), but I was able to dive it to book 2 immediately. Plus, I’m a sucker for romantic suspense so I had to check these out.

This is the story of Seth Bradley and Teddy St. James. Seth is struggling working for the family company and proving himself to his father. All while mourning the loss of his best friend, Archer after a mission went wrong that he still blames himself for several years ago. Enter Teddy, Archer’s sister. She and Seth have a complicated love-hate relationship. Their connection is combustible, and they’ve had an on and off thing for years. Seth has held them back from becoming anything serious. Little did they know Archer would have the last word. They find out they were married in Vegas 10 years prior.
When social media outs them, they become targets. Events happen and they must work together to find Piper (Archer’s fiancé) when she goes missing after an attack. They agree to address the dissolution of their marriage after they find Piper. However, Seth has realized his true feelings and has no intentions of letting Teddy go.

This story is obviously part of a bigger world with other books and characters. It was fine read as a stand-alone story. I enjoyed Claudia’s storytelling. It’s a fast paced, action pact story. The banter between Seth and Teddy is great. It left me intrigued to check out the other stories in the Decker Family.

Narration - Emma Wilder was brilliant as always. Tyler is a new to me narrator. I enjoyed him as well, however once in awhile during heavy dialogue scenes, it was hard to distinguish between the characters because they all sounded a little too similar.

Hang on for a wild ride!

After the Vows is packed full of romantic suspense, all the family drama you could ever want and a cliffhanger that had me quickly pressing play on the second half of this duet.

Seth and Teddy have an interesting relationship that’s not quite enemies-to-lovers but it's really close. They obviously have a history that is ultimately revealed and takes their lives and turns them upside down.

Tyler Tetsuda and Emma Wilder give strong performances. They both easily brought the characters to life.

Thanks to Forever and Always PR for the ALC!

Great Listen/Read

After the Vows is the first book in the Covert Affairs Series. In this book, we meet Seth and Teddy and follow their relationship progression despite much suspense and drama. This was a little different micro-trope than I'm accustomed to... Romantic Suspense... but it was a good one! I love a good forced-proximity, best friend's little sister, STEAMY romance! The audiobook was narrated by Tyler Tetsuda (a new to me narrator) and Emma Wilder... Both did a great job bringing this story to life! I received an ALC of this audiobook and appreciate the opportunity to review.