When aid workers Will, Melanie, and Jon find themselves tangled in an incident with devastating consequences, throwing them into a world of chaos and despair. Can their loved ones help them find their way back to life?
Escape is the second in this series of interconnected novellas.
Melanie
All I want to do is numb the guilt and pain. And the best way I know to do this is to go out and find a hot guy to distract me for a few hours. I don’t see a problem with that.
Well, someone tell this to my housemate – and best friend – Owen, who just won’t stop nagging me about getting help “to heal.” Why won’t he let me deal with this my way?
- Author: Dani Elias
- Release Date: March 11, 2025
- Genre: Romance
- My Rating:
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
- Spice: 🌶️
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To the ones who carried guilt that wasn’t theirs to bear. This book is for you
Escape is book 2 in the Aftermath series by Dani Elias This time we follow Melanie after the accident that had some long lasting effects on Will (MMC in Mission).
Yes, both Mel and Will were in the same accident but we learn how the accident affected Melanie this time and how different it is from Will’s events in Mission.
This was such a good book! We meet Melanie who is struggling to get back to normal after surviving the accident that unfortunately took the life of one of their co-workers. She is wanting to forget about what happened, to numb the pain and move on, but that’s easier said than done.
Owen, her roommate and best friend, is noticing that Mel hasn’t been her normal bubbly self, making jokes kinda self. She is more withdrawn, going out all the time, hooking up with random guys and doesn’t really seem to be present. He would do anything to make her feel better or to just make her smile a little.
Melanie kinda reminded me of Nesta from ACOSF going through her PTSD after everything happened, she just wanted to forget and try to move on without talking about the past. While Mel finally reached her breaking point and sought out help for herself. Something that is so hard for people – especially myself- we never really want to admit that we need or want help.
Spoilers Ahead
“Trying to pull in the ladies?” I joke, but as always, the thought doesn’t sit well with me. I’m a terrible best friend. I want him all to myself, and the idea of some girlfriend coming along and breaking up what we have? I hate it
Man, who hasn’t secretly been in love with their best friend and hates when they mention other people dating them. Even if it is jokingly. When I was younger my guy best friends (one of them I was attracted to at the time) would use me to be able to hangout with other girls, I was always the wing girl, never the girl the guy wanted.
You did your best, I tell myself, the way everyone else says. You couldn’t have done more. But the other voice–the one that’s always there, just under the surface–it doesn’t let you. You made the call! You decided to go! Couldn’t you have done a bit more research to find out if it was safe to go.
It’s nice knowing I’m not the only one who over thinks everything: how events should have gone differently, what I should have said in a past conversation or just replaying the terrible scene over and over in my head. Overthinking so much it makes my head hurt
“Wow. You seem to forget that I’m your friend here. I think we are approaching the limit of times I’ll let you bite my head off over me trying to look out for you.”
Ever the caring friend Owen is. I get where Mel is coming from, I would also rip someone’s head off for asking me the same questions or try to help when I clearly don’t want the help right now. But I can see that Owen is honestly just trying to help his best friend. He hates seeing her down and not herself. But maybe this was the push she needed.
What is he so worried about? The thought loops in my head, sharp and biting. Be careful, he said, like I’m some reckless teenager who doesn’t know better. Like I need his approval to live my own life.
What am I even trying to prove? That I’m not….broken?
THIS!I don’t know how to put it in words, but the feeling we (people like Melanie and I) go through, we don’t want to admit that we need help, that something is wrong with us, that maybe we are just a little broken and need a way to Escape. Sometimes drugs and alcohol or “using” others for your own pleasure to get out of your head for a bit and forget the world
Lucky for Mel she isn’t the only one in love with their best friend.
Hearing her beg for more is a dream come true and I oblige eagerly, letting my lips descend further down her body until they find the soft swell of her breasts
✨💜Tropes💜✨
- 🪖Military Vibes
- 💛Best Friends to Lovers
- 💕Dual POV
- ♾️“It’s always been you”
- 🧠PTSD
- ❣️MC’s in their 40s
Aftermath Series
- Mission
- Escape
- Rescue
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