{"id":18324,"date":"2021-10-05T18:40:49","date_gmt":"2021-10-05T22:40:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=18324"},"modified":"2026-03-22T08:59:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T12:59:07","slug":"after-the-scrum-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/18324","title":{"rendered":"After the Scrum"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the Scrum<\/a><\/em> (2016) Dahlia Donovan<\/a><\/p>\n

\"After<\/a>Francis Keen is perfectly happy living in Looe with his grandmother. He doesn’t want to leave her alone, and if it helps his anxiety, that’s not a bad thing either. And since he is a somewhat successful interior designer, it’s pretty good.<\/p>\n

He hated leaving his small workspace in a mess. It ensured he\u2019d spend the rest of the day twitching with the urge to return to clean it. <\/p>\n

He had to laugh at himself, remembering the time he\u2019d gotten up at three in the morning to return to the office.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Caddock Stanford never expected to become a father. But the unexpected death of his brother left him guardian to his nephew, so he’s making the best of things he can.<\/p>\n

Haddy had been incredibly open to everyone. He wanted the same open-mindedness to be something his son learned. It had been part of his reasoning for granting Caddock custody, as opposed to their parents.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Caddock and Devlin are So. Adorable.<\/p>\n

\u201cAWFULS!\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s waffles, you deranged child.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His eyes narrowed playfully on his nephew. \u201cCease your laughing or I\u2019ll toss you in the river in a sack.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cGwannie would be cwoss with you,\u201d Devlin said with all the confidence of a four-year-old. \u201cShe\u2019d put you on the naughty step with no cake.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cNo cake? No cake! Oh no. How will I ever live in a world without it?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Despite the adorable child, be aware this story covers some heavy issues, including Caddock and Devlin both dealing with the loss of Devil’s father, Caddock’s fathers homophobia, and Francis’ anxiety that stemmed from an attack several years prior.<\/p>\n

But even with those dark bits, it’s not angsty or overwrought, and quite enjoyable.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Hot Tree Publishing
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After the Scrum (2016) Dahlia Donovan Francis Keen is perfectly happy living in Looe with his grandmother. He doesn’t want to leave her alone, and if it helps his anxiety, that’s not a bad thing either. And since he is a somewhat successful interior designer, it’s pretty good. He hated leaving his small workspace in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,30,292,207,148,41,26,56,934],"tags":[210,50,254,213,544,532],"class_list":["post-18324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-british","category-ebook","category-mental-health-rep","category-queer","category-reread","category-romance","category-sexual-content","category-trigger-warnings","tag-anxiety","tag-boinking","tag-dahlia-donovan","tag-grief","tag-mm","tag-sin-bin"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-4Ly","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14163,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/14163","url_meta":{"origin":18324,"position":0},"title":"After the Scrum","author":"Michelle","date":"March 31, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"After the Scrum (2014) Dahlia Donovan (Sin Bin) Caddock Stanford lost his brother, lost his place on the national rugby team, and became the parent to his young nephew. So he wants a place to start over, to make a new life for himself and Devlin. \u201cLooe\u2019s a brilliant place\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/After-the-Scrum.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20128,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/20128","url_meta":{"origin":18324,"position":1},"title":"After the Scrum","author":"Michelle","date":"July 22, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"After the Scrum (2016) Dahlia Donovan Although there are occasional issues with this series that could have been solved with stronger editing, this remains a series that has lodged itself in my brain and keeps popping up at random times. Francis is an interior designer who lives with his grandmother.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"After the Scrum","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/After-the-Scrum.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21736,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21736","url_meta":{"origin":18324,"position":2},"title":"Dead in the Garden","author":"Michelle","date":"March 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Dead in the Garden (2018) Dahlia Donovan (Grasmere Cottage Mystery) Cinnamon. What did I just read? No matter how many times Valor read it, the cause of death didn\u2019t change. His old schoolmate had been killed by inhaling cinnamon. It had been good for him. Valor didn\u2019t know if he\u2019d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dead in the Garden","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Dead-in-the-Garden.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23349,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23349","url_meta":{"origin":18324,"position":3},"title":"Honey Mead Murder","author":"Michelle","date":"March 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Honey Mead Murder (2023) Dahlia Donovan (Honey Bear Cosy Mysteries) George Sheth keeps bees and provides honey to the local brewery for making mead. He also has a huge crush on the owner\/manager, Murphy Baird. Ready and dressed for the day, George decided to do the mature adult thing. He\u2019d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"Honey Mead Murder","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Honey-Mead-Murder.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18352,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/18352","url_meta":{"origin":18324,"position":4},"title":"The Unexpected Santa","author":"Michelle","date":"October 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The Unexpected Santa (2017) Dahlia Donovan (Sin Bin) This story is is a glimpse of the start of the relationship between Scottie and Gray. Scottie is a mess. He\u2019d never possessed the tools to deal with the chaos of emotions in his life. It always funnelled into anger. The rage\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Unexpected Santa","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/The-Unexpected-Santa.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20140,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/20140","url_meta":{"origin":18324,"position":5},"title":"The Unexpected Santa","author":"Michelle","date":"July 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Unexpected Santa (2017) Dahlia Donovan (The Sin Bin) This is an interlude rather than a proper novella \/ short story. We saw Gray and Scottie meet in the previous story. This story shows Gray looking after the twins... \u201cYou two doing all right?\u201d Gray crouched down by their table\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18324\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}