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After the Lights Went Out
by Erika Aylward
Some nights change everything.
When Cora returns to the quiet seaside town she once ran from, she expects grief, dust, and the slow work of sorting through the life her mother left behind.
What she doesn’t expect is the silence.
The bookshop still smells like paper and citrus cleaner. The shelves still lean slightly where her mum insisted they had character. Outside, the sea keeps its steady rhythm against the harbour wall.
But something feels different now.
Then the lights start going out.
Ellis arrives the first night it happens — a calm, steady electrician with tired eyes and a quiet patience that Cora doesn’t quite know what to do with. Fixing faulty wiring should have been simple.
Instead, it becomes something else entirely.
A conversation in the dark.
A cup of tea that lasts too long.
A quiet connection neither of them planned.
Cora has spent years learning how to keep her life carefully contained. Wanting too much has never ended well for her.
And Ellis knows better than most what it feels like when people walk away.
But some stories begin exactly when everything else goes dark.
After the Lights Went Out is an intimate, emotionally rich romance about grief, quiet second chances, and the unexpected ways people find their way back to each other.
Perfect for readers who love:
• Slow-burn romance
• Small-town bookshop settings
• Emotionally tender love stories
• Found-family moments
• Late-night conversations that change everything
Shipping from 6th April 2026
Paperback Edition
This edition includes the full novel in a beautiful 6x9 paperback format.
If you’d like a more immersive reading experience, you can also explore the limited After the Lights Went Out pre-order box, which includes a signed copy of the book, tea for your reading night, an exclusive short story set six months after the ending, and other special items inspired by the story.
Sometimes the lights have to go out before you can see what’s been waiting for you all along.
After the Lights Went Out
by Erika Aylward
Some nights change everything.
When Cora returns to the quiet seaside town she once ran from, she expects grief, dust, and the slow work of sorting through the life her mother left behind.
What she doesn’t expect is the silence.
The bookshop still smells like paper and citrus cleaner. The shelves still lean slightly where her mum insisted they had character. Outside, the sea keeps its steady rhythm against the harbour wall.
But something feels different now.
Then the lights start going out.
Ellis arrives the first night it happens — a calm, steady electrician with tired eyes and a quiet patience that Cora doesn’t quite know what to do with. Fixing faulty wiring should have been simple.
Instead, it becomes something else entirely.
A conversation in the dark.
A cup of tea that lasts too long.
A quiet connection neither of them planned.
Cora has spent years learning how to keep her life carefully contained. Wanting too much has never ended well for her.
And Ellis knows better than most what it feels like when people walk away.
But some stories begin exactly when everything else goes dark.
After the Lights Went Out is an intimate, emotionally rich romance about grief, quiet second chances, and the unexpected ways people find their way back to each other.
Perfect for readers who love:
• Slow-burn romance
• Small-town bookshop settings
• Emotionally tender love stories
• Found-family moments
• Late-night conversations that change everything
Shipping from 6th April 2026
Paperback Edition
This edition includes the full novel in a beautiful 6x9 paperback format.
If you’d like a more immersive reading experience, you can also explore the limited After the Lights Went Out pre-order box, which includes a signed copy of the book, tea for your reading night, an exclusive short story set six months after the ending, and other special items inspired by the story.
Sometimes the lights have to go out before you can see what’s been waiting for you all along.