After The Smoke Clears

Would you tell your partner the worst thing you've ever done? Her family offered a life of power and privilege, until Lotti turned away from her father's grand plans - and towards a life that felt more like her own. With a new start as a teacher, Lotti may have even found the right man, a rough-around-the-edges single dad who'd never fit in with her high-brow upbringing, but who has started to feel like home. But Lotti isn't the only one running. August's strong silent demeanour may be part of his appeal, but as they get closer, his inability to talk about his past begins to jeopardise their future. After August receives a cryptic message prompting him to leave in the dead of night, Lotti takes Augie's six-year old son Otto on a road trip to his father's dusty hometown where decades of lies begin to unravel. When details of a shocking crime emerge, Lotti is forced to decide if she trusts the man August has become more than she fears the man he once was.

Kylie Kaden has an honours degree in psychology, was a columnist at My Child Magazine, and now works in the disability sector. She knew writing was in her blood from a young age when she snuck onto her brother's Commodore 64 to invent stories as a child. Raised in Queensland, she spent holidays camping with her family on the Sunshine Coast. With a surfer-lawyer for a husband and three spirited sons, Kylie can typically be found venting the day's thoughts on her laptop, sometimes in the laundry so she can't be found. Kylie is the author of Losing Kate (2014), Missing You (2015), The Day the Lies Began (2019) and One of Us (2022). After the Smoke Clears is her fifth novel.