This is a story of First Love, Marriage, Divorce, and Second Chances. This is the story of Celine, who finds herself newly divorced. She is questioning everything because Mike was a good husband and father, but he wasn't Patrick, her first love whom she met in Vietnam 15 years earlier. Will she reunite with Patrick or will she realize she let a good thing go and reconcile with MIke?

It was a solid read but just didn't quite put it over the top for me. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I knew very little about the author, had never read one of the books, so was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't a 'deep' book,
just a very interesting and relaxing book

An easy romantic read, with a lovely storyline. I really enjoyed the character of Celine, she was really appealing to me and I loved the story overall.

As a divorced woman, it is always difficult for me to read about marriages ending. And I wonder if I should have made extra efforts to encourage a relationship with someone who might have been my true love. I have to admit that I have thought about that individual for years…since our last interaction. And with the failure of my marriage, should I have made the effort to reach out to the guy for whom I really cared?

So I recognized myself throughout the pages of this book. However, Celine’s feelings for both men and the decision she had to make were tough. I think I would have enjoyed learning more about the background of each of her relationships and how the past and present emotions were factors in her life.

This is a somewhat heartwarming but not a quick read. The writing flowed and the author kept your attention with good character development. However, I did not connect well with Celine…who was the main character.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC. I was excited that Carol Mason had a new book out and this one was mysterious and enjoyable; very creatively crafted as her other stories.

Lovely book, very well written, I don’t want to give anything away so I highly recommend that you out and buy this title.

Whilst I didn't LOVE Celine as a character, I really enjoyed this read. It's an easy read that keeps just enough intrigue throughout the plot that it doesn't seem to drag.

Easy and light read with relatable plot and characters. The "one that got away" story line is not unique, but it is fun to see what happens when the characters reconnect.

Thank you to Amazon Publishing UK, Lake Union Publishing, NetGalley & Carol Mason for the free digital copy! This book is available now! #partner
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🌟BOOK REVIEW🌟
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▪️MY THOUGHTS
✔️I thought this book was really good! I read it fairly quickly and before I knew it I was half way done. I enjoy love stories and triangles - I wasn’t really sure who she was going to end up which I really liked! The connection between all the characters felt real so it made me really want to invest my time in the characters. I also liked reading about how the main character sets people up - it was funny and very entertaining!
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▪️OVERALL RUNDOWN
✔️I enjoyed how the chapters were short and there was a lot of dialogue. Plus there was a whole chapter dedicated to Toronto!! Reading about my city just gave me all the feels!! It wasn’t the main part of the book at all - but I LOVED it!
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▪️FAVOURITE QUOTE
✔️ "Divorce is like hacking down a mature tree; it leaves an unsightly gap and you want something to quickly grow in its place. You find yourself staring at it and remembering not why you cut the thing down in the first place, but only how nice it used to look. But eventually you can look at the space it occupied and a part of you forgets it was ever there."
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▪️TITLE RUNDOWN
Love
Adore
Smiles
Timing
Toronto chapter! 😂
Inviting
Marriage
Enjoyable
World
Europe
Matchmaker
Exciting
Time
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▪️RATING
✔️🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

THE LAST TIME WE MET by Carol Mason is one of those books you leave everything for until you finish ... Facebook, TV, laundry, talks with your spouse, breathing, EVERYTHING! Because you just have to know what happens to Celine, who though married to the adoring Mike, sees her only real love on a street in London 15 years later. All that time ago she’d spent four blissful days in Vietnam with Patrick but the memory remains indelible upon her heart. And OMG what a story! I absolutely will not tell you what happens. But I will promise that you will thank Carol, a wonderful writer, for giving you respite from reality while mad-dashing you through the whitewater rapids of love. 5 Hearty Stars!

Easy, escapist fiction with relatable characters, a dilemma that doesn't feel too forced for the genre, and some hard-hitting lines. Easy to read. Lovely story telling. This is a tale about regrets, new starts, and second chance romance.

Celine had a brief fling with Patrick in Vietnam 15 years ago when he was married and returning to his wife, and although she moved on and married Mike and had a daughter she could never forget him, and so when she catches a glimpse of him in London all the feelings come flooding back. Thinking that she never loved Mike in the same way her marriage falls apart and she divorces Mike and is back in touch with the also now divorced Patrick....... but has she made a big mistake and is what she has always wanted been right that her nose all the time or is Patrick really her destiny?

A good book with interesting storyline, is first love the one that you always remember and are you wearing rose tinted spectacles with your memories, I felt sorry for Mike a as he came across as such a nice man.

A quick read, feel good, human dilemma story. Better written than a lot of chick lit and really drew me in. One to look out for.

I'm sure we’ve all been there before = that first love that got away. Combine that with the uncertainty of divorcing the only other man you’ve loved who is also the father of your child and you’ve got The Last Time We Met. Celine and her exhusband Mike are now officially divorced except Celine keeps wondering if she made a mistake letting Mike go. He was a faithful and supportive companion of many years yet she never truly felt like she was in love with him. Certainly not like her first true love Patrick who she met in Vietnam when she was 21 years old. She only had a few days with Patrick before he walked out the door, never to be seen again, yet Celine can’t stop thinking about him...wondering if he was the one that got away? 15 years later, Patrick is about to re-enter her life. Will this time be different or was their romance best left in the past?

The story navigates between some awkward and poignant scenes. The author compares that exciting instant attraction kind of love with dependable, deep friendship love. Is it better to be with someone predictable and who loves you to the moon and back, or is it better to play for all the marbles and risk your heart being hurt? There is a whole cast of characters that seem to revolve around Celine including her 11 year old daughter, her step sister, her quirky father and a variety of clients who are also looking for love through Celine’s high end matchmaking business, The Love Market. To be honest, I found the array of characters to be too much distraction as they didn’t seem to add much to the story. I was very taken with Patrick and Celine’s romance and wished the story had focused exclusively on that as well as Celine’s marriage with Mike. I could sense Celine’s impossible decision and her residual feelings for both men, BUT I WANTED MORE! The uncertainty of who Celine would end up with, if anyone, was the heart of the story. A more developed background into each of her relationships and the past and present emotions attached would have made this book 5 stars for me.

Despite its shortcomings, this is a solid piece of chick lit. If you’re looking for something heartwarming, I would suggest giving it a go. It moves at a decent pace. If you enjoy dysfunctional characters trying to sort through love to find THE ONE, this is the book for you.

Thank you to publisher for an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Easy, escapist fiction with relatable characters, a dilemma that doesn't feel too forced for the genre, and some hard-hitting lines. Easy to read, but still relatively meaty.

(The cover makes it look like more of a classic, period-type romance book when it's in fact largely set in 2017.)

One line stuck out as being out of place, purely because when a British character visits Canada and describes the temperature as being "in the nineties", it makes no sense given that no one in that scenario, including the British author, would use Fahrenheit. A small quibble, but enough to take me out of the page for long enough to google the author's nationality (grew up in England, moved to Canada)!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ERC in return for an honest review. For details of my star rating system please check out my Goodreads profile.

Amazing book. Loved it from beginning to end.
Well written which kept me captivated throughout.
I will definitely be reading other books by this author

Celine is married to Mike, but her first true love Patrick is always on her mind. The story of an unexpected sighting of Patrick leads tonthe demise of their marriage. However, Celine reinstates a relationship with Patrick and this is the story. I enhoyed this book, apart from a couple of times where I was irritated with Celines indecisiveness, but I have never been in a similar position, so this could be a common confusion. Overall I really enjoyed and would recommend.

Do you ever forget your first love?
This is the question that Celine has lived with for fifteen years.
A chance sighting on a London street on her 10th wedding anniversary of her first love from fifteen years ago leads to Celine finding herself divorced a few years later.
Now she finds herself with a choice, go back to her ex-husband, who was a good, safe second-choice or pursue her first love - the one she's never forgotten.
As she balances her feelings; her job; her sister; her inappropriate father; and an almost teenage, sulky, heartbroken daughter she experiences a growth in her and things fall into place and make more sense to her.
This was a wonderful read for me. The characters were well-rounded and I liked their quirks and mannerisms. I could picture each one in my mind's eye. The writing was flowing and took one along on Celine's journey.
The ending was totally unexpected.
Definitely an author I'd read again.

Celine runs a match-making service in London. She has a husband of 10 years, Mike, and a pre-teen daughter, Aimee.
But we find out that Mike is not the "love of" Celine's life. No, she is still in love with Patrick with whom she had a 4 day affair with in Vietnam - 12 years ago.

A divorce between Celine and Mike is eminent. She knows inwardly that she was comfortable with Mike but never was in love with him. This, particularly after she and Mike are out for their 10th anniversary at which time Celine chases a taxi she swears she sees Patrick in.

Someone emails Patrick using Celine's email address. Patrick and Celine begin a steamy long-distance love affair (both of them are now divorced). Patrick is fine with this as he is a photojournalist who travels extensively. Celine, however, wants a means to an end with these short visits - not an end. Patrick is either a commitment-phobe or is content with this arrangement?

In the meantime, Celine has some wacky match-making scenarios. This includes her ex-husband and father!
Both Celine and Aimee visit Patrick in Toronto, Canada. After this pivotal trip, Celine realizes that she cannot go on with the long-distance thing. Although Patrick wants Celine and Aimee to fly out for Christmas, she decides not to go. Is she wanting the comfortable life back with Mike?


Many thanks to Amazon Publishing, UK and NetGalley for a sweet read !

Lovely story telling. This is a tale about regrets, new starts, and second chance romance. Celine's voice comes through loud and clear- and sympathetically. Mark and Patrick are both well fleshed out. I enjoyed this more than I expected to, chiefly because of the writing. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.