Just the Way You Are (previoulsy published as The Last Dance) is a heartwarming new adult open door romance book. The characters were well developed and you just wanted everything to work out for them. This was a particuarly messy friends to lovers storyline with the added lair of the sisters passing and kept me entertained and enthralled the entire time.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

This is an ok modern romantic thriller. I did expect more and found it to be a bit too predictable which let the story down.

At first, this was a bit hard to get into, the verb tense was a little jarring to me, but very quickly the characterization and storytelling pulled me in. Such an original piece that immersed me in these characters' lives. The way the outside relationships ended felt a little lazy, like a cheat, meant to wrap things up neatly without any real responsibility on the main characters' parts, but this was such a minor thing in the overall enjoyment of the story that I was hardly bothered at all.

I really enjoyed these unique, distinctly individual characters. There was nothing cookie-cutter about this book. A truly standout romance that left me wishing these people were a part of my life.

A lovely tale that I enjoyed reading.
Great characters that you cannot help but engage with and a brilliant plot.
A must read for book lovers.

A wonderful book by a talented author. Thank you so much to the publisher and author for a review copy.

First I want to acknowledge that the blurb mentions this book is perfect for fans of Nicholas Sparks, Jodi Picoult, & Anna Bell. I don’t know who Anna Bell is but neither of the other two authors write romance, but I was willing to give this book a try because the hero is a widower and falls in love with his wife’s sister, whos is also his BFF. Y’all know I LOVE this trope. I had to give this book a try.

This book is filled with angst. When the story opens, Ambri is 24. Henry is a little older. They are grieving the loss of her sister and his wife. It’s complicated, but also not. They have lots of complicated feelings for each other. They have sex. The next day they are both confused about the sex and Henry runs away. Literally. He gets a job in LA and leaves for two years. Then book flashes forward.

Henry moves back to Portland and brings his girlfriend with him. Ambri is sort of living with her current boyfriend. In a weird coincidence that only occurs in romance novels and Hallmark books, Ambri and Henry run in to each other when Ambri is working with Henry’s girlfriend. Ambri is mad at Henry for leaving. She was heartbroken. They haven’t spoken since he left. They both have unresolved issues and feelings. They are both in relationships with other people that the author did a good job of making things feel not quite right with.

But this book was equal parts boring and overly dramatic. There was a lot of them talking about how they were hurting, but it wasn’t enough that I actually felt like it. It seemed a little superficial. I made it to 45% and I just couldn’t take it anymore. It felt like nothing was happening.

I was willing to power through and keep reading but there were some weirdly worded things about weight and food that I couldn’t handle. Ambri has a treadmill set up in front of her TV. She probably has an eating disorder. But it is never addressed. She exercises when she eats too much or feels too much. This is not healthy. She is described as being slim. She talks about when Henry left she ate cried in to ice cream, ran on the treadmill and the weight she lost was the silver lining. Maybe it was addressed later in the book, but I doubt it. Only days after reading a wonderfully fat positive book, Teach Me by Olivia Dade, it was hard to read these things in this book. I don’t read to feel bad about myself so I decided it was best to DNF and move on.

What an absolutely fantastic book. This is well written and also gives you a happy glow inside
I can’t wait to read further books by this author

I found this story to be a nice romance with believable characters. I enjoyed the friendship, chemistry and history between the four main characters, Ambri, Henry, Claire and Ben. Their story takes you on a roller coaster ride of regret, second chances, heartbreak, romance and the joy of having friends you can count on in your life.
If you are looking for a nice, light summer read, I recommend you go get a copy of “The Last Dance.”
Many thanks to NetGallery, the publisher and author, Aimee Brown, for the opportunity to read and give my true and honest review.

Ambri and Henry were the best of friends throughout their high school years. They were always like family, and became family when Henry married Ambri’s sister, Rory. Tragedy struck and shook them both to their core when Rory died. The two later felt more for one another, and after one night of everything coming together, everything fell apart. Can the heartbreak that was caused be mended when these two finally reunite?

This was quite the emotional roller coaster ride of a romance read, and I was all in! I absolutely adored Ambri, and immediately wanted her as a friend. It took me a bit longer to warm up to Henry, but I did understand him and what he was dealing with. All of the characters throughout the book were very well fleshed out, including all of the secondary characters. The story was so well rounded and full of everything that I needed it to be. Overall, this was a beautifully written romance story that will make you feel all the feels, but will ultimately leave you smiling in the end.

Ambri and Henry have been best friends since high school. In fact, Ambri and Henry are more like family to each other. They are as close as two people can ever be. Henry was even married briefly to Ambri’s sister before she passed away. After Ambri and Henry take their friendship one step further, Henry runs away scared. Two years later, he is back in Portland. Can Ambri ever forgive Henry for leaving her completely devastated or is it already too late to repair their fractured relationship?

This is the first book I have ever read by Aimee Brown and she writes one of the sweetest romances I have read in a long time. I can see why this story is perfect for fans who enjoy books by Nicholas Sparks. Brown has this certain quality to her writing that is so deep, meaningful, and really quite powerful. Reading The Last Dance is like watching your favorite romance movie. It is filled with such emotion, tenderness, and angst. Sadness just oozes right off the page. Brown hits one of my favorite tropes...friends to lovers and does it in such a way that is absolutely breathtaking. Although, I will admit to being a bit nervous since both Ambri and Henry were both in relationships when Henry moves back to Portland. But, I have to say it was handled really well and believable.

Ambri and Henry were both well crafted three dimensional characters and their realness just poured through the pages. While Henry may not have been my favorite after what he did to Ambri, I still could not help from feeling sorry for him suffering through depression. Depression can wreak havoc on your life and I could see how much of a toll it was taking on Henry. Ambri, on the other hand, is my favorite character. She is so sweet and caring and really loved Henry. It was really hard watching her go through Henry’s sudden departure. Now that it is two years later, they have both grown as individuals and Henry really does redeem himself in the end.

The Last dance is a sweet and moving friends to lovers romance that is both heartfelt and emotional. If I had just one word to sum up this book, it would be….Perfect. These are the kinds of stories that warm my heart and make me believe in romance. Aimee Brown is definitely a huge talent and I would definitely recommend reading this story if you are a huge fan of romance.

The Last Dance is a heart-hitting love story that Aimee delivers with a winning poignancy through her savvy writing, on-point wit, refreshing originality, relatable, genuine characters and their totally conceivable situations.

We meet Ambri and Henry, fated to be best friends from the day they met. The ingenuous Ambri is still a work in progress, trying to find her place in life. I love her unpretentious nature and vulnerability. How she worked her almost fetish-like love of food and music into a career would make anyone green with envy! Ambri’s character is candid, sincere, and funny - I bonded with her almost instinctively.

Henry is solid, trustworthy, grounded, and gorgeous - but he is also a bit broken and lives in the shadow of hesitation carrying around his share of insecurity and angst. There are many layers to Henry. Lucky for us, we get to see them slowly peeled back.

As it happens, Henry marries Ambri’s sister Rory, but sadly, Rory dies shortly afterwards, enveloping everyone in grief. This tragic event challenges the strength of Ambri and Henry’s friendship, and leads to one fateful night that forever alters the course of their relationship.

Aimee moves between Ambri’s and Henry’s point of views seamlessly, pacing the story line’s momentum beautifully. You are quickly invested emotionally in her characters. Even Ambri’s and Henry’s best friends - couple Claire and Ben – are as genuine as characters can be. You get to know them and love them with all their quirks and insecurities, the way they talk, how they laugh, how they hurt. I laughed out loud to myself and many times throughout the book, I cried. Could not help it, and I dare you not to.

The Last Dance, literally begs the question, can you truly forgive and forget?

I had a hard time choosing because there are so many insightful parts for reflection, but I have to share one of my favourite Ambri quotes: “It’s weird, I know it is, but life moves on and I refuse to keep missing out on things because my feelings can’t handle it.” How relatable is that?

Give your heartstrings a good tug and your spirits a delightful lift, and read this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Aria for the read of Aimee Brown’s, The Last Dance.

Big thank you to Netgalley, Head of Zeus and Aria for allowing me an early read of Aimee Brown’s new novel ‘The Last Dance’. The front cover caught my eye immediately and I liked the sound of the synopsis, although you could tell straight away that this wasn’t going to be your standard romance story. Being a newbie to Aimee’s books I was excited to get started.

Best friends Ambri and Henry have been each other’s supports since forever until tragedy strikes when Ambri’s sister and Henry’s wife dies. Grief brings them closer together until one disastrous night where their relationship changes forever resulting in Henry walking away leaving behind a broken Ambri.

Fast forward two years and Henry is back in town and wanting to be back in Ambri’s life. With a new girlfriend and home Henry is hoping he can amend the past however Ambri isn’t so sure this can be done. Ambri having had two years to rebuild herself, her confidence, trust and still fighting off the all consuming grief of losing her sister; Henry has a lot of bridge building to be back in Ambri’s life again.

There are so many things I love about this book, from the storyline to the characters. Aimee writes beautifully bringing the characters to life, Ambri and Henry being the main characters were likeable (although after Henry making such a huge mistake it did take me a little while to warm up to him again!) As we know Ambri and Henry loose someone they both love, grief and dealing with those feelings were a huge part of the story which was written well, the book was well balanced and the use of humour between the characters was a regular occurrence and gave some light relief from the heartache both Ambri and Henry were feeling.

Another big bonus was getting to read the story through both Ambri and Henry’s eyes, I always say how much I love when authors do this. It gives you that extra insight into their feelings and reactions to situations and towards each other, it helped me to understand their grief a little more and their emotions, it also made me want to bash their heads together knowing their inner thoughts!

Ambri, I could quite easily see myself being friends with, I love how passionate she is about food (I am a huge foodie myself, who isn’t?!) and I love that her job is to blog about up and coming restaurants. Yes Please! I liked that Aimee wrote a character that didn’t have her stuff together in life, she didn’t know where she was headed with her job and she wasn’t sure whether her current boyfriend was ‘the one’ it made Ambri a lot more real and believable.

Henry… What can I say, he is the character you want to dislike but you just can’t help but fall a little bit in love with. Like I said above, I had to get through a few chapters before warming up to him but I couldn’t not. He of course like everyone, is doing the best he can to get through the grief that consumes him, unfortunately he makes some mistakes along the way which you want to hold against him but deep down you know his a good guy and he proves this by all the things he does for Ambri.

The story at times was a little predictable, but you will know from my other reviews that I never mind that in a story, I welcome knowing where it will lead as most of the time I am already willing the storyline to head that way so I am never disappointed and can finish the last page with a smile on my face. I have to admit though I wasn’t ready to finish this story, I wanted it to carry on for a little longer, I just wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Ambri and Henry.

I am so pleased I read this wonderful, heartwarming story between two people who sadly lost a loved one but learned to survive and keep living and like the synopsis states embrace their future.

After having reviewed Aimee’s previous novel The Lucky Dress, which was titled Little Gray Dress in the USA, I jumped at the chance to review The Last Dance.

Ambri and Henry, people who have shared so much. One event shattered their world, the death of Ambri’s sister who was also Henry’s wife. Ambri and Henry tried to move on in life but have never forgotten each other.

A chance encounter sees them meeting again and there are so many raw feelings, hate hurt love and loss. I was moved by the title and synopsis of this book but even more so by the plot and subplots.
The writing flows so well and is flawless.

Aimee Brown has an amazing way of getting inside characters’ heads and making the most hidden of emotions come to the surface. The book is full of romance, the struggle to figure out what you really feel and is also so laced with sadness.

Aimee Brown has done it again and written a romance with dramatic undertones that had me hooked from the first word to the last.

Thanks to Aimee Brown and Aria for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review and I’m thrilled to have a spot on the blog tour for this title.

5 stars.



Dance.

Ambri and Henry, people who have shared so much. One event shattered their world, the death of Ambri’s sister who was also Henry’s wife. Ambri and Henry tried to move on in life but have never forgotten each other.

A chance encounter sees them meeting again and there are so many raw feelings, hate hurt love and loss. I was moved by the title and synopsis of this book but even more so by the plot and subplots.
The writing flows so well and is flawless.

Aimee Brown has an amazing way of getting inside characters’ heads and making the most hidden of emotions come to the surface. The book is full of romance, the struggle to figure out what you really feel and is also so laced with sadness.

Aimee Brown has done it again and written a romance with dramatic undertones that had me hooked from the first word to the last.

Thanks to Aimee Brown and Aria for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review and I’m thrilled to have a spot on the blog tour for this title.

5 stars.

The Last Dance hits on all my favorite "angst" inducing tropes; unrequited love, rejection, friends to lovers, and redemption. Aimee Brown sets the story in Portland, Oregon (another draw for me), and gives us the story of teen-age friends becoming family and having it all fall apart after one emotional night. After having recognized deeper feelings for his best friend and "sister-in-law" Ambri, Henry finds himself at a cross roads and takes the cowards way out. Henry makes a few too many mistakes and finds that path to forgiveness is not an easy one. But you can't help yourself in rooting for these two to find their way back to each other.

After leaving Portland and abruptly cutting ties with Ambri, Henry returns home with him his new love interest. At this point Ambri too has seemingly moved on, but fate has other ideas about their future. Ambri is a spunky and brave young women. She's incredibly in-tune with how she feels, talented and compassionate, and she doesn't give herself enough credit - making her entirely relatable. As her best friend, Henry was always there for her, well, until he wasn't

"Not that I’m anyone special, but he always made me feel as if I were. He was always the one to remind me that I could do anything I wanted."

The story is told from both of their perspectives so we are always aware of the intesity and depth of their relationship. Henry knows his mistakes are monumental, and when he finds himself a part of Ambri's life again he begins to see the inevitable.

"What’s left of my heart now feeling like it would only show a flat line if on a heart monitor. I’m not over her like I’ve been telling myself I was. Not even a little bit."

I was a bit worried about the "sister in law aspect", after all Henry was married to Ambris' sister Rory. But Brown does a masterful job at the intricacies of connection between these three individuals. We get to know Rory through both Ambri's and Henry's memories and see what an amazing person she was.

Brown creates an amazing world is this circle of friends; Ben and Claire, Noah, Karmen, and of course Ambri and Henry. There are so many nuances in their relationship, and moments that show who they are to each other. Their history is deep and not being in each others lives took it's toll on their spirits. I found myself completely immersed in their world and read this in one afternoon and I can't recommend this book enough. Browns' writing is impeccable and I look forward to reading more from this new to me author.

Ambri and Henry have a friendship that has lasted through high school and college but can it last through a loved one's death and falling in love? This is a wonderful realistic story full of regret, friendship, second chances and even humor. I enjoyed the way the story was told in both Ambri and Henry's voices. I was hooked in the first chapter and enjoyed the story through the end.
I recommend this book and look forward to more books by this author. I was grateful to receive an ARC from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

A lot of people think that romance novels are formulaic - which I guess they can be. However, they need to read this book, as Aimee just invented a whole new equation for that formula in the romcom genre!

This is a funny and poignant novel. So much fun in Ambri's character and the interactions with her friends Ben and Claire. Yet the sadness of her sister dying and now her best friend Henry leaving her. I just loved how Aimee flips back and forth between the story from not only Ambri's viewpoint but also Henry's. It's not often we get to read what the guy is thinking through everything that is happening. I was really hanging onto every word wondering where this was all going to end up, especially as I really liked Ambri's boyfriend Noah too.

I enjoyed this book so much, the characters felt so real. I fell in love with Ambri (and her Dad) - I kind of feel like I could hang out with her and it would be so much fun. She's such a down to earth character and this just added to my feeling of an authenticity to the story.

When I finished the book I hadn't realised at first that it had ended! I sat there just looking again and again for the next page, I couldn't believe it was over! These people will stay with me for a long time.

I can totally see this being made into a film - I'm giving it 5 out of 5 stars and my thanks go to Netgalley and the Head of Zeus for my ARC to review

Everyone knows that transitioning from friends to more than friends can be messy but what if that shift in a relationship happens after your sister dies? Oh and she was also married to your best friend now turned more than friend, can you say complicated?! Complex love stories are the best, real life relationships are super complex and reading a book with authentic relationships is always so refreshing and this one was as genuine as they come.

One of the things I liked the most in the authors previous book was the fantastic characters that feel like real people and there is that same feeling here. This flips back and forth between Ambri and Henry and I had her back right away, she was so adorable and endearing but poor Henry didn’t win me over until much later, he had to prove himself to me 😜 Besides those two they have friends, Chloe and Ben who are married and I loved them as well, their marriage was fun and silly and added some lightness when things went deep between Ambri and Henry.

There was such a nice balance here, plenty of wit and humor one minute and then heartbreak and grief the next but it all flowed together so well for me. Overall this was a really sweet second chance romance full of heart and humor, I absolutely loved it! Recommended when you want a cute romance with depth that mirrors real life, it’s totally authentic.

The Last Dance in three words: Genuine, Sweet and Adorable.

I wasn’t expecting this story to end, at all. I could have easily sat there for days reading about Ambri and Henry. I was deeply invested in this story, laughing one minute, close to tears the next. I loved every page, every moment, every memory.

Ambri was such a fantastic character. Her quirkiness, her obsession with food, her obsession with music, all of it worked so much for me. I loved the fact that she didn’t have her life sorted out, that she didn’t know what she wanted or got it instantly.

Henry. I loved Henry, and the things he done for Ambri. I loved that he wasn’t this perfect man, that he made this monumental mistake. And that he knew it. He was funny, caring, loving and sweet. The things he does for Ambri towards the end of the book were romantic, touching and wonderful.

The chemistry between all of the characters was there for me. All of it worked. The banter between Henry and Ben, the thoughtfulness from Henry to Ambri, the friendship between Ambri, Claire and Ben. The depth of that chemistry as well was fantastic, that they all had a sense of history. I loved the memories from Ambri and Henry. It really helped to get a feel for them, and what they meant to each other.

The writing was brilliant, and I’m completely overwhelmed with love for this book. Aimee Brown has written superb characters, a brilliant romance, excellent friendships. She has truly outdone herself from her previous book Little Gray Dress.

A cute book from beginning to the end. The story hit me, not because it was a love story but because it was a story where people in love were real. The made mistakes, they got scared, they hurt each other even when they didn't want to.

Ambri and Henry had a connection, they bonded from the first day, they seemed to complement each other. Till Henry fell for Ambri's sister and married her before her death. A year on, they discovered their romantic connection, made love, and Henry left as he was still in depression and scared.

My first book by Aimee Brown, it saw me wavering between hating and loving Henry. I could understand his reasons for leaving, I hated his way of leaving. The love between the two was palpable, and it found its place even when they were in a relationship with others. Ambri was cute in the entire book, her heart was way more generous than mine would have been in the same circumstances.

Then came my niggles, a little more backstory would have given the book a depth and more emotions would have helped me connect better. I understand the pain of when a guy leaves suddenly without an explanation, I couldn't feel Ambri's.

But love found its way in the book and they lived happily ever after. A fun love story.