I loved this book! It's well-written, enjoyable, and a great read. Renée Carlino always does a great job of writing in a way that captures the readers attention, and makes you not want to put it down until you're finished! I would highly recommend it!

It breaks my heart to rate this one star. I loved some of Renee Carlino’s previous books but this one..... this one just did not work for me. It was a bit all over the place and so unrealistic. Not that all fiction books have to be realistic, because hello, FICTION, but this one just didn’t work.

I love Renee Carlino but I don't think this was her strongest book. The characters felt flat and the story just didn't feel believable. However, I am very much looking forward to what RC writes next as I have loved everything else she's ever written.

Laya's life changes when her dare devil husband, Cameron dies unexpectedly. She's overwhelmed by grief and takes time off from her career as surgeon. She is still heavily grieving when she meets Micah, who works for her father's architectural firm. Meanwhile, Micah has his own issues. He is unhappy where he is in his career, unsure what the future holds for him, and his next steps.

Micah is immediately drawn to Laya. He looks her up on social media and finds her heartbreaking posts to Cameron. Laya had taken to writing on Cameron's Facebook page in grief. While, some found these posts disturbing, Micah was intrigued. These posts were a window to getting to know Laya, who intrigued him. He used information from her posts to leave her gifts, and draw her to places where he know she may be end up.

Micah and Laya develop a friendship. Micah was very patient with her as he knew, through her posts and her reluctance with him, that she was still very much grieving.

I thought some of Micah's behavior was quite disturbing and creepy, especially the stalking. However, he appeared to be awkward fellow, who didn't know any other way to get Laya's attention or show her he was interested. Given, the trauma of losing her husband though, some of the traditional ways of showing interest may not have worked. Laya's grief was sometimes difficult for me as a reader. Your heart really pained for her.

This is my first book from this author, and I was not familiar with her until this reading. I went into this book, intrigued, but open. It was more than I expected, and I'm giving it 5 stars.

This is the second book I have read by this author and I have not been disappointed. I love a book that captures my emotions and holds on tight, making me feel the grief, pain and sorrow that the character is experiencing. I couldn’t put it down. This story broke my heart but also put it back together. It’s about having love, tragically loosing love, then finding love again. I’m looking forward to reading more books by Renee Carlino.

The Last Post is a story about grief and mourning the loss of a loved one and eventually finding yourself again. I know it is being marketed as a contemporary romance but the romance aspect is touched on very lightly and was definitely not a big thing, at least for me.

I was definitely confused as to what the author was trying to convey with this book. I had a really hard time seeing the romantic connection between Micha and Laya. They are both sort of just floating through life but very vulnerable in their emotions.

Laya is a grieving widow who's lost sight of who she is and where to go in life. Micah has found himself stuck in his life and no longer finds the joy in his job or his personal life - he's at a standstill.

While we see both Laya and Micah go through life and their trials and tribulations, something felt like it was missing. I did not see the connection with these two. I had a really hard time with particular scenes and some of the characters' actions. A lot of it felt all one dimensional and thrown together as certain just happened without any reason behind them.

I felt that this book could have been so much more than it was. I did enjoy seeing how Laya was able to go through her grieving process and finally understand it all. However, it was when Micah entered her life and how things progressed, where I struggled with the purpose of his character and where the connection is. I didn't understand his mishap as nothing truly happened, just that all of sudden he stopped caring about everything.

I will be honest and say Micah came across as more of a character that represents a person who comes into your life for a purpose at the particular moment, but isn't meant to stay forever. I feel that Micah was Laya's catalyst in moving on from her husband's sudden death and helping her see that she's still alive and has more to give in this life.

Then there was Micah's twin sister, Melissa. She seemed to play a much bigger part than I anticipated and that was just weird for me. I am assuming the author was trying to portray the close bond that twins have but it missed the mark. There was too much of her personal drama added in that I felt came across as just filler and not truly a part of the story being told.

Overall, Renee's writing is always strong and tells a good story. But I think this particular book missed the mark for me. It was just ok for me; a right down the middle read.

I have always loved reading a new Renee Carlino book each year, but sadly this release wasn't my favorite. I just couldn't connect with the characters and had such a hard time getting into the plot. I usually enjoy stories with this particular storyline and I always find Renee Carlino's writing addicting, but The Last Post missed the mark for me. I will be crossing my fingers that the next book will be a hit!

This was my first Renee Carlino book, and oh my gosh was I thoroughly impressed. Her writing style is beautiful, the was she tells a story that sucks the reader in and evokes so many feelings, and thoughts is such a true talent. Sometimes I just need a good book to pull at my heart, and it is getting harder to find those. But I think Carlino may have exactly what I am looking for. Going to order all her back-list titles. I loved the characters in this book, and my emotions were all over the place with them!

If "Oh no, baby. What is you doing?" was a book...

To put it simply, I was so disappointed in The Last Post. After reading Before We Were Strangers and Swear on This Life, I was in awe of Renée Carlino's ability to write beautiful romance novels. However, The Last Post misses the romance mark completely and lands somewhere near creepy, definitely-not-a-healthy relationship territory.

There's so much here that went wrong. The characters don't feel developed at all. I never connected with any of them and was unable to emotionally invest in their story. None of the relationships seem genuine or believable. I never felt Laya and Cameron were madly in love. Micah was a creepy, stalkerish mess that I wouldn't want to pair with anyone at all (let alone a woman that's still grieving). How is this supposed to be a romance that I'm supposed to get behind? Nothing makes any sense to me. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

As a big fan of Renee Carlino, I gotta be honest. I was let down with “The Last Post,” I had a hard time connecting with this one. Normally, her books are a solid 4-5 star reads for me, but this one was about a 2-2.5 star read.

The most difficult part of this book was connecting with the characters. I didn’t really feel like I knew them even though I just went through this emotional journey with them. Micah came across as weird and a bit stalkery. Is that even a word? It is now. But he creeped me out with his little gifts and notes, that I couldn’t ship him and Laya which ruined the entire book/plot for me. Because I come here for the romance and the romance is usually top-notch but it fell so flat with this one.

Not only do I love the romance in Carlino’s books, but she has a great talent when writing humor/bants. Seriously, I find myself laughing at some of the silliest things and this was no different. I would have liked Michah if the concept of him doing everything anonymous didn’t creep me out. This book had the potential to be good, but it was a miss for me.

Thank you Atria Books, Netgalley and Renee Carlino for The Last Post free e-ARC in return of my honest review.

The Last Post is a a story about love. It shows that love could be different - to people, to work, to parents, and to self. When Laya loses her husband, she has hard time to accept his death because she blames him and his dangerous job. She believes he could have sacrificed his desire for adventure for her and settle in married life. Through the book, Laya finds peace within herself to see and respect his choices. Micah, the awkward architect in her father’s firm, tries to help her along the way.

I think the protagonist, Laya, is beautifully portrayed. I felt her raw grief and anger. She could not believe that her husband did not put herself and their love as a priority and chose to continue his dangerous stunts. Laya did not have any tools or knowledge how to deal with the reality, and it made her real in my eyes. Her chapters were my favourite.

Micah, on the other hand, made me roll my eyes every time. His whining and constant nagging made me cringe. I think Renee Carlino was trying to portray a self conscious, considerate man, very opposite to Laya’s husband, which she succeeded no doubt. However, I am not sure if Micah turned out well. Overall, his image repelled me.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t fond of the book as I anticipated.

I've had Carino's books on my wish list for years, but this is the 1st one I've read. It was an emotional read that really hit me in the gut at times.

I think I cried so many times while reading it because Renee is such a great writer that you can immediately connect with the characters and I felt like she grew after everything that happened to her. I’ve always loved Renee’s writing and The Last Post did not disappoint! Go pick it up immediately!!

A novel of loss a horrible accident a husband dead a story of recovery.Abook of reconnecting giving life another chance.Two wounded characters their story of living life again.An author whose books always move me engage me.#netgalley#atriabooks.

I ended up listening to the audiobook of The Last Post. I'm a huge fan of Renee Carlino. Her books are always heartfelt and full of emotion. This one was no different. However, I wasn't connecting with the characters.. I struggled with some of their actions. This one just wasn't for me. That being said, I'm looking forward to her next release.

THE LAST POST by Renée Carlino is just what I expect from this author – unpredictable creativity. I can’t stop reading her books, even though they don’t resemble anything else on my bookshelves.

We follow Laya’s inappropriate posting on Facebook, after she witnesses her husband’s death during an extreme sport stunt. I understood it was what she needed to do to heal, but I can’t imagine how it exasperated everyone else.

Laya’s behavior made me cringe while simultaneously wanting to help her. Her hurt radiated, and she made a world where she felt safe. It was painful to witness, but I couldn’t bear not knowing what happened next.

This easily gave Micah the connection he craved with Laya, but it also set him up to creep her out. Their constant tug of war was hard to witness, but it’s also what propelled hope for their happy-ever-after.

Micah came off as creepy like a stalker, but I loved his quiet devotion to Laya. His mental health was in jeopardy if he continued on the path he was on. Layla’s grief made her act out in ways I didn’t always understand, but I felt deep compassion for her situation. In the end, Micah’s quirks were the only way to break down Laya’s walls.

We also get to know Micah’s twin sister who’s over-the-top obnoxious, as well as his insensitive friends. Not everyone is likable in the beginning, so I was really wondering how this would pan out.

Micah is a brilliant architect who works for Laya’s dad. Laya is a talented surgeon who needs to find her way back to her gift after tragedy. Their oddities mixed well with their genius.

Expecting the unexpected is the norm with Carlino’s books. She writes about difficult situations, or characters who are very unusual. This one is a humdinger and I couldn’t stop reading. How does she think up this stuff? The mind boggles. I’m so addicted to her style.

I warn you – the language could be offensive to some – they speak their minds, especially Micah’s sister and his friends. This is a very unusual romance with lots of crazy stunts, but those final moments are beautiful.

Need more suggestions by this author? I enjoyed WISH YOU WERE HERE and AFTER THE RAIN . I can’t wait to read SWEAR ON THIS LIFE next.

If you haven’t read a Renée Carlino book yet, what are you waiting for? She entertains in a way you don’t know you need, but she succeeds no matter how it’s done each time. Step into the wild unknown with Renée Carlino’s romantic fiction. It’s a bumpy ride to happiness, but so worth the journey.

Review by Dorine, courtesy of TheZestQuest.com.

Renee Carlino is a hit-or-miss author for me. I either love and adore her novels, or go down the deep end of just not caring/not liking anything. Carlino is known for her emotionally packed stories, the ones that run over your heart with a tractor and leave you gasping for air. And that's what I love so much about her stories. In this case, with everything going on, especially with Layla being a widow and how Micah is there to help her out.

I couldn't feel much for these characters. It was like the emotions were taken completely out of the story. Despite this, surprisingly, I was able to still enjoy some of the story with its authenticity.

It is a story about the life after... after you lost someone you loved and the whole life is divided into before and after, when you have everything in perspective and are trying to cope and move on.
Everybody does it in his/ her own way, establishing new rules and setting hard learned “never ever again”.
It is an emotional story with a HEA. However, for me it was quite difficult to connect with the writing style. I didn’t actually like the characters, it felt as something was missing.
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy. All opinions are mine.

Like other reviewers, I had a hard time getting into this book. I found the premise to be really intriguing, but the style and execution of the prose was a bit disjointed for me to really dive into

The last post by Renée Carlino⁣
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This book was provided to me by Atria Books through #netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ⁣
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Wow, just wow! I am so glad I stuck with it and read this book entirely. I’m going to begin by saying that about 4 chapters in I was ready to give up. The writing felt rushed and the characters felts one dimensional. However, I see why the author did so. This book isn’t to highlight the characters. There is a character that isn’t human in this book and it’s grief. The main character is grief. Leah was married to a daredevil who lost his life in a tragic stunt. Upon him passing Leah found it hard to love again and even felt guilty if she so as much stopped thinking about Cameron.  Her grief was so difficult that she would still call him and leave him voicemails and facebook posts constantly. Micah an architect that works with her father comes along. Micah is not so smooth talker and tries to help her with her grief in the most cringe worthy ways possible. Though their relationships they found it hard to be on the same page. Their love story isn’t typical or romantic in the least. It’s a love story of loving a widow in the midst of her grief. It’s about finding the beauty in all the ugly and learning how to cope with grief. As we read the story Leah is filled with rage most of the time but if you put yourself in her shoes you can understand why. The trajectory of their relationship was perfect in the sense that what should had happened, HAPPENED. It was so flawed and painful and at times hurtful to read their interactions, but it all made sense when you realize that she was always dealing with grief that comes and goes. Micah was inexperienced and a bit naïve and accepted her flaws regardless of her pain, but he to was flawed and lost patience many times, as any human would. He was awkward and at time cringy and that’s what made him so perfect. My 4 stars was given because the writing could have been a bit more intricate since in the beginning things felt rushed. Great story!⁣