This is the story of two children from dysfunctional families growing up up and finding their way in life. Leila's mother walked out of the family home the day before her 11th birthday and Jake's father is an abusive drunk. How they each cope with their family life is the background to the story and the coping helps bring them together. Ultimately their friendship provides support in difficult times and continues despite separations. Heartwarming and well-written.

SPOILERS
TW below include spoilers.









TW: Physical abuse, emotional abuse, death, miscarriage


I honestly don't know how to review this book. I started reading it at lunchtime and finished it in the evening with a break for a meal. The story and writing were well written and well developed. I hadn't read anything for a while before started this book but the fact I finished in about 6 hours is a testament to the writing.

I ended the book sobbing so much that my husband came through from another room to check I was OK (I wasn't)

Many books have made me cry but I think the story and message in this book will stick with me for a long time.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review.

A truly romantic story that spans decades. Leila meets Jake when she is 13 years old and he moves into her old house. A friendship evolves over time with him coming and going from her life. Unbeknownst to Leila Jake sends her a charm for each milestone in her life, making a charm bracelet that Leila assumes her estranged mother is sending. Will Jake ever have the guts to tell Leila how he truly feels. Both of these lovely if somewhat broken people touched me and had me engrossed in their story. I loved the writing and the plot. A tear jerker that you won't be able to put down.

This isn’t the worst book I’ve ever read - it had just, barely, enough to keep me interested as it was overlong with tedious repetitive detail. The main Male character, Jake, at least showed some character progression, which made my main thought of “why on earth is he still bothered about her?” even stronger. Sadly the main character, Leila, is shallow, not the brightest spark, and completely self centred. Other things just don’t make sense - why should her grandfather and Jake being friends be any kind of secret?
Were the book written well, I may got past a few annoyances, But I also found the conversational passages stilted and unrealistic, with no natural flow.

Sadly, not for me!

Leila has a charm bracelet that means the world to her, but one day she loses it after putting up posters everywhere she can think the bracelet is found but to have it returned she must tell the stories of its charms.

Jake and Leilas story starts when she is 13 and leaving her childhood home that Jake is moving into, over the years charms are delivered that have meaning to Leilas life.

A heart rendering book that I really enjoyed.

Wow! What an amazing book!

Having not read any other books by Ella Allbright I wasn't sure what to expect but this has totally blown my mind. It has thrown every emotion possible at me from start to finish (laughing one minute, tears rolling down my cheeks the next!). I can't wait to read more of her work.

This story is beautifully written from the perspective of the two main characters, Leila and Jake. It begins when they meet as children, both with the weight of the world on their shoulders; Jake with his abusive father and Leila with the disappearance of her mother. She's angry, and the only thing she can cling onto is the charm bracelet her mother left. As time passes the bracelet fills with charms to represent events in her life. You can feel the true emotion with each one.

A big thank you to Netgalley for this copy.

I’m pleased to share my review for this beautiful book today. Thank you to One More Chapter of Harper Collins for a digital proof copy via NetGalley – my thoughts are my own and not influenced by the gift. The ebook is published today in the UK and the paperback is due to be published in November 2020.

Synopsis:

A moving and heartwarming love story perfect for fans of Me Before You and One Day in December…

Leila’s charm bracelet tells a story of love, a story of loss, a story of hope. This is the story of her … and the story of Jake.

When Leila Jones loses her precious charm bracelet and a stranger finds it, she has to tell the story of how she got the charms to prove she’s the owner. Each and every one is a precious memory of her life with Jake.

So Leila starts at the beginning, recounting the charms and experiences that have led her to the present. A present she never could have expected when she met Jake nearly twenty years ago…

My thoughts:

This is the first book I’ve read by Ella Allbright/Nikki Moore and it won’t be the last. The story telling was superb, I loved the way that Leila and Jake kept spending small periods of time together, whilst you wondered if this would be the time that they finally realised that they belonged together properly.

The story covers some tough topics including domestic violence and mental health issues, but there are also lots of funny moments too. As the book title suggests, there is a charm bracelet at the centre of the story and the end of the book had me in tears as Leila searched for the last charm. This was a beautiful and emotional read, and I’ve given it a 5 star rating.

I really loved this book, it was so sweet and sad as well. I must admit I shed a tear or two at the end of this lovely story. It was such a gentle read and I got carried away with the story. I love stories like this as they are so relaxing and more like the type of book you could take on holiday to read on the beach.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

A readable book despite the main character being rather annoying! Was the finder of the charm bracelet really required to read a novel to convince her that Leila was truly the owner!

Leila Jones loses the most precious thing she has - her charm bracelet. It is the story of her life and she is devastated.
Then someone finds it but wants her to describe it so she knows it is going to the rightful owner.
So Leila tells her her story, her experiences and Jake.

This is a beautifully written love story an emotional rollercoaster, which will make you laugh and cry.

The Last Charm is a cute story. Leila loses her charm bracelet. She gets charms for all of her important life events. When Caitlin finds the bracelet, she asks Leila to describe the charms to prove it's hers. Leila tells stories of Jake buying her charms. Leila and Jake have a complicated relationship. The story spans from when they first meet in childhood until Leila turns 30.

The Last Charm was an entertaining book. It is a cute story with a unique premise. Some things were predictable but there was enough originality to make it interesting. I wasn't very invested in the book or the characters until the end of the book. The ending was perfect.

Thank you NetGalley and One More Chapter for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVED this story. It was absolutely heartbreaking but I still adored it. The characters were strong and the storyline even stronger. I loved the idea of the charm bracelet and the meaning behind each one. Great book and I'd definitely read something by Ella Allbright again!

A sweet storyline, fairly predictable, but readable. Jake was very likeable, Leila not so much. Would make a great Sunday afternoon film. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review.

I didn't really enjoy this book. The general plot sounded good, but even the way it started I found unbelievable, that someone would send such a detailed email to prove that a bracelet belonged to them by describing the background to every single charm. Just tell them what charms are on it, that would be enough for anyone. Then the end too, getting the person that found it involved in the hunt, bit ridiculous.
The body of the book was very disjointed, we went months and years between chapters. I found it very hard to believe that he would still bother sending her charms, letters or postcards when she was so utterly horrible to him all the time. And not just a bit mean or offhand, but deliberately picking things she knew would hurt him, like comparing him to his dad. I don't believe that someone who behaved this way would have the longstanding friendships she had, let alone have a man like her for a decade or more before she actually started being nice to him. Her behaviour was not believable, the fire was ridiculous in particular.
It was very obvious where everything was going towards the end too, death, baby, mum coming back for no apparent reason. The plot felt very forced and I thought the end was rather morbid, telling her toddler that when she died the bracelet would be passed down to her! Why not just end it saying that when she grew up she'd tell her stories about the charms, no need to be telling a child that, even if they are too young to understand.
Suffice to say this book was not for me, I didn't feel any connection to any of the characters or feel any emotion towards any of the events.

The romance book of the summer. Perfect lockdown reading.

Absolutely loved this book that tells the story of a lost charm bracelet. Leila takes us on a journey to discover all about each charm that she has been gifted on her bracelet. The story of her friendship with Jake is just heart-breakingly beautiful. A lovely read that I will definitely be recommending....but with a warning that it'll take a while to find another book as good as this. Recommended for fans of The Flat Share, Me Before You etc.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I adored this book, the characters were almost magical, and I devoured it in one read. Really beautiful story, A much needed tonic for these strange times, will live with me for a while and will recommend to others.

The Last Charm reminded me of Normal People - the BBC/Hulu show. I haven't read the book, so I can't compare the two. Watching Normal People, it's so emotional and you want so desperately for Marianne and Connell to find a happily ever after but the timing is never right. That's how I felt reading about Leila and Jake. There's so much miscommunication and things left unsaid at the start of their story.

They meet when Leila is 11 years old and she is moving away from Bournemouth. Her mother has just given her a charm bracelet and disappeared from her life. Leila's whole world is turned upside down. She must navigate life without a mother and only with her father. Jake is moving into Leila's old house with his mother and an abusive father. His father thinks it's funny to make Jake sleep in Leila's "girlie" fairy pink bedroom. He wants to humiliate Jake. They meet the day she is moving out and he is moving in and spend an afternoon together talking in the park.
Fast forward a few years and Leila is back and living with her grandfather, a few doors down from her old house and Jake. The spend the next few years weaving in and out of each other's lives. The only constant in Leila's life is that she receives a new charm for her bracelet every year. She assumes it's from her mother, and it's her way of staying connected. Little does she know that Jake has been sending them to her with no note. He never tells her that he's the one and not her mother.

You're rooting for Jake all the way through and you hope that Leila finally gets it.

This book is so emotional and a real tearjerker. All I'll say about the ending is make sure you have a box of tissues nearby.

I loved the premise but the journey was exhausting and then it just broke my damn heart! Have you ever read a story where you didn't really care and yet cared too much all at the same time? That was this one for me!

Leila and Jake were so back and forth that I kind of got sick of it. They were friends I guess but it always felt so aggressive and not in a healthy way.

The story did have its good moments but the ones I didn't enjoy far outweighed any of them. It's weird to feel so strongly about the ending despite not caring about the characters. So the author did something right.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for honest review.

I really want to love this one. I loved both Me Before You and One Day in December, which this was compared to. It was a good story but the writing wasn't for me.

I hate to give this 2 stars, but i couldn’t even finish it... and that is unlike me. And I tried. I got over half way through and decided I wasn’t even invested enough to read on to see what happens. Other reviews are really enjoying this book, so maybe it’s just me? I never really liked the main character. I thought from the description and prologue I would like the book, but it was so slow. I won’t go into anymore details as not to give anything away.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.