I really enjoyed this romance book! The characters were very likeable and I felt like I could relate to their situation.

I had a really hard time getting into this one. It just wasn’t for me. I’m not sure why I just couldnt get into it.

For Anna, NYE is the hardest day without her husband. The second NYE after his death she calls his cell number which she has kept paying so she can hear his voice but someone answers. Who is this and why does he have Spencer's number?
While Anna can always talk with her friends, parents, and in-laws she finds herself reaching out to the mysterious person with her husband's phone number. Brody, the man on the other end of the calls has his own trauma he is going through. Over the course of that year they have several conversations and begin to move on with each others help.
This is an enjoyable book and while you know the end destination of the story from the beginning there are a couple of surprises along the way and even a little ending twist. If you like the more modern love story romances or personal growth stories grab this one.

I had high hopes for The Last Goodbye, but unfortunately it was just not a good read for me. It drug on, and I just didn't want to find out how it ended.

Fiona Lucas writes an occasionally sad, occasionally funny story of a woman who misses her partner so much that she still calls his mobile number just to hear his voice on the outgoing message. When someone answers, Anna's life changes.

I listened to the audiobook, and Antonia Beamish's narration is fantastic. She delivers Anna's and Brody's chapters effectively, pulling you into Lucas's words and world. Theirs is a heartbreaking life, each of them dealing with grief. They can heal each other, if only they will open themselves to the hope of possibility.

Hope, in fact, is the core of this book. The hope that grief is not a prison with no escape. To survive it, though, requires courage, and sometimes that courage feels more daunting than living a life of mourning.

Grab some tissues and dive into Anna and Brody's story. You will cheer for them and weep with them, becoming ever more entranced by the power of love.

Almost 3 years since Anna's husband Spencer died, Anna calls Spencer's phone. To her surprise Brody answers. What starts out as a friendship turns into something more.

I enjoyed this book. It is a cute romance novel of that has 2 characters who desperately need to overcome their own grief.

Thank you to William Morrow and Harper Audio for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I don't think I was prepared for how emotional this book would be when I started reading it. It was a little overhwhelming, but I did enjoy the story with all the sadness. It was definelty more Women's Fiction for me, with a touch of romance. It does need to come with strong caution warnings for grief and loss of a child.

My heart broke several times while reading and listening to this one. I wanted to wrap both Anna and Brody up and keep them in a protected bubble to heal. The pace felt right, it was slower but it fit the story and drew out the emotions for me. The characters were developed well and I appreciated how the author drew me in and I became so invested in them.

This is the first book that I have listened to that was narrated by Antonia Beamish. I enjoyed her accent and felt she gave the characters just he right tone for the story. I would be happy to listen to another one of hers in the future.

Imagine losing the love of your life when your lives together were just beginning?
You grab your phone one day to dial his number just to hear his voice and someone else answers the call!
The Last Goodbye is a beautifully written story about love, loss, and hope. It will have you laughing and crying. I'm thankful for #netgalley for this advanced copy.

This was such a lovely and emotional read! I loved the pace, the writing, the characters, everything about it was just right. Such a sweet story of loss, grief, and finding love again in the least expected way. Loved it!

I liked this but wished it was more romantic. It was a very healing romance and gave me the feeling of One Day. However, it just needed to be more truly romantic.

Anna tragically and quickly loses her true love her husband in a tragic accident. She is struggling to move on knowing he was who she was meant to be with forever. She dials his number on New Years to hear his voice one last time only to discover someone now has his old phone number. Brody surprisingly is someone who understands her and can help her to move forward. Together will they be able to love and open their hearts again.

This is a story about Anna, a young woman who loses her husband, Spencer, suddenly. Desperate to continue to feel a connection him, she dials his phone number to listen to his voice on his voicemail and Brody answers. The book focuses on the friendship that forms between Anna and Brody, who is also dealing with grief of his own.

I don't typically listen to audiobooks and decided to give this one a listen. Although the narrator has a nice voice and good pace, I often found myself thinking about other things when I should have been focused on listening & had to rewind several times. I feel I would have enjoyed this more as an ebook or paperback than audio.

This was a sweet yet heartbreaking audiobook. It’s th kind of beauty that breaks your heart in the best way

For women's fiction, this was a great book! I enjoyed the story and the characters a lot. I was hooked into the storyline and had a lot of fun.

This was an excellent audiobook. It’s heart-wrenching and heart-warming. It’s kind of a British take on Sleepless in Seattle, but with two very damaged people.

Anna loved her husband Spencer. She was certain she could never love another. But one night, Spencer went out to the store and never came home. Anna was devastated and only barely managed to move on with her life. But on New Year’s Eve a few years after Spencer’s death, Anna calls his phone number, to hear his voice mail message. Instead, she connects with Brody, the new holder of Spencer’s phone number and another injured soul. It’s a strange call between strangers, but there’s something there, and Anna can’t help but call the number again. Slowly, Anna and Brody become friends; they help each other to heal.

I loved the characters and felt they were very realistic, believable, and relatable. Gabi is a loving friend to Anna, who tries her best to help Anna move out of the darkness of her grief. She mean well, and only wants to see Anna return to the living. Anna’s mother-in-law, Gayle, however is another story. She’s spent the years since her son’s death hiding her hurt, until it boils over and spills onto Anna, sending her back into the shadows. Gayle doesn’t come off as a nice person.

The writing is near perfect, well-paced, and holds a few surprises. The narration of the audiobook is beautifully performed. I never doubted which character was speaking. I felt the narrator made the characters and the situation come to life.

This is a book about grief, fated meetings, healing, PTSD, agoraphobia, friendship, but most of all love. It’s a slow-burn romance as Anna and Brody each work through their grief and pain, trying their hardest to find the sunshine in their lives once again. It will leave you smiling and with the knowledge that no matter how dark life seems, you must not give up hope. Light is always just around the corner.

I received a copy of this audiobook from the publisher through Netgalley. I thank them for their generosity, but it had no effect on this review. All opinions in this review reflect my true and honest reactions to reading this book.

QOTD: what’s a book that you think has been underrepresented on bookstagram?

I just finished @fionalucasauthor’s The Last Goodbye, and I’m surprised that I haven’t seen more of it in the bookstaverse.

First of all, the cover is on trend and it’s (accurately) been compared to One Day in December by @josiesilverauthor (which I know is well-liked in the book world).

To boot, it is just this really sweet and sweeping story of Anna and Brody who are individually grieving loved ones lost and their journey back to hopefulness.

The supporting characters are all as interesting as the main characters and the slow burn feels really authentic (though the way Anna and Brody meet is sort of far-fetched IMO).

I’m thankful to have been granted an audio copy from @williammorrowbooks @netgalley and will be adding a physical copy to my shelves, for sure (released June 8, 2021)

Trigger ⛔️ panic disorders, grief

#netgalley #thelastgoodbye #fionalucas #netgalleyreads #netgalleyreview #netgalleyreviewer #galleycopy #audiobook #audiobooks #audiobookstagram #audiobooksofinstagram #bookish #audiobooklove #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #instabookstagram #booksgram #bookgram #bibliophile #newbooks #williammorrowbooks #instaread #instareading #contemporaryfiction #bookblog #reading #recommendedbooks #bookrecommendations #books #booknerd

Anna’s husband, Spencer, was tragically killed in an accident 3 years ago, and Anna has been unable to move on. His clothes are still in his closet, and she calls his number once in a while just to hear his voice on the voicemail.

So when a man answers one New Year’s Eve, she’s taken aback. But soon her late night calls with Brody turn into something more, especially after he says he knows what she’s going through.

The Last Goodbye is a sweet, if a bit predictable, love story. Anna lets her mother-in-law walk all over her, biting her tongue to spare her feelings, and when she finally gets her comeuppance it takes place off-screen, so is a bit of a letdown. I also guessed Brody’s story pretty early on, but I found his character likeable.

Both Anna and Brody are stuck, and together they are able to find their way past their pain and figure out how to move on with their lives.

Notes on the audiobook: I flew through the audio and really enjoyed the narration by Antonia Beamish. With a running time of 11.5 hours it’s an easy story to listen to.

So I don’t plan to address the narration style in this review because it didn’t really factor in to how I felt about it, but I will say, I have ADHD and always have to speed my audiobooks up to listen or it’ll drive me crazy and feel excruciatingly slow. That being said, I felt like I had to speed this one up more than I typically do, and felt that the enunciation wasn’t great combined with high speeds. Now on to the book! I have never been good at star ratings because I often am debating between a 4 and a 5, gave one of my all time least favorite books (purely for the fact that the only emotion it made me feel was confusion) a 3, and I’m pretty sure the only book I ever gave 1 star was the Cursed Child, which is a whole other can of worms. Anyways, a 4 basically means liked it but there were a few things that bugged me, a 3 is “didn’t love it didn’t hate it” and a 5 is OH MY GOSH I LOVE THIS BOOK! I want to give this book somewhere between a 3 and a 4, but not for anything really within the book. I picked this because I’ve been getting more into romance lately and I thought the added mystery of trying to figure out what the man on the phone was hiding would be a nice touch, since I love mysteries SO much. However, I really just don’t think I was the target demographic for this book. I enjoyed it for sure, but it was outside of my regular genres, and I found myself wishing for more mystery or other elements of the story. THAT BEING SAID, I absolutely HATE it when reviewers read some of my favorite YA or mystery books and then rate it 1-3 stars because they don’t like YA or mystery because my only reaction is “why would you even pick it up if you hate the genre so much and were going to rate it so low?” For my own personal opinion, I would give this book a 3 or 3.5 stars. For the target demographic, that being adults who like romance/mystery/character driven reflections on life, this is the perfect book. I think that if any of that is what you would seek out, ONE HUNDRED PERCENT you should read it. You will LOVE it. As a teenager who also has NO lived experience in common with these characters, I think that adults who see themselves in the description/story will be likely to rate this book 4 stars AT LEAST. This book was well written, had distinct voices given to each character, and was great in every way, and my only criticism is really that it just wasn’t my cup of tea!

I received an advanced copy of this audiobook, from the publisher through netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. This book is well written and the characters are described well. It has a trigger warning mentioned in the synopsis that a family member was killed in a accident. The narrator did a great job reading this book. The author has a good writing style. It will keep your attention from the first minute you start listening to it. I enjoyed Anna's character. I can't wait to listen to more books by this author and read by this narrator. I would recommend this audiobook to anyone and everyone. It is in stores now for $26.99 (USD). The pacing of this story is good.

This book was so, so sweet. TW: loss of a loved one. I have lost family members, and I know how desperate you can become to hear their voice again. Anna was thinking along these same lines when she calls her late husband Spencer's phone to try against all odds to speak with him just one more time. From then on her life would never be the same! Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Audio for a copy of this audiobook for an honest review.