I wanted to like this book so much. Grumpy single dad and sweet, independent woman with a huge crush, I'm in. I love a grumpy/sunshine type of trope. Also the cover is adorable. Unfortunately this was a major bust for me. First of all, if the description had mentioned the huge age difference between main characters I never would have requested this book. While some people may be ok with that, I am not, and it should also be added to the book and website description as a major trigger warning. I have never read this author before and one of the other couples in the book also has a big age difference so maybe it was on my for not checking out the previous books first. My second problem with the book was the repetitive dialog. It's the same conversations over and over with no change. I don't like leaving bad reviews but this book did not work for me..
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I give up! I've read more than a quarter of the book and I just can't! There is nothing romantic in what Parker did, if anything it's cringing!
There should be a disclaimer that said "he's a 41 yo fantasising about a 19 yo" I would have read it! And he already pregnated an 18 yo! WTF with him having a thing for girls half his age! I would have been OK if she was 25 yo

Sorry A. S. Kelly but I didn't find any it romantic!

One Last Kiss is an age gap (20+ years) romance between Rian and Parker. First of all, I have to say I missed that this was the third book in a series when I chose to read it. Had I known, I would have read the other books first. I can't say that I wasn't able to understand or follow the story of the two main characters, but I think I would have had better insight into the characters, especially the supporting characters, had I read the series in order.

The following part of this review may contain some spoilers.

Things I liked: I liked the friendships in this book and how they supported each other. There were both strong female and male friend groups. The banter between the characters was fun and showed their personalities. I also liked Parker's single dad story and loved his precocious twin daughters. I also really like this cover even though I'm getting a little weary of all the illustrated covers out there.

What I wasn't a fan of: How drawn out this story was. I like a good slow burn, but this was not the slow burn I like. I like a little more relationship building and I just didn't see that here. Instead there is just a bunch of angst from both the main characters regarding if they should or shouldn't pursue a relationship...does he/she want me...with a bunch of scenes where the friend groups hash things over. There is also an incident that both main characters experienced and is thought of multiple times in the story, but not explained until later. I didn't find that situation believable in light of the Parker's job as a firefighter. I couldn't see him going to a call alone. I just don't think that happens. Lastly, the age gap. While this age gap is not unheard of, I just really didn't like it. I would have liked it better had Rian been at least into her 20s a little. Maybe a 15-18 year gap instead.

My sincere thanks to A.S. Kelly and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book and give my unbiased opinion of it. Overall, I give this book a 3 star rating. I am undecided if I will go back and check out the first two books in the series, but I'm tempted to especially read more of Niall's story.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

I am going to start with I have not, at this time, gotten to the end of this book. I am roughly 67% of the way through this 500 page book and I am struggling to continue. That being said, I might go back later and finish this and adjust my review, but likely not. I will list the pros & cons below.

Pros: It is a very easy read. Even though it takes place in Ireland (?) so there is clearly a dialect in the writing, it still reads smoothly, so reading dozens of pages is not difficult. I like that it switches between characters POV between chapters - that is always fun. Each character in the book has a distinct personality.

Cons: There are pages at a time of dialogue where no names are listed so it is unclear who is speaking. While each character has their own personality, their voice is not unique enough to differentiate who is speaking when four people are talking at the same time for five pages. The internal and external monologues of characters are hard to differentiate. Except sometimes the male lead will break the fourth wall and say things like, "You can tell, dear reader, that [blank]" which is very jarring considering he is the only person to do this and it doesn't happen the first time until about 20% of the way through the book. This is supposed to be a standalone book (theoretically) but it is the third book in this world, which normally isn't an issue, except for it is very hard to figure out what is happening at times - is this a reference to a previous book? Is it something that just isn't being explained in this book? WHO KNOWS! It took about half of the book for a key aspect of the main characters relationship to be explained which was incredibly frustrating. Speaking of, age differences shouldn't be an issue - and normally they aren't - but the age difference between these characters were creepy (to me). There is a difference between "older man" and predatory, which doesn't help when the main female character kept referring to herself as a "little girl" - in fact it makes it so much worse. Both of the main characters have flaws that they can't get over, that probably wouldn't be a big deal if they just had an actual conversation like adults, but neither of them can act like adults.

This book was just very difficult for me to read. I am sure there is an audience for it, and I wanted to like it based on the description & cover, but unfortunately this was just not the book for me. 1/5

ONE LAST KISS is a deeply dramatic angsty love story. It stars a lovely young lady, Rian Kerry, who falls in love with a divorced man, Parker Hayes, who is twice her age and a firefighter. He is a father to rambunctious six year old twin girls. Parker has issues in the romance department, after being discarded by the young woman he loved, married and who bore his children. His heart is shattered. So, Parker built up a fortress around his heart. Rian knocks down the impenetrable fortress, block by block with her womanly wiles, and proves herself worthy. The question is will Parker open up his heart to love again?

With Parker's job being demanding and unpredictable, he needs a babysitter. Rian helps out many times and his twins grow very fond of her. Plus, Parker loves coming home to a blissful domestic scene with Rian intertwined with his cherished children. Another cupid's arrow to his hardened heart. Will they make things work or not?

ONE LAST KISS is at times introspective, humorous, and passionate. It's a moving romance between a young woman and a divorced father to twin girls. There are many family members and friends that give it a playful and comedic component as well, especially Parker's brother. The relationship between Parker and Rian has many trials but the plot is extremely entertaining.

I love the romantic overtures in Rian and Parker's courtship because, they are extremely attracted to one another. The author draws out the relationship, leaving the reader to wonder where it will end, because there are so many obstacles to overcome between them. The conversations flow as smooth as wine. The author has a gift of gab that makes for entertaining conversations. Loved that aspect because, so few stories have that much communication. ONE LAST KISS is simply fabulous! Freaking funny and melodrama overload!

With a storyline trope surrounding a 41 yr old single firefighter, and a very young 19 yr old yoga instructor, One Last Kiss feels awkward from the very beginning. Moments of the story are cute and laughable, but the majority of the content leaves the reader wondering why the guy is not in therapy and why the girl is willing to go along with this game. It feels as though his sole intent, though he would say otherwise, is to "have her" and she can't ever seem to really decide what to do. It's on, It's off. They can. They can't. Honestly, its messy and dysfunctional, but not in a redeeming way.

Thank you to NetGalley for the free e-galley of this book. Friends, I have no idea what to think of this book. Were parts of it sexy? Yes. Were the characters sometimes sweet? Yes. Mostly, though, I was confused. Why is Parker so hard on himself? He really does seem depressed, and needs to get some help with that before being in.a relationship. If both Parker and Rian have so many concerns about their 21 year age difference, why do they get together and basically ignore any obstacles? Why was there so much speaking directly to the audience? It was a strange choice. Overall, this book had moments of humor between the close-knit friend group, but it felt more like a rough draft than a novel.

One Last Kiss is the third book in the series, but can definitely be read as a standalone. I didn't read the other two and didn't feel like I was missing anything with this book.

This book is an age gap story and while that might bother some readers, I didn't have an issue with it. I found that the love story (slow burn) between the two main characters was realistic, sweet, and the age wasn't something that came to my mind.

I enjoyed this book. It was a quick read and a good slow burn, small town romance.

I really enjoyed the chemistry and unrequited love plot to this story, however it was a little cringey that there was a 20 year age difference between Parker, a single Dad with twin daughters and Rian, the 19 year old yoga instructor who helps him out watching the girls. The twins were definitely the standout, they were adorably precocious trying to set their Dad up with Rian. I also enjoyed the dual perspectives getting to see inside both characters heads. Wasn't a huge fan of either of their brothers though, all the guys other than Parker seemed a bit immature for 40 year olds. Overall this book kept me entertained but I did really wish Rian would have been in her mid-twenties rather than merely 19! (Also loved that it was set in Ireland!). Much thanks to NetGalley and the author for my advance review copy.

Rating: No rating as I DNFed this.

I don’t have a lot to say except that I was really confused. There is too much dialogue in this book. Like I’m saying pages on top of pages without any dialogues or descriptions. You get thrown into dialogues, no explanation nor context. The dialogue tags and descriptions we do get, don’t help with moving the story forward. But I kept trying to push through, until the love interest kisses the main character in a vulnerable moment without consent. The main character goes on to express her unhappiness and lack of consent, which was great. But then it just gets ignored like nothing happens. Since I didn’t finish this, I don’t know for sure if this is something that is completely forgotten about or dealt with later. My assumption is that since it was dismissed then, probably forgotten later.

The cover is really pretty!

This just wasn’t for me. I found it confusing, but you may not!

I cherish books about second chances, single parenting, and the struggles that come along with it. To all that if we add great characters, romance, sex, comedy, and drama we'd have a can't-put-down book. That's what this one is about.

I fell in love with the main characters of this book, I felt them very authentic and unique, and they were the perfect complement for a great plot. Even when they made me cried more than once, it was worth the lesson between the lines.

Being heartbroken and a single parent is something that only the one that has been through this can comprehend. No matter how much you think you know about it if you are not a single parent it is very hard to have an idea of what you have to go through or what you have to give up when you are one.

Just, don't give up!

One Last Kiss by A.S. Kelly is part three of the series “Love at Last”, but it can be read as a standalone.
It is the story of Parker and Rian, and how the two of them overcome all their “relationshippy” issues and find each other. (One of the main issues is the age gap between them – Parker is 40ish and Rian is 19).

The age thing does not bother me (I can see that other readers have found it rather offensive – but I really don’t care as long as it is legal – and it is in Europe, so…).
It is a funny and cute story – but it really is way too long (approx. 500 pages), and the dialogue is very hard to follow because of the lack of clarification as to who is speaking to whom, and whether the words are a thought in the character’s head or if they are spoken out loud. Sadly, this makes “One Last Kiss” a very difficult read. Some editing would probably be a good idea, so the story can be the main focus, as it should be.

3.75 stars
OMG! This is such a good book. I am already planning of reading the rest of the series.
I really loved the age gap between the protagonist and also loved how are the kids involved in the love story.
There were some parts that seemed forced and a little boring but for the most part I really like how the relationship evolved.
The hero has trust issues so there were parts frustrating for me but it was at the same time understandable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours for the opportunity to read this ARC. This honest review was based off my experience reading an ARC, which in no way biased me.

Rian is a 19 year old yoga teacher at a local gym and also a college student.

Parker is a 41 year old, a firefighter and single dad to a pair of 6 year old twin girls.

Addressing the age gap here first to make readers aware of it.

Things I enjoyed:
I found the narration style interesting. This is probably the first book I’ve read where in both POVs there are moments when the main character is actually speaking to the readers.

Things I wasn’t a fan of:
I’m usually all for age gaps, but this one might be pushing it a bit. This seems to be a pattern for Parker because his ex-wife was 18 when she found out she was pregnant and they got married, (he was 35ish…). It’s a 21 year age gap and Rian is CONSTANTLY referring to herself as a “kid” or “little girl” when she is thinking about how he’s “double her age”.

The age thing gets repeated SEVERAL times. And it becomes a point of conflict. Her inexperience also comes up and he doesn’t have a great first reaction to it. He also kind of enjoys (lowkey fetishizes) her inexperience and being her first. It gets a bit uncomfortable.

Parker doesn’t think, act, or say things a 41 year old man would. Which is fine, but it takes you out of it especially since they mention their ages so much.

To be honest I’m not sure where the plot was. The romance plot definitely took over than the actual story telling plot.

Overall, I would rate this a 2.5 stars rounded up to a 3. I had a time with this one, can at least say my curiosity won and I had to see it though.

I felt conflicted as I really like the romance, the plot and the overall character development. However, the age gap was a big negative for me. It was too large Parker is 41 and Rian is 19, nearly 20. Plus, Parker is made out to be more of a creep who likes borderline teenagers as the mother of his children was 20 when they first hooked up, he was 36. Especially with the added cliche of dating the babysitter.
However, the characters full acknowledge the age gap, both Rian and Parker felt it was a large obstacle for them.
But love is love and I wonder if that may be a slight double-standard as if it were a gender swap then there would probably be a high-five over that relationship.
One confusion at the start of the book was that the sudden introduction that two to-be married couples were introduced within the start of the book made it confusing, who was marrying Tyler? Holly or Jordan?
Overall, I enjoyed the book especially the help that their whole community and family lends to ensure that couple can come together.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from #netgalley , thank you. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Before I talk about the substance of the novel, I just wanted to clarify that the novel is a standalone, but it is part of a saga of which it is the third volume. Honestly, I hadn’t read the other two and I had never heard of them. But the summary of this third volume seduced me right away.
First of all, we meet really charming characters as soon as we start the novels. How can I tell you that I loved the twin sisters? They were so adorable and quite funny, I must say! Then we also meet Rian and Parker, our protagonists. At first, I didn’t quite understand that Rian was much younger than Parker. And we find out pretty quickly that this is the whole problem; Parker is twice his age. When I realized that, I was a little disturbed, because I didn’t really know what to make of it… Rian is almost 20 and Parker is 40. In our society, that’s pretty much frowned upon, so I didn’t know where I stood. But frankly, as I kept reading, I couldn’t help but find it cute in the end. Because Parker wants to protect Rian at all costs, he wants her to be able to keep her youth, her life, and to enjoy it. The relationship between Rian and the twins was wonderful, really cute.
Anyway, the problematic is well brought and in the end, the author gives us the right arguments so that we can enjoy the reading.
I still found some passages a little long or unnecessary. It wasn’t always necessary to create arguments between Rian and Parker as soon as there was a rapprochement, but it moved the novel forward at least. I’ve seen that many didn’t like the fact that there was more dialogue than introspection, but I actually didn’t think anything of it while reading. On the contrary, it energized the whole thing.
The ending was not ordinary, on the contrary. I found that we didn’t have a ready-made ending. You still have to imagine what happens next for the characters, but I thought that was cool.
So, frankly, it was a very good read. And for French speakers, the level is really affordable for a first reading in English.


Avant de parler du fond du roman, je voulais juste préciser que le roman est un standalone, mais il fait partie d’une saga dont il est le troisième tome. Honnêtement, je n’avais pas lu les deux autres et je n’en avais jamais entendu parler. Mais le résumé de ce troisième tome m’a tout de suite séduite.

Premièrement, on rencontre des personnages vraiment charmants dès que l’on commence les romans. Comment vous dire que j’ai adoré les sœurs jumelles ? Elles étaient tellement adorables et assez drôles, je dois dire ! Ensuite, nous rencontrons aussi Rian et Parker, nos protagonistes. Au départ, je n’avais pas bien compris que Rian était beaucoup plus jeune de Parker. Et on découvre assez vite que c’est toute la problématique ; Parker a le double de son âge. Quand j’ai compris cela, j’ai été un peu dérangée, car je ne savais pas trop quoi en penser… Rian a quand même presque 20 ans et Parker 40. Dans notre société, c’est assez mal vu, donc je ne savais pas me positionner. Mais franchement, en continuant à lire, je n’ai pas pu m’empêcher de trouver cela mignon au final. Car Parker veut protéger à tout pris Rian, il veut qu’elle puisse garder sa jeunesse, sa vie et qu’elle profite. La relation entre Rian et les jumelles étaient merveilleuses, vraiment mignonnes.

Enfin bref, la problématique est bien amenée et en finalité, l’auteure nous donne les bons arguments pour que l’on puisse profiter de la lecture.

J’ai quand même trouvé certains passages un peu longs ou inutiles. Ce n’était pas toujours nécessaire de créer des disputes entre Rian et Parker dès qu’il y avait un rapprochement, mais cela faisait avancer le roman au moins. J’ai vu que beaucoup n’avaient pas aimé le fait qu’il y ait plus de dialogue que d’introspection, mais en réalité, je n’ai pas du tout pensé à cela pendant ma lecture. Au contraire, cela dynamisait le tout.

La fin n’était pas de plus ordinaire, au contraire. J’ai trouvé que l’on n’avait pas une finalité toute construite. On doit quand même imaginer la suite pour les personnages, mais j’ai trouvé ça cool.

Donc, franchement, c’était une très bonne lecture. Et pour les francophones, le niveau est vraiment abordable pour une première lecture en anglais.

This book was very cute, and very fast to read (which I love it, because I don’t hate a lot of time to read!).

The chemistry between the two characters are good, but I don’t usually enjoy the tropes that are presented in this book.

It was a cute read, very fast, and if you enjoy friends to lovers and single dad trope, you will probably enjoy this book more than I did.

I want to fist say thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the ARC. The cover of the book is beautiful and what grabbed my attention immediately. This book has a good premise — heartbroken firefighter & father meets very young damsel in distress and falls for her while struggling to admit it and commit. Funny side characters, the twin girls were adorable, and steamy ending.

I have not read the previous books in this series, but I don't believe it was necessary to read them to understand this book. I didn't have any issues with the writing and the story, overall, was good. But, for me, this issue was Parker and Rian's age difference. I dont mind age gaps, but Rian is still a teenage and hes 41 with 6 year old twin girls. Rian hasn't grown up, she's a baby yet, she hasn't experienced life yet for her to be settling down with an older man. This was also the second time Parker was falling in love for a girl in her late teens. Once is one thing, twice is kind of creepy for me. To enjoy this story, I had to make him not 20 years older than her. I thought Niall and Tyler's back and forth conversations with Parker in this story were the best part of the book along with Parker’s adorable twin girls.
The book is not bad, it’s just that the age gap made it very difficult for me to like.

No surprise that the real difference in this book is the age gap between the two main characters. I honestly thought this was written well since Rian is pretty mature for her age. I did think that some of the arguments/misunderstandings were annoying and could have been avoided, but this seems to be a common theme in most romance novels, so I have started to look past it.

Parker's two daughters were adorable. I loved how they could read Parker so well.
The friendships in this book are amazing. So supportive. Loved that a lot.

I am curious what the other two books in this series are about. This is a stand-alone! Glad that was covered at the end of the synopsis on the main page for this book here on Netgalley.

What if you only had one last kiss with the person you love? ♥️ Thank you for the ARC Netgalley.

This book has a good premise — heartbroken firefighter & father meets young damsel in distress and falls for her while struggling to admit it and commit. Funny side characters, the twin girls were adorable, and steamy ending 🔥 I felt that it was slow to get there. I didn’t go for the back and forth POVs between Rian & Parker. I feel like the struggle was dragged out way too long. It felt like it took forever to get over the hang ups. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Read this if you like ⤵️

💋Two Character POV
💋 Age Gap Trope
💋 Funny Side Characters
💋 Steamy Slow Burn Romance
💋 Firefighter Love Interest
💋 Love After Heartbreak

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
One Last Kiss by A.S. Kelly