Eli Ross has lived and breathed hockey practically since birth so leaving home as a teenager to play in the pros seemed like a foregone conclusion - at least to him. Never mind that leaving left an even more broken family behind. His father had already walked out, leaving his mom destitute, caring for their three sons on her own. As the oldest son, Eli saw hockey as his way out. He gained everything - money,, fame, women - but one stupid decision changed everything, sending him home in disgrace. Can he pick up the pieces and get out from under the thumb of the loan shark shadowing his steps?

Violet Donaghy has found home on Prince Edward Island working with "Mama Potts" in her pottery shop. When Eli Ross stumbles through the door, she's not eager to welcome the prodigal home. Not after the way he treated his family. She has too much respect for the woman who gave her a chance to welcome Eli, the son who caused as many tears and heartache as he gave pride in his accomplishments. When their kiln causes a structural fire that essentially destroys not only her livelihood, but her home, Violet is forced to work with Eli to find solutions and bring the pottery shop back to life. Will she be able to see past Eli's broken spirit to the strong, gifted man he is becoming? Will Eli be able to leave his past behind or will it continue to rear its ugly head, destroying his future?

This story made me cry. Often. Eli (and to some extent each of his brothers) was deeply hurt when his father walked out. And, his father is ultimately the reason Eli is in the mess he's in. By the time I finished the book, I was so mad at their dad I could have tossed him in jail and thrown away the key myself. And Violet has her own grief to deal with. Johnson does a stellar job of making readers care about her characters.

Readers who enjoy sweet romance will enjoy this entire series. Each brother gets his own story and each "gets the girl" in the end. Highly recommend!

This book just wasn't for me. I love the fact that it is set in PEI but that is pretty much the only thing I enjoyed about it. I got so bored. Not for me.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I love a story with a hockey player. This was book two in a series, but I could not follow it without reading book one. Eli left Canada to follow his dream of being in the NHL. Over a decade later, he returns broke and needs mending fences.

Eli Ross fled a shattered family and a past he didn’t want to remember in order to join the National Hockey League. A decade later, he’s back on Prince Edward Island, more broken then when he left. Ten years of bad choices and silence means no one trusts his efforts to right the wrongs.

Violet Donaghy escaped her own demons, finding solace on the peaceful island among the Ross family. Mama Potts becomes more than a boss and mentor, she becomes a mother figure, and Violet is determined that nothing will hurt her — not even the return of a prodigal son.

When a fire destroys Mama Potts’ kiln, pottery shop, and livelihood, Violet and Eli have no choice but to set aside their differences and work together to salvage the business. Along the way, they will find things they lost, along with things they didn’t know they needed.

A tale of love and forgiveness, The Last Way Home tackles deep topics while still managing to deliver a story infused with light and hope. Liz Johnson paints the island with vivid strokes that leave the reader clamoring for more. Her characters possess a complexity that, by the end, makes them feel more real than fictional.

While book two in the Prince Edward Island Shores series can stand alone, it reunites returning readers not only with characters from book one but also from the Prince Edward Island Dreams series. I really enjoyed a cameo appearance from Taco Bed.

I recommend this novel (and both of the above mentioned series) to readers who enjoy unique settings, deep characters, and stories that touch the heart.

I loved the christian/faith/forgiveness themes. This one is definitely an emotional roller coaster. I think the tension is perfect between the main characters.

It is not a light read but very good!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Liz Johnson is a new favorite author of mine! Her books tend to be light-hearted, faith-inspired, sweet romances.
The Last Way Home is a more profound read with a thoughtful story about family ties, forgiveness, and the difference that love makes. I especially enjoy books with settings in Canada, and this one takes place on beautiful Prince Edward Island! I recommend this novel to anyone who wants inspirational, romantic fiction. You won't be disappointed!

Liz Johnson knows how to write a great Christian fiction story. It is God centered, but not preachy at all. The characters are flawed and real. The story is very believable.

I really do enjoy the clean romance. The attraction is obvious without all the steamy details - my kind of romance.

The end of the story is exactly what you want and expect and the journey is amazing. Now we have to wait for the next one.

The Last Way Home follows
Eli is a disgraced Hockey player who is very down on his luck and has lost everything. While we don't know why he lost everything we do start putting the pieces together as the book goes on. One thing we do know though is that he does get to go home for the first time in 10 years and he starts to see all he missed, and might just find a way out of the rough spot that he is currently in.

We also follow Violet who works at Eli's mom's pottery shop. She helps make the pieces for the shop as well as helping run the shop. She has become a part of Eli's family, but she has a secret of her own. Very little is known about her past, but they do know that they care for her and love her as if she already was a family member.

After a bad fire at the pottery shop, Eli and Violet work together to make the shop whole again, while also learning about each other. They not only try and help save the family business but also try and figure out the other ones' story and what made them come to the small town.

Overall I did enjoy this book, and it ended up being a really quick read for me. I had to know what everyone's secrets were and what had brought them to or what had brought them back to this small little town on the coast. I was not expecting the secrets to being what they were, but I did like how supportive of one another Eli and Violet were. They both were dealing with so much pain and heartache for different reasons, but together they were able to confront that heartache and start making choices that will better their lives in the long run.

The religious undertones in this one were very subtle and not in your face like they can be at times with Christian Fiction. The religious parts as well felt natural in this one and went with what was happening in the story and how people find ways to deal with loss and pain when it comes to emotional and family issues.


I am interested in reading the third book in this series and maybe even going back and reading the first one. All of them are companion novels and just follow different people in the community. You do seem to interact with the one from the previous book and get to see them make cameos in the next book.

(read a finished copy from the library)

The Last Way Home by Liz Johnson is part of her Prince Edward Island Shores series. This book was an absolute treat to read. It is clear that the author writes about a place that she knows well. I adore Prince Edward Island and I love all the details about it that are weaved in this book. The relationships among family members and past hurts all add to the authenticity of the characters and the plot. This was a wonderful book and I highly recommend it. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

I love a book with a prince! Sign me up . Well obviously I should have read the entire synopsis. There is no prince. But still a cute little love story on Prince Edward Island. Join Eli & Ross as they try to put their lives back together.

3.5 stars
I enjoyed this one more than the first book in the series. I didn't realize it, but I love stories that have the prodigal son/daughter trope. It just makes my heart happy how God brings families together in faith, love and forgiveness. Definitely check it out if you like contemporary romance settings.

Thanks to netgalley for previous copy to read and honestly review. #netgalley

“Eli Ross had a black eye, a fractured wrist, and nothing else to his name. It was not the way he’d planned to come home.”

Powerful. Inspiring. A story that will not only give you hope over your failures, but restore your faith in family and community. “The Last Way Home” is the second book in the Prince Edward Island Shores series and this redemption story is incredibly moving. Not only is this a prodigal son type of storyline, but the element of seeing how all the characters move from judgement to grace was simply beautiful.

“We both have some shattered edges,” he whispered. “But maybe God isn’t afraid of our brokenness. I hope he’s not, anyway.”

Part of what makes this book so inspiring are Eli and Violet’s shared struggles with overcoming guilt from choices in their past. As they move past their secrets, they begin to see glimpses of a happy ending. I really love the romance between these two, as well. They have all the feels and are a surprisingly inspiring couple.

“You’re stunning, and sometimes it catches me off guard. Sometimes when I haven’t seen you for a little while and you walk into a room, it’s like I forget how to breathe.”

Johnson does it again, with hooking me into her characters lives on Prince Edward Island. Mama Potts, pottery, and her love for her family is gripping and sweet. I enjoyed getting to revisit beloved characters that popped into the story. If you’re looking for a heartwarming read with all the feels, I highly recommend “The Last Way Home” and honestly all of Johnson’s books. She writes with a depth and love for her characters that leaps off the page.

“I think maybe forgiveness isn’t sweet because it’s earned.” His voice rumbled so low that it vibrated in his chest. “Forgiveness is sweet because none of us deserve it.”

I was given a copy of this book through NetGalley by the publisher. I have given my honest opinion.

Not long ago, Eli Ross was a famous ice hockey player living the high life. Now he’s back in his hometown on Prince Edward Island, hoping his mother will give him a free place to stay after he walked out a decade ago. He also has to deal with his brothers who are not as forgiving as his mother.

Violet Donaghy ran away from home as a teenager and found her second home with the Ross family, working with Eli’s mother at Mama Potts’s Red Clay Shoppe. Mama Potts took her in when she had nothing, so now she’s fiercely protective of her new family and doesn’t want Eli’s return to mess that up.

I have to admit that I struggled through the first quarter of this novel. The problem wasn’t the heroine hiding a secret (secrets usually entice me to keep reading ) or the bad-boy ice hockey player (even if I think Carolyn Miller did the bad boy plot better in her Original Six series). It was that they both seemed to have done stupid things and kept doing less-than-sensible things.

I also didn’t see where the romance was going to come from. It was obvious the couple was Violet and Eli, but I didn’t like Eli, and nor did Violet.

But the novel started to really grab me at around the one-quarter mark. I got hooked when Eli agrees to coach the local high school ice hockey team because he needs the money (and boy, I was surprised at how much the parents were prepared to pay!). The coaching doesn’t go well at first, but as Eli settles into his new role, I found myself liking him more and more.

It wasn’t long before I realised that at least one of my earlier assumptions wasn’t accurate (but I’m not going to say which one because #spoilers). Let’s say that while there were still some stupid actions, there was an honourable motive.

There were also some great lines, and I’m always a sucker for great writing. Best of all, there was a a strong message of family, faith, and forgiveness. Yes, it took me a while to get into The Last Way Home, but it was worth it.

The Last Way Home is the second book in Liz Johnson’s Prince Edward Island Shores series. I haven’t read the first, but that didn’t affect my enjoyment or my understanding.

Recommended for fans of contemporary Christian romance, especially those with a soft spot for bad boys, ice hockey players, and Prince Edward Island.

Thanks to Baker Publishing and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

This is a really sweet, excellently written novel about family and second chances - and the different kinds of love in our lives. I have never read Liz Johnson before, but I was incredibly impressed by her ability to make the characters in this story come alive - it didn't feel like I was reading, it felt like I was experiencing. An excellent romance and a Christian one, but I think anyone regardless of religion would enjoy the sweetness and the simplicity of this well-plotted love story. Wonderful, captivating writing gives this novel the depth and ability to pull in any reader. Vivid, descriptive story-telling, with interesting characters that have depth to them, and are skillfully rendered. At the end of the book, they seemed more like friends than book characters to me. I highly recommend this author and book and I can't wait to own this novel in print.

Liz Johnson’s The Last Way Home is the story of Eli Ross, a broken, former NHL player who has returned home, and Violet Donaghy, a business partner with Eli’s mom’s. As Eli and Violet work together to save the business and to try to bring a broken family back together, they start to learn more about themselves. I voluntarily read this complimentary copy of this lovely book about family, secrets, friendship, forgiveness, and loyalty.

I really loved the first book in the Prince Edward Island Shores series so I was really excited to pick up book two! I am new to Liz Johnson's stories but I really love her writing and I have plans to read her backlist now! While I did not enjoy The Last Way Home quite as much as I did the first story, it was still a great read. There were so many beautiful messages woven throughout the story. Liz Johnson is a wonderful story teller!

I enjoyed this book. The setting of Prince Edward Island is great, especially for fans of Anne of Green Gables. Though it is a very different time period, and there isn't a lot reminiscent of that story.

I liked Eli as a character, and thought his internal turmoil at the way his life turned out seemed genuine. He seemed to truly think about his choices and how they brought him to where he was at this point in his life. Sometimes when we're young we don't think about how the decisions we make affect those around us.

I did think his secret about why he left the NHL was a little confusing, as it left a lot of details out until further into the book. And then the reveal of the issue that got him in trouble seemed a bit anti-climactic to me. There is more that needs healed from that story, but it's a beginning.

I liked the character of Violet. She is a strong and independent woman, but perhaps too strong. Her issue with her family seemed very dramatic. She was super hard on herself and set expectations her family did not have.

The author did a good job of tying up loose ends before the end of the book, even if those ends were not very realistic. I did enjoy the read, and may pick up another from this author. I did not realize this was part of a series, though the way Eli's mom is presented in the book does lend itself to there being a backstory I was unfamiliar with. But it doesn't take away from this book.

This was a wonderful novel. The setting was beautifully described and I felt like I was really there. The characters of Eli and Violet were lovely and fun to read about. They both have some issues they need to work through in order to reach their happily ever after and the ride to get there is a lot of fun.

This book was so good. I looked the characters, the setting was fantastic, especially as it gets cooler here, and I loved how well Liz Johnson's writing flows.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. *

I loved this story so much! There's something magical about Prince Edward Island, especially for fans of Anne of Green Gables. This contemporary romance doesn't shy away from the harder things in life, and it makes the redemption story of Eli all the sweeter. Violet also has a tough past that she still hasn't made peace with. They are drawn together through their connection with his family, and they both acknowledge that they have secrets and are curious about each other's. Over time they recognize the good in each other and working together to help Mama Potts gives them a common goal. The author does a wonderful job of connecting with the emotions of the characters and I was glued to the pages as I read the book straight through. Both Eli and Violet develop in their faith and also their sense of belonging as they process their thoughts and feelings with each other and move forward towards a brighter future. It was so fun to have a cameo of the characters from the author's other PEI series when Eli and Violet stumble across the Red Door Inn. Immediately after finishing this book I read the first book in the series, Beyond the Tides, which is also excellent. I can't wait for Levi's story with the next book!

Disclosure statement: A complimentary copy of this book was provided from a tour group, publisher, publicist, or author, including NetGalley, OR was borrowed from the library, including OverDrive, OR borrowed from Kindle Unlimited, OR purchased. A review was not required and all views and opinions expressed are unbiased and my own.