This ended up being a DNF for me. I loved this book at the beginning and was hooked right away. I think mainly because the MC was so relatable. But towards the middle/ three quarters of the way through I just lost interest.

I will be posting about it on my Instagram @manas_library between the dates of 6/21 and 6/24!

A big thank you to NetGalley and HQ for the eARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. OMG this book...I almost threw my kindle across the room. I haven't been on a date in 36 years (I need to but its terrifying). This type book doesn't really help. I think I am to old, and to American to try to figure out the British references. I did not really like the book. It has a few fun elements and Helen seems to have amazing friends, but otherwise eh. 2.5 stars

This was a DNF for me. I tried, but it just didn't click. I couldn't relate to the characters (or really like them for that matter). I'm sure it's lovely for some, but it wasn't my cup of tea.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ, HQ Digital for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really couldn't get into this one. I wasn't fussed on the writing style and there was a lot of annoying little Americanisms used despite it being set in Britain (pants for example).

The main character was really unlikeable and I couldn't warm to her at all. It felt like the author tried too hard to make her this sarcy quirky character but she just fell flat.

This modern British romcom started out so strong, but sadly, as I continued to read it just fell flat for me. I loved the premise of Helen trying to find love again after a heartbreak from her ex-boyfriend who is now engaged to someone else shortly after. She finds out from stalking his social media and man, haven’t we all been there?! The book also includes texts between friends and Instagram captions/hashtags. Definitely a modern novel and anyone who has ever used a dating app or social media can totally relate to this and laugh.

Helen connects with Brody, her first match, and they have a pleasant chat and agree to a date while Helen is in Cornwall visiting her family. Brody tells Helen he is looking for his last first date and Helen wants nothing more than to settle down. We meet Granny G who is very important to Helen . Granny G tells her about the man she met before she married Helens grandfather and it just so happened to be in Cornwall. The date goes well, Brody is a gentleman, and they share a kiss on the cliffs in Cornwall.

At the end of the night, Helen is happy and goes to message Brody on the dating app, and the app has crashed. Helen loses her connection to Brody and doesn’t have his number. All she has is a few bits of information about his life. Devastated, this is where Helen goes off the rails and I no longer had interest in this book.

Helen goes from sweet, relatable girl to a crazed, self obsessed stalker on a quest to find Brody. The next chunk of the book is dedicated to constantly finding Brody and it became annoying. Helens every thought and action with herself and her friends revolves around a guy she had one date with. She takes it far enough to the point of social media stalking his friends with a fake profile and learning he is going to be at a music/camping festival back in Cornwall MONTHS later and decides to go and try to find him.


During all of this, we get a better look at Helens friends, Elle and Sophie. Sophie gets engaged to her boyfriend on a trip. Helen stalks deep to learn that Brody also went to the same place on vacation with his friend recently as well. Sophie’s engagement brings up some feeling for Helen such as feeling the societal pressure to get a life, a home, a fiancé. Totally relatable to any mid-twenties/ thirties person.

Then we get to Elle. The portrayal of Elle was atrocious. Elle is stereotyped as hot headed, rude Latinx who says amiga constantly. As if it’s her catch phrase. Elle was honestly a mean friend hurting Helen’s feelings over her wanting to find Brody. She was constantly putting Helen down and not even over the stalking bits, but just her overall tone with Helen was dismissive and cruel.

Helen meets a man named Ish one night and the two eventually become friends. He is a blogger like her (him history, her baking) and he tries to help her with filming and other tips. They have great talks and it’s easy to be around each other. Ish is clearly into Helen but is totally respectable. He even knows about the Brody situation and allows Helen to carry on to help her get (hopefully) closure. Ish is a great guy. Something she’s been searching for and yet Helen seems oblivious to that. Even with a great guy in front of her, she is so hung up on Brody. Again, MONTHS after their first date and without any contact other than stalking his friends and his job.

Well, Helen ends up finding Brody at the music/camping festival. And shocker, he’s actually an awful human being. Brody was being so aloof towards her once they reconnected (I mean, again they had one fricken date months ago)and apparently is really into doing drugs. That was a turn in the story I thought was weird. His character was completely opposite the man we were introduced to in the beginning. Helen’s extreme attraction to Brody and their date made it seem like they were going to be endgame. But no, he was not who he said he was, didn’t want a long term relationship, and Helen wasted months of her life chasing after a guy and ignoring Ish.

This book has some of the weirdest dialogue. It was chopping, jumping from scenario and topic quickly. Some chapters were long. Some were short. Some where a single text message.
The use of the word “yep” constantly annoyed me. Is it because I’m an American and empath who thinks it’s automatically a hostile word? Who knows. Helen was so desperate and annoying over one Brody. Everyone was mean to Helen. I know the book is meant to be in modern day, but the cliche speaking and phrases (Ish has BDE, big dick energy) was cringey. The only person I really liked was Granny G and sometimes Ish. If we skipped the stalking, friend bashing, and stereotyping of Latinx, it would have been a hit for me. Sadly, it was not.

Thank you Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for this eARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the author for providing me with this ARC. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

I loved the blurb of this book so I was super thrilled when I got this ARC, which follows the story of Helen, in her 30’s trying to get back in the dating game after finding out her boyfriend cheated on her. Single and ready to mingle she downloads a dating app to see what her options might be, and just like that- a match and date set up with a guy name Brody. Brody seems to good to be true really, but she think this guy might be the the one she goes on a last perfect date with. That is until the app crashes and loses all their information, data, profiles and conversations.

Distraught but determined she goes out to go find this ‘too good to be true’ man while in the process of finding herself as well. Will she find him? Will this truly be her last first date?

I have to say it took me a while to get into this book, and the reading style was something to get used too. I can’t elaborate too much without giving spoilers, but it was entertaining and I liked the focus on the importance of good friends and family, along side the romance. I absolutely adored Ish and Elle.
I liked the concept and the positive message about how tough it is for single woman especially in their 30’s to find someone, and I enjoyed Helen’s personal revelations about who she is and what se wants as well. As these feelings were explored I couldn’t help but feel like the execution fell a bit flat. This story had a lot of potential, and was enjoyable, I just expected A BIT more.

Quinn captures a modern day fairytale of what Helen Pines thinks she wants. With an impactful beginning, Helen finds herself overly fantasizing of "what could be" when matching with Brody from an online dating app. This story goes through Helen's emotional rollercoaster with her head in the clouds until someone comes along for the ride. Quinn reminds her readers that although we may be focused on what's in front of us, don't forget stop and look around. Something or someone could have been there all along.

Looking at the cover, I was certain that it's going to be a feel-good, light and easy read. But I couldn't get into the story at all. I am quite disappointed in the book. I might try other books from the author soon.

This book definitely had some good moments that were sparkled around; however, it did not hook me to keep reading like most books I’ve read. I did take my time reading this one. I really wish I could love this book but it just was not for me. There were moments where it also made me laugh and I liked that, maybe if there were more romance and spice in the middle I would be intrigued with the characters and what happens next, it just felt a bit dry on that part. The main character has her mind set and she goes for it which is something I liked seeing, but she also was a bit annoying & just threw me off. Overall it was sorta a cute read for me I just wish the storyline kept me hooked. The ending did make up for it as I enjoyed the last couple of chapters.

When Helen finds herself single after her ex boyfriend cheats on her, she downloads a dating app to see what her options are. A match and subsequent first date with Brody seems too good to be true but what happens when the app loses their profiles and conversation?

I thought this was a pretty cute book. It was shaping up to be a fairly standard chick flick style but I was really happy and surprised by the way it turned out. I enjoyed all of the characters and I liked how there were storylines other than just Helen's which made it feel more like a complete novel rather than just a flat romance.

4/5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and the author for this copy to review.

This book was a struggle to finish for me. The beginning really caught my attention but it was lost throughout the rest of the book. I really tried hard to enjoy it, but I just couldn’t. I did laugh at a few parts and the storyline was a bit predictable. I think this book wasn’t for me and that’s okay!

I will try another book from this author in the future. I'm not giving up just yet!

Thank you to Harper Collins and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC before publication!

I really enjoyed this story! Watching Helen come into her own and start living in reality was so refreshing. A great reminder of how fantasizing and idealizing situations can really skew one’s perception of a person. Plus, all of the cute little side plots were adorable and added depth to the main arc. Finding Vernon, the festival, the lack of care about what Helen wore, they were all adorable and one could really see the love develop, instead of just appear. This isn’t just a story about love, it’s about acceptance and standing up/respecting onself and it’s inspiring to see stories of women stepping into their own power. Truly a great time.

I had a really hard time connecting with the characters in this book. It was a quick, easy vacation read, though!

I so badly wanted to love The Last First Date, but sadly didn’t enjoy it. I didn’t like the characters, storyline or ending. I will definitely try other books by the author though!

Thank you, NetGalley and Harper Collins, for sending me an eArc of this book!

This book wasn't for me and that's okay.

The story follows Helen, a single woman who learns her ex-boyfriend has been engaged. She signs up for an online dating app and meets Brady. The two meet for a date, and Helen has a wonder time. However, chaos erupts when the app crashes and Helen loses Brady's contact information. Believing he is the "one," Helen embarks on a mission to track Brody down and find the love of her life.

The Last First Date had great potential in the beginning, but simply fell short as the story progressed. I wasn't impressed with any of the characters, and it was a struggle to reach the end. Helen and Brady felt forced, and I didn't feel any real connection between them.

The writing style wasn't for me, and I found it rather distracting. There were also many instances of telling vs. showing throughout the book. I found this evident with character descriptions and actions which made it difficult to visualize the picture the author was painting.

A feel good book that was fun and not hard to read. Predictable, but I actually like this kinds of books.

I struggled to get going with this book, i wasn't keen on the lead character she wasn't very likeable , but there was a few laughs among the pages.

Disappointing. I thought the book had a lot of potential, I loved the premise but it was poorly executed. There was a lot of telling and no showing. The writing style wasn't really my cup of tea. The characters were a bit superficial and weren't really thought out. Even the romance felt a little weird, it was rushed and there was absolutely no chemistry between the characters. Frankly, I'm not even sure this should be categorised as a romance.
Helen, the main character, was incredibly needy and immature for a 31-year-old woman. The first 2/3 of the book were so painful to read about. It was basically all about her desperate search for a man she met once, months ago, and with whom she was already in love. Everything Helen did, she did for that guy or because she was looking for that guy; her entire life choices revolved around him and her fear of being single. She was so unlikeable. I literally can not tell you one single thing about this character because the only thing she did was stalking that Brody guy.
Also, Helen has a friend, called Elle. Elle seemed to be from Spain (?) although the author kept referring to her as Latin (I'm not sure I get it). Elle was a living stereotype. She started every single sentence with the word "amiga" and apparently she was a great dancer BECAUSE she was "Latin". She's described as "spicy" many times in the book and I don't know if that's just me but I find that incredibly inappropriate and harmful.
That cover is pretty great though...

Thanks NetGalley and HQ HQ Digitals for allowing me to get the e-ARC for an honest review.

This book follows a story of Helen Pines, a Food-blogger entering her 30s and is still recovering from a rough relationship that bummed her life and her confidence. Desperate to find an everlasting love, she finally registered on an online dating app and matched with Brody–a man that might be "The One". After a date in Cornwall that went well, an error occurred on the app server and made them lost a way to contact each other. Helen determined to find him in London to work things out, but will he be her truly first last date or will someone else come along the way on her quest?

When I thought I figured out how the plots would be, I was off-guard to find out that the author has brought a twist which so refreshing and entertaining to read! Though there's a part where I feel like it's dragged for too long, but it's okay after all.

I meet many great characters here, especially the eccentric Nanny G (I love her character so much!) and the girls empowering friendship (I'd love to have these kinds of friendship). Helen as main character is pretty relatable, especially after the rough break up and all the anxiety and insecurities she felt. Don't get me to start talking about how adorable is Ish, his accent, and fun games! (Everyone deserves an Ish in their life!). Though he always looks like a knight in shining armour saving the damsel in distress, but I like how he's not really meddling into Helen's own growth and character development to overcome her issues in the like of know-it-all type–which is very nice. To put it simply, I love their chemistry and banters!

I love how it reminds me to avoid a toxic and insufferable relationship based on the idea of someone we're created in our mind. Overall rate, 4/5! + Another point for some pop culture references!

I really enjoyed this one!
It was quite refreshing to see Helen grow into her own, even at 31 years old. I loved seeing her fall in love with herself and discover she deserves better than the “all talk, no action” men of her past. I also really loved her and Ish’s banter and how their career goals line up with each other. *SPOILER ALERT* Ultimate power couple vibes!
I felt like Sophie and Helen’s relationship could have been developed a little more as I didn’t really get this feeling of closeness between them. Perhaps that’s because Frank is busy stealing Sophie away. I found the first sixty or so pages of the book to be a bit slow and harder to get into, but after that, it was smooth sailing for me!