I absolutely loved this book! Emily Stone did not disappoint. It is the perfect book to start my holiday reading. I could not put it down and read entirely in one sitting.

Another 10/10 book by Emily Stone! I was obsessed with Always, in December, so I was thrilled to see that Stone was writing another book. She follows the theme of an important event around Christmas, but I wouldn't classify this as a Christmas book.

We follow Cassie, as she grows up living with her brother and Aunt Claire after both of her parents pass. She doesn't have a strong relationship with her aunt, but she idolizes her brother. Every Christmas, Cassie's brother Tom creates a scavenger hunt for Cassie to find her gift.

One Christmas, Tom is no longer there, but she still receives her first clue. This time to the biggest and best scavenger hunt yet! Cassie has to figure out the clues on her own, but also with the help of close friends, and Tom's best friend Sam.

Cassie and Sam don't see eye to eye anymore, so we see how they interact with each other throughout the years, and then after Tom's death.

As stated before, I loved this book. Stone creates a story that destroys you, but also lifts you up during the holidays with family traditions, and celebrating life after loss. I would recommend this book to everyone!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A sweet, emotional, feel good story. Cassie and Tom lost their parents at a young age and only had each other. When Cassie loses Tom, too, she withdraws from everyone around her. Every Christmas, Tom gave her a scavenger hunt for her to find her gift, This year, there is one final scavenger hunt from Tom which will help her to take a trip to memory lane to embrace her own happiness. This is the second book by this author, proving she does the emotional holiday read really well. Overall this was a sweet, emotional, feel good romance story. I will definitely keep checking out this author's future works.

One Last Gift is a holiday read about grief, loss, and healing. It’s also about embracing life, and not being scared to take chances. Among all of this, there is also a romance, but they won’t be able to embrace their love until they go through their emotional journey, and a treasure hunt spanning almost a whole year.

It’s impossible not to compare Emily Stone’s latest book to her previous one. I found Always, in December to be more heart wrenching, more tear jerky, and also more filled with twists. This one, in comparison, was more straightforward. But she is fantastic at emotional authenticity, at handling grief, and the journey to healing.

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+ I loved how real these characters felt. Tom, Cassie, Sam, even Hazel came to life within these pages, I felt like I really got to know them as friends.
+ I’ve always been a huge fan of treasure hunts, I used to make them for my friends all the time, so seeing it be such a big part of this book made me really happy!
+ I was rooting for our romantic duo the whole time. I loved the way they cared for each other, even when they were on the outs. And their deep connection felt very genuine and strong through time, shared experiences and loss.
+ I really enjoyed the flashbacks and the glimpses we got of the characters’ past. I think this really helped show how their bond was forged for a long time.

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- These people had no fight in them. I understand this was partially due to the fact that they were both scared which was the theme for the whole book but it started to get a little old how quickly they kept giving up on each other at the smallest hiccup, especially making the end of the book feel a little too long.

Thank you to Random House Ballantine and NetGalley for the eARC!

Unfortunately this was not a good fit for me.
The Cassie’s character came off extremely immature. As a result, I found this book read more like a YA novel.
Not my cup of tea.
I was actually shocked since I absolutely adored the previous book by this author.
Hoping her next will be back on track!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine. Dell.

What an adorable book! It was the perfect light hearted romance that I needed after reading a month of horror books.
While this book does bring up conversations surrounding death and grief, it's primarily a story of friendship and personal growth.
If you are someone who dislikes the miscommunication trope, then this may not be the one for you. I also felt like the first 20ish percent read like a YA, which I absolutely don't like in adult books.

Emily Stone delivers her second heartwarming novel, One Last Gift after giving us one of the best debut novels, Always In December!

Cassie and her brother Tom have lost their parents and are raised by their aunt. They are close to their friends Sam and Hazel and go on many adventures while growing up. Over time they have drifted apart and one last gift from Cassie’s brother Tom to Cassie is something that will take her on the journey to rekindling with her old friends and finding love al g the way!

This was a perfect holiday read where I shed happy and sad tears and loved to read about Cassie’s journey of finding herself in the process!

Thank you Randomhouse, NetGalley and Emily Stone for this gifted galley. This was a perfect cozy holiday read for me!

Wow. Where to start with this. I thought this was going to be a sweet little rom com and I always come in unprepared and woooo doggie. It was not a sweet little rom com. It devastated me. Cassie broke me. Emily stone did this magnificent job of making me feel the brokenness of the main character, she made me feel the deep rooted insecurity of not being good enough, she made me feel the deep grief of losing someone. Holy cow. I spent about 75% of this book crying. It was incredible. Thank you to NetGalley and Dell for the advanced copy. So good.

After reading Always, in December by Emily Stone last year, I was thrilled to start her next book. However, it didn’t quite live up to the hype for me. While it is poignant, charming, and heartwarming, it was not as emotionally deep as her last novel and it left me wanting more. Cassie struggles with grief during the holidays after her parents die at a young age. However, the grief in the book felt very surface level. I wanted the author to dig a little deeper. Additionally, the plot structure was strange as there were many time jumps, which made the book harder to follow at times. Ultimately I would recommend this to someone looking for a lighter, but still inspiring holiday novel.

One Last Gift drew me in from the start! It has a lot of my favorite romance novel elements; friends to maybe lovers, travel, solid female friendships, and comedy! The characters are well developed, and it was easy to get immersed into the story.

I enjoyed this one but not as much as Stone’s prior book, Always, in December. I thought the characters were less fully formed in One Last Gift. The time jumps were used well to show how Cassie changed over time and I really loved watching her figure out the scavenger hunt clues. Sam’s growth was nice and I enjoyed how he continued caring for Cassie from a difference. If you enjoy friends to lovers than this is for you.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for sending me an arc in exchange for review. This was the cutest story. Loved the character and the author. Definitely recommend if you love a good romance.

After her brother dies in a hiking accident Cassie must move on without him. Each year he made a scavenger hunt for her. Cassie has to figure out how to move on with life and the scavenger hunt without him, but both are harder than expected.

Emily Stone has written yet another great holiday romance, One Last Gift. I couldn't wait until Christmas to open this one. What starts as a loss turns into a gain. While it is not an earth-shattering novel that will provoke deep conversations, one must remember there are times when we don't need that. This is a great holiday (similar to beach) read! Comfy chair...check, hot cocoa...check, new Emily Stone book...check! Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with an ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Emily Stone does love to get me in my feels! This is the second of her books that I have read and wow does she love an emo holiday read! I would approach this one with caution if you have had family members pass away as it may be triggering but it was a good read overall.

I loved last year's, Always, In December, another holiday/winter book that is a heartbreaker. If you're looking for a holiday book this season, do not skip on this one! But also don't go into this expecting a traditional Hallmark feel good holiday read! But this is so much better!

This is a story about a close sibling relationship, healing after loss, starting over, finding comfort and love in friendships and your support network. Cassie and Tom are siblings that lost their parents young and were each other's best friends and biggest supporters growing up.

This story is told from dual perspectives, spanning multiple years. This is definitely more women's fiction with a small side of romance. The characters are very well developed, complex, flawed, and show so much growth.There is a bit of miscommunication - which I don't usually love but it is handled well and resolved by the end. I don't want to spoil anything but go into this blind if possible!

Seriously good! This book was a fantastic romantic comedy, made even better with the holiday spin. I loved it!

This was a touching and sweet story, however, not as good as the last one I read by this author.

This is a sweet story overall about facing your fears and moving forward after tragedy. There are a couple of things that keep this from being as good as it could have been. I feel like this book never gets as deep emotionally as it should have, given the subject matter and how the story progresses.

Always, in December broke me when I read it last year because it was so emotionally touching. One Last Gift tries to get there, but to me it just didn't fully succeed. I admired Cassie's journey and was rooting for her to dig deep and discover her inner bravery, but overall everything stays very surface level, even when she is in the depths of her grief.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC

I loved Emily Stone's first book, Always, In December, and One Last Gift has solidified her as an auto-buy author for me. While both books deal with topics such as grief and loss, the author is able to still capture the complicated feelings so many people have around the holidays and letting the reader know they're not alone in what they're feeling, without being heavy-handed. I loved following Cassie and Sam along on their journey of healing and navigating the confusing aftermath of losing a loved one, especially how relationships can be impacted, how people deal with grief in different ways, and even questioning how well we really know the people we lose. I'd recommend this to anyone who loved P.S. I Love You, anyone who isn't looking for a typical Hallmark movie-type Christmas story, and anyone who has complicated feelings around the holidays. While it's an emotional book, the reader is left with a sense of comfort and hope.

I throughly enjoyed this novel. In fact, it’s one of the few lately that has held my attention throughout the entire story. While I could see a few things coming, I never felt like rushing though it. I would definitely recommend it to friends.