This is a sweet and sad story of family, friendship, grief and love. I read it in 1 day.

Thanks #RandomHouse and #NetGalley for the ARC e-book

Dive right into the holidays with One Last Gift by Emily Stone but you can read this anytime or the year. I was expecting a typical romance but that wasn’t the true feel of this book as it was a sad, yet sweet read. This book truly gave you the feeling and understanding of grief and how people handle it. Although it was an easy read, it was hard to relate to the main character, Cassie, as she was grieving throughout the entire book but ultimately learned to navigate through life. One Last Gift provided a range of emotions such as love, anger, and forgiveness. This wouldn’t be my first recommendation from Emily Stone as I enjoyed Always in December a bit more.


ARC was kindly provided by Random House via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

One Last Gift
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5

My review of One Last Gift will be published on my Instagram @chronicledbycait on Tuesday, October 3rd!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an eARC of One Last Gift by Emily Stone!

After the loss of their parents, Tom starts a Christmas scavenger hunt tradition for his sister Cassie. Years later, Tom dies unexpectedly in a rock climbing accident. But when she discovered the first clue to their annual scavenger hunt, Cassie realizes Tom set everything up prior to his passing.

Forced to face the loss of her brother and her feelings for their longtime friend Sam, Cassie embarks on a journey of growth that brings her closer to her brother in ways she never expected.

This story wasn’t quite a four star read for me which is why I gave it 3.5 stars! A quick, easy read, I did enjoy how well written the grief both Cassie and Sam experience was. I found myself grieving with them as well as wishing they leaned more on each other to heal.

I do wish more time had been spent on their relationship as that felt like a backseat storyline to me and felt rushed when we finally got to it.

Overall this story and it’s message of bravery, managing grief, and finding yourself is definitely one to pick-up as we go into the holiday season! One Last Gift will be released on Tuesday, October 11th! Preorder your copy today!

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest opinion.
Personally I related a bit too much to the bring trapped in a job with management that treats you like crap and zero growth potential, but other than that it was a basic holiday romance.
However it's very cinematic in the way that the scavenger hunt sends Cassie all over the place and the guys bounce around the globe. It would make an excellent Hallmark Christmas movie!

3/5 🌟 Out everywhere 10/11/22

This book was not for me. Cassie & Thom lose their parents at a young age. Sam, Thom’s best friend has a complicated relationship with his parents.
Every year, Thom puts together a treasure hunt for Cassie at Christmas. Thom dies in a rock climbing accident. Everyone spirals out of control but Thom had one last treasure hunt for Cassie, which he set up before he died - one last gift.

I wasn’t a fan of how this was written mostly in narrative style, more of a telling us what happened rather than letting us into their world and experiencing it with the characters. It was more of a “that happened and then this happened.” It was so slow to develop. In fact, I’m still waiting for it.

This story starts out as a simple brother's-best-friend romance around Christmas time, but chapter after chapter revealed it to be so much more. A story of familial love, found family, grief, and overcoming life's challenges, I was impressed by the realistic circumstances, including obnoxious bosses, surrounding the main characters and the author's ability to convey sincere/understandable emotions and actions. Stone does not fluff this story up nor create drama where there doesn't need to be. I was in tears by the end of the book, but not because the ending is sad, but rather because of the relief from believable, real-world angst and emotional development of the characters. Oh how I appreciated the emotional growth! I wouldn't really call this a Holiday book, but Christmas definitely has a roll to play.

Fans of Josie Silver and Lia Louis will love this romance that manages to be romantic, witty, and oh so sad all at once. As a fan of the above authors, I can attest to this. Whenever I pick up a British-based romance with an illustrated cover lately, I am prepared with tissues at the ready. But I also know that the humor will be top notch and the love story will be beautiful. This book was no exception. Settle on the couch under a blanket with a cup of coffee or tea and be prepared to be taken away.

Give me a second while I search for the right words. I mean this book was 400 pages of perfection. You know how when you finish a great book you feel a little lost as to what you should do or read next. That’s how this book made me feel. It was such a beautiful and heart-breaking story of loss, grief, and second chances. The character development was truly flawless. There were times I was yelling at the characters and other times I was crying with them. And I always love a dual POV. I just don’t think I can put into words how much I loved this book. 5 ⭐️

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and the author for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Cassie, her brother Tom, best friend Hazel, and Tom’s best friend Sam have always gotten along. When Cassie lets Sam know how she feels however, he makes it clear it will never happen. After that she pulls as far away from Sam as she can. Now as Cassie faces unfathomable grief after losing Tom, she has just one last gift from her brother. A final scavenger hunt to find her Christmas gift. This gift could change her life forever, but will she let it? And will she allow Sam to share in her grief, or continue to turn him away?

Damn. Emily Stone can really write grief. She can also write men you hate. I started this book and was pretty quickly hating Sam and Robert. They were both so awful in the beginning of the book! This book was just such an absolute gem though. I loved following Cassie along the sweetest scavenger hunt that Tom had left for her. This book was light, but also heavy, sad, but a little happy too, it was just so wonderful. If you enjoyed Aleqways, In December, you will love this one too!

"One Last Gift" by Emily Stone is a touching story. I adored this book and have been telling my friends about it before I even finished it. It is the story of Cassie, her brother Tom, his best friend Sam. They have all been connected together since childhood and the story is one of love & redemption.

Grab the tissues! Emily Stone new book will make you cry! Just when I think she could not out do "Always in December" she does with this book.

This story is beautifully written about family, love, loss and how we get back up again, finally doing something for yourself.
This story is about Cassie and Sam, both suffering the loss of that one person Tom they both could always count on. To Cassie he is more than a brother he is her best friend and always there after the loss of their parents. For Sam, Tom is his best friend, the one person in his life that loves him without judgement. When Tom dies unexpectedly both Cassie and Sam are reeling in grief that they don't know who they are without Tom. Until Cassie receives a letter, the first clue to their yearly Christmas scavenger hunt. This year he said it would be epic, when she starts to follow the clues, it is like she has Tom again one more time.

Can Cassie be brave, Tom and Sam always believed she could be? Can she find love along the way?

Make this your Holiday book, I promise you will love it!
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for copy of this book for my honest review.

Yup, my face is swollen! I cried because I was sad, I cried because I was nervous, I cried because I was happy hahahahaha. Emily does it again with this beautiful book about loss, rebuilding a life, being brave and overall about love in all its forms. I just didn't want it to end, I really stretched those last chapters. Add this one to your TBR, you'll love it.

This is a super cute story about family, grief and love. It really tugged at my heartstrings - a great christmas story!

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

What if you received the ultimate gift at Christmas from someone you dearly loved but lost? I love a good England Christmas novel, and this was a great read! The epic scavenger hunt that Tom sends Cassie on every year is so much fun to follow (and sad, since he passed.) I love when a character can identify their flaws and surprise the reader at the end. I can't say too much without giving it all away, but I think this should be a pick on your holiday reading shelf. Thank you Random Penguin & Netgalley for the free review ecopy!

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was the first book I’ve read by Emily Stone and I really enjoyed it. It takes you down a winding trail through the lives of a brother and sister, Cassie and Tom, and their closest friends. While there is a romantic component to the book, I would say it’s more about loss and learning to cope with it.

Cassie and Tom lost their parents when they were very young and relied on each other growing up. Tom started doing Christmas scavenger hunts for Cassie and it became a tradition. Years later, when Tom unexpectedly dies before Christmas, the first clue to the annual scavenger hunt is found in his things. Cassie realizes he set everything up in advance and this was one last gift from her brother. The book follows her through her grieving process, the scavenger hunt, and her relationships with those closest to her. It’s an emotional ride with a satisfying ending.

Cassie's brother Tom has made her a scavenger hunt every single Christmas for her whole life. The hunt help get her through their parents' death, continued through college... and now, one final hunt will help her connect with her recently deceased brother. It was his most complex scavenger hunt yet, so all the pieces were already in place when he went on a climbing trip and died.
When she discovers the first clue for this year's scavenger hunt a few weeks after Tom's death, Cassie decides to do it. With the help of her best friend, her coworker, and Tom's best friend Sam, Cassie follows the hunt that'll take her closer to Tom. The only problem? She and Sam have a history-- not a happy one-- and she wants him as far away from her as possible. But at the same time, she can't stop the feeling that have always been there, even if he infuriates her and reminds her of her brother in painful ways.

I love how this story follows Cassie (and her relationship with Sam) over the years. There are a lot of time skips-- most of them months long, a couple of them years long-- and they really worked to give us a snapshot of the moments when Cassie and Sam come together and fall apart.

The clues for the scavenger hunt were mostly very obvious, and at first I was a bit annoyed that Cassie wasn't figuring them out faster. But she's so deep in her grief, especially at the beginning of the scavenger hunt, that I think it actually made perfect sense that she wouldn't necessarily be thinking clearly enough to figure them out easily.

I do wish there were more time spent on Cassie and Sam's relationship once they were together. They don't get together until the very end, and I wish we could have seen more of them together sooner (though we do get a little moment of them together at one point)-- I just wanted a bit more payoff after so much pining.

I loved how the scavenger hunt resolved, and the ways in which both Cassie and Sam processed their grief. The ways they found to honor Tom and figure out who they were and who they wanted to be in the process.

One Last Gift is a story about bravery and honoring yourself, and shows just how painful-- and rewarding-- that journey can be.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"One Last Gift" is kind of like if "P.S. I Love You" and literally any Hallmark movie had a baby, so you know the plot was cheesy. Now, cheesy can be fun if it's done well, but the writing of this was also really repetitive, and I think a few more rounds of editing would've helped a lot.

This was a heartwarming, feel-good British romance/women's fiction story about a young woman dealing with her grief over her brother's unexpected death. With help from her friends she goes on an adventure thanks to letters and clues her brother left for her. Perfect for fans of Lia Louis or P.S. I love you and great on audio. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this latest holiday, feel-good romantic novel from Emily Stone, One Last Gift, even though my feelings changed the further I got into the book. While the beginning held my attention, offering surprises along the way (some good and some bad), the further I got into the story, the more predictable it became. Halfway through the book, I was able to determine what the last gift would be and by whom it would be given. Nevertheless, the story has a nice rhythm and is a beautiful escape from the heat of September.

I really loved this sweet story. I got very attached to the characters- especially Sam and Cassie and was rooting for them the whole time. Emily Stone does a beautiful job of fleshing out the characters and getting you immersed in the story. At some points of the story I got frustrated with each of them but always wanted to keep reading.

One of the main themes in this book is grief and I think it is down really well. I know I felt my heart break at several times during this story. You know a book is good when it can make you feel so deeply.

This book gave me all the holiday feels- it is the perfect book for fall or winter! I love a book like that at this time of year. So definitely recommend grabbing this one when released next month and reading while under a blanket.