This is my first A.S. Kelly book. The cover of the book is cute & that's what lured me into reading it. I had hoped the story would be good but I am sad to say it did not meet my expectations. I struggled reading through the FMC, Anya's internal monologues, it was really exhausting, more so because it was repetitive. I pushed through hoping I'd get to know why she was so rude & harsh, but by the time her past was revealed, the book was almost over and she had become sort of irredeemable to me. Her friends & their respective husbands were a major part of the story & I think it would have been a better reading experience maybe if I had read the series in order. Anya's loathing for the male species even extended to her friends' husbands which I felt was a bit overboard. I don't think I would have tolerated a friend like Anya in my life, past trauma or not. There is a certain line you just don't cross. Also, they all were her friends & wanted nothing but for her to be happy. She was arroagnt & disrespectful rather than sarcastic.
The MMC, Owen, was the total opposite of Anya. He was sweet, caring & understanting, and someone who Anya did not deserve according to me. I felt Owen was too accomodating of her which really made me feel like he was a spineless person.
Overall, I think the side characters were the only good thing in this book that helped me push through & finish.
Thank you to NetGalley, Xpresso Book Tours & the author for an e-ARC in return for my honest review.

i hate leaving negative reviews but let’s get into it. firstly this is the fourth book in a series but is heavily marketed as a stand alone but in my opinion can’t be read as a stand alone, the first few chapters left me confused and honestly a little bit angry (we’ll get to that in a second) and if i knew how much the book relied on the reader having previous knowledge i would have read the other books first as i adore series set in small towns. secondly, my anger, now i realise i’m missing some context that i am guessing would have been provided in the other books but still was the slut shamming from Anya’s friends really necessary??? there is absolutely nothing wrong with two consenting adults engaging in causal sex and the attitude of her friends really tainted the whole book for me. i was also left really confused by Anya’s bitterness towards every single man in her life, i figured out that she’d obviously been through some sort of trauma and didn’t trust men but the fact that her “best friend that’s known her for decades” had no idea left me even more miffed….also when we do find out what it is it kind of fell flat because we’re beaten over the head with her constant push backs, punishments and misplaced anger towards people that really don’t deserve it. i really wanted to like her as a character but i felt certain things were taken too far and she wasn’t given enough room for growth.

the positives, i really liked the way the pregnancy was portrayed it felt realistic and fitting for Anya’s character. i know it’s the bare minimum but i like that Owen didn’t pressure Anya and was supportive of any choice she made. Speaking of Owen, his character was great, i really enjoyed him and even though i’m not Anya’s biggest fan their tender moments together were sweet and i’m glad they got their happy ending.

i am slightly curious about the rest of the series but i honestly don’t know if i’ll read any of it i may try the authors other books in the future as i did like their writing style.

Oh my god. The characters in this book are just wow.

I absolutely adored how the protagonist was unlike any other female character I’ve read before. It just automatically set this book apart from all others.

And Owen, her love interest. He just melted my heart.

I surprisingly really enjoyed it, though I would’ve loved if we could’ve seen a bit more about their respective careers and Owen’s family.

You should totally read it if you’re into small town romance books. They’re usually not my cup of tea, but this was an awesome exception.

Thank you NetGalley and A.S. Kelly for the chance to read this book:)
*possible minor spoilers*

Anya and Owen are the perfect Grumpy/Sunshine couple, and I am all here for it. This was such a cute story with wacky side characters and such a loving community.
It may be an unpopular opinion, but I love the pregnancy trope and this version was so much more realistic than any other I’ve read. Anya deals with very raw emotions in this story of feeling conflicted as a soon to be mother. She deals with guilt over not feeling the joy that stereotypically comes with getting pregnant, and although it was a rollercoaster of emotions, I loved every second of it. It’s so important for these type of experiences to be represented because it’s very common and not enough women feel comfortable to speak up about it.
And that scene when Anya was considering the possibility of an abortion and Owen said it was “her body, her choice”, I melted. I realized it’s literally the least we should expect, the minimum requirement, but as a woman living in today’s messed up world, it makes me feel that much less alone when men who are on our side are represented. Even if they’re fictional.
The only thing I didn’t care for in this book was how it felt like stepping into a conversation midway through, and not just because it’s apart of a series. There was so much dialogue and so many characters and not enough movement between quotes. The dialogue jumped from one character to the next and it was hard to tell who was speaking without much setting. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this story and would highly recommend.

I loved this book. It is everything I wanted in a romance novel. I like when I get attached to the characters and I’m rooting for them and mentally warring with them when they don’t do what I want. I could hardly put this down once I was rooting for Owen. I was reading this book until my eyes were fighting me to stay awake at night. Definitely will recommend to others!

This was just an ok read for me. I don't agree with it being a standalone as it's the fourth book in the series and all of the characters from previous books and situations seem to be thrown in or hinted at in the first chapters and I felt lost and confused. I loved Owen. He just a sweet guy that felt a real connection with Anya , and despite her conditions, couldn't give up on her. My biggest problem was Anya herself. She's so negative about all men, even her best friend's significant others, projecting her own negativity and horrible thoughts into their relationships. I think more explanation of her attitude would have helped at the beginning of the story because by the time I found out why, it didn't really help justify her bitterness.
I received an advance reader copy of this book. The views and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

Thank you for this ARC, I loved this book so much!
Anya is one of my favorite female characters.
And Owen was so sweet!
I absolutely recommend it to those who love rom-coms.

This book was provided by netgalley for an honest review. All of the thoughts and opinions are my own.

INSTANTLY DNF.
No hate to the author or if you liked this book but it's going to be a no for me.
And here is the reason why:
I'm sorry, what's with the slut shaming?? I thought we were well past tropes where the SINGLE female character does what every other character is allowed aka date and sleep with whom ever she wants with and her supposed best friend shames her for it!! I don't care that it was her idea to make a contract that she won't sleep with any of her coworkers or men connected to the school. By the way SHE IS THE ONLY ONE NOT ALLOWED TO DO IT. It was not her fault that new teacher lied about having a whole ass fiance. Hell no. We are not doing this. There is no amount of good set up later and redemption to this book. This is just not the vibe for me. I'm sorry not sorry.

This book was a very middle of the road kind of read for me. I didn’t hate it but I definitely didn’t love it and I normally adore pregnancy trope books.

Anya and Owen are two people who were meant to only ever be a one night stand but two lines on a pink stick change everything for them.

I knew very little about this going in. So I was really surprised the book was actually set in Ireland as I’m Irish and very rarely do you find romance books based here. Unfortunately this made me very nit picky over the little details. The names for one… Jordan, Tyler, Parker, and Owen (normally would be spelt Eoghan/Eoin especially in Donegal) just didn’t feel at all realistic. I know it’s little but things like that just take me out of the story completely as a reader. I couldn’t find out is the author is actually Irish or not but my guess would be no based on the way Donegal is written.

On the more positive side. I really liked the character of Owen. He seemed really sweet and so devoted to Anya. There were a lot of really cute moments throughout.

Unfortunately can’t say the same for Anya. I wasn’t to impressed with. She just seemed unreasonably mean and petty for 80% of the story. It felt too late in the game when we find out why she acts the way she does.

(*spoiler* I really hate when in pregnancy trope the baby isn’t born by the end of the story. Just feels really lazy to base the book around this pregnancy but not even given it a satisfactory end with the birth.)

Overall a 3 star read for me.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was meh. It's technically a standalone in a series but I don't think it works as a standalone. Not interested in the rest of the series either.

This was a DNF for me.
Anya was just boring and I just didn't can about her.
I don't this i will give this author another try.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of "The Last One" by A.S. Kelly!

This novel tells the story of Anya, who has a one-night-stand (okay, well, a weekend-length stand) with a fireman named Owen. She originally has the intention of never seeing him again, but once he moves to town and other issues arise, she finds herself seeing him and making conversation with him on a daily basis. This is difficult for Anya, because she's not used to having actual relationships - she's got daddy issues, and isn't comfortable with the idea of settling down with someone if they're just going to leave eventually. She is the type of character that puts up a brick wall and practically refuses to let her feelings come to light, despite encouragement from her friends Jordan, Holly, and Rian.

Overall, I rated this book a 3/5 stars!

DNF
Marketed as a standalone, but over the first few chapters I was very confused since so many characters are from previous books.

There is also a lot of conversation and very little action. The first few chapters just bounce from Anya and Owen retelling the same story to one character and then the next.

Firstly, this book is marketed as a stand alone within a series, but with the side characters being main characters of this story, I found it necessary to have read the previous books considering I had not and got lost repeatedly in the first few chapters.

Next, I do think Anya's reasonings and background need to be brought up in the beginning of the book at least in her POV. Because I didn't know the backstory, I developed a strong dislike of Anya and found that her "I can trust or love anyone" lines just annoying and childish. Her comments of her friends partners were just cruel and she should not be projecting her fears onto her friends relationships. Finding out her background didn't help me much because honestly, some therapy and talking with her dad would have probably helped a lot.

Owen was adorable, although I found him a little stalkery at first, but got over it as his POV continued. You could tell he was a simple man just wanting to test out the feelings from his and Anya's weekend.

This book does have a happy ever after and I'm glad I finished it! Would recommend for those who have read the first books in the series first!

The Last One is book 4 in the Love At Last series. While it could be read as a stand-alone, some of the context is lost without reading the previous books. The Last One just jumps right into Anya and Owen’s story without any background information on the other relationships and friendships. The side characters play too big of roles throughout the plot to skip the first 3 books.

The plot is straightforward and predictable. The chemistry between the MCs seems forced and flat. The friendship between the MC and her best friend was a more developed relationship than the one between Anya and Owen.

Although this book was not for me, I would be interested in checking out some of the authors other work.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and A.S. Kelly!

DNF at 64%

Honestly, this book was 100 or so pages too long. Also, though this book is advertised as part of a series, but can be read as a standalone, I don't think I agree. There were a lot of characters featured in the first few chapters that obviously appeared in the previous books, but because there wasn't any background information given here, I spent a good chunk of time trying to figure out all the dynamics.

I wanted to love this book because I am an avid consumer of the surprise pregnancy trope, but I just truly did not enjoy Anya's character. After 200 pages spent with her, her cynical attitude grew a bit exhausting.

I DNF’d this book. I tried and tried to get into it, but I just really didn’t like Anya’s character. She seemed so whiney and complained a lot.

Thank you to A.S. Kelly and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. The Last One comes out July 25, 2022.

Anya does not trust men due to seeing her father cheat and abandon her mother. Her love life consists of one night stands and very little emotion. When she meets Owen she breaks her rules and has two nights with him, well a weekend but is still relying on the fact that he will not be staying in her small town for long. That is until he shows up at her work place for safety checks as fireman and tells her that he's here for a little bit longer. Very soon into the book you find out she is pregnant with his baby, what transpires after that is Owen trying to play the long game when it comes to Anya letting him into her and their baby's life.

While I did enjoy the story I felt like most of the book was Anya arguing with everyone about her mistrust of men and even though it's obvious to everyone else her mistrust of Owen's intentions. I also felt like when they were alone both characters would say or feel one thing and then when they got around their friends they completely changed the decisions or feelings that they had in the previous chapter. Also the slight twist at the end was a reach and it was more frustrating than anything. If you ignore all of that it is a sweet story about finding it within yourself to trust others, I just wish there would have been more moments of trust throughout the story not just at the ending.

4/5 stars

This book exceeded my expectations. It’s the fourth book in the series but according to the synopsis and can be read as a stand-alone but I wouldn’t agree with that. there was a lot of name dropping and titles in the beginning and it was hard to keep track of all the characters.

But it was pretty fast paced and easy to get through. I get that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but it was a easy read.

The characters had great chemistry and besides the things I mentioned above - I wouldn’t change a thing.

Anya does not trust men. They have one use in her mind and she has strict rules to keep them only for one night. But Owen stayed the whole weekend. Of course when she makes one exception her world is completely changed as she becomes pregnant. Now, Owen's efforts to see her again and his desire to get to know her have bigger ramifications. Can Owen truly be her one exception?

I enjoyed the story and Owen's understanding of Anya. Her friends, even the useful firemen, supported her while pushing her outside her comfort zone. Her repetition of, "I'll never trust men" did feel overdone. When it feels like every other sentence, it loses meaning.

Overall, a fun surprise pregnancy fic between an ice queen and fireman simp.

Read for: accidental pregnancy, reverse age-gap, small town romance

3/5 stars
1/5 spice