What a lovely debut romance from Elodie Colliard! Avery and Josh have been friends since childhood. They were the best of friends until he left ten years ago and never made contact after that. Now he's back in their hometown and hoping to make amends for the mistake he made in not reaching out. But his absence hurt Avery in ways that "I'm sorry" can't make up for. Josh had promised to always be there for her and then he wasn't. It was a big promise to break and she's understandably afraid to open herself up to heartbreak again.

I'm always a sucker for characters with baggage. Let's face it, real life is messy and we all have some type of internal battle we are fighting. Avery and Josh's struggles may have been a bit more intense than some, but they were still very relatable. I like that the author didn't shy away from addressing difficult topics. She didn't sugar coat things and wanted people to understand clearly how painful certain situations are and the long lasting impact of both action and inaction.

I was team Avery and Josh from the beginning. I love second chance romances. You can tell that what they have was based on friendship but goes much deeper. I just needed for Josh to understand how much his absence hurt Avery and to actually feel remorse. It was good that we got his side as well and it indicated he wasn't in a good mental place during the time he was gone. It's easier to mesh the storyline together that way for me.

Overall, I found this to be an impressive debut and look forward to reading more by this author. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

Avery and Josh’s story is ABSOLUTELY swoon 👏 worthy 👏 - it is equal parts sexy and sweet with a story that begs the question what if the one that got away suddenly reappeared in your life? 👀

I am obsessed with a good friends to lovers story, but this one was something different… the friendship was complicated, there was an obvious and deep connection there, but in some ways, they were also complete strangers. I enjoyed this element of the story because we got to watch Avery and Josh grow back together by learning about who the other person became during all their years apart and it just felt so genuine!!

I also loved the mental health representation in this story and thought that the author did a great job of handling sensitive topics in a way that was respectful but also very real and raw.

This is definitely going to be a book I come back to time and time again - we love a good comfort read over here, especially one that gives me the butterflies the way this one does!

Friends-to-Lovers gets me every time, and this book was no exception! I adored Avery and Joshua and their friendship, and loved that their progression from friends to more was so organic. They had exceptional chemistry, the story unfolded exactly how I expected/wanted it to, and it ended on a good note. This book also did the unthinkable and made me actually LIKE Toronto?! Anxious anxious girls do not like being in Toronto, but apparently anxious anxious girls DO like their romance novels being set in Toronto. Who knew!

There were a few unfortunate continuity errors in the book, nothing plot-shattering, but if the reader is paying attention they are definitely noticeable. They don't take you out of the story by any means, and overall I didn't feel like they hugely impacted my enjoyment of this book.

A strong debut that has left me excited to read more from Elodie Colliard in the future. Bravo

Thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for allowing me to read and review this digital arc

Thank you so much to the author, and netgalley for my e-arc of THE LAST ENCORE! It publishes today, November 1, so you can grab your copy now!

I loved this friends to lovers romance that takes place 10 years later. It felt so real- from the mental health rep, Avery’s struggles with her photography business and her family drama, to Josh and his happy go lucky attitude, and all the Toronto/Niagara-on-the lake vibes!

Avery and Josh grew up together, and you could definitely tell that they had such a strong and close friendship growing up. How do you cross the line between friends to something more, without ruining the friendship you have had for 20 years? When Josh comes back into Avery’s life, that is one question holding herself back from diving headfirst into something new with Josh, along with worrying if he will take off again after he promised 10 years ago that he would never leave her, and then fled the country for 10 years. When she finally decides to take the leap, what Avery and Josh share is so, so special and I loved seeing their romance. It felt like it was jumping off the page - it felt that real. I think that’s what is so soo about friends to lovers- you know the other person so well already, it really deepens the connection.

Josh is such a wonderful MMMC- he is the best cinnamon role guy, so caring, yet has his own struggles with his father. Avery, has always been cautious and has walls up to anyone who isn’t in her inner circle that she trusts. Her best friend, is one of the best, as she knows exactly what to do to help Avery when she has a panic/anxiety attack. But, Avery also is very strong and independent- she works very hard in her photography business and won’t let anything get in her way to achieving her dreams.

The steam was also really good 🔥🔥🔥 and I loved all the slow burn build up- making it feel all the more realistic! I also loved how protective Avery’s older brother is of Avery, and I’m so glad to hear that we are getting his story next!

Read if you like:
- friends to lovers
- Canadian setting (mostly Toronto!)
- Mental health rep (anxiety)
- Cinnamon role MC who will do anything for the girl he loves
- great secondary characters
- Photography and music love
- Open door romance
- Strong female lead
- Deep feelings

The Last Encore is a solid debut!
The tension between Avery and Josh… oh boy! I mean it’s so easy as the reader to be like “HURRY UP AND ADMIT ALL THE THINGS!” But the book would have been over in like 20 pages!

Avery & Josh are both characters I was rooting for. And not just in a relationship capacity. I wanted them to succeed in everything. Usually I’m just like ok get together, now I’m happy! But with these two I wanted a full picture and I’m happy Elodie gave that to me! Avery and I share a profession and I thought her insecurities and frustrations as well as her love for photography were spot on! A bit too spot on at times 😅

I found the secondary characters to be very strong. Both Miles and Brooke could easily carry their own books and I loved how supportive they were of Avery even when they were questioning her they had her best interest at heart.

I loved how Toronto felt like a character, Elodie captured the city beautifully and it gives me hope that others will recognize that it’s a good setting for a book!

There were times where things didn’t flow quite like I would have liked, perhaps less action description would have been beneficial. And while I loved the tension it was hard to fully commit when I really wanted more backstory earlier on or maybe something else from Josh’s POV.

I think what came through most to me was a passion for storytelling. You can tell when someone loves to write and when someone is writing because they’ve been told they can. Elodie writes with passion and a clear love of the art and as a reader that is hugely appreciated. She also handles some tough subjects with care and respect and I know many readers, including this one, will be grateful for that.

I honestly cannot wait to read what Elodie writes next. I am fully invested in this wonderful world she has created!

2.5 stars ☆ childhood friends to lovers + second chance? and was set in Toronto? count me in. These tropes and setting alone made me want to read this book and especially by the stunning cover, however, I wasn't fond of the writing style which caused me struggling reading it through and the lack of angst/grovelling that I was searching for especially when it's a second chance.

What I liked about this book was the mental health representation, it was well done and on point. Avery and Joshua were cute even when there are times that they annoyed me a bit.

Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing for the ARC !!

📖 BOOK REVIEW

BOOK: The Last Encore
AUTHOR: Elodie Colliard
FORMAT: eBook
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
DID I CRY: No
PUB DATE: 11/1/22
RATING: 9/10
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you so much to my best friend @elosreadingcorner & @netgalley for my #gifted advanced digital & physical copies of THE LAST ENCORE, out in the world this Tuesday, Nov 1🤍

MY THOUGHTS

What an absolutely beautiful experience it was reading a book that my best friend wrote. I want to preface this review by saying that Elodie asked me to put aside those feelings & give an honest review because she knows how much I value giving YOU all my truly honest feedback.

This is a debut, friends to lovers, second chance romance with the sweetest cinnamon roll hero male main character. The characters were given such strong personalities in which Elodie truly knew who each of them were and wrote them as so. The different relationships portrayed showed that some were complicated & some were easy and simple (e.g., father/son, father/daughter, brother/sister, sister/brother, best friends, lovers, mother/daughter, etc.). The mental health representation felt authentic and genuine & made our MC feel relatable & pull empathy out of me while reading. The writing was extremely well done, giving us glimpses into the MC’s witty inner-dialogue without overdoing it. The love story was sweet and strong & I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I definitely wish we got more of a look into Josh & Avery’s past and what their love was like when they were younger, as well as past family dynamics. I also would have liked more of a buildup to the two finally getting together with a little more tension and resistance.

All in all this is a grand slam debut and I am simply ecstatic to watch the world fall in love with Josh and Avery and with our Elodie🫶🏼 already eagerly anticipating book # 2🥹

⚠️ this book contains TW that are detailed in an author’s note at the beginning of the book

I absolutely adore second chance romances, and this one was executed beautifully. Josh and Avery were everything to me, and I loved the way her memories from high school with him were interwoven into their current relationship. While the pacing of their romance felt awkward at times, I still loved all of their interactions with each other and Josh's dedication to proving to Avery that he will not leave her again. Avery's drive was one of my favorite things about her as a character, but I also loved watching her learn to trust Josh enough to commit to a relationship with him. Overall this was a sweet and emotional second-chance romance that is perfect for the upcoming holiday season.

What a great debut! I was so excited to read an advanced copy of The Last Encore by Elodie Colliard, and it truly lived up to my expectations.
I really appreciated how mental health struggles and anxiety were handled within this book, I saw a lot of things that really resonated with myself (and it was nice to see the content warning included at the beginning of the book).

I really liked the the relationship between Avery and Josh, and even though they hadn’t seen each other in a decade, Josh truly showed Avery how he felt and made her feel comfortable and supportive every step of the way.

Everyone else in Avery’s life minus her dad, seemed supportive of her (and her struggles with anxiety), and I really love how Brooke and Miles had her back.

I only wish we could have had some of Josh’s POV, but otherwise this was a perfect debut. I can’t wait to see what else Elodie comes out with in the future!

This book y’all! Elodie is so talented and this was the perfect book to pull me out of my reading slump 🧡.
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Avery Clark has battled anxiety attacks for years. On top of that, she recently learned that her parents marriage has fallen apart. Looking to grow her photography business, she enters a wedding photography contest that has the potential to earn her a lot of business. The only catch is, her client is her ex-best friend’s sister. And her ex-best friend, Josh, is now a smoking hot talented pianist. Will Avery try to rekindle an old flame, or will the deceit and trauma from her past stand in the way?
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Right off the bat this book was giving me delicious fall and cozy romance vibes 😍. She manages to give a small town feel in the big town setting of Toronto. There’s will-they/won’t-they, forced proximity, and second-chance romance 😍. Reading about a MC with major anxiety as a human with major anxiety made me feel seen 🥺. And I was so thankful for the carefully handled TW for sexual assault right up front.
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Don’t sleep on this one y’all💜! Thank you to @elosreadingcorner and @victoryeditingngc for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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The Last Encore - Elodie Colliard
4.5/5⭐️

Elodie, I must applaud you for having the courage to dream up, write and publish your own book. I will forever be in awe of your creativity, passion and courage.

The bones of the story are strong for a debut novel!
- I loved the accuracy of anxiety representation in this book
- Elodie can write a steamy scene that will make your toes curl

While I enjoyed the overall feel of this book, the areas of details and flow were a bit lacking for me
- A staple of second chance romance, according to me, is angst and I didn’t feel it as much as I want to when there’s such a rich history established between the main characters
- There weren’t enough details for the back story — I didn’t have enough time to connect with the characters’ issues

Thank you for allowing us the privilege of reading early. With this strong first book I can’t wait to see the evolution of the writing in the next books.

This was such a great debut novel from this author! I felt the story was extremely relatable and the author and characters were very vulnerable and real. I thought the difficult topics of mental health and sexual assault were handled with care and consideration. Not only was it a sweet love story, but I enjoyed the steamy scenes as well and thought they were well thought out. The characters were lovable, especially the strong female main character, Avery. Lastly, the relationships in the novel reflected maturity and self-worth, which were a breath of fresh air to read. I will definitely be reading more from this author and I look forward to the second book in this series.

4.25 🌟 - I enjoyed it!

11/1 is the day that sweet Elodie's book is out for the world to read! What an incredible debut written by my dear friend, I am so proud of you! Thank you so much Elodie for sending me a physical copy of your book, I truly will cherish it forever!

Second-chance romance is one of my absolute favorite tropes, and I adored Avery and Josh as people and together as a couple. This book is the perf book to cozy up this fall serving all the cozy vibes, sweet romance, steamy scenes, mental health representation, and relatable friendships.

There is so much heart put into this book. You can tell that Elodie poured so much of herself into this and it shows in the best kind of way! Her author's note lays out the trigger warnings in the book and some context to the choices made in the book.

I do wish we had more tension built before they got together, and that we got to see more of their backstory compared to their current day relationship as well as more backstory from their family relationships to see how it impacted current day.

Overall this is a beautiful debut full of passion, emotion, romance, and explores complex relationships with family while touching on mental health.

Cannot wait to see what's next!

I absolutely loved this second chance romance. It was deep, emotional, funny and just overall a great read! I loved the way Avery & Josh found their way back to each other and the way their friendship grew throughout the book. Their relationship was just so deep and their romantic connection was to die for.

“She wanted to run to him and soothe the line that had formed between his brows with her thumb, to tell him that it was okay, that he could cry and let go, be sad. That she would be there to catch him, this time.”

Avery and Josh lost contact from the moment Josh left to go start a new life in Europe. Determined to honor his late mother and pursue his musical career as a pianist, Josh left with a swift goodbye to his two best friends and ZERO contact for the next ten years.

At 28, Avery finds herself awestruck in Josh's presence once again, while attending a gala he's performing at. He’s every bit as talented, but somehow hotter than she ever remembered, as well…

Such a great debut from Elodie Colliard! This book was full of heart, fantastic character reconnection, and amazing mental health representation. I was rooting for Josh and Avery from the start. Having such a beautiful friendship and having it crumble to pieces from one moment to the next broke my heart for them. I was rooting for them the moment they laid eyes on each other at the charity event. In the years apart, they never stopped thinking about each other, but time does not heal all wounds and they knew they needed to properly talk about the abrupt exit from each other’s lives. It was a delightful slow burn once they were gifted this second chance to be in each other’s lives.

This book dealt with some heavier topics, but were handled in a gentle, realistic manner. Avery’s mental health was definitely placed at the forefront of her character building and reading her character overcome these parts of herself everyday made her character a FORCE.

I’m excited to read whatever Elodie Colliard has in store for her future as a writer and I can’t WAIT to read Miles and Riley’s story next!

Thank you to NetGalley, Victory Editing, and Elodie Colliard for the copy in exchange for an honest review!

Elodie’s debut novel is not only beautiful on the outside as you can see (I love this cover so much) but on the inside too. The Last Encore was such a lovely friends to lovers, second chance romance packed full of emotion. Although I felt there were a few minor pacing issues, the story was well written and had me feeling all the feels. I adored Avery and Josh both as individuals and together. She was was so real and relatable, and he was so swoonworthy with his sweet and understanding ways. The side characters added so much. Brooke was by far my favorite. Her love and support for Avery was so wonderful. Total #friendshipgoals 🥰.

I appreciated the authors personal note/trigger warnings. She handled the mental heath rep, the topic of sexual assault, and the consent in the later spicy scenes with care and respect. Thank you for sharing Elodie. 🤍

What I adored;
💜Second chance romance
💜Friends to lovers
💜Mental Heath rep
💜Slow-burn

This was so much more than a fluffy rom-com and I really enjoyed it. I can’t wait to read Miles and Riley’s story.

The Last Encore is out in the world 11/1 and you won’t want to miss this wonderful debut.

Thank You so much NetGalley, Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op, and Elodie Colliard for the gifted ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love this book!!!!! It was so earnest and fun and also serious. Elodie did such a wonderful job making the characters feel real and dynamic. I can’t wait for people to read this book.

OMG! Elodie Colliard is a force to be reckoned with.

To start, let me say that I wholeheartedly appreciate the trigger warnings at the beginning of a book. Why don't more authors do this?! I loved that it was one of the first things I saw, and I felt like that small gesture meant so much. Also, A PLAYLIST?! AND AN AMAZING ONE AT THAT. Ugh, this book was off to an AMAZING start right away!

I loved this story so much. It was perfectly paced and I felt like the characters had so much depth to them. I caught myself smiling and giddy on multiple occasions.

I truly adored this book and can't wait to see what Colliard does next. Thank you so much for the ARC!

A solid debut from Elodie Colliard!

First off, please check the content warning of the book and/or read the Author’s Note before starting.

This book is thoughtfully written and very emotional. I like that it stresses how important mental health is and how it’s a journey for anyone who has experienced trauma and grief. Avery and Josh are wonderful characters, and I sympathize with what they went through individually and together. I also love the friendship in this book and sibling relationships. The complex family struggles are also relatable. Even as adults, we want to make our parents proud.

I enjoyed reading this book!

Thank you, NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op, for the eARC.

The Last Encore
Rating: ★★★★★
Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault, Depression, and Grief/Loss of loved one
Tropes: best friends to strangers to lovers, strong female MC, second chance romance

Review: First, I want to point out that this book talks about sexual assault, so please be mindful of that before reading! Elodie does handle the topic with care and delivers it well. I honestly loved this book so much. I think Elodie did a fantastic job creating a story that covers heavy topics but contains a beautiful love story. There was banter, spice, and swoony moments so this book has it all! I definitely recommend this book!

Thank you to Netgalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for this eArc in exchange for an honest review.