I was really looking forward to this one but sadly it just didn't work for me. I didn't seem to gel with the characters or story and it didn't have the development or tension I was looking for and the dialogue didn't feel natural - these are all my personal opinions based on what I like from a novel, especially a romance, and others may have an entirely different experience, so please pick this one up, because it may be your new favourite!

I really appreciated the discussions and representation on mental health, which is where this book shone for me.

For a debut, I can see potential and I'm intrigued to see Colliard's writing and stories grow.

I really tried giving this a try. I didn’t hate it.. but I didn’t like it. And to be honest, I didn’t finish it. Nothing was holding my attention.

This is more of a “it’s me not you” situation. This one just wasn’t for me.

This was a delightful second-chance romance (childhood friends to lovers); the characters were very well thought out! It took me a bit to get used to the writing, as sometimes it felt like the author didn't go through an editing process. That doesn't take anything away from the story that was very cute. Recommended for romance lovers who are into the friends-to-lovers trope!

Alright booksta, do your thing! Our fellow bookstagrammer @elosreadingcorner wrote a book and it was an incredibly stunning debut!

This was such a great story about friendships and second chances at love. Going into this, I knew that Shawn Mendes as Elodie’s muse for Josh and I loved every part of that as it made him so much more swoon worthy in my eyes!

I absolutely relished in the setting of this one and the vivid scenery and detailed perfection of Toronto that Colliard used. I also throughly enjoyed the depth of the characters that Elodie was able to create. This one has such a charming and endearing supportive cast which I think takes your typical romance novels to a whole new and engaging level! And luckily for us, this is the start of “It’s Always Been You” series and we’ll get to continue with a new plot featuring Miles & Riley!

This one has hallmark movie written all over it (less the steam, and oh was there some steamy bits😉) and I can’t wait to read more!

Aw this was a cute read! First off - love LOVE the cover! The story is a second-chance romance featuring childhood friends-to-lovers. I really liked their story, but at times, I felt as if the writing was almost a first draft? I think Elodie did an excellent job pouring her heart and soul into the story she created, and I'm very impressed with her debut novel. I would read something by Elodie in the future, and hope to see continued improvements in storytelling!! The characters are really well done, sometimes I felt as if the descriptions were a bit too much. Also, I'm sure Avery as a character will be very relatable for many, and we love to see continued mental health representation in books.

This was a really sweet and charming second-chance romance with throughoutly enjoyable characters and I really liked reading this book.
It‘s about Avery and Josh who used to be best friends and I love the trope friends to strangers to lovers trope so much! This story was well written and had me entertained and hooked the whole time.
I felt really connected to the characters and I was smiling because of them so often.
I can definitely recommend this book, not only because the cover and title are so cute but also because of the amazing story that‘s hiding behind it.

This is a good start for the author and improvement will bring out higher potential!

First, I like the cover, I think it is a great illustration! This book is a cute story overall. It is a second chance romance as well as a friends to lovers trope.

I also like the mental health representation in this book and how it was described, for it is something that I think people could experience or relate to in real life. I think that’s important because sometimes, the representation is not written that well in other fictional books.

However, I think there are a few places where the author may work on such as the romance progression, dialogues that are a little more realistic or at least in a way that is not considered cringeworthy, and more depth or development to characters/plot.

⭐️ rating: 4 STARS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 genre: romance
🔥 steam: open door
tropes: second-chance romance, high school sweethearts

This book was sweet from beginning to end! You could feel the bond between Josh and Avery from the second they were in the same room together. While I do wish there had been a little bit more groveling from Josh as he tried to restore a relationship with Avery and Brook, but I understand that it wasn't necessarily essential to the story.

I also wish there had been a few more flashbacks? There were a lot of moments somewhat referred to, but really being able to see their relationship in the past and how it differed/was the same as their current friendship would have been valuable, in my opinion. PLUS, without this build-up, Avery's sense of betrayal felt a little lacking.

THAT SAID, I did love this book! I thought the banter was top notch, I loved seeing Brooke and Avery interact, Josh's family was amazing, and the steam was very well done. Like...very well done.

I'm looking forward to what Colliard writes next!

Colby Mills once felt destined for a musical career, but tragedy grounded his dreams. Now the dust has settled, he spontaneously takes a gig playing at a bar in Florida, seeking a rare break from his duties at home.

The Last Encore has some of our favorite tropes: second chance romance, friends to lovers, guy falls first. Absolutely fantastic and overall short and sweet. It tells the story of Avery and Josh, who were childhood best friends but had drifted apart after Josh leaves the country after promising to never leave Avery. They haven't spoken in years until Josh comes back to town.

Elodie’s debut was cute and fun and perfectly steamy!

Decided this book was not for me. Didn’t finish, wasn’t what I was expecting writing-wise Felt more like a draft than finished product.

I enjoyed this one but I didn’t love it, I found the main character to be a little annoying especially when it came
To holding a grudge against the MMC from high school when she is now close to 30. Avery the FMC is a photographer living in Toronto suffering from anxiety. She has lots of reason why she is suffering it, form how she was raised, her father and mother divorce, a failed long term relationship and not really feeling like she is where she should be in life. She has a good support system through her best friend Brooke who will drop anything to there for her. And than that brings Josh our MMC who was a part of Avery and Brooke’s friend group in high school, but josh was dealing with his own things and he was a painful and he left to go to Europe and chase his own dreams and get away from his Demons. But that left Avery feeling abandon, especially when there was always a little something between them. Take it till 10 years year when she runs into josh again, and he wants nothing but to start over with Avery. And this is where the book lost me Avery, her brother and Brooke where so hard on Josh for leaving. He was a teenager and he had his reasons and I think over the years that Avery should of realized that instead of being so mad at him, it felt like Avery was blaming him for things in her life that where ridiculous. Her brother also drove me crazy and I didn’t find him supportive in a good way more of a toxic way. I will have to say I liked the second half of this novel a lot more than the first, and I will pick more of this authors work.

this was exactly the contemporary romance novel I needed right now!!! and a debut novel at that? 😍 oooh stunning!!!

I absolutely loved how this was a romcom with realistic and sensitive subjects - because while I enjoy a good ol HEA, I need my characters to be 3D and not a pile of fluff 😅😅😅

avery and josh had their moments sure, and in some cases, I had a massive case of the eye rolls and the shrieks at how idiotic they were … cue the ✨ miscommunication drama ✨

I just hate when characters eavesdrop on each other and then make assumptions WITHOUT TALKING TO THE OTHER PERSON!!!! like what the heck!!!!

anyway, the story itself made me want to give it a huge hug and I’m so happy I got to preview this one 😍 the side characters, of course, made it for me!!!

also the toronto and niagara on the lake setting??? aka my favorite vacay spot and wine spot? count me in 🤌🏼

I can’t wait for the stories about miles and brooke!!!!

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

rating: 4 stars
wine pairing: niagara on the lake cabernet franc

I didn't get very far in this one because the writing was too simplistic and there was too much telling, not showing, going on.
I love a good best friends to ex best friends to lovers saga but this just wasn't written well enough or tension-filled enough for my tastes.

I really enjoyed this book - I read it all in one sitting. The characters were lovable and believable and I found that I really understood the motives behind their actions and this helped make this book an enjoyable read.

The idea of having a close knit friendship group and having one of those friends leave and drift away is such a common issue and it's nice to see it represented ina. book. The heartbreak comes from knowing that our FMC was in love with the MMC who had left.

This book talks about the pressures of growing up in a family that want to stick to traditions and that do not always understand the more imaginative and creative career paths which again is a common theme in reality and the subject was approached beautifully in this book.

4.5/5 stars
TW: Sexual assault, rape

Avery Clark is waiting for her big break, with her photography business barely on its legs, her parents divorce and her rising anxiety she is hoping on a miracle. The last thing she expects is her childhood nest friend Joshua Harding to reappear into her life one night at a gala after 10 years of no contact ever since he left Toronto and Avery behind. Despite all of her mixed emotions on seeing Josh again, a business opportunity presents itself as Josh’s sister is getting married and is in need of a photographer. Avery accepts and as her and Josh spend more time together, she is beginning to realize they feelings they once had for each other years ago have not hindered at all. As their relationship progresses and Avery begins to let her guard down, challenges arise threatening to destroy shot at a future together.

•

Let me start off this review with this: JOSH HARDING 👏🏼👏🏼 This man🔥🔥 We love a cinnamon roll hero respectable KING 👑 I related to Josh a lot in this story with his upbringing and respect for his Mexican culture. This was also the PERFECT cozy romance read for this fall season. I loved every single character in this one, Miles, Brooke, Julia, Avery; all of them 😍 I can tell the author put her entire heart into this and I really loved and appreciated Josh’s patience and kindness towards Avery given everything she has been through and putting her first, always. Avery’s struggles pulled at my heartstrings but it was so powerful to read of her character development and how she was able to overcome her fears of love and loss and truly find happiness. I do wish we got a little more build up and tension from these two before they got together, it was pretty instant as soon as they saw each other but regardless, their romance was a beautiful one that gave me all the feels 🥰 Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This title is available to purchase now!

Fine, but DNF. It was written like fanfiction. I didn’t see the point in finishing it, there’s much better stuff out there. Cute story, but it was missing a little something

A beautifully written debut novel! Everything flowed so easily and I found myself not wanting to put down this book.

Congratulations to Elodie on her debut novel!! There was so much that I enjoyed about this one. I greatly appreciated the mental health aspects and identified with many of Avery's feelings. I liked the romance between Josh and Avery and the romantic build up was fantastic. I do wish we'd seen more from their past in the flashbacks or memory scenes. Overall, the writing was pretty good. There were occasional moments where the actions of the characters didn't fit with their age and felt very immature. I look forward to more from this author.

Thank-you NetGalley and Elodie Colliard for the chance to read this ARC.
The Last Encore
by Elodie Colliard

Was a delight! Not only is the writing relatable and fun but the story has so much to give!

Loved the slowburn of the relationship between Avery and Josh.
The mix of that and the second chance element really did a number in my heart!
Colliard is such a gifted writer! I can't wait to read more of her books!