Sammy Espinoza's life is crashing down around her, so she does what she knows best and runs. This time she runs to the place that at one time, for a brief shining moment of her life, felt like home.

Max Ryan has been hiding for years, nursing a bit of fear, shame, and a few more of his own issues. Can a chance encounter with Sammy, for the second time in his life change all of that?

This book was, simply put, emotional. I, and many others, identified with Sammy and her fears. This book forces you to sit in the discomfort of those feelings of loneliness, and longing to belong. Its definitely a book that will leave you with an emotional hangover. This book is special for sure.

An emotional rollercoaster of a romance novel but one that I enjoyed so much for how it melded the storylines of Sammy revisiting her past both on a familial and a romantic level. Small-town homecoming stories really do lend that sort of warmth overall, but then Sammy was just such a likable protagonist that it made me root for her to have everything she wanted — including a connection to the family she never had the chance to know. In many ways, the found family element felt a little more important to the story than the romance — complete with what seemed more like a HFN ending rather than a HEA — but this book wields a strong sense of place and a poignant narrative that is going to stick with me for a long time.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What a story! I laughed, I cried, I swooned and I fell in love with every single one of these characters.
Sammy Espinoza is on a bit of a downward slope. She was dumped and pretty much fired from what she thought was her dream job. She decides to lick her wounds in a place she once called home, a place she hasn’t been in years and holds a lot of memories for her, Ridley Falls. Not only does she hope to spend time with the people who aren’t blood but family to her, a chance to save her career comes in the form of former flame Max Ryan, past rock god who once broke Sammy’s heart.

If you love music, I think this book is for you. Sammy is a music critic and feels a lot of her emotions through different songs. She connects back with Max through his music and their love of what is behind the lyrics. You’ll fall in love with swoony Max who has a lot of baggage and demons of his own to work through, and you’ll love Sammy who has a lot of family issues and internal struggle with who she is and where she comes from.

There is LGBTQ+ representation that made my heart happy, found family and second-chance romance in this book that really checked all my boxes. I love how emotional this book was, while it was a romance at its heart it also deals with Sammy figuring out her past in the town her father’s family is from, where she comes from and how she can connect with her roots. It’s deeper than the average romance and I loved everything about it. The side characters are heartwarming and wonderful, and the main characters are truly the standout as they try to be together despite secrets and baggage.

I highly recommend this book, which comes out July 18! Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Check out a full review on my podcast Pages n’ Pages episode released May 27, 2023, on all streaming platforms.

What makes a family? What doesn't? How do you find them (again)? These questions are at the core of Sammy Espinoza's Last Review and Mejia has knocked the answering out of the park. I have been a fan of theirs since the WSTDOF days, but this may be my favorite yet. As a musician myself, it was so centering to read the way Sammy/Mejia thinks about that art form and the community around it. Sammy is such a deeply relatable character, her own struggles winding a knot round your finger and pulling on your heartstrings. Mejia had no intention of pulling punches - the way this book grapples with grief, especially the far-off kind of strangers who should've been more, is a special thing. The relationship that blossoms between Sammy and Max is such a gentle and vulnerable thing too, each choosing to learn and grow over time. I laughed my ass off, cried so hard I couldn't see through my tears - a must-read.

4 stars

I've consistently enjoyed Mejia's YA novels, but I *REALLY* enjoyed this adult romantic debut.

Sammy, the titular m.c., finds herself in a difficult spot when the novel begins: an unstable career, an embarrassing and public breakup, and many buried issues from her familial past and origins. Out of desperation, Sammy goes home to Ridley Falls, a small town where many of her problems await to face her head on...literally in most cases. Since there's a pretty solid second chance romance situation happening here, it's no surprise that one of the first encounters Sammy has upon her triumphant return is an unexpected one with Max, the dude who broke her heart 10 years ago. Between Max's presence, her caring but over involved best friend/makeshift sister, her stand-in parents, the profusion of her belated father's memory, her disastrous mom, and a mythical grandmother she's never met, Sammy has a lot to manage and a lot of self-discoveries to make, all while trying to save her career and - unbeknownst to her - star in a romance.

The romance is charming, but it's really Sammy's growth that's most rewarding to encounter. At 30, she's learned some hard lessons, but she still has a few to go, and it's enjoyable for readers to meet her at this stage: some knowledge under the belt but some wins left to tally.

There are some minor characters whom I wanted to know more about, and there are a couple of too-tidy resolutions. These small issues aside, I remained engaged in this read and rooting for Sammy's success consistently. I'm glad this author has ventured into new territory and am looking forward to reading whatever they produce next!

The reason I requested SAMMY ESPINOZA'S LAST REVIEW was because it's written by Tehlor Kay Mejia; the story seemed so unlike anything else they'd written. At first, I wasn't sure the romance could hold my attention--the ending seemed fairly obvious from the novel's early pages. However, in I found myself drawn in by the characters. It's a fast read but the characters and exploration of family is very compelling.

I accepted this book on a whim reading only a short blurb. I had zero expectations, but it was so good. Sammy was such a great character. I loved experiencing her character growth in the story.

The story was solid. It felt like a play on How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. I love that movie.

I laughed, I cheered, and I cried. I don't handle sad in my 40s like I did when I was younger. The spice was a nice mix as well.

4 stars- Its been a hot minute that this book impacted me the way Sammy Espinoza's Last Review did. It had so many of my favorite tropes: small town, celebrity/rock star, second chance romance. The way Tehlor Kay Mejia layered in deeper topics such as abandonment, need for childhood stability, brought me to tears at some points. Thanks Netgalley & the publisher for the ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

This was a DNF for me. It started out a bit slow and I couldn’t get into it. I’m sure this one is someone else’s preference.

This was a tear jerker and kinda of an emotional rollercoaster - just what I wanted for great weekend read. I loved the premises of rock bottom Sammy coming back to the only home she has ever known and finding herself and potentially the love of her life that got away. I loved the reclusive rock star in the small town. I really enjoyed how Sammy and her friendship /family relationships are formed and how she learns to deal with her very narcissitic' mother, meeting and getting to know her grandmother and her father through her. I loved her friendships with Brooke and Willa and Willia's parent might have been my favorite.
I love that Sammy and Max Ryan both had a love at first sight meeting 10 year ago and I had horrible 3rd person humiliation when he didn't recognize her when they meet again. I love how they were just drawn to each other each time and how they just felt like themselves around each other. Their romance seemed so easy except they just had lots of baggage going on (both her and him). While miscommunication is one of my least favorite romance tropes I did find that it worked well in this book as you could feel the earnestness in Sammy as she explained why she was in Ridley Falls to Max and kept putting off telling him the truth. And Max had his reasons which were so true to characater.
One thing I would have loved more of was Ridley Falls. I love a small town and how it embraces it's quirky characters. We got a few random pieces of the town but I could have had a whole book about it.
I recommend to anyone that enjoys 2nd chance, small town with found family and great character growth.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for letting me read this book early. It was a truly great read.

I’m gonna be honest, this one just didn’t do it for me. I was expecting more, and it just missed the mark. It just wasn’t for me.

Sammy Espinoza's Last Review by Tehlor Kay Mejia--I was offered this upcoming book as a digital ARC from NetGalley & the publisher. It is a romance featuring a music critic and a former music star. Sammy has recently broken up with her girlfriend and is about to lose her job. She goes back to her hometown hoping to reconnect with Max, a reclusive rock star (who broke her heart 10 years ago) to write an interview article about him and save her job. There is also a subplot about Sammy's family history. This book was just ok for me. It was a romance where both main characters are keeping secrets from the other and being dishonest. Not my favorite romance trope. I also didn't find Sammy very likable. I really liked all of the other characters in Sammy's life. This book has good diversity of race & sexuality

Sammy Espinoza's Last Review by Tehlor Kay Mejia was a sweet and fun read that fed my romance hunger.

I over how Tehlor Kay Mejia created her characters with such strong emotions.
Their relationship was realistic with ups and downs.
The emotions of the characters were so touching and real I felt I was on the journey with them.
I loved being in Ridley Falls with Sammy and Max.
The writing was phenomenal. My first time reading this authors work and I’m already excited to start another one.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley, Random House, Ballantine & Dell for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

What a heartfelt, wonderful novel. It took me a few chapters to really get hooked and then I couldn't put it down! The way the author weaved these characters seems really intentional and that effort really leaps off the page. I will be recommending this to all my College students!

First thank you so much Penguin Random House for sending me an ARC of Tehlor Kay Mejia's newest release.
In this book Sammy Espinoza has ten days to save her music journalism job, and make the life she always wanted for herself. Stuck in a spiral of epic proportions, Sammy targets her teenage crush aka former rock god Max Ryan to make her career comeback. She goes back to her home town where she has to confront the ghost of her past and deal with her aloof mother.
This is Mejia's debut in adult romance and I think they did a great job. Sammy is a relatable character and we see her tackling a lot of family trauma.
The writing for me read a bit younger, and for the characters all being in their late 20s early 30s they were a bit immature. The storyline follows a fairly formulaic routine, some parts dragged and I think more development could've been had by the main characters as well as the side characters. Many problems were dragged for far to long and the miscommunication trope is a heavy aspect of this book which isn't a favorite of mine.
The premise was promising and I think I would recommend this to people transitioning from YA romances to adult as the writing isn't difficult and the characters feel younger. This book does contain some sexual content and includes topics of death of family members and abonnement issues. This to me leaned heavily on the adult slice of life moments over the romance aspects.
Thank you so much Penguin Random House.

“Sammy Espinoza’s Last Review” is Tehlor Kay Mejia’s first adult novel. This author’s name rang a bell and I realized she’s published a number of YA novels previously. This wasn’t a terrible book, but except for the more explicit sex scenes, this book felt like it was more YA-ish. The main character, Sammy, is nearly 30 - so I hesitate to call this a coming of age book, but it felt like this could be binned into that category. There were things to like about this book - I liked the relationship between Sammy’s friends (Brook & Willa and also Willa’s parents). I also liked the “meet cute” between Sammy and Max. I also liked how Paloma interacted with Sammy. The ending was very predictable (relationship-wise) but it was okay. While I enjoyed the overall story, I wish that the characters had been further developed.

I was surprised about all of the emotions of this book brought on. I didn’t really like all the characters but that didn’t stop me from feeling all the emotions.

Beautiful and engaging, witty and charming all at once! This adult debut from Mejia is every I love in a romance!

A music critic finds her career and heart in jeopardy after a horrible break up with her musician girlfriend, to try and get both back she hopes to not only snag an exclusive story from her teenage crush who broke her heart but get some revenge on him. Sammy Espinoza has had a rough life, her entire childhood has been scarred by the fact that she feels like she’s constantly being abandoned and it doesn’t help that her first real crush who later turned out to be a famous rockstar, completely abandoned and ghosted her. Now she’s been dumped by her musician girlfriend and her career is under fire because as a music critic she’s been trying to fix her love life by writing favorable reviews hyping up her then girlfriend’s mediocre band and now her fans have turned from her. In order to get her career back, Sammy hopes to run into former rockstar Max Ryan who is said to be recording his first ever solo album after his dramatic exit from music. Sammy might also have a super complicated history with Max and this would be her chance to get revenge against the guy who broke her heart. When she does run into Max, he doesn’t remember her hat all and soon she finds herself going on dates with him. But their complicated history and what Sammy’s entire motivation for getting access to Ryan’s music could derail what is starting to look like a second chance at a relationship. Can they make it work the second time around? Honestly this one was not for me, I didn’t like Sammy or Max and for people who are in their late 20s they acted more like teenagers. The romance wasn’t really working for me and I just was not having a great time with this book. It started off a bit interesting but then lost me. I wasn’t invested in seeing them get back together after everything and unfortunately, I was just looking forward to the book ending. Overall, if you are interested in second chance romances give this one a go, maybe it’ll be a better time for you than it was for me.

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

God damn this book made me cry more than once…

I really enjoyed reading this book. Sammy is lost searching for stable ground surrounding all things life, which is entirely relatable. I loved that fact that everything that she needs to work on was up front and center. Willa and Brook are the best friends/ family you need to help guide and advise you while still staying in your corner. Knowing that there is always someone is there. Paloma, Sammy’s grandma, is probably my favorite. She has that distinct personality of loving but also don’t mess with me and I’ll do what I want. Max is also pretty lost and is trying to figure things out in his life too. This book does follow trauma on both sides and unhealthy coping mechanisms that both need to face and work on.

I love how everything was described in this book so I could picture everything going on and create the scene in my head.

My only qualm about the book is that the actions towards the end from from both Sammy and Max were slightly off-putting. I felt like it didn’t match where they both were at and didn’t come together the right way in the end.

Overall, I think this is a great book with great characters that depicts someone who is trying to better themselves.

I was sent an eARC by Penguin Random House through NetGalley for an honest review.