Sometimes you need the perfect romance to ease your mood and lighten the weight on your shoulders. Enter The Last Word for the perfect romance trope needed for the times. Set in a work place enemies to lovers, this sucks you right in.

This book was just fine for me. I enjoyed it while I was listening but I wasn't dying to get back to it like I have felt about other books. I think maybe I didn't connect with the characters? I also found it confusing at times when it jumped time periods, but that could be because I did audio.

Harper Jenkins knows better than anyone that work and love do not mix. Fresh out of university, Harper scored an internship to write at a local newspaper. Unbeknownst to her, she is not the only one. Enter Ryan, fellow intern and Harper’s direct competition for securing a job.

After being assigned the task of co-writing an article, Harper and Ryan discover their tumultuous work environment stemmed from their undeniable attraction and chemistry. The two begin dating, but their relationship is cut short when Harper is passed over and the job is awarded to Ryan.

Fast forward eleven years and Harper is now writing for a new newspaper. While her job has its ups and downs, she is happy covering entertainment and working alongside coworkers she considers friends. That is until, Ryan turns up again. Will history repeat itself, or will Harper and Ryan get a do over?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Last year I was introduced to Katy Birchall’s writing and quickly fell in love with it. It was a bit shocking to learn that until very recently, Birchall only wrote YA fiction. While The Last Word is only the third book Birchall has written (since segueing into adult fiction), you would think she has been doing it for decades.

I highly recommend picking up a copy, as it is the perfect summer book. Readers are guaranteed to enjoy this enemies-to-lovers, he falls first, second chance romance. It is a fast-paced, fun read that can be easily consumed during any vacation, beach day, or long weekend.


* I had the pleasure of both reading and listening to this book and thoroughly enjoyed both. Being from the US, getting to hear the narrator’s accent made the story come to life!

Special thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Griffin, Macmillan Audio, and Katy Birchall for allowing me to read and listen to this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

I stopped because i couldnt stand the narrators dialog or the should of her voice. I stopped at 30%.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

This might be a spoiler but I know it will annoy other people too, so if you don’t want a spoiler, skip this:
Harper has a boyfriend (who is not the MMC) for over 60% of this book.

I liked Harper at the beginning, but the more I read, the more I get annoyed with her.

I felt like the way she acted towards Ryan was a little dramatic. She makes herself look ridiculous for the things she accuses him of and she purposefully tries to start arguments with him.

I was glad she told her parents off but I feel like she should have told her boss off because he was the worst.

2.5 rounded up

I’m landing in the middle with this one, as there were elements I liked about this, but the ending bothered me. Spoilers below for why -

I enjoyed that it was workplace enemies, second chance romance, forced proximity, cute dinner with his parents, the cab scene.

The narration was great! Karen Cass made this really easy to listen to.

I liked that Harper was career driven and had the ability to get celebrities to open up because she had journalistic integrity and was kind.

When we meet Ryan, I liked the flashbacks that slowly revealed what the tension was between him and Harper.

It was a case of miscommunication, but the explanation made me feel ok, could have been handled better, but now it’s been 10 years, surely they will do better with this second chance. Sadly, no, these two don’t seem to have learned a thing and Harper cannot apply her amazing celebrity communication skills to her own relationship.

I know Ryan is in a tight spot, choosing between his career and his love but I was hoping that after the prologue where they talk about what you’d choose, this whole situation would connect to that. In the end, the prologue seemed to have no purpose?

I also didn’t really understand how she was always late, and how that seemed to be funny and quirky? Honestly, as much as Cosmo seemed like a jerk, I was on his side for this one.

Reading the other reviews, it could be a case of these weren’t the characters for me, so I’d definitely give Katy Birchall’s other works a try.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the audio copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Author Katy Birchall must have met hubby and me when she wrote The Last Word, because there were so many times while listening to this audiobook that I could not stop laughing at the similarities between us and Harper and Ryan.

Including at the end, when they are traveling together and Harper is tearing apart her apartment looking for the match to the sandal she is holding. Ryan walks in carrying the matching shoe says to her she would be able to find her shoes if she would take them off and put them away when she came home, rather than just kicking them off, she wouldn’t have to search for them all the time.

I really liked how Harper and Ryan’s backstory is presented to the reader little by little, rather than an “info dump” when the reader first meets Ryan. The tension between these two feels like work nemeses who debate and clash over every detail of working together.

If you like the enemies to lovers trope, witty banter, and a romcom that is laugh out loud funny, definitely pick up The Last Word!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the audio review copy of The Last Word.

I have loved Katy Birchall's books and The Last Word was no exception.

Harper writes celebrity stories for a magazine and has been quite successful in that role. When her friend who is the features editor leaves, she is shocked to learn that the new editor is Ryan, who she has worked with in the past and does not get along with. Harper and Ryan have a long history which left Harper with a broken heart. Now working together again, the feels of attraction are starting to return, but will history repeat itself?

This was such a great story. I loved the characters and their banter. I could not stop reading/listening to this one. While the other books by Birchall have been more women's fiction, this one was definitely more of a rom com and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I liked how the story unfolded and I wanted to know what happened between Ryan and Harper the first time. Harper is one of those characters that just gets under your skin and you want to root for her.

If you haven't read anything by Katy Birchall, you are missing out. Her writing is beautiful and her characters will suck you in. I would definitely recommend checking out this book for a fun rom com.

I listened to the audio book which was narrated by Karen Cass and thought she did an excellent job. Her tone and inflection were spot on for how I pictured Harper.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the advance copies in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Oh, this was fun! This is the first time I have picked up Katy Birchall’s work, and I must say I am impressed. This enemies-to-lovers, second chance, office romance was exactly what I needed. Harper and Ryan were fantastic characters and I was eager to see them figure things out so they could be together. I am so glad that I took a chance and decided to give this book a try!

Harper has made a career in journalism writing about celebrities and she really seems to have a knack for it. I enjoyed seeing her work her magic and getting a highly sought-after interview or scoop. Ryan has been hired as the new Features Editor and Harper acts like she doesn’t even know him despite their history. I thought that Harper and Ryan were great together and I loved the chemistry that they shared. They did have some things to work out but I thought that this relationship was worth fighting for.

I listened to the audiobook and thought that Karen Cass did an amazing job with the story. I found her voice to be very pleasant and had a hard time setting it aside. I liked the voices she used for the various characters which really helped to bring the story to life. I am certain that her narration added to my overall enjoyment of the story.

I would definitely recommend this book to others. I found this to be a very entertaining story filled with characters that were very easy to like. I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up more of Katy Birchall’s work in the future.

I received a review copy of this book from Macmillan Audio and St. Martin’s Press.

This took me a while to get into it, but overall I ended up enjoying it when I did. I enjoyed the workplace romance and the enemies to lovers nature of Harper and Ryan. I enjoyed this, but it wasn’t my favorite of the author’s books. There were several times I felt for Harper at the injustice of her work situation. I was a little torn over her recon with Ryan after two similar situations. I also enjoyed seeing the celebrity news and how well she treated all of the celebrities she worked with. I enjoyed the narration and will definitely check out more books by this author. I did really like how it was wrapped up.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

3.5 rounded up!

I’m a sucker for a British romance 🥹 and my second Birchall book didn’t disappoint!

✨opposites attract
✨workplace romance
✨enemies to lovers
✨second chance romance
✨journalists! But not the sleazy kind
✨funny
✨a spazzy + lovable FMC

It was so cute, uplifting, and inspiring! It was a bit too long though and had a couple storylines that could’ve been cut (her family, for example).

I recommend!

Oh I really enjoyed this book! The Last Word is filled with witty banter, forced proximity, and workplace romance! At first, I felt skeptical about where this book was heading, but boy am I glad I went along for the ride. Harper Jenkins is a determined, top of her game journalist and she is a walking chaos hurricane. Life is grand for Harper, until her boss hires Ryan as the new features editor. Ryan and Harper have history. When her career was first budding, Ryan betrayed her. Forced to work together in the newsroom with desks that touch, Harper is nothing less than an Ice Queen toward Ryan. Yet, Ryan is kind, funny, and quite irritating with his intense need for order. Slowly, Harper can feel herself warming up to this man she has vowed to keep as her enemy.

Harper's character is so sunny and delightful. She's the kind of person who you know as soon as they walk into a room, people are drawn to them like a magnet. She backs that up with also have an incredible degree of integrity and morality in journalism that is authentic and helps her to build genuine relationships with those she works with and the celebrities she interviews. This book is about second-chances, but Harper takes center stage for me. She is an incredibly strong character and the obstacles she experiences are relatable both professionally and personally.

I want to sincerely thank @MacMillan.audio for granting me access to this title! It was such a pleasure to read Katy Birchall's latest book!

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝
𝐁𝐲 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐲 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥
𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫: 𝐒𝐭. 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧’𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝟓.𝟐.𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑

Thank you @stmartinspress @smpromance and @katybirchallauthor for this gifted book.
Thank you @macmillan.audio for the complimentary audiobook.

I really enjoyed this workplace, enemies-to-lovers romance. It may be slow-paced for some, as careers take center stage for two jilted journalists while they find their way back to each other.

Harper Jenkins is a little jaded about love since a bad breakup, but since then, she has focused on work as a journalist. She is shocked when Ryan Jansson joins their team. That Ryan, her Ryan, the one who betrayed her.
Now she must work with him and yeah, compete with him for pieces from her jerk of a boss.

After being a little patient for the story to unfold, I loved Harper and Ryan together. They had great banter and bickering - picking on each other at first over the slightest things - like who moved a pen off a desk. But then the old spark reunited, and it was great that Ryan fell first. But Harper does not want to get burned again and lose everything she has worked so hard for.

This was such a cute book. I loved that it flashed back and forth between the two time periods so we were discovering bits of the past while seeing how they were interacting at present. The book was funny and sweet. It was also super interesting hearing about their jobs and everything they had to do for their jobs. I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about the conflict at the end, but the ending was perfect and how they resolved the problem was perfect.

💭Thoughts:
This was my second time reading a book by this author. I loved The Wedding Season and was looking forward to reading another book from her. I had high hopes for this one, but sadly it fell a bit short for me.

I found the pacing to be a bit off. The first 25% of the book progressed very slowly. It actually took me almost a month to read this book. I just couldn’t get into it. I almost had to DNF, but I decided to stick with it.

The relationship between Harper and Ryan didn’t feel believable. I just couldn’t see these two working out and ending up together. The banter was so immature and cringy at times. I did enjoy reading about Harper’s career. I found myself more invested in that, than in the romance.

I enjoyed the narrator and thought she did a great job. I really enjoyed her voice.

Overall, I’m sad to say this romance didn’t work for me. I’m sure readers who enjoy slow burn and miscommunication tropes will enjoy this book.

This is one of my favorite rom coms of the year! I was delighted by the audiobook and I will definitely be listening again. I’ve already acquired another of Birchall’s book to read, and I can’t wait.

The Last Word was sassy and fun to listen to. I really thought the narrator suited Harper's character. This book for me was pretty good. The relationship between Ryan and Harper felt meant to be. They had a spark that went with all of the snarky-ness between them. At times I did find Harper a little too stubborn, but understandably so for who she was.

Overall I thought this was a likable enemies to lovers. I would recommend to romance readers that like snappy banter and boss chicks.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins for my ALC!

This was a cute book with a great plot and characters! The audiobook was done so well & made the listening experience much more enjoyable! Ryan and Harper were both super cute and their chemistry for the most part was pretty adorable!

Overall it was really cute, fluffy, and easy to sit through. The banter was fun and got quite a few chuckles from me, it definitely made the story a lot better in my opinion! Definitely a quick read/listen for the good summer weather!

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved the last two rom-coms I read from Katy Birchall so I was excited to pick this one up too. I really enjoy her writing style. She really brings the characters to life and makes the relationships develop naturally and organically. I always feel that the relationships feel very natural and comfortable and not rushed like some other romances. However, despite liking the romance in this, I found the actual plotline to be a bit boring. I liked the romantic aspect but found the other parts to be dull. I felt like this needed a better plot that the romance centered around. Overall, I enjoyed it but it wasn't mind blowing in any way. I thought the ending was cute and fitting. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. I like Katy Birchall's books. The narrarator was good and I liked the story that was being told. I would recommend to others.