This story had a great premise but ultimately fell flat for me. The romance wasn’t well developed and ultimately just didn’t do it for me.

Not for me. This book was extremely slowed paced and had a lot of repetition. A cute love story that could have been done in a more exciting manner.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

This book had a promising premise, a time-travel story to a time when our main character, Eloise, had a traumatic life changing event that altered the course of her life. The story goes back and forth between the current day and the past. I think I was more invested in the past as I tried to connect all the dots of what happened between the then and now. Unfortunately, the storyline felt like it was missing important details to make us more emotionally connected to the characters. Yes, we are told Tomasz is the love of Eloise's life, but with so many time hops I didn't feel a true love story. Overall, I was happy with the direction of the story and how the book ended, I just wish there was more showing than telling.

3 stars

Thank you to NetGalley, HQ and Jennifer Joyce for my ARC of 'Our Last Summer.'

I was instantly drawn to the blurb and was desperate to read this second chance story — I was super intrigued as to what Elodie's story entailed.

I was a little uncertain during the first couple of chapters, however, once the story developed I was hooked! The changes between past and present were jolting, but I actually really enjoyed that. I felt more attached to Elodie’s panic and disorientation and I was constantly on edge, but in the best way! Each new path/ occurrence that came about had me wondering how it was going to influence her future self. I really felt all the emotions with this read. After reading I would say that this is more of a friendship-based book rather than romance, but nevertheless it's fab!

I devoured this book in a couple of sittings... I need more!!

4/5.

I absolutely loved this. It was an easy read and the story line kept me up turning pages into the morning. Would definitely recommend to all I know.

Elodie left her small town of Little Heaton to move to California four years ago. A tragic accident destroyed her relationships. Now in the present she is flying back to Little Heaton for her sister's wedding. By some miracle she is traveling back in time to the summers she spent in Little Heaton. She now has an opportunity to fix the mistakes that happened then and possibly change her future. Will she able to save the people she lost years ago?

I thought the concept was really interesting. Time travel and second chances are always fun to read about. However, this one fell a bit flat for me. I don't think romance is the right genre for it since there was very little of Tomasz and Elodie's relationship. We got a lot of telling no showing. She's constantly mentioning how Tomasz is the love of her life, but the majority of the story focused on her friendship with Ed. I knew Ed much more than I did Tomasz. I also didn't understand why she never confided her time traveling with any of her "close" friends. It seemed like she just relived her life exactly the same way each time she went back with very minor changes. Only one event really affected her futures outcome and yet she did absolutely nothing to fix it until the very last minute.

Elodie Parker is returning home for the first time in four years to attend her sister’s hen do and wedding. On the nine hour flight she experiences some turbulence, but when she opens her eyes she finds herself eight years in the past. Four years before one of her bests friends was killed in a motorcycle accident. Four years before she broke up with the love of herself. Elodie finds herself with a chance to hang out with her friend one last time before she is whisked back to the present.

That is until she is sent to the past a second time. Slowly she gets determined to try to stop or change the events that lead up to Ed’s death.

The story is told with a lightness of tone, but Ed’s secret (and the reveal that lead to the fight that lead to his death) is handled with some heavy handedness. There was so much foreshadowing that I’m sure I’ve figured it out pretty early on. By the time Elodie was returned to the present for the third time I was starting to wonder how much longer the author was going to drag it out.

The beginning of the book was definitely better than the end. Maybe I’m just very quick at seeing patterns, but even after the fourth trip back Elodie hadn’t figured out what event instigated a trip back in time. And she also hadn’t figured out what triggered her to go back to the present time. I thought she was pretty dense when she started to freak out that she had not been able to change the past, when pretty clearly her present was different. (So, uhm, yeah, something must have been changed in the past. So why not hang on to that little bit of optimism instead of getting worked up?)

Time-travel was a fun concept to explore Elodie’s past, present + future. It’s my first time coming across that in a rom-com.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of “Our Last Summer” by Jennifer Joyce. All opinions are my own.

Our Last Summer follows Elodie as she is on a plane ride to her hometown for the first time in four years. She had left behind her family, her friends, and the love of her life. When she suddenly time travels back eight years and then to repeated summers between then and now, she realizes this is her chance to fix her mistakes and prevent the accident that changed everything.

I have previously read a book by Jennifer Joyce “The Christmas Cupid” and to be honest, my overall impression for that is similar to this. The beginning is rather slow and confusing, and the final act is interesting and engaging.

We hear so many times about this possible accident and these secrets others are keeping, but it takes forever to finally learn the truth. If we had known it a little sooner, I might’ve been more invested in the characters. Also since we got to travel back and see these key moments of her life, I wish we saw more moments of her and Tomasz falling in love.

When I saw this book on NetGalley, I had been seeing it everywhere. The cover looks really pretty and I don’t know why but it gave me Every Last Word - Christina Lauren vibes; so I was like why not.

In all honesty, this book started really slow. It picked up the pace eventually. But by the time I finished the book I realized it wasn’t my cup of tea

I liked the plot and I liked the fact that the FMC is in her thirties. I’m close to that age now and I relate to that age a lot more than younger FMCs

I also could relate to the feelings and thoughts she was facing throughout the book especially about going back home and seeing people she had to see

The whole setting of the book was very descriptive and I like that so much. Made me feel like I, myself, am in Little Heaton

Also, something that is quite new to me; time travel. I had the chance to live that in this book. So I liked that too

What I didn’t like however, is that just by chapter 3 I had read the exact same thing like 15 times. There was a lot of repetition that wasn’t very necessary

I also didn’t like that there was a continuous mention of Ed in the beginning without knowing a single thing about him other than his name. I wish we were properly introduced to the characters. Because of that I just felt like I wanted to finish the book for the sake of finishing it not for the thrill of events

I liked it yes. It was better than so many other books I’ve read, but I don’t think I can ever reread it!

⭐️rating: 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a fun book and better than I thought it would be. It was a short and decently light time travel romance with a HEA.

The ending was kind of abrupt, so it wasn’t as fulfilling as it could’ve been, but I did enjoy how the FMC moved between the present (on the plane) and the past (different summers years ago). I just wish we could have seen more of her relationship with Thomasz, we were only kind of told about it and didn’t really get to see much of it. Also, the time travel was kind of random and was never explained, it just kind of happened.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read, though I do think it had the potential to be better.

I received this book as an ARC from HQ through NetGalley and this review is based on my own opinion.

Four years after Elodie moved to the states, she is now flying back to her hometown Little Heaton for her sisters wedding. She hasn't been back once and she isn't really excited to go back because of the things and persons she left behind.
When turbulence hits the plane something unbelievable happens, Elodie travelled back in time to 8 years ago, when she first met Tomazs. Could this be her second chance at life so she can change the past and get the happy life she so badly wanted.

The subtitle 'What if you had a second chance with the love of your life?' suggests that the book is about a relationship but the story is more a second chance at Elodies life in general as it also revolves around her work, friends, family and life in general.

Our Last Summer was an easy read and once into the story I kept reading it to find out how it would end.
It had an ending I really didn't expect with some plottwists around the ending.

The plot went between the present, when Elodie is on the plane, and the past, when she time travelled back which made it interesting to keep reading.

While this book has a cute storyline and had the potential to be a great read, it fell flat for me.

I enjoyed getting to watch Elodie relive past events and see them with a new perspective - one where her life ended up significantly differently than she had hoped, and where she saw things with a more clear and mature mind.

What this book lacked for me was character chemistry and development. We only were able to see major events and milestones, and I feel as though this caused the author to have to tell us why and what characters were doing vs us being able to just see things play out.

I also found the time traveling element to be choppy and the ending was underwhelming. If you are sometime who enjoys time traveling and a more surface level story about second chances, I think you will enjoy this.

It's my first time reading a book by this author and I loved it so much.
It was an easy read. Heartbreaking and heartwarming all at once.

Ridden by grief, Elodie threw everything away 4 years ago. But now she gets thrown back 8 years into the past and has a chance to change her future. Can she do it? Can she save her relationship with the love of her life? Can she save her best friend? And can she actually have her happy ever after?

— "Do you ever wish you could go back and do things differently?" Because I do. I wish, with all my heart, that I could go back and change it all." —

I loved following along Elodie's story. Finding out what happened that made her run away. Discovering her fears and her dreams. Seeing her dreams change the more she thought about everything and tried to change her fate.

It wasn't 100% easy reading this book. Not by a long shot. Because although it's easily read in the real sense of the word, it was painfully beautiful. And as someone who has lost people in her life, it struck home. I too wish I could back in time and change their fates. Because like Elodie said: "They say that time heals but that’s a load of bollocks if you ask me. Some wounds remain, no matter how well you mask them from the world.".

But I loved this book. It was beautiful and gave me hope. Not that I'll somehow travel back in time and change things, but that I can make all the good decisions going forward towards my happy ending if I just try to actually think about what I want instead of looking at only the gloomy side of things and basing my decisions on that.

"Life’s full of choices. We just have to make sure we make the right ones. And if we don’t, we have to learn from the mistakes we make."

I'll be recommending this book to everyone who'll listen to me! It's just that good. I don't even know how to move on from it right now.


Thank you so much to netgalley, the publisher and the author for the arc of this book in exchange of an honest review. 💗

I enjoyed seeing Eloise’s perspective on her past as it relates to where she ended up and the growth of her character. At times, I was very engaged with the story and couldn’t put it down. This book was a cute read, but not my favorite. The time travel aspect made it less appealing to me. If you like time travel stories, it would be up your alley. I would be interested in reading other works by the author.

My first time reading this authors work and I must admit I truly enjoyed it.

“A summer that changed everything. A second chance to put things right.”

Our Last Summer by Jennifer Joyce is an utterly sweet second chance romance.
I loved being on this journey with Elodie and Tomaszes.
Elodie is thrown into the past eight years ago to be exact and now has the chance to change what happens with her and Tomasz.
If you could go back and change it all would you?
I really enjoyed the writing style. I was gripped from page one and read it all in one sitting.
It has a lot of emotion in it and great character development.
My first time reading this authors work and I’m very excited to say I will pick up Joyce’s next book in the future.

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

Thank You NetGalley and HQ Digital for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Have you ever picked up a book with high hopes, only to finish it and feel underwhelmed? Unfortunately, that's how I felt after reading 'Our Last Summer.' While I wouldn't say it was a terrible read, it didn't quite hit the mark for me and didn't leave a lasting impression.

The story centres around the theme of second chances and life lessons, which is a topic I typically enjoy. The writing style was straightforward enough to follow, with dual timelines that were paced well, but I found myself struggling to connect with the main character, Elodie. I'm not quite sure why, but something about her character just didn't resonate with me.

In terms of the plot, there were some interesting twists and turns that kept me engaged, but overall, I felt like there was something missing. Perhaps it was the lack of character development or the predictable ending that left me feeling unsatisfied.

Despite my lukewarm feelings towards 'Our Last Summer,' I am still open to reading more books by this author in the future.

First thought: Loved it! If you ever wanted to go back and change your biggest regret or have a chance to say goodbye one last time this books for you.

Elodie’s life didn’t go as planned, what was supposed to be the best opportunity of her life ended up being lonely. It’s all because of one fated night 4 years ago where she would loose the two men she loved most in the world at the same time. So she did the only thing that made sense to her at the time; to follow her plans and move to California and start over.

Now 4 years later she finds herself on a plane from CA heading back to England to her small town of Little Heaton for her sister wedding. She’s not ready to face what she left behind. However shortly after take off the plane hits severe turbulence and she’s thrown around. Elodie wakes up 8years in the past and her Ed is still alive. She has no idea if it’s a dream, heaven or actually happening.

This book is about time travel and the choices we face and the consequences behind them. The story follows Elodie through glimpses of the past and she has the chance to learn and try again. Will Elodie loose both the men she loves again or can she changes all their fates?

Tropes you’ll find:

* Dual Timelines
* Second Chance
* First Love
* Small Town
* Closed Door

What would you do differently if you had a second chance at life knowing what you do now? This is the world Elodie finds herself in as she time travels back to her 20s, before an event that changed everything and took her away from the life she knew.

While romance was involved in this book, and it all felt pretty wholesome, there was so much more than came with it as Elodie allowed her present self to influence the events of her past and explore her relationships, values, and sense of self.

I enjoyed reading this and seeing what happened in the end, but I wasn't totally hooked the whole way through, which is why I give this 3 stars.

If you love a second chance romance, time travel elements, or quick reads, you'd likely enjoy this!

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ Digital for this arc in return of a fair review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for an ARC.
This book fell short for me. The flash forward and back in time kept me engaged and wanting to read more; however I didn’t love the plot. It felt rushed and many of the finer details overlooked.