“The only life I’ve ever wanted is the one where I’m with you."

Imagine this, booking a photoshoot last minute in Italy to reunite with your best friend from high school you lost contact with. Why? You both made a pact that if either weren’t married by 28, you would marry each other.

If that isn’t a reason to reconnect with a former best friend then I don’t know what is.

This book does rotate between the present and flashbacks. Which adds to the depth of their relationship. We get to see when they first meet, becoming friends, and eventually boyfriend/girlfriend. Throughout the book we see them in their highs and lows.
The pacing of this book was well written and made it effortless to follow along.

You root for Emerson and Theo to find their way back together. After years without closure or communication, they tip-toe around their feelings. They both have One Last Shot to give their relationship a chance.

Tropes:
-Second chance romance
-Slow-burn
-Friends to lovers
-Dual POV

Trigger warning: Sexual assault (off page)

Thank you to NetGalley, Betty Cayouette, and St. Martin’s Press for the eArc for this book. All opinions are my own.

This is a sweet romance story that will be perfect for summer! Loved the Italy setting and flashbacks with the characters. Thank you to Netgalley and SMP for this ARC!

One Last Shot by Betty Cayouette is a friends to lovers, marriage pact romance. From the moment Emerson and Theo met freshman year of high school, they were inseparable best friends. As they expressed their true feelings for each other, their lives went on different paths, not before promising each other that if they were not married by twenty-eight, they would marry each other. Emerson is an in-demand supermodel nearing her twenty-eighth birthday. When a calendar reminder pops up on her phone of her marriage pact with Theo. She realizes that this is her shot to rekindle the only love she really wanted. She learns where Theo, now a photographer, is shooting next and orchestrates her way to be a part of it. A four-day shoot in the romantic setting of Cinque Terre, Italy, Emerson and Theo find their feelings being tested as roadblocks after obstacles get in their way. Is this their last shot at love or their final goodbye?
One Last Shot is the debut romance from Betty Cayouette and I love a good second chance, friends to lovers romance. I hemmed and hawed about reading this story as I do not care for fashion or supermodel world. But I decided to give it a chance anyway. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get into it. The main issue with this story was the miscommunication. The miscommunication trope is one of my least favorite romantic trope. Their roadblocks and obstacles could have been avoided if they just talked about it! They dance around their marriage pact, something they are both aware of as they reunite, and yet pretend they had forgotten about it. The constant flashbacks to their high school years took me out of the present events and bogged the story down. Overall, the story was okay. I think I am not the right audience for this book. If you think you may enjoy this story, I recommend giving One Last Shot a try.

One Last Shot is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

📱 One Last Shot 📱⁣
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⁣Genre- Contemporary Romance. ⁣
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⁣Length- 352 pages.⁣
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⁣My thoughts- Happy Pub Day to this cute romance debut! Two former best friends, one a super model and the other a photographer, reunite on a photo shoot after ten years apart. ⁣
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⁣Told through duel timelines, this was a heartwarming story of first love and second chances with heavy dumping of miscommunication. Sometimes I just want to yell at characters- “just talk already!” but this book handled that troupe well and only annoyed me a little bit. ⁣
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⁣My favorite parts of this book was the beautiful Italian setting, all the food descriptions and Theo. He was such a dreamboat! 😍⁣
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⁣Four stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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⁣Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of One Last Shot in return for my honest review.

This book was the epitome of miscommunications. I totally got the reason behind Emerson & Theo's breakup in the past but since then it has been a downhill of misunderstandings.

The main characters felt as if they had no personality whatsoever, especially, Theo. And one would think that it's set in Italy, so you'd get so much descriptions about it but that didn't happen either.

Sorry to say but this book wasn't for me.

Thank you Netgalley & Publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this book blind and wasn’t disappointed. This friends to lovers, second chance romance was the type of summer love you want. This book had flashbacks that help developed the characters and their connection. It was a cute story that had just enough angst to keep you turning the pages. It was super enjoyable.

Thanks to St Martin's for the gifted copy of One Last Shot

4 stars

Summary
This has alllll the trappings of a book I’d fall in love with. The setting is fabulous, the second chance storyline is classic, the celeb/normal trope is well done, and the writing + dialogue are authentic and effective. I didn’t feel deeply invested in the characters or their relationship, though, and it’s hard to love a story when the characters seem like characters rather than real people. Still, it’s a sweet story, and one I’d recommend to anyone who likes the friends to lovers trope, enjoys books set in Italy, or wants to read a non-weird love story between a photographer and a supermodel.

Characters (3.5/5)
- I like Emerson and Theo, but didn't feel super connected to them or invested in their relationship. I think the flashback scenes are a huge missed opportunity in this regard. Emerson really went through the ringer in high school, but we don’t see any of it on the page – not the bullying, not a confrontation with her mom. The meaty moments all felt peripheral and we really just see Theo and Emerson hanging out in small snippets. This is great for showing the foundation of their friendship, but not for getting the reader
deeply invested in their relationship.
- There are only a few side characters in this story and all aspects of their involvement was to further the relationship between Theo and Emerson. This isn’t bad per se, but I find more developed secondary characters create a richer portrait of the main character and help me connect with them more deeply.
- Random note - Emerson gives big Light Camera Bitch Smile energy and I love it.

Atmosphere/Setting (4.5/5)
I just absolutely loved the setting of Cinque Terre and felt like I was there with them! There’s a scene where Emerson and Theo accidentally end up on a steep hiking trail after a full day of shooting and the terrain acts as another character almost – a foil to bring them closer together. I loved this use of the setting and wish there had been even more of this.

Writing (4/5)
- The writing is engaging and the dialogue is natural.
- There were some missed opportunities to do more showing than telling. For example, the characters vomit multiple times due to being so upset about something that happened to them. This is effective the first time, but the second and third time, I just disconnected with their pain. Describing what they were feeling rather than just saying they threw up would have been more effective at continuing to build that emotional connection between the reader and the characters.

Plot (4/5)
- This is a pretty standard childhood friends to lovers storyline, which I do really love, and the execution is solid.
- As in many friends to lovers tropes, miscommunication/lack of communication is a big part of the equation here. It’s done well for what it is – it doesn’t go on so long that I wanted to scream at them and Emerson actually calls Theo out on it – but it’s in there.

Intrigue (3.5/5)
Probably due to my lack of connection with the characters, this was merely a “no strong feelings” book in terms of unputdownableness (yes that’s a word).

Logic (5/5)
Nothing noteworthy.

Enjoyment (4/5)
This book could easily have been just another F2L rom com, but the Italian setting and the use of the celeb/normal person pairing sets this book apart from others with similar themes, tropes, and structures. I really enjoyed reading it.

The plot definitely gave out a somewhat rom-com vibe, in the best way possible. Childhood friends making a pact that they would marry each other if they end up single on their 28th birthday! I say “somewhat” because Emerson’s a supermodel, Theo’s a photographer, and this is set in Italy. These two haven’t talked in 10 years because of an incident that happened in the past, but the marriage pact notification brings them back together to rekindle their friendship and feelings for each other.

The book is dual POV with a dual timeline, friends to lovers, second chance, slow burn, and has some miscommunication. With these tropes, we are able to read how Emerson and Theo truly feel for each other from the moment they initially met in high school—to present day. The miscommunication trope sort of threw me off a few times…it made the slow burn somewhat unbearable, but I stayed for the plot.

I appreciate Cayouette’s trigger warning in the beginning of the book, and her intent when writing this story.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was so cute and I loved them both so early on that it was painful to wait for them to get back together 😹

I love second chance romance so I really thought I would love this but I had to DNF. I tried really hard to love it but I just couldn't get through it. It's so so slow.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, SMP Romance for my #gifted copies of One Last Shot! #MacAudio2024

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐭
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

★★★★★

Second chance romance is one of my favorite tropes and this book delivered! One Last Shot is the debut novel by Betty Cayouette and I can only hope that this will not be her last shot at writing because she is so talented and I loved this book! If you are looking for a super fun romance, this is it!

This book would make such a cute movie! I loved the premise of this book so much! Emerson and Theo were childhood friends who made a pact with one another to get married if they were both single at the age of 28. I equally loved both of the main characters. Both Emerson and Theo each had their flaws but I loved that about them, and I loved how there was so much character growth. I really appreciated the author’s note related to sexual assault and trauma and how this translated into not only Emerson’s life, but also the author’s life. Overall, I just found this book to be such an amazing love story and I highly recommend this one!

📸Second Chance Romance
📸Slow Burn
📸Friends to Lovers
📸Miscommunication
📸Model and Photographer
📸Dual POV

Posted on Goodreads on May 6, 2024: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- on or around May 7, 2024: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on May 7, 2024
**-will post on designated date

I found this book to be a super cute, second-chance summer romance. Theo and Emerson’s backstory is the cutest and I loved the flashbacks we got from each POV. However, I could not stand the miscommunication that these two had in both the flashbacks and current time. I mean, I can understand it when you’re kids and scared of not only rejection but the idea of losing your best friend but for it to still be happening when you’re in your late 20’s… now you’re making yourself miserable for no reason at all. Beyond that, I really did enjoy this book. I thought the author did a great job with the writing and really kept the pace moving. This is a solid debut novel and one I recommend if you’re looking for a fun romance!

I’ve been an avid follower of BettysBookList on TikTok for sometime now and when I saw Betty wrote a book I was thrilled to read her debut novel. One Last Shot comes out tomorrow, May 7, 2024!

One Last Shot is a second chance romance between old friends Theo and Emerson. Emerson is a now a mega popular model and Theo is a fashion photographer. When Emerson gets a calendar notification from her past about her marriage pact with Theo she decides to look him up and get on his next campaign in Cinque Terre, Italy. What follows is two friends reconnecting after coming to terms with their pasts and fall out.

I love a friends to lovers romance and Italy 😍 so this was right up my alley. It had depth and heart and you’ll love both Emerson and Theo so much. The setting is beautiful and their friendship is genuine. You’ll be rooting for them to get together the whole time and this book will definitely make you want a donut! A great summer read!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC

One Last Shot is the debut novel by Betty Cayouette and one that I was interested in not only due to the blurb, but also because I visited Cinque Terra myself last fall, so I was keen to read about this magical place.

Supermodel Emerson pretty much has it all, but she has yet to find the kind of love she's been looking for. She's about to turn twenty-eight and she gets a reminder on her phone that she had set a decade earlier with her best friend Theo when they agreed to a marriage pact that if they weren't married by the time they were twenty-eight, they'd marry one another. Having never gotten over her feelings for him, Emerson knows that she needs to seek him out to find out if he feels the same way even though they haven't spoken in 10 years.

Emerson manages to get her agent to get her booked as model on the job Theo is shooting in the Italian Riviera, in Cinque Terra, Italy. Her plan is to try to rekindle the spark between the two of them in the few short days they have together. The problem? Theo may not be as excited to see her as she thought. Will these two be able to make a go of things or will this be a final goodbye?

I liked that we got to know Emerson and Theo both in present day and through the flashbacks of their relationship. I really felt like I could connect to them as teens and it really showed why they were so connected and why there was still so much between them. There were things that frustrated me at times with the way Emerson acted, but I also understood them because of the world in which she was living being a huge fashion model. Theo was trying so hard and sometimes it just felt like she was dismissing his feelings too quickly.

I was very impressed given this was a debut novel. I would absolutely pick up another of Cayouette's works in the future!

**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

Emerson’s a super model, Theo’s a professional photographer, and now they’re working on a shoot together in Cinque Terre, Italy 🏖️

🗣️ dual POV, jumping timelines
🕯️ slow burn
💞 second-chance romance
📓 high school best friends

what a fun debut! seeing the history of their friendship and rekindling it as adults, both doing the thing they love. this would be a lighthearted poolside summer read!☀️

Theo is an absolute cinnamon bun the entire time! I feel like we journey with Emerson’s character more so than Theo’s

As a whole, it read a bit cheesy at times, but it’s well timed bc when isn’t falling in love not a little cheesy??

The last 10% felt off to me, their dynamic was so different from their usual chemistry and friendship, even throughout the conflict. It felt like the slowest final 10%. I enjoyed the first half much more, the ending felt so different from the first half of the book.

Told in dual timelines, this is a story of second chances and long lost loves.

Emerson Grey is a famous supermodel. So when an alarm goes off, reminding her of the marriage pact she made 10 years ago, it immediately transports her back to when she was 18. Now she is determined to rekindle with her one true love and hope that they can at least reconcile their friendship.

Theo Carson was devastated when Emerson left him behind. He has created a comfortable career as a photographer, going to shoot campaigns in Italy doesn’t hurt either. Imagine his surprise when the love of his life is one of the models. At first, Theo is determined to save himself the heartache and keep Emerson at a distance. But the more time they send together, the more their feelings rise to the surface.

Once the campaign is over will they go their separate ways or will they rekindle and give themselves the shot they always deserved?

Oh man did I want to throttle these two main characters with their second guessing, unsureness and miscommunication. The angst was definitely palpable. But when they make it work it’s pure bliss. I absolutely adored these two and was actually concerned that it might be a HEA afterall. You should pick up this book today – you will not be disappointed.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was really cute! I loved the tropes and the writing was good. I felt like the location and scene were nice, I would've liked a bit more character development.

When supermodel meets her high school sweetheart on a photoshoot, and her phone reminder goes off.. the games begin. 10 years have passed since they have seen each other and supermodel has to decide if she still has feelings for her high school sweetheart, and also if the feelings maybe mutual. The stakes are high! I absolutely loved this book and couldn’t read it fast enough.
Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for providing me an advanced copy in exchange for my review

This was a cute fun debut romance! I’m sure it will be really popular with Betty’s social media presence. I enjoyed it.

Such an adorable read. It left me wanting to go to Italy asap for a love story! I felt like the last third really drug on though, and struggled to be engaged. Some was so I relatable.