just finished!! wow wow wow wow what a wonderful rom com !! 5 stars !!!

TW: SA

I really appreciated the author’s note in the beginning of the book, talking about how SA was a part of the MC Emerson’s experience, but did not define her and it did not take away her ability to have a hot af love story.

in one last shot, the inclusion of past and present timelines, plus narration from both theo and emerson, really elevates the story. this is a great debut from betty cayouette.

While I loved the premise of this book and have empathy for the trauma Em faced while just starting her modeling career, I felt this book was too long. It seemed to drag and I was not invested in the characters due to the monotonous writing of their daily tasks. If it would have been cut a little and moved quicker it would have been 4.5 stars for me.

This debut novel was one of my favorite tropes - second chance romance from a high school, first-love relationship. Set in Cinque Terre, Italy, in dual POV with multiple timelines. A marriage pact and working relationship brings Theo and Emerson back together and forces them to face the reasons they initially broke up.

I am usually bothered by breakups that happened due to miscommunication, but this one felt very real and understandable. I wasn’t shaking my head at the absurdity. I definitely felt like I knew what was going to be revealed before it was detailed on-page, but I also feel like that was sort of necessary for those who might be triggered by what was to come.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for a free digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately, this title wasn't for me. The romance has chemistry and the setting is stunning. However, there isn't much that sets this title apart from other romances. That being said, I think our community will receive this title well as other travel/destination romances do well in our store. While I didn't love this title, 'm glad that I read it so I can get it in the right hands.

this was a really cute summer romance book. this is my second europe romance book, and liked both of them.

This book really made me feel like I was in Italy with the characters. I could feel the breeze on my face and stand in the ocean with them. The characters were really flushed out and I loved reading about them

Betty Cayoutte's is a stunning summer debut filled with every romance lover's dream. A second chance romance with a friends to lover arch, the beginning of the novel immediately sucks you in. A few chapters in, the pacing hits a full stop and the slow burn begins. My interest remained, curious to see how the story would ultimately unfold, but the sudden change in pacing made the middle of the book more difficult to get through. This book focuses heavily on miscommunication. While it is my least favorite trope, often times I can overlook occasional miscommunication; however, a large majority of the conflict focused on the miscommunication and gave me a sour taste in my mouth. I enjoyed the dual POV, giving you the ability to see inside both Emerson and Theo's heads, but made the miscommunication trope even harder to swallow. For being a debut novel, I think Betty really hit the mark and this book is going to be on everyone's shelf this summer. If you are a fan of a trope filled, European vacation style romance, pick this one up immediately!

This is a cute second-chance romance. I enjoyed the backstory. It allowed me to get to know the characters as did the dual points of view. I know it's a book, but the writer made me root for this couple! Great job!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for an e-arc n exchange for an unbiased review.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for sharing this ARC!

One Last Shot had a lot of potential, but ultimately it suffered from it's lack of character depth and poor pacing throughout the middle of the book. The miscommunication trope honestly killed it for me and went on for far too long.

💥 Pub Date: 5/7/2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

• second chance romance
• models + photography
• gorgeous Cinque Terre setting

There are quite a few tropes here like celebrity romance, angst, childhood BFFs with a marriage pact, and miscommunication. The pacing was a little off, but overall, I enjoyed the characters and the story. Take a trip to Italy and enjoy a fun romance! This is a debut, and I look forward to more from this author in the future.

🗣 Thank you to netgalley and SMP Romance for the opportunity to read and review this book via gifted eARC! All opinions are honest and my own.

One Last Shot by Betty Cayouette was okay. I'm not a big fan of the miscommunication trope and I don't think that was really addressed in the plot summary but it's hard to make that into a storyline that works well. It was just an okay read. It's definitely not something that is going to stick with me but it kept me somewhat interested while reading it.

I really wanted to love this book and had such high hopes based on the description. And the cover art? Swoon! But it just never came together.

The miscommunication trope (not my favorite) simply exacerbated how unnecessarily long this book is. There were too many insignificant details and descriptions that slowed down the pacing. And the flashbacks, while trying to add to the backstory, also went into too much detail and added length where there just needed to be a little color and character development.

One Last Shot is a compelling romance which follows Emerson, a world renowned model, as she tries one more time to build a relationship with her childhood best friend Theo, a photographer, who she hasn’t seen in 10 years.

This book honestly highlighted the reason I have such a hard time DNFing books. Truthfully, it started out kind of difficult for me. I wasn’t sure I was connecting with the story, and Emerson felt almost like she was too weak of a main character for me. She allowed everyone else to tell her what to do and how to run her life, and was oblivious to the “bad actors” amongst her team. Looking back now that I’ve finished the book, I think that was intentional. Because by the end of the book, I was bawling my eyes out and adoring Emerson. The personal growth we see her go through in this book was so subtle, but so instrumental to her character being someone I wanted to read about, and someone I wanted to find and keep love. In the love story itself, I really did enjoy quite a bit of it, even though it had miscommunication (and truthfully complete lack of communication) at the heart of it. I think that Betty did an excellent job utilizing that trope to further the story rather then throwing it in in a way that was just extremely frustrating.

Another thing I really enjoyed was the structure of the book. I liked that we had dual POV, as well as dual timeline, in a way that wasn’t confusing. She did an excellent job formatting and plotting the book so that readers didn’t get frustrated with all the moving parts. It felt like each POV or timeline shift was extremely intentional.

I will note that if you have sexual assault as a trigger, it would be useful to read her authors note before reading this book. While the assault is not on the page, and was a historical event, it greatly drove a large portion of a characters actions and behaviors. I thought the way Betty handled this topic though was excellent, and really highlighted often times the repercussions of these terrible things that happen to us, even years beyond the event itself.

Overall, I really did wind up enjoying this book, and gave it a 4.5 star rating.

A second chance romance. Emerson and Theo were in separable when they met as teenagers.
Due to photos taken by Theo, Emerson begins her career as a model Theo doesn't know the real reason
why Emerson ended their relationship. When the two meet up again due to the marriage pact, both
must get past the obstacles in their way to attain their HEA. Cute romance.
#OneLastShot #NetGalley

This cover is gorgeous. The premise is great. But overall the miscommunication trope was just not for me.

I was so excited for this book, and it did not meet my expectations. I typically try to find the positive in my negative reviews, but there just aren't any in this book.

For starters, the writing is bland. There were a lot of typos in the book which I would normally ignore but in an arc from a traditional publishing house it is unacceptable.

You can also really tell that the author was originally an influencer first because there are so many lines that are clearly designed for social media promotion. It does not fit at all. Additionally, all of those lines were so bland. I usually giggle and smile at romance books. I only smiled when I hit the acknowledgments.

The characters were also horrible. The fmc is just so not like other girls, it's ridiculous. The mmc is fine, just there. They have absolutely no chemistry together. At all. I cannot think of a single moment in which I rooted for the main characters to get together other than for the book to end faster. There was also some other woman drama; it would've been fine but one minute the other woman is horrible and talking about how she'll stop at nothing to get the mmc and the next she's practically best friends with the fmc. It made no sense at all. Plus this book falls into the "horrible agent/mentor" trope. There's also other man drama that is essentially the same: one minute the enemy, the next he's invited to the wedding.

The plot itself was fine but nothing to write home about. It was just...fine.

Overall the book was lackluster at best and torture at worst. Thank you to the publisher for the e-copy. Suffice to say I am very disappointed with this read.

Vibes: travel, fashion, recovery from trauma, high school sweethearts

Heat Index: 3/10

Supermodel Emerson made a marriage pact with her high school best friend--with whom she shared serious feelings--Theo... and it's come due. Edging her way into a campaign that Theo, now a fashion photographer, is shooting, she tries to reconnect with the boy she lost. But Theo has grown into a man who's a bit less enamored with Emerson than he once was, and even a romantic shoot in Cinque Terre, Italy may not be enough to bring them back together...

Okay, so, truth: I largely requested this because of the cover and the setting. It's a beautiful cover, and I do love Cinque Terre quite a bit. And Cayouette does a great job describing that setting! You definitely get the sense of escaping to Italy, enjoying the scenery, the romance, and so on.

However, I found that aspect a bit more compelling that the romance itself. I'd describe this more as a borderline women's fiction/recovery book. It's quite cute, but tinged with emotionality; and I can definitely see it appealing to Emily Henry readers. Which is good! I mean, objectively, that's a good thing for Betty Cayouette. However, I don't know that I was the right reader for it.

Quick Takes:

--One thing I do want to be clear about is that the recovery I'm referring to is recovery from sexual assault. It happened in the past, it's not a GIANT part of the plot, but it is definitely crucial to the plot. The author is upfront about this in a note preceding the story, and I appreciate that so much. I also appreciated the sensitivity with which it was handled. It's a tough balance, and I think she executed that here.

--I do think the prose could be worked on a little? Emerson didn't read like a twenty-eight-year-old women for me, in terms of her internal monologue. Everyone is different, but I'm of a similar age right now, and I felt like she didn't quite ring true in terms of... not even maturity? How she expressed herself, perhaps?

--This does give big "on the more emotional side" beach read vibes.

The Sex:

It's not like... exactly closed door. But it's pretty close. There's one scene that's kind of sexy, but it's not explicit. This is a sloooow burn.

This wasn't really for me, but I definitely do see its audience. Pick it up if you're looking for something that will feed that wanderlust bug and offer a bit of light but real emotionality.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A childhood marriage pact motivates supermodel Emerson to orchestrate her way onto a photoshoot to reunite with her former best friend and photographer Theo. After spending their high school years attached at the hip, just friends and each wanting more, Emerson and Theo finally confessed their love to one another only to be torn apart by traumatic events. Now ten years later, Emerson hopes to reconcile with Theo and win back her first love.

The tension! I am a big fan of past and present timelines, especially with childhood friends to lovers. We get a glimpse into Theo’s and Emerson’s younger years and how their original love story came about. In both timelines, the two try to respect the other’s space while simultaneously wishing for more. There were a few instances throughout the book where I had to remind myself to suspend disbelief, which pulled me out of the story. I do not enjoy the miscommunication trope but understand it was used to push the plot forward and prolong the slow burn. Be sure to read the author’s note before diving into the story.

I recommend you pick this book up if you enjoy:
- second chance romance
- childhood friends to lovers
- celebrity romance
- life on photoshoots
- insta-love

Theo and Emerson haven’t seen each other in a decade. When they end up on the same photoshoot in Italy, arranged by Emerson herself, they work to heal themselves and their friendship.

Dual POV, and a little time jumping, this story comes together beautifully and leaves you rooting for Theo and Em, even if I did spend a good chunk of the book mentally begging them to just be totally open with each other. The writing at the start was straightforward and not exceptionally elegant, but a few chapters in really hits its stride.

I was provided a complimentary e-galley on NetGalley by St Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.