Teenage sweethearts reunite as adults -- one a product and fashion photographer and the other a world-famous model -- to see if they can seal a marriage pact they made when they were young.

What a sweet and engaging story with just the right amount of spice. I really liked the multi-faceted main characters and how the author wove together the "then and now" storylines. The audiobook narrators were perfect.

Super cheesy romance... Emerson and Theo were high school sweet hearts who made a marriage pact, that if they were both single at 28 (because that's soo old) they would marry each other. After years apart, Emerson, now a model, and Theo, a professional photographer, orchestrate to end up on a shoot together to see if they can rekindle their flame. It was a cute, easy read, but there were so many points the story could have ended, and probably should have ended. It went on a little too long, which is why I'm rounding 3.5 stars down to 3.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Such a great story!! These are some of my favorite tropes! Must read if you enjoy:

-Childhood friends to lovers
-Second chance
-right person, wrong time
-photographer/model

Thank you for the ALC for my honest review!

When an alarm goes off it reminds Emerson of the marriage pact she made with her high school best friend, Theo. Despite not seeing him in a decade, Emerson, now a supermodel decides this is her last chance to reconnect with the one guy she ever loved. It had taken Theo, a fashion photographer, a long time to get over the hurt of Emerson leaving him just when he declared his feelings for him all those years ago.
Emerson and Theo are both very likeable characters and you will be rooting for both of them to find the happiness they deserve! Despite her success, Emerson is down to earth and kind. Theo, who doesn’t think he’s good enough, is all that and more.
The dialogue between the characters is very authentic and well written. The author left a lot of the trauma experienced by both characters off the page, and that made it a little harder to connect with them. Miscommunication or non-communication is a big part of the storyline, and for me that is my least favorite trope. Fortunately, also included are friends to lovers, slow burn, dual POV and second chance romance with flashbacks to their high school days.
This was a sweet debut novel and I look forward to more from Betty Cayouette.
Narrators Brittany Pressley and Sean Patrick Hopkins did a wonderful job bringing these characters to life and voicing their fears and hurts. Superb choices for the narration!!

One Last Shot by Betty Cayouette is a second chance romance and the story of Emerson and Theo.
 
These two were childhood sweethearts and while they didn’t work out then, they still made a pact to marry each other when they‘re thirty if they haven’t found the one. I also love stories with such a concept especially if the pact actually comes to fruition.
 
In the meantime, Emerson builds a stellar career as a supermodel, and she is at the top of what she's doing. But at the same time, she feels lonely as it’s very difficult to actually find love. She is also a booklover, and I loved all the scenes with that and would want her library for myself. Emerson also experienced something in her job and while this was used as a plot point, the author’s note at the beginning showed how important such a topic is.
 
Theo is a photographer, and he isn’t doing high fashion as Emerson, so their paths don’t really cross. He is working on a campaign in Cinque Terre, Italy and this setting was absolutely perfect with being romantic and providing all the summer vibes. Theo couldn’t ever forget Emerson and he is surprised when she joins his shot, and they get an opportunity to reconnect.
 
This story is sweet and heartfelt, and I liked how Theo gives everything for Emerson and still feels like he isn’t good enough, but in reality, he is absolutely perfect. Theo and Emerson always felt right together but also needed time to explore the world and grow up to find themselves. I listened to the audio book, and I loved that it was dual narration and Brittany Pressley and Sean Patrick Hopkins did such a great job in bringing this story to life or rather ears.
 
Overall, One Last Shot is such a good debut romance, and I can’t wait to read more by this author. 4 stars.
 
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)

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.

Audio
Fabulous! A+ for Brittany Presley (The Seven Year Slip, Local Woman Missing) and Sean Patrick Hopkins (Happily Never After). They bring so much emotion and angst to the performance. Audio is definitely the way to go for this one!

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.

Emerson and Theo were best friends throughout high school but never dated. They made a pact one year that if they weren’t married by 28 (ten years after graduation - SO OLD 🤣), they’d marry each other. Something horrible happened at the end of senior year and they haven’t spoken to each other since. Theo can’t help but know what Emerson’s been up to, since she’s a super famous model. And Emerson also keeps track of fashion photographer Theo. With her 28th birthday approaching, Emerson decides to take a chance and get herself booked on a campaign Theo is photographing. It’s the surprise of a lifetime for Theo, but Emerson is determined to at least come out of this as friends. But is there a chance for more?

This was a delicious summer romance book!The timeline hops between high school in Massachusetts and present day in Italy. I would describe it as a friends-to-lovers/second-chance romance. This book covered some serious topics as well, which I appreciated, but didn’t delve too deep into them. Most of the tougher issues are focused on Emerson (SA, trauma after living with an emotionally unavailable parent, abandonment) but Theo’s character also his feelings laid out for us, and I liked hearing the male main character deal with things in such an open and emotional way for once.

The narration of this audiobook was perfection! Brittany Pressley and Sean Patrick Hopkins do an excellent job bringing Emerson and Theo to life. I could picture the characters on their donut runs in high school just as easily as I could see them at the photo shoot in Italy. It’s an easy and entertaining listen that you won’t want to hit the pause button on!

Thank you to MacMillan Audio for my ALC!

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

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐭
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞
𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬: 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐲 & 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐬
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!

🎧I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Brittany Pressley and Sean Patrick Hopkins. I could not get enough of these two and I could not imagine anyone else narrating this one! They both gave a flawless performance. The raw emotions were unmatched and I cannot recommend this one on audio enough!

📸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

Thank you to NetGalley, and Macmillan Audio for early access to this audio book in exchange for an honest review.

The narrators, Brittany Pressley was amazing, and Sean Patrick Hopkins in the role of Theo was also outstanding. Theo and Emerson, who were best friends in high school, agreed to get married if they weren't already married by the time they were 28. Ten years later, after some time apart, the two finally get back together on a fashion session where she is a supermodel and he is a photographer. So, there's a second-chance romance, a very slow burn, and a ton of tension. A good deal of miscommunication happens. The story is written so well. I enjoyed second-chance romances and flashbacks and with this book, it was very well done. I adored the narratives and the people. The plot moved on at a great pace.

In high school, best friends Emerson and Theo were inseparable and everyone knew they would inevitably end up together. Flash forward, and it’s been 10 years since they’ve spoken to each other and now a week before her 28th birthday, Emerson gets a calendar alert for the marriage pact she and Theo made in high school. She takes this as the sign she needs to stop looking for Theo in every guy she sees and win back the only man she has ever loved, Theo himself.

This book is written with dual timelines, one in the present as Emerson and Theo see if they really can get a second chance at love, and one in the past where readers get a glimpse into the first time they fell for each other and what really happened that caused a 10 year rift between them.

I’m a huge rom-com fan and I adored this book. You can totally feel the angst and tension when Emerson and Theo see each other for the first time. This book leans pretty hard into the miscommunication trope at times, but to be honest I felt like it kept the characters humans. I know in my life, just because something I wanted was right in front of me, it doesn’t mean I wasn't scared to go after it or that the anxiety didn’t affect decisions I made.

Brittany Pressley is an AMAZING audiobook narrator, she really became Emerson and rather than just reading words off the page. After listening to this audiobook the only thought in my head is “Can this book be made into a movie already?!” I feel like the tension and slow-burn of this book would translate beautifully to the big screen and would have the feel of an early 2000’s rom-com.

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5
🌶️🌶️ / 5

Genre:
Contemporary Romance

Tropes:
Marriage Pact
Miscommunication
Second Chance Romance

Thank you so much to @macmillan.audio for allowing me the chance to write an honest review of the ALC for One Last Shot!

My thoughts 💭 :
I *know* this might be a shocker but I LOVED this novel. RomCom is never my go too but a good second chance novel I enjoy and the blurb drew me in.
Emerson and Theo are childhood friends who grew close close then one unforeseen event in Emersons life tore them apart for 10 years.
I devoured this audiobook. The narrators did an amazing job at really capturing the characters and feelings that I was grooving away in my greenhouse and found myself daydreaming certain events being narrated.

If you enjoy second chance love, miscommunication, destination locations as well at character development this is it.

This story was cute it was a little pace, but there were moments I absolutely loved. I love the concept of the storyline, and I love the friends to lovers, second chance romance troupes plot. Great first novel

“𝙀𝙢, 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙄’𝙢 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪.”

This was a cute, angsty debut novel, that I think would made for a great summer beach read.

When supermodel Emerson’s phone alerts her to a marriage pact reminder she made with her best friend/first (and only) love, Theo, 10 years ago when they were in high school, she talks her agent into booking a gig with Theo (now a photographer), hoping that they can reconnect and fall in love all over again.

These two have been pining for each other from the moment they met freshman year in high school, and all these years later, the pining and angst haven’t lessened.

I enjoyed both these characters. They were both definitely flawed, but also felt real.

The plot kept me invested. The romance was definitely slow burn (in both of the dual timelines), but I could still feel the tension between the two of them, and kept rooting for someone to finally say something!

One thing I didn’t love was the amount of miscommunication. The plot did lean a little too heavily on it for my liking. (It is one of my least favorite tropes…) But, still, I did enjoy their story, and the ending was definitely super sweet.

Audiobook notes: I enjoyed both the narrators, but special shoutout to Brittany Pressley who really brought out the emotion in one of the most pivotal scenes later on in the book. She definitely had me tearing up with her performance.

Thank you to @macmillan.audio for providing me an ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What this book is giving:
✅ Contemporary Romance
✅ Celebrity (Model)
✅ Best Friends to Lovers
✅ Second Chance Romance
✅ Dual Timeline
✅ Marriage Pact

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️½ / 5
🌶️🌶️ / 5

I did not vibe with this book. I would not recommend this book to almost anyone. Emerson is a super model and Theo is a photographer. They are high school sweethearts who end their relationship with a sticky note. A decade later the reminder of their marriage pact pops up on their phones. Emerson arranges to be a model on the champagne Theo is working on. This book is one huge miscommunication trope. The characters are very surface level, I didn’t believe their connection and Emerson is very vain and shallow. There is so much talk about “appearances” and people’s bodies that I could not get into the story.

One Last Shot is an incredible debut - with a beautiful, second chance love story, a remarkable setting, and characters that are both entertaining and relatable, Betty Cayouette really knocks it out of the park.

Emerson is one of my favorite main characters I have read so far this year. She is more than what you see at surface level - with a complicated childhood and trauma in her past, she has a depth to her that is easily readable on every page. She’s dynamic, kind, funny, and I loved how she truly cares about those around her. Emerson’s backstory deals with the complications of mental health with her mom’s hoarding and her own trauma from a sexual assault, and both topics are written about with such care and dignity.

Theo is an equally beautiful soul - and matches and contrasts Emerson perfectly. The flashbacks into their high school romance allow us to see Theo’s heart from day one, and the level to which he loves Emerson had me swooning. I love Theo’s security in who he is - he was popular and an athlete, but also had that deeply creative side that Emerson helped bring out and he kept true to himself as an adult.

The chemistry between Emerson and Theo leaps off the page in this story, and they were easy to root for the whole book. The pacing, the POVs, and the flashbacks to high school perfectly unraveled their story - and kept me turning the pages. The dual narrators in the audiobook are also incredible. Each narrator brings out the words on the pages, nailing the inflections and excitement and hesitancy of the lines as they are read. You can clearly listen and understand them at higher listening speeds as well, which is always a plus.

Overall, I am so looking forward to what Betty writes next!

ONE LAST SHOT by @bettysbooklist
PUB DATE 05.07.24

Narrators: Brittany Pressley + Sean Patrick Hopkins

Emerson & Theo were inseparable throughout high school… but their friendship ended as abruptly as high school. 10 years later, Emerson is one of the most well known models out there, and Theo is a very talented photographer. When a reminder of a marriage pact they had made when they were 18 pops up on Emerson’s phone, she decides to be one of the models that Theo will be taking photos of, in hopes to rekindle what they once had.

This was a such a great debut! I was able to get the ALC of the audio and the narrators inwere incredible! I was absolutely rooting for both
Emerson & Theo the whole time, and loved listening to how their stories unfolded.

Read if you love:
-marriage pacts
-friends to lovers
-doughnuts
-dual POV
-dual timeline
-incredibly sweet MMC
-books based in Italy

4.5⭐️

Thanks so much to @NetGalley and @MacMillan.Audio for my ALC!

#MacAudio2024

What an adorable story. This was such a well written love story. It is a reminder that an underlining trauma can impact your life in so many ways. The story takes you from Italy to Hollywood to Cape Cod. What is better than that? While you knew there was going to be a happy ending, the story kept you on your toes, wanting to know what happens and how everything unfolded. Once again, thank you NetGalley for this opportunity to read the story ahead of the official release.

This was a very good romance book. It’s not one of my all time favorites or one that stands out as one I will reread. So for that reason it’s a 4 star book for sure.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and St. Martin’s Press for the ALC and ARC of One Last Shot by Betty Cayouette. All opinions are my own.

I would’ve never known that this was a debut novel had I not looked it up. It was written so well and had such a unique premise. I don’t think I’ve read many stories about modeling, and I loved the setting as well.

Second chance romance is one of my favorite genres, and I especially enjoy when authors include flashbacks to the previous relationship. In this story, the flashbacks were so cute. I loved seeing Emerson and Theo when they were teenagers. Their friendship was so wholesome and envious.

I also liked the present-day chapters because the characters were still great and hadn’t let fame or life circumstances change them too much. I also appreciated the dual POVs because I could see how much each character cared about the other.

The setting was beautiful, and I would definitely love reading more books set there. It was also interesting to read about the behind-the-scenes aspects of modeling and photoshoots since I knew very little about them.

My only issue with this book was the miscommunication. If Emerson and Theo would’ve talked things through early on, they would’ve avoided so much heartache.

Overall, I think this was a great debut, and I would definitely be interested in reading another book by this author.

The audiobook was great! The narrators fit the characters perfectly, and they both did a great job conveying emotions. I also loved the dual narration.

High fashion super model Emerson has it all. A blooming career. But one thing is missing: love. Remembering her pact with her childhood best friend Theo. Emerson makes a questionable decision asking her agent to book her as a model on the campaign Theo is a photographer for. The problem with this? It's far from top notch and a major downgrade of a job for Emerson. People around her start to question her choice to plumage her career. Even Emerson herself questions it. This novel is a great enjoyable read.