I both read this book and listened to the audio narrated by Brittany Pressley and Sean Patrick Hopkins. Both narrarors did a fantastic job of portraying the different characters. I do feel that the audio enhanced the experience of the book.

This is a friends to lovers and second chance romance, Emerson and Theo were best friends in high school and made a pact to marry each other if neither of them was already married when they turned twenty-eight. There is a disruption in their friendship in high school. They lose contact, and Emerson goes on to become a super model, and Theo becomes a fairly successful photographer. Emerson decides she wants one more shot at a forever relationship with Theo and arranges to work on one of his shoots in Italy.

The development of the main characters is fantastic. The dual timeline shows the personal growth of the characters through the years and the maturity and growth in their relationship.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the copies. All thoughts are my own.

If you liked Every Summer After and Love and Other Words, I would highly recommend reading this during the summer.
I love a good friend to lover/Second Chance romance. Hearing Emerson and Theo's story and how they came to be is such a cute story.
I enjoyed the audiobook more because Brittany Pressley is a great narrator. She's really easy to listen to. This is a really slow burn, but it honestly didn't notice it.

This book was a pleasant surprise. Both characters were enjoyable. Theo just seemed too good to be true. Emerson is a survivor in so many ways. She has so much trauma in her life that I am surprised she is a functioning well-rounded adult. This book shows you that you can survive and thrive.from your traumatic past.

This was a fun and different take on the marriage pact trope.

Emerson and Theo were a couple you couldn't help but pull for. Unfortunately, they had so many near misses over the course of their friendship where one of them doubted the other's true feelings and they stayed "friend-zoned" when they should have been more, There were some heavy topics included in the story, such as sexual assault, mental illness and more. Be prepared for those if they are trigger topics for you. I felt like the author did a beautiful job of writing these topics and handled them gently and with authenticity.

If you're looking for a sweet and meaningful story about second chances that feels a little different from many of the others, this might be just what you're trying to find.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: The narration was very good and kept me engrossed in the story. 4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the ebook and audiobook.

The audiobook for this was fantastic. I loved the narrator choices. Brittany and Sean do a wonderful job bringing the characters to life. Well produced and I love the author speaking to the reader too. Heartfelt.

Emerson and Theo are an amazing duo. Years of friendship leads to a phone alert notification reminding them if a pact they made. “If not married yet, marry each other”. She is a model, he’s a photographer but they’d never worked together. Emerson wanted to see him again and there was no better way than to make her way into his current ad campaign and restart their friendship. Of course they both hope for more but after years apart are afraid to make moves.

The way he cares and protects her shows true love and tenderness. Their years of friendship seeping through. The flashbacks to their pasts to understand their present was so well done. Absolutely loved.

This book was el todo naranja. The whole orange. (Read it, you’ll understand).

I loved the setting (primarily Cinque Terre, also Salem, LA, NYC). I loved that this was a photographer-model romance…but started before they were either of those things. I loved getting a look inside the “rich and powerful” lifestyles and dating contracts of Hollywood. I also very much loved the narration.

I didn’t especially love all the miscommunication—but it’s a romance, and man is it a trope. I did love that each of the MC’s had friends to tell them when they were being idiots though. It always helps to push the story along!

Overall, this was a perfect summer read. Light, fun, has characters with back stories, and perfect for the beach or pool. Light spice (one open door scene but not particularly graphic; lots of sexual tension). Highly recommend!

Rating: 4.5/5
I received eARC for my honest opinion.

This is a debut novel, and it was amazing. I loved all the different tropes in this book: Childhood friends, celebrity romance, second chances and miscommunication. I loved the flow of this book; it was fast and easy to read. I didn’t mind the different POV’s because it was easy to know who was talking because the author made sure to let the readers know. As well as flashbacks to the past with their POV’s as well.

I found the plot to be fun, cute and everything that I would want in a romcom. I loved that it handled issues that everyone in their life has felt at one time or another, and how the author handled a sensitive topic was well done. I loved the flashbacks to their high school years; it really gives you more in depth about the characters and how they developed into the people they’re now. I loved that it was set in Italy and honestly it makes me want to jump on a plane right now and go there to see the beauty that was described in the book.

I loved the characters and I love the growth that the both of them have done on their own between the years of not seeing each other and the growth that they both had to do to make things work. I honestly wasn’t bothered by the miscommunication trope in this book because the way that it was written you can see the reasons and understand it. I found Emerson to be a great MFC and I loved how she was willing to do whatever it cost to see if things could work out with her best friend and to see if they could have the future that she always wanted with him in it. I found Theo to be the best MMC, he was understanding at times, jealous at the right time and overall caring/supportive. He really is the best male character.

I received the audiobook to review, and I found the narrators to be great. I loved that they really brought this book to life and helped you really feel the emotions in this book. I felt as if these characters were my friends, and I was right there rooting for their happily ever after.

I want to thank NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to review this book.

Thank you @macmillianaudio for the ALC of One Last Shot by @bettysbooklist in exchange for an honest review.

🎧🎧 Book Review 🎧🎧 Supermodel Emerson’s career is picture perfect but her personal life is just not what she wants it to be. After she breaks up with her latest boyfriend, she remembers the pact she made with the boy from high school that she still holds a huge torch for, Theo. With just one week before their pact expires in their calendar, she heads to Cinque Terre full of hope to reconnect with Theo. Told in dual points of view, the readers learn that Theo does indeed remember the pact and carries the same sense of hope as he gets ready to embark on his photo shoot in Italy. Between the narratives of Emerson and Theo, the reader gets a very intimate and beautiful viewpoint into their past together and their individual lives over the decade. Betty Cayouette creates characters with such depth and relatability, they feel like old friends that we are rooting for. One Last Shot is a beautifully written and narrated book about second chances at the love we all deserve to find in our lives.

Review is posted on Goodreads and will be on Instagram ahead of the publication date!

This was a great second chance romance/friends to lovers romance. I normally do not like second chance romances but this one had a very good reason why it didn't work out, so it made me want to root for them to get back together. I loved the setting, in Italy, and the pace of the relationship development, the flashback scenes, as well as their reunion. This had a balanced mix of light romcom with heavier emotional issues including sexual trauma and bullying. Cayouette addresses the trigger warnings at the beginning of the novel in an author's note as well, I highly approved of the move. All of the difficult topics are handled well and she obviously spoke to experts on the issue to handle it with sensitivity.

I found I related to Emerson quite a bit as a teen and in much of her internal monologue as an adult. The author also has experience in the modeling industry and it shows! You as a reader feel like you are getting inside information into the life of what it is like to be a model but also what it is like to work behind the scenes on set.

I couldn't give it a full five stars though because of the very early on miscommunication that occurs. I understand why it had to happen, but it doesn't mean I have to like it! Made the first 1/3rd of the book a harder read.

The narrator was pleasant to listen to and I would listen to another book narrated by them.

I love a friends to lovers romance. I love when books flashback to when characters were younger. I love an Italian setting. I was intrigued by all of these things, and that's why I started listening to this book. However, all of the pieces didn't fit together for me. The whole story could have been so much better if the characters just spoke to each other. I can understand some miscommunication, but the entire plot of this book hinged on the fact that Emerson and Theo didn't address anything with each other. There was so much inner dialogue. I just kept saying to myself- just talk to each other. Please have a conversation.

Just when you think the miscommunication is over- more miscommunication comes in. There were so many plot points that were thrown in toward the end of the book too. I felt so confused by everything that happened in the last 10% of the book.

The narrators did a great job with the material that they were given, but I didn't enjoy this book.

This was an absolutely delightful story and a debut to boot! I cannot wait to see what comes next for this talented author. The story had me giggle and invested in the relationship from the start.

I did not like One Last Shot at all. The marriage pact premise can be fun, but pairing it with the second chance romance and a ton of miscommunication ruined that fun. I would have DNFd the book but I wanted to finish it so I could decide if I wanted to skip the book box that I am fairly confident this will be in next month. I skipped it.

This was a FANTASTIC friends to lovers, second chance, dual POV, forced proximity debut romance!! I loved the Italian setting, the flashbacks, the childhood best friends who reunite years later on a shoot as a famous A list supermodel and a much lesser known photographer thanks to a marriage pact they made as kids.

Great on audio narrated by my very fav, Brittany Pressley. This book does a great job balancing the line between bingeable romcom and emotional, heavy hitting family drama including a hoarding mother and trauma from rape. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review! I absolutely loved this one!

CW: rape, neglectful/absentee parent

I love the setting of One Last Shot by Betty Cayouette, I felt like I was in Cinque Terra again and loved the descriptions of Italy. I liked Theo and Emerson's characters and the miscommunication troupe and how it flashed back to them as High Schoolers and now as adults many years laters with their marriage pact. I liked that we got to see both viewpoints in the book. An enjoyable read and the cast of narrators made this book great as an audiobook!

I feel like this may be categorized incorrectly. It reads more like a women’s fiction than a romance.

Regarding the audiobook - The narration was fantastic!

This was a case of “it’s not you - it’s me” and I think if it was in the women’s fiction category I wouldn’t have picked it up.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the alc.

thank you NetGalley for sending both the e-arc and audio book. I read both simultaneously and had a greats time. This is a remarkable debut by Cayouette. I'm always anxious reading a book by an influencer, but I can tell this book is written by someone who knows the romance genre inside and out. highly recommend!

Oh, how this book made me want to go back to Cinque Terre!

In her novel, Betty Cayouette tells a second chance romance for best friends that fell in love. Emerson is a famous model who still compares every potential love interest to her childhood best friend Theo. When an alert goes off on her phone with a reminder of the marriage pact they came up with, she decides it's time to get Theo back into her life. She manages to become a part of the fashion photoshoot that Theo, a photographer, is shooting in Cinque Terre, Italy.

Told in both perspectives, this story was so sweet. It was frustrating when you wanted both Emerson and Theo to be honest with each other, but didn't fall too heavily into the "miscommunication" trope. Both characters were loveable and I was rooting for them to get over their hangups and to communicate! It was such a cute story, perfect to read on the beach!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Read this if you like:
•childhood friends
•celebrity romance
•second chance
•cinque terre

This book made me want to catch the next flight to Italy! I loved how it alternated between present day and when they were kids. I loved getting to see them fall in love. The tension, the angst, the chemistry was chefs kiss.

Thank you Macmillion audio for the ALC!

I throughly enjoyed this story and found the characters real and engaging. The flashbacks were a great addition. Hope to read more from this author. Loved the narrators!

3.5

I enjoyed this sweet friends to lovers second chance romance! I love a past to present narrative and I think it was done well in this story.
The miscommunication between the characters did frustrate me at times. And I felt like the MFC was playing immature games at times by trying to make the MMC jealous. Her friends were also kind of selfish and giving her bad advice.
But overall I think the story is charming enough to overcome this. And the way it dealt with overcoming trauma was beautiful. That part was definitely emotional.