Kimbral goes out for the first night after the baby has been born only to find herself in a dire situation and needs to work this case like a Hound.

She has to save everyone through 12 realms.

Kimbral finds out that her “ enemy” is not who she really is. And though the fighting for her life and everyone else’s find out the truth that has been haunting her for a year.

It was very adventurous and mysterious. The characters were definitely the highlight along with their relationships. I started off having a hard time relating to the main character because of her being a new mom. She kept worrying about her baby, and as a single childless woman, I don't understand what that need for your child is. Still, it didn't take away from the story and build up the characters' personality a lot.

This book is one of the most unique books I've read in a long time. I listened to this as an audiobook and thoroughly enjoyed it. The narrator did an incredible job!

It has the perfect elements of fantasy, action, and suspense with a sprinkle of sapphic romance.

Having an older fmc, who is a single mum, is so refreshing to see. It is so much more empowering and powerful to read about a woman with real issues, worrying about her child and having to prioritize her when she didn't have to before as the dangers and threats over her line of work loom ahead.

I loved the world building and the world itself, which encapsulates the concept of different realities stacked on top of each other. The idea of slipping between the veil of reality and having special items can alter things within each reality, too. Truly such an incredible and unique concept.

I really enjoyed the enemies to lovers' concept in this. How her biggest rival became her closest ally and blossomed into something more as they go down each reality was so well written. I was rooting for her and Rika the whole time.

The Last Hour Between Worlds is a masterful blend of a locked room murder mystery, science fiction, and fantasy. Set in an urban fantasy world, this plot driven tale features a sapphic romance and world-building that is rich and immersive. The characters and their arcs are highly compelling as they wrestle with both internal and external conflicts. Can't wait to read the next installment!

I am not one to generally go for sci-fis but this was so interesting to me that I gave it a chance, and I was not disappointed.
The main character being a new mother brings a new perspective to the call to adventure part of the plot.
I especially liked the worldbuilding as I found it unique and interesting and I am curious to explore more of it in the next books.
I also really liked the narrator, as I found her interpretation perfect for the character, it felt like a friend was telling me a story that happened to them.

Absolutely PERFECT performance by Moira Quirk. I was completely immersed in the story and didn't know which way was up half the time! Brava!

The Last Hour Between Worlds:⁣
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Thank you @orbitbooks_us @librofm @hachetteaudio for my gifted copies!⁣
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I felt at first this was going to be a fantasy book that I wouldn’t get or would make me feel like I wasn’t smart enough to understand. I pushed on and once I got the writing style, I really enjoyed reading this one. ⁣
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I think the coolest thing is that this is basically a locked room, but it happens at different time jumps. The fantasy part that comes in is cool because I was hoping it would be found and solved with the Groundhog Day type vibe. But honestly, Kembral being a new mom all postpartum and still trying to save the world was the best. Like c’mon now, what can’t a mother do? Ya know. ⁣
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THE Moira Quirk, our GUTS Queen herself, does an amazing narration on audio. I will always pick up a Moira Quirk audio. I liked the pacing on audio, much better feel that my physical print.⁣
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Anywho, I really enjoyed this one! Out now.⁣
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QOTD: 10 Day til Christmas! What’s a gift you need to buy for someone? (Yes I’m asking for ideas because I’m stumped)

I loved the idea and felt so interesting and unique I was immersed in the fantasy of it. Unfortunately I didn't get the storyline I was hoping for.

This was such a fun read! I loved the world created here. The mix of folklore and timelines was so good and each character was so different. I LOVED the sapphic friends to enemies to lovers vibe going on with the two main characters! I had a great time listening to this. The audiobook narrator and all the different voices they did only made the experience that much better. Would highly recommend and I cant wait to read the next book!

I was looking forward to this book because I'm collecting rare fantasy gems in which the protagonist in a 30-something mother - god knows we deserve characters like us too! Unfortunately, it just felt like a poor addition to the time travel trend (it seems to be the new •thing• in fantasy right now). For me what killed it was the Groundhog Day formula that removed all the fun and saved what every character stuck in the endless loop fears the most: painful boredom. On paper the concept of jumping into time and different dimensions is always captivating, but here the execution just lacked substance and in the end I felt that I was deliberately avoiding reading the book, because it was so dull. I didn't buy the main characters' relationship, it was shallow and there were no emotions.
I liked the narrator though, this is not my first time with her and her voice is particularly suitable for quirky fantasy.

Audio muy bueno pero libro no tan a la altura, bastante repetitivo y mal planteado, creo que la idea de mundos paralelos se puede explotar mucho mejor.

La narración lo hace muchísimo mejor todo

I really enjoyed this book! It felt fresh and unique amidst a romantasy-shelf that is often full of tropes. I loved that our main character, Kembral, is a new mother and a fully-matured adult woman. Often times in romance books, motherhood is the end of the story for our FMCs but here that is only the beginning of Kembral's story. She is a whole human, not just a mother. And she has many adventures still ahead of her.

I worried that it would feel a bit like Groundhog Day, or a bit repetitive as we continues the cycle of falling into new echoes at a steady pace. But I found each echo so interesting. And I just loved the narration, so that kept me interested and engaged. The narration was excellent. I would definitely listen to a book narrated by Moira Quirk again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for providing an ARC of this audiobook. I have already received my Illumicrate edition of this book, and the cover and art is stunning!

In the last hour between worlds we follow Kembral, a new mother, at her first party away from her baby. When the party is upended by a murder she finds herself investigating only to get trapped in a time loop that is descending rapidly through echos, alternative worlds. Kembral and Rika, a thief that Kembral had previously gotten arrested, must work together to figure out why they keep repeating the same night.

Had a really good time with this one, my biggest issue with the book was that some elements I don’t think where properly fleshed out or explain, which caused the book at points to feel like the sequel to a book I hadn’t read.

The Narration was great. Moira Quirk is a truly excellent narrator and does a fantastic job conveying the emotions of the stories, while being able to maintain a variety of voices and still being readily understandable.

3.5 Stars

Thank you to Orbit for sending my a physical ARC to read and to Netgalley and Hachette Audio for the ALC.

I was sold when I heard that this was a sapphic read. The execution not my fave. I liked that the characters are more my age and I have something in common with Kembral of being a mother. This time looping was fine but it was a bit overdone. Pacing was slower. I didn’t most of this read on audio and I enjoyed the narrators voice and I could listen to it on 2x speed with no issues, the accent was dreamy Haha. I think the biggest issue for me was the amount of characters and I was mixing them up then we’d have a time loop and they’d be a bit different than the first time so I really had a hard time distinguishing them. I do enjoy the cover as well but it made me think it would be a bit more steampunky vs. Where we want to fit the echoes. I think the clock maker was my favourite character and even the voice she was given helped create the character in my mind.
I’m not sure if I would continue the series or not but I’d still recommend this read to time loop and fantasy lovers.

The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso delivers an inventive premise with rival guilds, reality-bending magic, and a refreshingly unique protagonist in Kembral Thorne, a new mother juggling her Hound duties. The story begins with intrigue as a party turns deadly, forcing Kem to team up with her nemesis, the sly burglar Rika Nonesuch. Together, they navigate the surreal Echoes created by a mysterious clock, encountering increasingly eerie and dangerous versions of their world.

While the concept and setup are engaging, the execution falters due to repetitive elements. The continuous cycle of entering Echoes and facing similar challenges begins to drag, making the middle section of the book feel overly drawn out. By the time the climax approaches, the novelty has worn thin, and the resolution feels overdue.

Kem’s perspective as a new mother is a standout feature, adding depth to her character and grounding the story in her relatable struggles and determination. The dynamic between Kem and Rika is another highlight, blending tension, begrudging trust, and sapphic undertones that add emotional stakes to their partnership.

Overall, The Last Hour Between Worlds offers a compelling concept and strong character work but suffers from a repetitive structure that diminishes the impact of its imaginative world. Fans of inventive fantasy may still enjoy the ride, but it might leave others wishing for a tighter narrative.

This is my very first book from Caruso. Such a rich and imaginative world she has built. It's brilliant. I loved every moment of this book. I couldn't put it down. Truly a fantastic read. Highly recommend.

A fun blend of humor, mystery, and fantasy, this title is a great read-alike for fans of titles such as The Paradox Hotel.

The audio really brought this story alive and helps you fall in with the characters better the journey is grand

Wow. Just, wow. This book utterly surprised me with how much I loved it. I went into this book not quite knowing what to expect, as I really hadn’t seen any reviews for this yet. But the premise sounded fascinating, and it definitely was. I started out by listening to the audio for this, but I was very confused, and ended up going back to the beginning and re-reading it with my eyeballs.

This book has a very complex fantasy system. Actually, maybe it’s not that complex, but so unique that it threw me for a loop. And while I loved that this jumps into the action right away, the lack of world-building makes things a little bit harder to figure out. However, it was very fun to try to discover what “echos” and “relics” or what a “Hound,” “Cat,” “Raven,” or “Butterfly” was.

Another aspect of the book that I loved was that it featured a fairly new post-partum mother (a single mother at that!) who was grappling with the decision of going back to work after having a child. And also dealing with other fun post-partum things like sleep deprivation and leaking milk. It made the FMC Kembrel Thorne so much more relatable, especially just the love she has for her new baby and wanting to get back home to her. (The end had me tearing up, too.)

Without making this review too much longer (although I could say so much more), if you like fantasy, and are okay with being thrown into a new fantasy world with not too much preamble, you should definitely pick this book up.

𝘼 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣: The narrator for this was absolutely fricking fantastic. I loved her accent and the depth she breathed into all of the characters’ voices.

*The Last Hour Between Worlds* by Melissa Caruso is a captivating and immersive fantasy novel that deftly blends magic, mystery, and complex characters. The story follows a young woman caught in the midst of a dangerous political struggle between two worlds, each filled with its own secrets. Caruso’s world-building is rich and intricate, creating a compelling setting where magic and intrigue are intricately woven into the plot. The protagonist’s journey of self-discovery and navigating difficult choices adds emotional depth. With its well-paced action and strong character development, *The Last Hour Between Worlds* is an unforgettable and thrilling read.