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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“One beetle recognizes another”🪲(Translation from Irish: It takes one to know one”) and this perfectly imperfect couple makes for a very sweet read. The ADHD and OCD rep is *excellent* and brings together a couple that is so soft and accepting of one another’s quirks, desires, and hearts.
Lorraine (Raine) Hart is pursuing her passion for music by traveling and busking her way from one European city to another after dropping out of med school. That is, until her guitar and equipment is stolen in Cobh, Ireland, and she is offered a job by the handsome and heavily tattooed bartender/pub owner, Jack Dunne. While petting the resident pub cat, Sebastian (🐈⬛ AKA Princess Ugly), Jack asks Raine for her expert opinion - as a traveling musician who has visited many European pubs - on the bar’s atmosphere and design. He loves the ideas she shares for revitalizing the space that he and his older brother inherited from their abusive dad. Jack hires her as program coordinator on the spot - despite her lack of any experience - and moves in with his brother and his family so that he can offer Raine his apartment above The Local while she saves up money for her next adventure. Immediately natural and flirty chemistry turns into a deep friendship between Raine and her ‘most professional coworker,’ Jack, each bringing out the best in one another as they give the other person the space to be seen and appreciated for being completely themselves. The opposites attract dynamic between them - with Jack’s roots at the Local and travel-hindering compulsive thoughts and Raine’s free-spirited personality and unquenchable wanderlust - might pull them apart, but the strength of their bond may just survive the push and pull of their very different lives.
Spoilers ahead…
Raine’s ADHD and Jack’s OCD are such a fundamental part of the story that is woven so naturally into their dynamic as friends and eventually as a couple. Raine and Jack’s neurodivergence and the way each is established independently and in connection to the other person’s is a real highlight of this story. Getting to experience the chaos inside Raine’s ADHD brain and the compulsive thoughts from OCD in Jack’s brain was powerful. As they parse through the daily challenges inherent with these diagnoses, the author evokes such respect and empathy for those facing similar challenges as well as hope that every beetle will find its match.
I’m excited to read the other two books, one of which is about Jack’s brother, Ollie, and sister-in-law, Nina!
Memorable moments:
- Ciaróg (beetle) being Jack’s nickname for her 🥰
- Jack: “How can you think you’re too much when I can’t get enough of you?” 🫠
- Jack hunting the internet for Raine’s stolen and very sentimental guitar and buying it to return to her 🎸 so he can support her in making her own music to share her gift with the world.
- The way Raine supports Jack in facing his debilitating compulsive thoughts to get back his passion for tattooing, helping him fulfill his promise to ink her first tattoo.
- Raine: “If my life is a song, then the places I’ve been are the verses. New and varied. But Ireland? Ireland is a chorus, something to return to again and again. A place to land. Or maybe it isn’t Ireland, maybe it’s Jack.” 💚
Lorraine (Raine) Hart is pursuing her passion for music by traveling and busking her way from one European city to another after dropping out of med school. That is, until her guitar and equipment is stolen in Cobh, Ireland, and she is offered a job by the handsome and heavily tattooed bartender/pub owner, Jack Dunne. While petting the resident pub cat, Sebastian (🐈⬛ AKA Princess Ugly), Jack asks Raine for her expert opinion - as a traveling musician who has visited many European pubs - on the bar’s atmosphere and design. He loves the ideas she shares for revitalizing the space that he and his older brother inherited from their abusive dad. Jack hires her as program coordinator on the spot - despite her lack of any experience - and moves in with his brother and his family so that he can offer Raine his apartment above The Local while she saves up money for her next adventure. Immediately natural and flirty chemistry turns into a deep friendship between Raine and her ‘most professional coworker,’ Jack, each bringing out the best in one another as they give the other person the space to be seen and appreciated for being completely themselves. The opposites attract dynamic between them - with Jack’s roots at the Local and travel-hindering compulsive thoughts and Raine’s free-spirited personality and unquenchable wanderlust - might pull them apart, but the strength of their bond may just survive the push and pull of their very different lives.
Spoilers ahead…
Raine’s ADHD and Jack’s OCD are such a fundamental part of the story that is woven so naturally into their dynamic as friends and eventually as a couple. Raine and Jack’s neurodivergence and the way each is established independently and in connection to the other person’s is a real highlight of this story. Getting to experience the chaos inside Raine’s ADHD brain and the compulsive thoughts from OCD in Jack’s brain was powerful. As they parse through the daily challenges inherent with these diagnoses, the author evokes such respect and empathy for those facing similar challenges as well as hope that every beetle will find its match.
I’m excited to read the other two books, one of which is about Jack’s brother, Ollie, and sister-in-law, Nina!
Memorable moments:
- Ciaróg (beetle) being Jack’s nickname for her 🥰
- Jack: “How can you think you’re too much when I can’t get enough of you?” 🫠
- Jack hunting the internet for Raine’s stolen and very sentimental guitar and buying it to return to her 🎸 so he can support her in making her own music to share her gift with the world.
- The way Raine supports Jack in facing his debilitating compulsive thoughts to get back his passion for tattooing, helping him fulfill his promise to ink her first tattoo.
- Raine: “If my life is a song, then the places I’ve been are the verses. New and varied. But Ireland? Ireland is a chorus, something to return to again and again. A place to land. Or maybe it isn’t Ireland, maybe it’s Jack.” 💚
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Cant say anything vet very relatable. They captured adhd in women very very well. I loved it
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
It was really nice to read this book with characters who are functioning with different brains. Reading from Raine's and Jack point of views was amazing and really offered different perspectives that I would have never known. Plus, throwing in how a person with ADHD and OCD get together romantically was a nice cherry on top. Great read!
...if anything, I would have loved to know more or read more about the sibling relationships.
...if anything, I would have loved to know more or read more about the sibling relationships.
2024 has only just begun, but I’ve already found nominees for THE couple of the year in Raine and Jack.
Their sunshine characters can cure anyone’s cold and their representation of neurodiversity is really valuable and much appreciated. Raine’s ADHD complemented the story rather than it being a props for her to carry around until it was no longer convenient for the story. And Jack having intrusive thoughts, hindering his life, and not being well - it was painful to see, but also very well woven into the story. It showed how it co-existed with the characters and didn’t define the person struggling from OCD.
High praise for Sarah Grunder Ruiz for creating such lovely and layered characters!
Above all, this was a story of friendship and love.
From the moment Raine and Jack meet, connect, and fall in love, everything just made sense. They were fun together, their banter lovely, and there was absolutely zero drama needed, because the story was about them and Raine and Jack are that magnificent that they can carry a full story without dramatica.
And yes, the characters were struggling, but the story never felt too heavy and Last Call at the Local maintained a happy and light tone that felt heartwarming throughout the book. The general mood while reading was simply happy. Like coming home from a long day at work, kicking off your shoes, and finally putting on your favorite jumper - that level of happiness.
While Last Call at the Local is the third in this series, it can be read as a stand-alone. But if you loved Luck and Last Resorts as much as I do (it’s still my favorite of this series, and one of my favorites of all times) you will love the Nina and Ollie cameos in this one too.
- ten months later, I’m STILL thinking about these characters. I’m going to give this book its flowers and change to 5 stars. Truly amazing characters.
Their sunshine characters can cure anyone’s cold and their representation of neurodiversity is really valuable and much appreciated. Raine’s ADHD complemented the story rather than it being a props for her to carry around until it was no longer convenient for the story. And Jack having intrusive thoughts, hindering his life, and not being well - it was painful to see, but also very well woven into the story. It showed how it co-existed with the characters and didn’t define the person struggling from OCD.
High praise for Sarah Grunder Ruiz for creating such lovely and layered characters!
Above all, this was a story of friendship and love.
From the moment Raine and Jack meet, connect, and fall in love, everything just made sense. They were fun together, their banter lovely, and there was absolutely zero drama needed, because the story was about them and Raine and Jack are that magnificent that they can carry a full story without dramatica.
And yes, the characters were struggling, but the story never felt too heavy and Last Call at the Local maintained a happy and light tone that felt heartwarming throughout the book. The general mood while reading was simply happy. Like coming home from a long day at work, kicking off your shoes, and finally putting on your favorite jumper - that level of happiness.
While Last Call at the Local is the third in this series, it can be read as a stand-alone. But if you loved Luck and Last Resorts as much as I do (it’s still my favorite of this series, and one of my favorites of all times) you will love the Nina and Ollie cameos in this one too.
- ten months later, I’m STILL thinking about these characters. I’m going to give this book its flowers and change to 5 stars. Truly amazing characters.