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nen96's review
It was a solid book. Not too many gripes. However, there was not much I liked about it either. I think the concept of a romance book happening in one day doesn't appeal to me as I like slow-build romance.
So far I haven't loved any of the Beharrie books I've read. They've all been solid but nothing out of the ordinary. May nave to abandon her books.
So far I haven't loved any of the Beharrie books I've read. They've all been solid but nothing out of the ordinary. May nave to abandon her books.
dot_needle's review
3.0
One Last Chance by Therese Beharrie is a friends to lovers second chance romance. Zoey and Sawyer were friends for years with Zoey often pretending to be Sawyer’s girlfriend. Things started changing however, when Zoey finds out that Sawyer has been secretly in love with her for years.
From the first page, it’s pretty obvious that this author excels at character driven stories and I also really enjoyed the banter between the characters. I particularly enjoyed Zoey’s wit and personality! The scénario that forced proximity between Zoey and Sawyer also had me giggling non-stop.
This is my first book by the author and have not read the earlier books in this series. Unfortunately, my experience suffered as there was a few scenes where I felt that I was missing context. I felt this mostly around Zoey as we are told that she was previously irresponsible and self-centred but I did not really see much evidence of this within the four corners of this book. Another scene that suggested to me that this book might not work as well as a stand-alone was a lone scene that had zero relevance to the main characters, but would probably delight readers who have read the previous books.
This book is set up to have alternating chapters between flashbacks and current day, and honestly I really do not enjoy this kind of device as with this book I felt that the story lost its forward momentum. However, your mileage may vary.
Overall, I struggled a bit with this book but still enjoyed the characters and dialogue.
Arc provided by publisher via Netgalley.
From the first page, it’s pretty obvious that this author excels at character driven stories and I also really enjoyed the banter between the characters. I particularly enjoyed Zoey’s wit and personality! The scénario that forced proximity between Zoey and Sawyer also had me giggling non-stop.
This is my first book by the author and have not read the earlier books in this series. Unfortunately, my experience suffered as there was a few scenes where I felt that I was missing context. I felt this mostly around Zoey as we are told that she was previously irresponsible and self-centred but I did not really see much evidence of this within the four corners of this book. Another scene that suggested to me that this book might not work as well as a stand-alone was a lone scene that had zero relevance to the main characters, but would probably delight readers who have read the previous books.
This book is set up to have alternating chapters between flashbacks and current day, and honestly I really do not enjoy this kind of device as with this book I felt that the story lost its forward momentum. However, your mileage may vary.
Overall, I struggled a bit with this book but still enjoyed the characters and dialogue.
Arc provided by publisher via Netgalley.
now_booking's review
2.0
2.5 Stars. This is kind of a weird review for me to write because I think this book exemplifies why I usually prefer to read a series from book 1 rather than jumping in midway to book 3. I suppose technically, this can be read as a stand-alone but there are a lot of familial undercurrents and dynamics that made it clear to me that I was missing context in a way.
The premise of this is second chance romance is that Zoey and Sawyer were childhood friends pretending to be in a relationship (for reasons that never quite really made sense to me) because all their friends and family believe that they are. When they cross the line from friends to lovers, everything changes and their friendship is destroyed. Now years, later, they randomly meet and it seems they have 24 hours to fix their relationship or part forever.
This second-chance, friends to lovers, fake relationship romance is well-written and I liked the author’s approach to the themes. It’s very considered and thoughtful and psychotherapeutic. The characters (especially the main characters) analyse their thoughts and actions in a very thorough and accurate way. You can definitely tell that the author really understands complex human decisions and foibles especially for young adults.
However, my issue with this book is that I feel like it dragged. And I feel that way, because so much of the book happened in the characters’ heads. There was a lot of thinking of thoughts and reminiscing and rehashing of the past internally (in a way that is realistic to how we all dwell and obsess over the last), but after a while it got dull to read. It felt like too many times the characters thought about their insecurities and went over the same ground and we were waiting for them to have a conversation of for something, anything, to happen in this book. I feel like plot and events and story, were in some way sacrificed for deeper reflection and an exploration of character motivation, and to me, that doesn’t really make a compelling read or a rounded character. For example, I couldn’t really connect with Zoey because all I got was her TELLING me the negative way she saw herself, but the few interactions I saw her have with other characters, didn’t mesh with what she was saying. I feel like there could have been a bit more SHOWING. And I feel the same way about Sawyer.
I think the difficulty in connecting to the characters was also not helped by the alternating past and present chapters. They didn’t really allow me to sink into the plot and feel immersed in the story. Just as I would begin to connect with the character, I would be yanked out and thrown into another time with another emotion. The scenes with the caterer character just kind of felt out of nowhere and not cohesive. It just all felt very piecey to me and a little lacking in plot events and actions, and I think the premise was a fantastic one and could have carried a lot more events if it had been told in a linear fashion. There were so many things I wanted to know more about that were mere thoughts of a character or brief snapshot conversations.
I think there’s a lot of self-awareness and self-analysis in this book and it has a very heavy and emotional feel even though there’s also a lot of very witty dialogue (though not enough). I think where this book does best is in the depth of emotion and exploration of feelings and motivations of the characters. It felt very in-depth and comprehensive. I also liked the wit in the conversations and in the plot events when we got to see them. I wish there had been more dialogue and more action/events happening in this book. This also felt very much on the new adult spectrum to me. Being my first book by this author, I definitely want to check her out again to get a better sense of her books (as in the acknowledgments, she reveals that this flashback format was an experimental style for her). I enjoyed her wit and humour.
Content warnings for grief, loss of a parent, guilt and divorce.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Harlequin Books / Carina Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
The premise of this is second chance romance is that Zoey and Sawyer were childhood friends pretending to be in a relationship (for reasons that never quite really made sense to me) because all their friends and family believe that they are. When they cross the line from friends to lovers, everything changes and their friendship is destroyed. Now years, later, they randomly meet and it seems they have 24 hours to fix their relationship or part forever.
This second-chance, friends to lovers, fake relationship romance is well-written and I liked the author’s approach to the themes. It’s very considered and thoughtful and psychotherapeutic. The characters (especially the main characters) analyse their thoughts and actions in a very thorough and accurate way. You can definitely tell that the author really understands complex human decisions and foibles especially for young adults.
However, my issue with this book is that I feel like it dragged. And I feel that way, because so much of the book happened in the characters’ heads. There was a lot of thinking of thoughts and reminiscing and rehashing of the past internally (in a way that is realistic to how we all dwell and obsess over the last), but after a while it got dull to read. It felt like too many times the characters thought about their insecurities and went over the same ground and we were waiting for them to have a conversation of for something, anything, to happen in this book. I feel like plot and events and story, were in some way sacrificed for deeper reflection and an exploration of character motivation, and to me, that doesn’t really make a compelling read or a rounded character. For example, I couldn’t really connect with Zoey because all I got was her TELLING me the negative way she saw herself, but the few interactions I saw her have with other characters, didn’t mesh with what she was saying. I feel like there could have been a bit more SHOWING. And I feel the same way about Sawyer.
I think the difficulty in connecting to the characters was also not helped by the alternating past and present chapters. They didn’t really allow me to sink into the plot and feel immersed in the story. Just as I would begin to connect with the character, I would be yanked out and thrown into another time with another emotion. The scenes with the caterer character just kind of felt out of nowhere and not cohesive. It just all felt very piecey to me and a little lacking in plot events and actions, and I think the premise was a fantastic one and could have carried a lot more events if it had been told in a linear fashion. There were so many things I wanted to know more about that were mere thoughts of a character or brief snapshot conversations.
I think there’s a lot of self-awareness and self-analysis in this book and it has a very heavy and emotional feel even though there’s also a lot of very witty dialogue (though not enough). I think where this book does best is in the depth of emotion and exploration of feelings and motivations of the characters. It felt very in-depth and comprehensive. I also liked the wit in the conversations and in the plot events when we got to see them. I wish there had been more dialogue and more action/events happening in this book. This also felt very much on the new adult spectrum to me. Being my first book by this author, I definitely want to check her out again to get a better sense of her books (as in the acknowledgments, she reveals that this flashback format was an experimental style for her). I enjoyed her wit and humour.
Content warnings for grief, loss of a parent, guilt and divorce.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Harlequin Books / Carina Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
firewhiskeyreader's review
4.0
This was my first Therese Beharrie, but it definitely will not be my last. I don't know that I've ever read a book with quite this mashup of tropes, which worked because we got to see, with a non-linear timeline, our main couple progress through so many stages of their relationship. It's difficult to review this book though because I don't want to spoil literally anything because seeing how things unfold was really, really magnificent. Kate Clayborn tweeted about this book actually, so go find her thoughts if you want someone to articulate well how skillfully Beharrie weaves this book together.
So what I am going to talk about is the feelings this book gives me. Second chance romance is a trope I really struggle with for multiple reasons, usually centered around forgiveness of the person who wronged the other. This book left me no room to not feel so deeply empathetic with Zoey, to not fully understand her decision to leave Sawyer, while also letting me feel the sense of betrayal Sawyer felt in the being left. These two beautiful characters love each other so much and you can feel that and you can see it. There's a deep sense of loss that both of them feel because they haven't been part of one another's lives for a couple of years. In other words, what I'm telling you is that if you want to feel all the things, pick up THIS book.
I will say that I think I would have loved this even more if I had read the first two books in the series first, but it did read just fine as a standalone.
Thanks to Netgalley and the Carina Press for the opportunity to read this beautiful book early! Now to go buy the first two books in the series...
So what I am going to talk about is the feelings this book gives me. Second chance romance is a trope I really struggle with for multiple reasons, usually centered around forgiveness of the person who wronged the other. This book left me no room to not feel so deeply empathetic with Zoey, to not fully understand her decision to leave Sawyer, while also letting me feel the sense of betrayal Sawyer felt in the being left. These two beautiful characters love each other so much and you can feel that and you can see it. There's a deep sense of loss that both of them feel because they haven't been part of one another's lives for a couple of years. In other words, what I'm telling you is that if you want to feel all the things, pick up THIS book.
I will say that I think I would have loved this even more if I had read the first two books in the series first, but it did read just fine as a standalone.
Thanks to Netgalley and the Carina Press for the opportunity to read this beautiful book early! Now to go buy the first two books in the series...
bandherbooks's review
4.0
Zoey Roux and Sawyer Wilson secretly got married six years ago, and it did not work out. Lingering grief issues and other complications could not stand up to Zoey and Sawyer's love. They broke apart, but never got divorced.
Now, thrown back together at Zoey's charity event, is is time for a divorce or a reconciliation?
Whew this is angsty. Flipping back to Zoey and Sawyer's early days of being married and to the present, watching these two hurt people find their love was emotional and ultimately fulfilling. Beharrie is a lyrical writer who makes you get down deep in the hurt but then always finds the light.
Also! This was open door! I've not read an open door Beharrie before and it was lovely and sweetly awkward (both characters are virgins on their wedding night).
CW pregnancy complications, grief
Thank you to the publisher for the ARC!
Now, thrown back together at Zoey's charity event, is is time for a divorce or a reconciliation?
Whew this is angsty. Flipping back to Zoey and Sawyer's early days of being married and to the present, watching these two hurt people find their love was emotional and ultimately fulfilling. Beharrie is a lyrical writer who makes you get down deep in the hurt but then always finds the light.
Also! This was open door! I've not read an open door Beharrie before and it was lovely and sweetly awkward (both characters are virgins on their wedding night).
CW pregnancy complications, grief
Thank you to the publisher for the ARC!
maliajackson's review
4.0
There's a lot going on in this book! It has two timelines with alternating chapters, a fake dating trope and a second chance trope because of a hasty marriage. All with the same couple! But it's very grounded in emotion, and even with all the tropes, it doesn't feel zany. What really resonated with me are the rash decisions people can make when they are struggling, and how people can beat themselves up for a long time instead of opening up to people who love them. I'm more interested in those ideas than the kinds of critiques they might get, i.e. "those actions were out of character" and "they could solve this with a simple conversation." Because real people aren't characters, and simple conversations are rarely simple when emotions run high! Ultimately this is a different type of romance than I usually reach for, but I'm glad I did. It's a story to remind us that love is worth struggling for, and that complicated people deserve love.
***Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing a copy in exchange for my honest review.
***Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing a copy in exchange for my honest review.
kjcharles's review
Good end to an excellent series. Zoey has been set up in the first two books as the irresponsible one of the Roux sisters, impulsive, reckless, and needing a keeper (a plot motivator of the first two books which show both her sisters struggling with responsibility in different ways). A couple of years on Zoey has grown up, and is starting to deal with her own issues, including the fact that she's got a secret husband her family don't know about. Oops.
It works really well. Both MCs are a bit of a mess and struggling to see where it all went wrong, and what part they played in that. There's a fair bit of angst, leavened with humour, and a really strong sense of this being a couple whose time has come: the reasons they didn't work before definitely don't have to stop them working now, and the reader has faith in the HEA. A terrific series with immensely likeable leads (of whom foul-tempered Sophia in book 2 remains my forever fave).
It works really well. Both MCs are a bit of a mess and struggling to see where it all went wrong, and what part they played in that. There's a fair bit of angst, leavened with humour, and a really strong sense of this being a couple whose time has come: the reasons they didn't work before definitely don't have to stop them working now, and the reader has faith in the HEA. A terrific series with immensely likeable leads (of whom foul-tempered Sophia in book 2 remains my forever fave).
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