A review by _onemorechapter_
Final Offer by Lauren Asher

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad 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? No

4.25

𝑻.𝑾: Toxic Father, Psychological Trauma, Drinking Addiction, Addiction

"I dare you to wait for me. 
The real me. 
The sober me. 
The best me who wants to spend the rest of his days getting drunk on life with you."

💭This book is about the third Kane brother, Callahan, who, according to his grandfather's will, has to go back to Lake Wisteria and spend one last summer at the lake house before selling it. There is one complication Alana "Lana" Castilla, his childhood best friend and former love, the one he left six years ago is living at the house with her daughter Cami. She is not just living there but is also a partial owner, and he must convince her to sell it. She doesn't want him around her, let alone living there with her for the summer because of their rocky past, and he promises her that he will never return the day he leaves.
It is a billionaire, second chance romance with tension, banter, forced proximity, childhood friends to lovers, small-town romance, single parent, mutual pining, and the cutest kid ever!

This is not just a romance novel but a story of self-love and second chances. This is a story of how important it is to learn to love oneself before trying to love others and Lauren really took her time to show the challenge of that love from all the different angles.

Cal - Golden Retriever personality. My favorite Kane brother.  He was sarcastic and funny, but so loving and gentle (AND HOT). He's charismatic, actually laughs whenever he feels like it, smiles, wants to have a good time, hates working, hates corporate life, and isn't mean to anyone for the sake of being mean. He FEELS DEEPLY PEOPLE.
The way his character progressed throughout is amazing and commendable. Not only did he fight his inner demons but also bore the behaviour of the people in his surroundings (family people) which from my viewpoint is heartbreaking. But at the end of the day he survived and built his family and life from scratch. And taught us that there is always hope waiting for you. You just have to take a small step towards the light ray of hope- in order to thrive.
And HE READS!!

Alana - She’s an incredible woman(can use a gun, knows self-defence, and is a Spanish-speaking queen ), who’s so selfless, caring and loving, and who has been through a lot throughout her life. She’s an amazing person, who's willing to sacrifice herself to see the people she loves happy, especially when it comes to her daughter, Cami—who honestly, is a highlight and the star of the book. The mother-daughter relationship between them and how much they care for each other is beautiful.

CalAlana
You don't often see a connection so beautiful as the one Lana and Cal share. Their story is also about forgiveness, trust and healing. It is full of angsty, but also beautiful moments. I especially loved that they face very real and very difficult challenges with Cal's addiction. I don't often read about addiction in romance books and I think Lauren Asher did a great job writing about his struggles without making the book too heavy. 
They are both hurt by their past and can’t let it go, but at the same, they can't stay away from each other. Even while they’re trying to shut down their feelings for each other and to put some distance between them, fearing for the worst, it’s impossible not to hope for them to get together—not when their chemistry and interactions always feel so light and natural. Their fears—mostly hers—and hesitations are totally comprehensible and fair—which led to some painful scenes, but also made it delightful to see the way they both worked hard and put effort into making things right this time.
The spice was also written way better in this book, and the slow burn actually slowly burned. They didn't just do it the first time they finally got together. You actually had to WAIT to read about it after they were together-but-not a few times, which was more satisfying and made me more emotionally invested in them. You can tell Lauren Asher got better as these books went on with not just the spice, but the writing generally. 

Let's talk about Cami for a minute because she stole the show on many occasions and had me cracking up. She is the cutest, funniest and smartest kid there is. I loved seeing her scenes, seeing her the way she talked to and manipulated people, and, most of all, I love her relationship with her mother and her relationship with Cal—the amount of girl dad energy he gave and the father-daughter energy they had from the beginning were insane.

Also, the ending was written very well regarding tying up the loose end of Kane's dipshit dad Seth. Without spoiling anything, it was very satisfying how Lauren Asher pulled the brothers together in one last wish of their dead grandfathers to make an important choice TOGETHER. I think how they each acted fit their personalities well and stayed true to their character development. Lauren blesses us with little peeks of Rowan & Zahra and Declan & Iris, the perfect ending to conclude this dreamy saga and a very enticing tease as to what comes next!

Lastly, be sure to check the triggers as addiction plays a large role. I do, however, love how it was portrayed and wasn't glorified or romanticized.

𝐏.𝐒 End of a Dreamland Billionaire series and I enjoyed myself so much reading about the brothers and their woman. Now it's time for the Lakefront Billionaire series!

𝐏.𝐒.𝐒 EVERY SINGLE character in this book (and series TBH) has BOTH mommy and daddy issues!!

🔸𝑴𝒚 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
🔸𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: 4.23 (232705)
🔸𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆: Romance novel, Fiction, and Contemporary Romance
🔸𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒚: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
🔸𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔: Dreamland Billionaire (Book 3 )
🔸𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: Yes!!!

🔸 𝑭𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑸𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔:

“Falling in love with yourself is ten times harder than falling in love with someone else,”

“Sometimes it is those with the loudest voices who struggle the hardest.”

“You always deserved better than me.” I rip my arm free of his hold. “No. I deserved better from you.”

“I don't deserve you."
"Then become the man who does.”

“That’s the thing about falling in love. You don’t exactly expect it to happen until you’re crash landing into someone else’s arms, wondering how the hell you lost the battle against gravity in the first place.”

“You and Cami aren’t a deal. You two are a lottery jackpot, and it’s time someone treated you both that way.”

“I had lost my reason for getting sober in the first place.” Her brows furrow. “What? Money? Hockey? The will to live a normal life?” “You, Lana. I lost you.”

“It's the people we love the most who always hurt us the hardest.”

“Grief is a strange thing. It comes and goes, usually at the most inconvenient time, turning our lives upside down while we process the loss yet again.”

“I'm a nobody, Lana."
"You're somebody to me.”

“Trying and failing is better than not trying at all.” I’d rather fail time and time again than limit my options and fail anyway.”

“We’re a modern couple, Cal. He cooks. I watch. He cleans. I also watch.”

“You’re insane. No, Lana, I’m in love. There’s a big difference.”

“You should know by now I’d do anything for you.”

“I always thought we were meant to be. I might have screwed up the timing a bit, but that doesn’t change the fact that there is no one I want more in this world than you.”

“No matter how much I love him, it was and never will be enough so long as he doesn’t love himself.”

“Kissing Lana feels like the world started spinning again. Like I’ve been frozen in place until she reentered my life, tilting it back on its axis.”

“Apologizing doesn't mean anything when you have no intention of fixing the problem in the first place.”

“To show up for everyone else, I need to show up for myself first.”