I received this book for free (hey, thanks!) in exchange for an honest review. I promise that this does NOT affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. For real.
One Last Summer by Kate Spencer Genres: Adult, Contemporary
Published by Hachette on June 11, 2024
Also by this author: In a New York Minute
Format: eARC (320 pages) • Source: Publisher
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From the cohost of the award-winning Forever35 podcast comes a dreamy, laugh-out-loud summer romance that asks: What do you do when the life you've planned isn't what you've dreamed?
Clara Millen’s life is spiraling out of control: her dream job is a nightmare, she’s resoundingly single, and it’s been years since she’s taken some time off. Thankfully, the last problem she can fix—this year she’ll join her friends on their annual summer vacation to their beloved childhood sleepover camp for a much-needed escape.
But when Clara arrives at Pine Lake Camp, she faces yet another unwelcome change: the owners are retiring and selling the property. The news turns her plans for revelry into a night of reminiscing . . . and prompts a surprise heart-to-heart between Clara and Mack, her old camp nemesis and constant competitor, who's still just as annoying (and annoyingly handsome).
Soon the campfires aren't all that's throwing off sparks. And when one wildly passionate night turns into two (then too many to count!), Clara begins to wonder if she and Mack could have a future together. But when Clara's boss finally offers her everything she's worked so hard for, Clara will need to decide if the life she's always wanted is the life that makes her feel truly alive
I absolutely loved Kate Spencer’s first book and was soooo excited to read her sophomore novel, especially when I read the synopsis. I love a friend group coming back together and anything relating to summer camp! I actually had started this back in April and was really loving the first handful of chapters. I put it aside when I got home from Disney to read another highly anticipated release and picked it back up in early May. I was never motivated to read it unfortunately, even though I generally liked it when I did make myself start reading. Honestly it put me in a bit of a slump throughout the month but I’m glad I ended up finishing it.
Clara has missed the past few camp reunions at Pine Lake because of her busy job and life in the city. This year, however, her boss just requested in front of the whole company that she is suffering from burnout and needs a micro-sabbatical. There’s a huge pitch at work the following week that she needs to prep for so it couldn’t come at a worse time, but she IS ready to see her friends again.
The crew consists of Sam, Nick, Trey, Eloise (and her new boyfriend Linus), and (of course – her summer crush that still works at the camp) Mack. I guess I was kind of expecting HAPPY PLACE vibes here with the group of friends but it missed the mark a lot of the time. I liked the overall vibes, especially with Sam, but the others took a backseat (despite having a lot of things going on themselves that could have been explored).
Clara really annoyed me. I knew she was a workaholic and it would take time for her to settle back into life with her friends but she just never clicked with me as a main character. I didn’t care to read from her POV most of the time. On top of that, the romance didn’t do it for me. Mack was very annoying through the first half of the book and I didn’t feel the tension between them that has supposedly been there since they were fifteen. I knew there’d need to be a big turnaround for me to enjoy this relationship and it just didn’t happen. I cringed a lot and unfortunately didn’t care. (I know it’s funny for a MMC to call the FMC by her last name all the time but it genuinely made me forget what her actual name was and just didn’t do it for me.)
I wonder if my feelings would be different if I had just sat down and finished this one in a shorter time period instead of picking it up and putting it down. I think I missed a lot of the buildup and enjoyment because I read it in a few chunks with a ton of time in between.
All of that being said… I REALLY loved the final third of the story. There were a lot of positive realizations and it was written so well! I was pumping my fist for everyone at the end. This part of the book saved the reading experience for me, which was already tough to begin with. I’m glad I finished it, especially with the excellent ending, but unfortunately not a favorite. Still a good book that I would generally recommend!
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