I was unable to review this book because of a conflict in my schedule. Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused the publisher or the author of the work. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review for you and I look forward to reviewing for you in the future.

I had a hard time with this book. I find that writing a character and chronicling their addiction and road to recovery is a touchy subject. I enjoyed the beginning of this book. The set up of Rory's issues and continued drinking was interesting and that's where the book lost me. It spiraled into something that didn't really grab me. Now don't get me wrong, Nicole Field is a good storyteller, but I didn't plot and relationship subplot went well together.

One Last Drop is a f/f romance that tackles some big issues but ultimately left me unsatisfied.

The primary focus of the story is Rory's alcoholism and her ongoing recovery. It starts at Rory's first AA meeting which gives a pretext for the skillful delivery of a traumatic backstory without making the reader experience it directly. As a teetotaler, I appreciated the way the story highlighted the alcoholic culture not only of university life but of society more generally. There were also some poignant moments examining shame and the way this manifests--particularly in Rory's desire to keep her problem a secret and how this undermines her by depriving her of a support network.

However, the latter point was weakened somewhat by shallow characterisation. The close third-person perspective allows us to see what's going on for Rory, but the characters around her felt flat. Michelle in particular came across as less of a character to connect to and more as a role: that of love interest and mature role-model for Rory to potentially grow into. When the trauma in Michelle's background came up, it caught me by surprise, as there hadn't been any foreshadowing. Perhaps this was by design--people don't foreshadow their traumas in real life--but it left me feeling ambivalent.

The story takes a positive stance towards support groups and therapy, which I appreciated. I also liked the interplay between addiction and BDSM; Michelle is quite firm in not allowing Rory to avoid taking responsibility for her addiction by hiding in her new role as a submissive. Readers should not expect much in the way of onscreen sex. Instead, as is common for Field's stories, the scene fades to black.

All in all, One Last Drop had some elements I liked, but I feel it ultimately failed to live up to its potential.

The book description for One Last Drop immediately drew me in. I was intrigued by the possibilities of building a strong relationship when dealing with the hardships of addiction. There is some of that here but I felt the potential was never fully realized by the end of this story. Much of the book is immersed in Rory's inability to trust or even try to communicate with her loved ones about her struggles with alchohol and the fallout from the repercussions of partying. Then out of nowhere, another story arc of Michelle introducing Rory to BDSM. This sparked my interest but it fizzled much like the rest of the interesting points to the story. This ultimately became the theme of the book where there's a spark of interest and it just fades and fizzles out. The editor did not do this author any justice with frequent grammatical errors and the lack of encouragement to flesh out these characters with more vibrancy while connecting the story arcs more fully. The best part of this book really is the blurb and the cover.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35069648-one-last-drop" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="One Last Drop" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1497037283m/35069648.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35069648-one-last-drop">One Last Drop</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6878229.Nicole_Field">Nicole Field</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2056117897">2 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I rec'd an ARC from NetGalley/Less Than Three Press in exchange for an honest review. <br />This was described as an erotic romance with BDSM but did not deliver. I couldn't get attached to characters Rory and Michelle as the storyline seemed wanting however, I appreciated the way that alcoholism was dealt with. A missed opportunity Ms. Field. <br />2 stars.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/31134832-gail">View all my reviews</a>

I thought this book had ton of potential, but didn't quite live up to it. The premise had me immediately interested. A young women, dealing with alcoholism, meets a dominant women who enjoys BDSM. Not that I think BDSM is the cure to alcoholism, but I thought back to the one addiction I dealt with, smoking. If ten years ago when I quit smoking... it might have been a lot easier knowing I had something so intense to keep my mind off of picking up a cig. Knowing there could be a reward system in place, if I kept from smoking. Of course this is a whole "with if" in my mind, but I think I might have quit a lot faster had it been the case:) I really wanted to see how the author might choose for these circumstances to play out. Unfortunately, it just was not the case at all.

In fact, this is the first BDSM book I have read that had no BDSM. It was talked about yes, but all the sex scenes were the fade to black kind. I don't mind a book that is that way, but I prefer steamy sex scenes, especially if it is a BDSM book. I didn't know you could write a BDSM book with no BDSM. And honestly, LT3P should change its warning because there is no explicit content in this book. This book does deal with the tough subjects of addiction and sexual abuse, but it has no explicit content.

If I took out my disappointment for no BDSM and the premise not being what I thought, I still liked parts of the book. I think it did a good job of portraying someone with little self confidence, and how hard it was for them to distance themselves from poisonous people. How drinking so much until you black out, is a possible way for a woman to become a target of sexually assault. As I said before, this deals with some tough subjects, and definitely choked me up a few times.

The copy I got for an ARC, was not a finished copy. There was still a lot of editing mistakes. There were times the characters contradicted themselves, that was obviously editing issues. LT3P, has good editors, so I'm hopeful this book will be much more cleaned up before print. I did not take into account the editing mistakes in my rating, because I believe it will be fixed.

I think this book could have been something very special and unique, I'm disappointed to say it did not get there. Don't buy this looking for BDSM. Buy this if you are interested in reading the struggles of a college age alcoholic. The book was good for what it was, it just could have been great.

An ARC was given to me by LT3P, for a honest review.

An okay read, but just not for me. I couldn't get into the story

The surest way to piss me off as a reader is to lead me to believe a story contains certain elements and then not deliver. As is what happened in this instance.
One Last Drop contains some explicit content and features BDSM.
When I saw the content warning I was all over this story. Now, I'm literally 'over it.' There are two scenes that hint at BDSM and then fade to black, so who knows what they entailed, other than copious orgasms!
"On the bed," she told her girlfriend, and Rory leapt to obey.

Afterwards, Michelle held Rory in her arms as the shuddering shakes of multiple orgasms slowed and her body gradually returned to normal.

"This is what we call aftercare," Michelle said.
Don't get me wrong I have no issue with fade-to-black scenes and don't need sex in a story to enjoy it, but don't label a book as containing explicit content then leave the reader to fill in the blanks. Honestly, I still want to know what is deemed explicit? If someone can tell me, please do.

The mention of 'rape' more so the situation/s didn't bode well with me. How is it that after a night of drunken sex, with a man, who Rory can't remember consenting to, she cries Rape. Yet when she repeats the same self-destructive behaviour, two weeks later, and wakes up in bed with a woman, she doesn't do the same? Double-standards, much!

I don't want to downplay Rory's experience BUT firstly, there's not enough on-page information to call either situation rape. And secondly, if she's going to do so, at least recognise the fact both men and women are capable of rape.

I'm giving this story two stars for addressing the topic of alcoholism.

I received an ARC, from the publisher, Less than Three Press, via NetGalley.