I wanted to love this book, but it felt a bit off. The main characters were supposed to be teenagers, but were somehow written as way older and way younger at the same time. Somehow it was like half of their personality was too immature and the other half was too mature for their age. I loved the idea of it more than the execution.

I received this novel as an advanced reader copy from NetGalley. This cute YA rom com follows two rival bookstore employees who spend much of the novel bickering and prancing each other. Fun, quick read.

Thanks Netgalley and HarperTeen for the ARC!

This was a cute enemy to love story.

Madeline and Jasper work at competing bookstores that are right across the street from each other. Madeline's family bookstore is literally part of her family and she dreams to take over the store from her Aunt after college. Jasper's family just opened another franchise bookstore right across the street. The book takes us through how Madeline's deals with having a crush on the enemy.

Madeline works at her family’s struggling bookstore. Jasper’s family opens a chain bookstore across the street. Trying to one up each other, they start a prank war to take the other store out of business (there’s also a LOT of flirting). Meanwhile, Madeline is trying to save the family store from closing at the end of the summer, and keep her distance from her estranged mother.

This is probably the one of the best enemies-to-lovers I’ve ever read. They actually legitimately hated each other for a good half of the book, and their pranks were fun (well, until chapter 14. Yikes). I also liked how the main characters’ chemistry played out during that part of the book.

I didn’t particularly like the middle and end of the book. The middle was great. The story played out well after the first couple chapters. But the first couple chapters felt like an awkward rush to set up the story, and the ending was like an even more awkward rush to fix everything. Although I did like how things played out in the end for the Madeline’s family’s bookstore. It isn’t what you would expect.

The other issue I had was that I just didn’t particularly like Madeline. Usually I have to like the main character to like a book, but this case was an exception. She was pretty self-centered, and it was felt… weird? I don’t know. She constantly hated on her mom for being flaky and leaving to follow her dreams, but I feel like Madeline would just as easily do the same things. She just didn’t see it because her dreams were smaller scale. I get she really cared about this bookstore, but if anyone did anything that wasn’t completely pro-bookstore she would get so upset and in their face.

Jasper, on the other hand, is adorable. He’s charming and unique. I don’t know how to describe this, but his character was refreshing. Like he wants to go to fashion school. He wants a committed relationship. These aren’t usually things you see from a male character, and I really liked that. He didn’t fit into some box.

I did like that Madeline wasn’t a skinny girl and had a realistic body type—you can see on the cover. She was kind of insecure about it when she was feeling awkward which also felt realistic, but it wasn’t this huge thing.

Overall, I would really like to see the author grow more. This is her debut and I think she has potential. I didn’t love this book, but I did really like it.

Thanks Netgalley and HarperTeen for the ARC!

Rating: 3.5 Stars
Recommended for: enemies-to-lovers fans, book lovers
Warnings: kind of detailed sex scene and swearing

This is a super cute, inspired by You've Got Mail, story. Madeline and Jasper has really good chemistry and I really enjoyed reading their story. Being a bookstore person, I really enjoyed reading a love story set in my world.

This was a really cute story that had elements of You Got Mail and Shop Around the Corner and was just really fun to read. So much banter between Madeline and Jasper with their first meeting going really well with all the flirting until Madeline follows him to give him back his bag that he left at the register and then realizes that he works for the chain bookstore Prologue around the corner from her family’s indie bookstore Books & Moore. He is now the enemy and also responsible for the declining sales at the store even if he is really cute. They end up in a prank war, sabotaging each other but not doing any serious damage until Jasper gets hit by a car while crossing the street after one of Madeline’s pranks while he’s not hurt too badly she feels really bad that she caused this. This was a really fast read and I really love how antagonistic they were with each other which was just hiding how much they liked each other in a classic rom com fashion. Madeline has to work through her resentment/anger at her Mom who left her and her brother Benny when he was a baby with their Aunt Astrid to raise with the support of Benny’s dad. How she tries to give her mother one last chance to prove that she will stay like she says and not leave when she gets another job since she has been in LA working as an actress just not very successfully. I really love these cute indie bookstore YA novels. I think I’ve read 4 of them in the last year and I just can’t get enough of them. They are usually pretty predictable but that’s why I like them.

Thanks to HarperCollins Children's Books and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book in e-book form. All opinions in this review are my own.

Cute young adult contemporary about warring teen bookstore employees. Set in Pennsylvania, which I loved.

Madeline is an 18 year old manager of the small family bookstore with hopes to run the store one day after college. A fancier and more modern franchise bookstore moves in across the street (like, right across the street? rude) and when her aunt announces that the store is going to be shuttered, Madeline vows to do whatever it takes to keep the store open, including messing with the son of the bookstore owners next store, Jasper.

Madeline is an angry teen. There's a lot to be angry about, but she does tend to treat the people in her life pretty shittily. That being said, there's still plenty of humor and heart warming scenes throughout.

This book was the happy break I needed. With some major "You've Got Mail" vibes, Madeline and Jasper are adorkable together. I loved the exploration of self identity, self acceptance, and love (both familial, romance, and friendship).

This will definitely be shared with my students. Bonus material: average size body type (normalize normal bodies), POC love interest, several examples of non-traditional family structures. Loved this!!

I am obsessed with this book. Every single bookstore lover has to read this title! "Nothing will stop Madeline Moore from taking over her family’s independent bookstore after college. Nothing, that is—until a chain bookstore called Prologue opens across the street and threatens to shut them down. Madeline sets out to demolish the competition, but the guy who works over at Prologue seems intent on ruining her life. Not only is he taking her customers, he has the unbelievable audacity to be… extremely cute. But that doesn’t matter. Jasper is the enemy and he will be destroyed. After all—all’s fair in love and (book) war." Madeline-- not Maddie-- Moore is one of my favorite characters of 2021. She is strong but real. The way she feels and reacts are REAL emotions that teenagers show. I love the way the author incorporated her anxiety and self-image. This is an amazing book for all readers.

This is a very sweet, hilarious debut. It has a You've Got Mail vibe mixed with fandom shenanigans. I love Madeline and her friends as they try (unsuccessfully) to save her family bookstore. I would recommend this for fans of Jennifer Dugan and Becky Albertalli. I look forward to more from this author.

Last Chance Books
by Kelsey Rodkey
HarperCollins Children's Books
HarperTeen
Teens & YA
Pub Date 18 May 2021


I am reviewing ga copy of Last Chance Books through Harperteen and Netgalley:




Madeline Moore is not going to let anything or anyone stop her from taking over her family’s independent bookstore after college. But when a chain bookstore called Prologue opens across the street, the threatening of them having to close their family bookstore becomes real.




Madeline becomes determined to destroy the completion that Prologue has brought them, the guy at intent seems determined on ruining her life. The guy is not only taking her customers, but he has the audacity to be super cute.




But none of that matters, all that matters is Jasper is the enemy and he will be destroyed. Because all is fair in love, and in book war.



I’d recommend Last Chance Books for fans of Rom-Com, it’s a fun, fast paced, light read.



I give Last Chance Books five out of five stars!



Happy Reading!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read this book. I thought of this as a fun, easy read to escape reality, however, when I was done the book and had some time to think about it there were definitely some things that bothered me about it.

If you enjoyed You've Got Mail, then this is that story, re-told for this generation. Rival bookstores, playing pranks on each other to take the other store down. Books and Moore trying desperately to keep themselves afloat. I loved the ideas that Madeline came up with to keep her store open. Partnering with a food truck was genius and then the author visit and costume contest was so fun!

Overall, Madeline was horrible. She was pretty much the worst to everyone around her, including her family, and all she did was whine. She could not see beyond herself and her own desires (I guess that's pretty indicative of an 18 year old) and couldn't seem to fathom that her aunt was making the best decisions about the store and their finances as possible. I was flabbergasted that she couldn't accept that there was a legitimate reason that the store was going under and that it didn't have anything to do with the store across the street.

I wish we had learned more about Jasper. I loved his character and his interest in cosplay. That would have been such a fun part of the storyline but it was relatively minor and not truly focused on.

The entire thing with Madeline's mom was also weird. Her mother obviously did some horrible things to her children, constantly abandoning her kids and coming in and out of their lives. I could not understand why her aunt kept encouraging her to forgive her and think that this was any different. It was so bizarre that this trauma was ignored and almost glossed over by everyone around her.

There are definitely things that could have been handled better and Madeline as a character could have been much more likeable.

This is a cute rom-com set in the world of competing book stores. Madeline and Jasper are adorable and their banter is a delight to read. Overall, this is a cute read with some family issues brought up, including abandonment and loss. I adore a good enemies to more rom-com and this was a fun read. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

A very sweet remix on the classic You’ve Got Mail rival bookstore employees-to-lovers perfect for high school or college students to read. While it tries to dip below the surface for most of the main characters, it falls somewhat short, as most standalone romance novels do. I still very much enjoyed Zelda’s character and Jadeline’s romance arc.

AHHH! This is such an adorable enemy to lovers romance story! I always enjoy books about fellow book lovers. And the cover is so fun! Cannot wait to see this one out in the world!!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for the digitial ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Last Chance Books is the debut novel by Kelsey Rodkey. It tells the story of Madeline and Jasper, teens who work in rival bookstores across the street from each other. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, the setting, and the premise. It was as much about Madeline’s personal growth and saving her bookstore as it was about the relationship between the two main characters. Some of the pranks the characters played seemed a little over the top but not outside the realm of possibility with teenage characters. I felt that this book was an easy read that kept me turning the pages. I would definitely recommend this book for adults who enjoy YA and it would be appropriate for a more mature young adult audience.

Madeline just wanted to save her bookstore...what she didn't need was a swoony man interrupting her plans and derailing everything she worked for...especially when he comes from a rival store.

Last Chance Books is a light-hearted quirky read. I really loved the characters and bookstore rivalry and the overall flow of the novel. There was not a lot of character development in my opinion and some characters were just flat or stock, but overall it was a cute story.

There were some random times when Madeline would be self-conscious of her body and it felt detached from the main storyline, especially because it would drop in from nowhere. Not that it wasn't wrong, it just felt out of place in how the author merged it in with the plot. I would have liked to know more about Jasper's hobby and how it came to be. It felt a bit out of character in my mind and random.

I would definitely recommend this book though! It was the perfect cleanser between some heavier reads I have currently.

For the book nerds out there this was a fun adaption of You’ve Got Mail! Girl sees cute boy. Cute boy sees cute girl. Boy buys book from the girl. Boy walks across the street. Girl discovers boy works for the enemy—the big bad “box store bookseller.” And then the fun begins! Add in a little tragedy (Girl’s bookstore might have to close), a prank war, a best friend who is YouTube famous for geeking out over books... and there you have it a recipe for fun. The only way to know how the story ends—will the bookstore be saved and will girl get the guy? You have to read and find out!

Last Chance Books is You've Got Mail for Generation Z. Kelsey Rodkey's debut novel is a story about a quaint, family-owned bookstore that risks going belly-up after a rival bookseller chain moves in across the street and begins stealing their business. This funny story is perfect for book lovers of all ages, as well as older readers who enjoyed You've Got Mail and want to read a similar story written for the modern age.

Madeline Moore would do anything to save her family's bookstore - Books and Moore - including sabotaging the business of Prologue, the big box bookstore across the street. When Madeline learns that Jasper, the cute boy she has seen out and about, works for Prologue, the battle is on. Madeline and Jasper begin pranking each other, determined to discover which bookstore will come out on top, but they soon discover that being enemies with someone you are attracted to isn't the easiest thing to do ...

Last Chance Books is an entertaining romp into the world of bookselling and YA rom com. This multi-layered plot explores family ties and burgeoning young adult relationships, as well as what goes into running a successful bookstore. While the plot is intriguing, I didn't like the main character Madeline, who I found to be rude and insufferable. She is ruthless in her attempts to save her family's bookstore, and while that may be what it takes to get by in a dog-eat-dog world, it doesn't make for an endearing and relatable character. It is because of her character that I liked this book less than I feel I should have, leaving me feeling less than satisfied at the end of this otherwise cute novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collin's Childrens Books for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This is a cute story. Some of the pranking seemed a little far-fetched, but it mostly worked. I liked that Jasper wanted to do something unconventional for school and his family was actually ok with it. I didn’t LIKE that the bookshop didn’t make it, but I liked how people accepted that sometimes things don’t work out just how you had hoped and you can move on from that and be OK.