What if you only had one last kiss with the person you love? ♥️ Thank you for the ARC Netgalley.

This book has a good premise — heartbroken firefighter & father meets young damsel in distress and falls for her while struggling to admit it and commit. Funny side characters, the twin girls were adorable, and steamy ending 🔥 I felt that it was slow to get there. I didn’t go for the back and forth POVs between Rian & Parker. I feel like the struggle was dragged out way too long. It felt like it took forever to get over the hang ups. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Read this if you like ⤵️

💋Two Character POV
💋 Age Gap Trope
💋 Funny Side Characters
💋 Steamy Slow Burn Romance
💋 Firefighter Love Interest
💋 Love After Heartbreak

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
One Last Kiss by A.S. Kelly

I have not read the previous books in this series, but I don't believe it was necessary to read them to understand this book. I didn't have any issues with the writing and the story, overall, was good. But, for me, this issue was Parker and Rian's age difference because this was the second time he was falling for a girl in her late teens. Once is one thing, twice is kind of creepy. So, in my mind, to enjoy this story, I had to make him not 20 years older than her. I thought Niall and Tyler's back and forth conversations with Parker in this story added fun.

I want to fist say thank you to the author and NetGalley for giving me the eARC. The cover of the book is beautiful, but I didn't expect the book to be an age gap. let's talk about the book, she is the babysitter and she is 19 years old! 19! and he is 41 years old, I love age gaps I have no problems with them but this is already too much. She hasn't grown up, she's a baby yet, she hasn't experienced life yet for her to be with an older man. That part of the book annoyed me a bit, and I did not let myself enjoy the book well because I was aware of that. Rian and her daughters were cute, that I did like. And the book is not bad, it just that the age gap makes it very difficult to like.

This was a DNF for me. I had trouble following it because of the lack of dialogue tags. I couldn’t keep track of who was speaking. Also, there didn’t seem to be any obstacles. (Maybe some developed after the point where I stopped reading.) Both characters were into each other and there was nothing stopping them from being together.

Had to give this 2 stars as it’s a DNF for me, disappointed since it sounded like a fun romance. However I didn’t find the big age gap worked so I found it hard to cheer on the romance. This is just my personal opinion.

DNFed at 40%.

Unfortunately, this book just did not click with me. I thought that the idea was cute, but each of the character's narrations were so awkward and took away from the story, I hoped that more would have happened before I stopped reading.

Parker's chapters seemed to have a lot of strange asides, and he directed comments toward the reader multiple times, one of which he called us "reader" explicitly. It felt a little off for me, and almost as though he was talking down to us because he had to explain what just happened. He even explained italics being thoughts and not words said aloud and that was enough for me(being mansplained to in real life is enough).

To be fair, the writing was really easy to read, and I was flying through it, but the characters just weren't very likeable, in my opinion. Part of me wants to find out what the big rescue part is, but I just can't bring myself to continue at this point.

Parker and Rian have the odds against them in this age gap romance. Parker plays the part of the sexy single dad. Rian develops an easy bond with his two adorable daughters. This book is steamy and filled with lots of will they won’t they attraction. Unfortunately, I found myself drifting a lot during the story, and the plot and the writing weren’t enough to keep me engaged.

The idea of this story is one that excites me and pulled me in - I usually enjoy an age gap ( when done well! ) and especially love when single parents are part of a story. I found the relationship between Rian and her brother different and fun. However, this book just didn’t do it for me. Not only is there a problematic nod toward Parker’s habitual inclination toward young women, but it is pushed further with what seems like some consent issues. On top of that, the dialogue is difficult to follow and often overused with redundant adjectives to describe Parker’s personality and disposition. There are so many characters and not enough that individualizes them from one another. Throughout the story, there is frequently an overwhelming sense of doom or tragedy that never quite gets explained and way too many acknowledgements of the reader. I enjoyed the way this was written in two POVs and the twins were an incredibly fun zest to add to this story. In fact, the twins were my favorite part of the story.

Storyline: 3/5
Originality: 3/5
Characterization: 2/5
Quality of Writing: 2/5
Overall: 2.5/5

I would not recommend this book to my friends, but so wish I wanted to. The makings of an all consuming story are here… the execution is just all wrong.

** spoiler alert ** DNF - Shelved at 33%

*Review contains spoilers*

I saw this on NetGalley and really liked the sound of the synopsis. I love some mutual pining. In hindsight I probably shouldn't have read it immediately after 'The Best Man', but in my defence I didn't realise it was the same author until the middle of the first chapter. Halfway through said chapter, I began to have serious deja vu.

I will say this, A S Kelly has quite an identifiable writing style. Unfortunately it just isn't for me. There's a heavy imbalance between dialogue and inner voice. And SO much waffling. I think it's meant to come across as banter, but it really needs editing down, as it doesn't always feel authentic, and often detracts from the overall narrative to the point of irritation, or even boredom. And then we get paragraphs like this one:

'I push open the front door with my shoulder and slam it closed behind me, gathering up the post from the doormat, which I just managed to step on, and flick listlessly through it. The usual. I head over to the kitchenette and leave the pile of mail on the table, before opening the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water. I unscrew the cap and take a few sips as I head over to my bedroom –or, rather, the part of my studio flat which contains my bed. I have no idea if you could call it a bedroom, but that’s always the first word that comes to mind.'

It's all so wordy. Yet adding nothing to the story.

Which brings me to the actual story. The blurb (again, overly wordy) makes it out to be about a woman with a long-standing crush on guy who is emotionally unavailable, and a guy who reciprocates the crush, but is still scared of commitment. It sounded like the sort of story i'd enjoy, so I dove in excitedly.

We're 20% in before we're told it's a 19 year old crushing on a 41 year-old man, and this is not long after what, in hindsight, feels like an almost predatory interaction between them.

Now, i'm not averse to age-gap romances if they're done sensitively (and are advertised as such). Unfortunately, this was neither. I can't even fathom why it was necessary for there to be such an age gap between Parker and Rian. You could have had exactly the same story with Rian being in her twenties and Parker late twenties/early thirties. Nothing about the overall plot or character narrative would have been affected. I just didn't buy their relationship at all. In fact, it all just felt a bit seedy, especially when we learn from his brother that he got, and I quote, '...a girl pregnant just after her eighteenth birthday...' when he would have been around 34. After that revelation I just didn't want to read anymore, but I persevered. The point where i'd had enough was at the wedding, where everyone was egging them both on. It just felt ludicrous that not one single person raised concerns. That just didn't read as realistic. Of course age isn't always a factor, but not one single family member issuing caution, especially after Parker's previous relationship? Not buying it. So I shelved the book.

One star for the cute cover design though.

I'm afraid this will be the last story I bother reading by this author. Life is just too short to wade through stories you don't really enjoy and/or frustrate you this much, sorry.

There are many good things in this book .The age gap wasn't one of them, not because of the number-age but because Rian didn't look, didn't act, and definitely didn't speak like someone in their nineteen to twenties.
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Her character seemed to me the best in the book, discounting Parker's daughters. She is an independent woman with her own business, hard-working and much more mature than the rest of the characters, her age or little experience in certain subjects seemed implausible to me.
Parker on the other hand I found it exhausting, each step forward added two backwards and I found it incoherent in his dialogues.
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There are a lot of twists and turns before they can get anywhere important and I think it could do best with some cuts.
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Despite this it is a good book, a romance between a strong and independent woman who agrees to take care of the daughters of the brother of a friend of her brother who turns out to be the firefighter who helped her a few months ago to get out of an accident and keep a secret.
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The chemistry between the two is very good and the scenes where they interact are enough to hook any reader
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Thanks to A. S. Kelly and Xpresso Book Tours for give me this book reading in exchange for my honest opinion

I liked the intent of this book and the place that was set seemed very charming. I enjoyed the characters and specially the children and the friendships. Parker was so moody and overbearing at times it was almost insufferable. And I felt that they needed more plot points than the “will they or won’t they” or at least more reasons to explore around it. It just felt redundant at times like I was reading the same dialogue in a different chapter. Overall I enjoyed the story and felt that the angst could have been abridged to get to the outcome. I liked the resolution and thought the ending with the daughters was really sweet.

I received an advanced copy for an honest review.

It was an okay read. I want to say this is a sweet story, mostly PG-13 on heat level until closer to the end when it heats up. Rian is a very young woman who's had a crush on an older man, there's a 20+ year difference so she's felt that she can't make any moves. Parker is a father of twin six year old daughters that are a handful! Because of because he's a divorced single father he doesn't feel that he has the right to go after someone who's so young. Most of the book I felt that both H an h were immature on the relationship from, very awkward. I felt that the banter didn't come of as funny as I had hoped but there was humor and I did enjoy the interactions between the characters I just expect a little more comedic flow in a rom com. On the whole it was a fine storyline, not a bad read.

what a disappointing one. i was so very excited about single father parker, who's got his walls up, with twin daughters who falls in love with his babysitter, rian, who his daughters are fond of and she seems fond of them too. bonus: she's been yearning for him for so long! like, what an exciting plot, right?! spoilers to follow, i'm sorry... i know i usually don't but ugh.

*spoilers in depth below, read at your own risk*

unfortunately, the book fell flat when you learn parker is 41 and rian is... 19. the age gap was incredibly unnecessary and as i read it, rian (or parker) doesn't really read like their age. rian reads like she could be anywhere from 22 to 27. she's got her life so figured out and from what i remember being 19, i don't remember being that mature or ready for life. i'm pretty sure no one would have fainted or dropped dead if she were just 25. (i promise 25 is not that old) parker also doesn't read like a 41 year old, neither do his other 40-something year old friends. it was all such a weird dynamic. it was all sort of confusing and had me questioning what the deal was with this old man not being able to find anyone his own age. i hardly have anything i can talk to my 18 year old cousin as a 26 year old so what does a 41 year old have to talk about with a 19 year old besides how much she's been a dream for him for so long and that he's the first man she'll be with? so so weird and predatory. parker read more like someone who could be in his 30's while rian read more like she could be in her mid 20's. i don't see why she HAD to be 19.

another odd part of the plot that just adds to the mix: parker claims he has to be protective of his heart as well as his daughters. so why does he not even think of his daughters or how he'll tell them about his relationship with her after having slept with rian? no matter how many pretty words are written into his character, there's no way it doesn't come off weird.

the writing wasn't all that bad but it was so very hard to look past that age difference. the only thing about the writing that made me cringed is that at various points from rian and parker's narrations, they speak directly to the reader. i don't need any conversation from them, i just want a story. this was also the 3rd book in kelly's series and when i read 2nd or 3rd books in the series, it makes me wanna read the ones before but this one did not make me interested in tyler (parker's brother) or niall's (tyler's best friend) story. and not because of this disappointing book but because they didn't seem very likable to me. they were annoying and childish for 40 year olds. they all need to grow up and parker forsure needs therapy for himself and his daughters. an overall yikes for me. rian, please run.

An easy read with short chapters.

Things I loved about this book.

✨ Parker the Irish Firefighter - I mean, need I say more?!
✨ Niall the heroines brother was hilarious. He and Tyler, as well as the rest of the supporting characters, have great banter which I loved.
✨ Parkers adorable twins and their relationship with both Parker and Rian, I loved every scene with the girls.

Not sure how I feel about the age gap. I think if Rian wasn’t as mature as she was it might have bothered me but she seemed much more mature than her years.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this access.

This is not a spoiler free review.

Honestly, I wanted to like this book. At times it was nice and fun, but most of the time I was cringing so hard.

1. The main characters are 21-22 years apart in age. I don't mind big age gaps, but she was 19 and he was 41. And she barely knew what she was getting into with him.

2. Their "meet cute" was not cute. He basically arrives at her apartment during an extremely vulnerable moment, and then kisses her to help her feel better? And then uses that to talk abojt how he's been obsessed with her since that moment.

3. God, the dialogue was so cringey. Parker was all about making his sex feelings Rian's problem even if he would backtrack and say they could move at her pace.

4. The man doesn't know what he wants despite being so much older. And honestly, Rian is a saint for wanting to stick around after all the nonsense he pulls.

Not very well written and at times confusing. The story wasn't particularly well done either. Not a fan.

One Last Kiss is a slow-burn romance - with a steamy sex scene. The romance described features a large age gap (21 years) and is told in 2 POV. What I liked about this story is that we got to read the points of view of both the main characters. I enjoyed reading of the secondary characters as well. The interaction between the characters is lifelike. I personally enjoyed the addition of a child as one of the characters in the story.

1 STAR
(the only thing I liked about this book is the cover)

• The BIGGEST problem in this book is the dialogue. a) too much of it (dozen of pages at a time without any breaks or specification as to who’s speaking); b) it reads super stiff, awkward and repetitive (like that’s not how people talk in real life).
• Characters have little to no inner thoughts. This book is 99% dialogue and 1% self-pitying thoughts.
• Character’s ‘voices’ are too similar to distinguish between them.
• If this is a standalone, then conflicts needs more explanation/backstory.
• Niall being bullied for laughs is not cute.
• It take FOREVER for anyone to get to the point- there are so many crutch words it gets annoying real quick
• Chapters are too short, too choppy (15% in and already chapter20???)
• Hello, dear reader, The Main Conflict couldn’t come to the phone because it’s too freaking weak to even move. He wants her, he dreams about her, but he’s not doing anything because…another 18yo he was involved with left him and their twins? She wants him, dreams about him, but she not doing anything other than feel sorry for herself because…he’s a dad and he had his heart broken. Okay, book, sure.
• !!!!!Problematic consent acknowledgement followed by sweeping it under the proverbial rug
“ ‘You kissed me!’
‘I did.’
‘Without my consent!’
‘You’re right.’
‘You took advantage of my vulnerability.’
‘That’s not true.’
‘I never asked you to kiss me. I asked you for help! And you…made me confused. You’ve flipped everything upside-down!’ ”
Jesus take the freaking wheel cuz I’m thinking of jumping out if this train wreck.
• Ughhhh the angst is recycled in two of the following ways:
Him: You’re so beautiful, so beautiful I think about you all day and night and want to kiss you…god, sorry. Don’t know what came over me. You’re young, too young. And beautiful.
Her: I want one last kiss. I know I’m too young and please kiss me and then I’m running away because you’re a MAN and have kids and issues and I want you so bad. Kiss me.
• the hero (who is a firefighter) responded to a call made by the heroine who slipped and broke her shoulder while getting out of the shower (aka, sis was obv naked). He comes in, tells her he’s keeping his eyes closed to make her feel better, but she’s crying (cos, ya know, broken bones and whatnot) and our hero — get this: he fucking kisses her. Excuse you? What the hecking heck. Is that supposed to get me hot? Especially since we’ve established that the heroine labels it as an non-consensual act above.
This is how the hero refers to that scene:
“ ‘She was trying not to cry from the pain, and she was so embarrassed and I…I kissed her.’ ”
• we get it book: she’s nineteen- almost twenty! - and he’s a forty-one year old divorcee. Age gap. Gap age. Old-young. Age shmage. Stop hitting me over the head with it since NEITHER mcs finds that hot. It’s just another thing to cringe at.
• RED FLAG ALERT! he spies on her for hours after seeing her go to work with a dude then he goes to her place to confront her about it RED FLAG ALERT!
• Oh, hi there third act conflict that dropped out of the sky with the same grace of a piano smashing the ground. How you doing?

This was a fast and easy read about a young woman just new to the dating scene and the handsome, older fireman and single dad that she's been interested in for months and hasn't had the courage to speak up about her feelings to him. She ends up being recruited by her brother to babysit his twin girls for the night and as things progress, Mr. Fireman starts to fall more and more for the woman who's caring for his daughters. This story is about learning to trust again, taking a chance on love, and following your dreams even when you can't guarantee that everything will work out perfectly.

While I'm not a huge fan of the age gap romance, especially when there's over 20 years between them (that just seems like a lot by today's modern standards and it was hard to overlook that she's closer in age to his daughters than him). Once he learned how little dating experience she had, he stepped back and became the considerate gentleman that she needed him to be. I appreciated that he checked in with her a lot and made she sure was ok with everything in their relationship as it progressed.

This was the first book I ever read by this author and it took me a little while to catch on that this was the third in a series (since it's listed like a standalone on goodreads). However, once I got all of the characters straightened outI could sit back and enjoy the story. This was a fast and lighthearted romance story. I enjoyed reading the Irish and British sayings that showed up in the dialogue. There's humor to this story as well as supportive, uplifting friendships which I always appreciate!

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this story. All thoughts are my own.

Rhian is a young 19 year old not looking for love but when 40 year old Parker is a single dad of twin girls saves her during an accident, things start to heat up and the tendon between them runs high. No one is willing to make the first move because they are both scared.
With the help of friends and siblings, they try to find a happy medium of where they can move on from their pasts.
This book was good but felt long and more fluff than needed to be. I loved the age gap was both respected by the characters and didn’t feel awkward. I do wish they had more character development from Rhian just felt her character was a bit dry.

Ughh im so upset, I hate having to DNF romance books but this one just was not doing it for me. I don’t know what it was but the writing style was not great and was annoying me and so were both of the main characters. They felt off, awkward, had no chemistry although it was written like they were supposed to be having some amazing sparks, and it felt like the author both wrote too much of ‘useless’ information but also cut out passages that established where we were and how we got there. I didn’t read enough to get to the romance unfortunately to comment on that. Don’t mind me whilst i go be sad about this ruining my streak of 5star reads.


Thank you to Xpresso Book Tours for providing me with the eArc through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review .

#NetGalley #OneLastKissLoveAtLast