This was a good story. I liked the relationship of Rian with the twins.
There seems to be some backstory for the relationships of the characters, but it wasn’t really touched upon, so I was kind of in the dark.
The age gap didn’t bother me, although it was definitely a significant gap.
This definitely could have been shorter without all the rinse and repeat scenes that seemed to make it drag a little.
Overall, the story was good, it just needs some fine tuning in the execution.

I really wanted to love this book. I thought it was a cute storyline and the kids were super cute! However, I have to admit that it fell a little flat for me. The biggest issue I had with the book was that there were so many quotations that weren't marked by who was speaking. It was confusing and left me rereading passages several times before understanding what was going on. I also thought that the age gap was a little unnecessary. It wasn't a deal breaker for me, but I do wish Rian had been a little older. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy!

2.5/5 stars rounded up.

I feel like there was so much potential for this book, but I had such a hard time connecting with it. I liked Rian and the age gap with Parker didn’t bother me. It was bothersome that Parker’s first love interest was also barely 20…yikes! Also, the men were supposed to be late-30’s/early 40’s but they acted pretty immature most of the time.

The twins were precious and I adored their relationship with Rian! Iran’s friends were fun and funny, especially Anya.

I like a angst, slow-burn romances, but this one dragged on for me. There was too much back-and-forth of the little moments and the “big” conflict felt rushed. At times, the character would address the reader and it just seemed odd and out of place.

This is part of a series that can be read as a stand-alone, but there wasn’t a lot of backstory of the secondary characters so reading the other books first would help (I have not read them). I would have preferred to see a little backstory thrown in to refresh previous readers and to give new readers a better understanding.

It’s a decent read and I didn’t hate it but I also didn’t love it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this book, but it became tedious with all its repetition. The premise is that Rian, a 19-year old cute yoga instructor has fallen for Parker, a guy who is more than twice her age. Parker is a hunky fireman and the father of cute six-year girls. He’s just exceptionally grumpy because he blames himself that his ex decided that she didn’t love him and abandoned him and the little girls. The protagonists have some cheerful friends and relatives who realize that they should be together and keep plotting to match them up.

So we have basically the same scene over and over again. Either Parker or Rian’s brother jokes around while trying to bring them together. Parker says something grumpy to them and then admits that he’s very attracted to Rian. Rian is attracted to him. The little girls adore Rian. She is the dream babysitter for Parker’s daughters and he’ll compliment her and tell her that he wants to kiss her. Then one or the other of them will apologize and leave. Then they’ll be tormented until one of their relatives brings them together again so the whole scene can be repeated.

I got very tired of almost the same conversation being duplicated over and over again. The author is trying for some cutesy humor, but it just got tiresome.

And that is not even getting into the fact that he was more than 20 years older than she is and none of their friends or family seem to even notice that or think it might be an issue. I’m not thrilled with the idea of a woman 19-years old marrying a guy who’s over 40 without having at least been out in the dating world for a bit of time. I’m not even sure why the author chose that. This book could have been exactly the same if Parker were ten years younger.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

Amazing! It was such a fun and romantic history. I loved the age difference and I loved how the actor handled well the relationship.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!
-----
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. Unfortunately, the age gap was a little too much for me to get behind. Especially when I realized it wasn't a one time thing for Parker. As a reader, I wanted to be able to get behind a happily ever after where there would be a family unit, but in the end, there were just too many things working against it for it to work for me.

I loved this book! I loved the strained relationship between Rian and Niall, I loved the supportive and loving friendships between all the characters, the father/daughter bond was so so sweet. Niall was a hoot! I loved his and Parker's banter throughout and I literally laughed out loud, which doesn't happen often. I was forever kept on the edge of will they/won't they, and the steam when they do...perfect.

The only thing I will say is that I had to keep reminding myself it was set in Ireland. I kept getting the vibe it was set in America.

This was my first time experiencing a A.S Kelly book and I will continue to read her books!

Thank you NetGalley, Xpresso Book Tours, and A.S. Kelly for an arc of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 2/5
Expected Publication: August 20, 2021

I’m going to be completely honest. This book just wasn’t for me. I tried so hard to like this book, but I couldn’t do it. My biggest issue? The age gap romance trope. I couldn’t get on board with it, no matter how hard I tried! And trust me, I tried. Sometimes I can read books with that trope, but this wasn’t one of them. Also, I felt like mistakes by the main characters were being repeated constantly to the point where I got bored with the love story.

Not everything was horrible, though! Parker’s twins were the highlight of my read. They were so cute and funny! I haven’t read a book where I actually don’t get annoyed with the main character’s kids, so I was glad the twins didn’t disappoint me. Overall, I gave this book two stars because even though I didn’t really like this book, it did have moments that made me laugh.

Unfortunately I couldn't get past the age gap. 19 year old female with a 41 year old man. Technically legal but makes me cringe. I also felt like reading the previous books would have given me more insight into the characters.
Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I will begin by saying that I really loved the authors writing style and that, while I haven’t read any of her other books, I believe that they could be really good. This story, however, just did not do it for me. The age gap was really uncomfortable to me. If Parker had gone for a younger girl one time, it wouldn’t have bothered me so much, but this was the second time this much older man dated a barely adult woman. Also, the fact that he was dispatched to help her after a fall in the shower a few months prior and ended up kissing her naked was really uncomfortable to me. She was alone, in pain, and incredibly vulnerable in that moment and instead of coming off romantic to me, it came off creepy and inappropriate to me.

I will give this author’s other books another try, but this book was not my favorite. I feel like a trigger warning should be included at the beginning of the book for anyone who may be triggered by the things I mentioned above.

Thank you for access to this book and I look forward to reading and reviewing more in the future.

I wish I had read other books in the series prior to this one because it may have given some of the other characters some context. However, overall this was really fun and steamy! I enjoyed the author's writing style as well. In terms of cons though-- I'm not sure I could totally get over the age gap... 19 year old and a 41 year old was, while technically consensual, still a bit icky for me to read. This was hard for me to get through because I kept coming back to feeling icky about that.

I really wanted to like this book, honest to God. It was tagged as humor romance which are two of my favorite genres ever. But.
I couldn’t really connect with any of the characters, or the relationships. The whole time I was reading the book I had this strange, dull reaction to anything that happened and frankly, I didn’t enjoy it at all. Which is a bummer, because the cover and the main plotline seem like easy hooks.
2 stars because it went on fairly rapidly, and well, I didn’t exactly HATE it, even if I didn’t like it as much:(.
Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the eARC.

✨One Last Kiss by AS Kelly✨
⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟

One Last Kiss was a really moving romance between a young woman near 20 and a divorced 41 y/o father of 6 year old twin girls. The love between Rian and Parker is steamy but not lacking in the drama department as Parker struggles to let down his walls and open himself up to the idea of love after being left by the woman he pledged himself to when his girls were barely a year old. Their relationship has its’ ups and downs but it is certainly well worth the read. The support and pushing of their respective, intertwined family and friends are a great comedic element to an all around good story. Would recommend for anyone looking for age gap romance that’s super quick to read, 500 pages done in barely a day in a half!

Sibling bickering - ✅
Steamy MCs - ✅✅
HEA - ✅✅✅✅

I have not read the other books in the series but would certainly consider if after this!

I really wanted to like this one. The cover is adorable, the synopsis sounded great. I liked the general cast of characters, I just had one too many issues with the two main characters to truly like this book.

I'm not a huge fan of the age gap trope, it's not off putting to me and it can certainly turn out a good book. Unfortunately in this case Parker's romantic history in addition to this current attempt at a relationship gave me major red flags.

Most romance novels have some back and forth, drama, BIG drama, huge event that will eventually be solved. This one had so many I lost count.

I'll be completely honest here.
I requested this book without knowing much and I did it because the cover was so damn cute and I loved the synopsis, specially since I love single parent trope.
However, at the very beginning I couldn't get hooked into the story. I don't think the writing was my style, in a way I wasn't persuaded to keep writing, so I unfortunately have to make this as "did not finish".
Thank you so much for the opportunity of reviewing this.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I DNF'd this which I hate doing with ARCs.

The amount of talking-head-syndrome in this novel made it honestly unreadable for me. There would be almost entire pages of just dialogue, with almost no tags to indicate who was saying what, and no description to ground the characters in space and time. I've also associated this writing weakness with new writers, but A.S. Kelly has a pretty long list of writing credits, so I'm not sure what happened here.

So I have to admit to some bias here as my family is from Ireland but I thought the story was absolutely delightful! There were some references to Irish culture and sports that American readers might not pick up on right away but that did not distract from this adorable story. The main couple are worth rooting for. You truly want them both to be happy.
I had not read the other books in the series prior to this one. But I immediately went back and got the other two books to read Niall and Tyler‘s stories! I would definitely recommend this to anybody looking for a book with HEA! #Netgalley

2.5/5 I really struggled with this book. It is the part of a series (the third) and I wonder if I had read the prior two if I would have felt more in tune with the story. It felt like there was back story of many characters that I just didn't get.

The banter in this book is interesting and I found I really enjoyed the side characters. Parker's twin girls kept me laughing. They were precocious and funny. I also found Rian's brother, Niall, funny and the kind of person you love to be annoyed with. It was these side characters that kept me pushing through the book.

This book had a lot of back and forth, will they or won't they, and it was a bit much for me. When Rian and Parker do get together though, it was pretty explosive. Though I did find myself struggling with the age gap (her 19, him 41, but that is just a personal preference) between the two.

One pet peeve in books is when the fourth wall is broken and the character speaks directly to the reader. This happened on more than one occasion in this book and it just didn't work for me. I am not going to give up completely on A.S. Kelly and am going to try out another of the books in this series, but I am not sure that this author is for me.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and the publisher for an open and honest review. All opinions are 100% mine.

I am so grateful to have read an early copy of this book!

From the first page I was already in love with the dialogue. It's witty and realistic and so enjoyable to read. I especially liked the sibling banter because that is exactly how I talk to with my own siblings. All of the relationships in this book felt so natural and realistic. Every character felt fully formed.

Having mostly dialogue (as opposed to description, internal monologue, etc.) is such a different writing style than what I am used to, but I absolutely loved it. Definitely a testament to how great/strong the writing skills are.

This was my first experience reading a A. S. Kelly book and I will definitely be checking out more and adding a new addition to my "favorite authors" list.

Thank you for approving my request to receive an early copy for review.

I will not be finishing this book as I could not connect with the way the story was written. There was something about the writing style in general I didn’t like.
The character Rían broke the fourth wall in a sense when she mentioned Parker was the guy she was talking about ‘a few pages ago’.
I’m not a fan of that. It may be picky, but it just isn’t something I like.

Upon reading a review, it dawned on me that the age gap is astronomical. Rían is 19, which makes sense as to how she spoke about her brother and his friend, and Parker is in his 40’s and last relationship was with someone who was 18 at that time. It makes me feel uncomfortable when the age gaps are that large, especially when the older person has done it more than once. It screams Predator.

I’m always grateful for the chance to review early copies, however, I cannot bring myself to finish this novel and I will not be reviewing it on any platform.