I could really see this being made into a movie. It's the perfect HEA with a little bit of steam leading to a fade to black.

It starts with Helen, a 30-something thinking she should be a lot further in life than she is. I can relate as I had to come to terms with a lot of the same things she did. Helen is dating all of the wrong guys, doing all of the wrong things. When she goes on a date with Brody, who she matched through an online dating app, she thought she met the perfect guy. He was driven, he made her have butterflies, he was adventurous and he was looking for the same things she was. They both wanted a "last first date". The story goes from there and any more would be a spoiler.

Honestly, I enjoyed the book. Was it the best I've ever read? No. Was it entertaining? Absolutely. There were a few words in parenthesis that really threw off the word flow for me - but I understand what the author was trying to portray. Helen is straight laced, and pretty square up to a point (like me) and those were to make a point. I think an italicized word would suffice.

Ish, however, was probably my favorite character. He was sweet, patient. I wish I had a little more of him in the book and less pining for Brody; have Helen and Ish have a little more chemistry, a little more longing for that satisfying climax. That's my opinion, however!

I would definitely read more from the author and I can't wait to see what changes are made when the final script is wrote!

DISCLAIMER: I'd like to thank HarperCollins & Hayley Quinn for allowing me an Advance Readers Copy of The Last First Date. This was not a paid review, but I was allowed this book in exchange for a sneak peek at a book that's not quite read to release.

I first want to thank HQ Stories, NetGalley and Hayley Quinn for allowing me to review this book.

I really, really wanted to like this book & it was the second ARC I've ever been approved for, but the whole thing really fell short. I didn't and couldn't relate to the main character Helen Pines at all. I felt like we listened to her whine about a guy for the entire book. I understand we were going for a self-deprecating main character but for the most I felt bad for it. Most of this book was about her trying to find the man she went on a first date, a first date that didn't seem monumental from the writing. They had coffee, went on a long walk & you really don't learn much else about them. I also really didn't like her friends--- my least favorite characters of the book. Elle, who was called Latin the entire book over and over really bothered me from the beginning. I thought there were parts of this that were a bit funny, but overall I wasn't impressed with the humor.

My absolute favorite character was with her Nan. It was the beginning of the book that really roped me in with their relationship and I wish we could have seen/read more of it.

I did enjoy this book but it was just the main character Helen that I couldn’t get into her at all! She’s obsessive, and I understand it’s because she believes her time has “ran out” to find a lasting relationship. I think I saw myself in Helen too, she goes on a date with “the one” and the dating site has issues so they lose each other, and she is determined to find him to reconnect….

I loved the side characters more than Helen, Nanny G - can I have you as my Nanna please!! Helens friends are honestly so supportive and I think it’s good having friends who give you different opinions!!

Thank you to HQ for giving me an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book! Helen is a freelancing baker who wants to go on her last first date. She thinks she's met the perfect guy on a dating app, but the app crashes the next day, leaving her with no way to contact him. The book follows Helen as she tries to track down her "perfect" man.

As per usual, I fell in love with the side characters. Helen's best friends Elle and Sophie were so supportive and I cannot talk enough about Nanny G. I could read an entire book of Nanny G's life.

My favorite part of the book was Helen's personal journey. I love a good romance, but the individual character arcs are important to consider. She had a bad relationship in the past she's working to ovrecome while her friends are going their own ways. I could relate to the moments where Helen felt left behind as one friend gets engaged. I love seeing the main character as they grow and overcome their challenges. I think Hayley Quinn did an excellent job at this.

I can't say too much more without spoiling, but be sure to check out The Last First Date when it publishes. I will definitely be buying this when it comes out.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, HQ and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Well written, amusing, lovely character development.

It's rare that a book with little-to-no steam wins me over, but this book did. The story was all too relatable, having been a 30-year-old lost in the craze of figuring out how to adult and find love. Helen's story resonated with my own experience in the dating world quite well.

LOVED:
* Nanny G. - Hands down the best character in the book and just a freaking hoot every step of the way! I enjoyed her so much and she made me miss my own grandmother.
* The friendship between Helen, Elle, and Sophie was a great example of how people are on different paths in life, and comparing yourself to another doesn't work out so well.
* Ship/Wrecked. Wow. What an experience. One I can somewhat identify with. The lengths that we go to when we're certain we've found "the one."
* Ish, the hero. I want to be his best friend, and cuddle, and play silly games with him. I loved how squishable he was, without being a pushover.
* Jonathon's last tweet. Perfect. Thank you for that, Hayley Quinn.

WOULD HAVE LOVED:
* More spice... a little more zip of attraction sooner in the story... it all happened to fast at the end and I wanted to enjoy it more!

OVERALL:
I really enjoyed this book! If you're looking for something light and refreshing, this is a great story to dive into. It's funny. It's quirky. It follows it's own, unique journey through romance without the predictable stages/acts that you'd expect. Would definitely recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hayley Quinn for the e-ARC. I appreciated the opportunity to read this book and give an honest review.

The Last First Date was a wonderful portrait in the magic in love, the (sometimes painful) experience of finding yourself and your individuality, and the importance of female friendships and family bonds. While being both lighthearted and funny, it packed an unexpected punch with the level of emotion depth. Admittedly, after reading the synopsis I expected a fairly formulaic love story, but The Last First Date kept surprising me in the best of ways.

I found myself smiling at certain parts and tearing up at others, reaching the end feeling both gratified and hopeful with the outcome. My only complaint would be I perhaps wished for a bit more steam, but that’s completely my own personal presence when it comes to contemporary romance. Readers after a joyful love story that doesn’t shy away from emotional depth will love The Last First Date, to be certain.

Thank you to NetgGalley and the publisher for this e-ARC!

sadly I didn't enjoy this one that much.
I found the main character a bit too obsessive. She goes on one date and suddenly her whole entire world revolves around this guy, who clearly couldn't care less about getting in touch with her again.
wish that said, I did enjoy the wonderful relationship she had with her grandmother. it was really sweet.

It had so much potential, but it just wasn't for me, I found it kinda boring and nothing really happened in my opinion. Which did lead me to skim read the second half of the book.

I wish I loved this book, but sadly it wasn't for me.

After reading the blurb, I was hoping it was going to be more amusing than it was. It was still well written, but Helen's constant putting herself down got old fast. I adored Nana G, I'd read an entire book about her life.

The Last First Date is the story about a young woman who does not know what she truly wants or what she is worth. I was really looking forward to Helen's story. The blurb sounded like something right up my alley. However, Helen's lack of confidence and serious overthinking got old after a while. I wasn't sure if I was meant to like her friends and family or if I was to think they were all against Helen or if we were meant to write them off. She makes so many choices that I found frustrating that I had a hard time liking her.

Most of the book is spent thinking that Helen is meant to be with Brody, yet when she is reunited with him, I couldn't help but want to smack them both. Her secondary love interest is sweet, but I felt like I needed more to believe it. In the end, everything is wrapped up nicely and it seems that Helen has found her way into a stronger sense of self-worth and has ended up with the person she was meant to.

I need to note that the ebook version I read had massive formatting issues: missing carriage returns, new quotations in the same line as one from the previous speaker, same for text messages. In some cases, new scenes started in the middle of a paragraph and I was completely lost. My hope is that the publisher takes time to format the book properly so that it does not detract from other readers' enjoyment of the story. It caused me a lot of frustration and confusion.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for approving me for my first ARC in exchange for an honest review. I was excited to read this one because the premise of having to track down the one good match you found on a dating app seemed potentially interesting and funny, and the cover is adorable. I'm always down for an "utterly hilarious laugh-out-loud romance"... Unfortunately, I didn't think this was it.

Helen Pines is (gasp!) 31 and heartbroken at finding out her last boyfriend got engaged. Trying to move on over a year after their break-up, she joins Connex, aka fictional Tinder, and her first match is Brody, the perfect guy. If that seems unreal to anyone who's been on the apps, it's because it is, but Helen goes on a "last first date" with him and, after an afternoon of kissing on the cliffs, is convinced that he's the one. The problem: before they can set up a second date or exchange their contact info, Connex crashes, and Helen goes on a quest to find Brody again.

Despite Helen's instant adoration for Brody and conviction that they're made for each other, the reader has no idea what they talked about on their date. We're told that they had such a great time, they don't want it to end, so they go on a "romantic" walk. But Brody hadn't made that good an impression on me so far and I had no idea what they even had in common, as Helen even fakes their shared interests.

Considering the plot twist, this wouldn't be a problem... if Helen didn't spend about 60% of the book hung up on Brody. Since I wasn't invested on that potential relationship, I spent the majority of the book face-palming myself along with Helen's friend, Elle (who we are unnecessarily told over and over is "Latin" - the word is actually "Latina"). I felt like a lot of this could have been cut and we could have spent more time developing Helen and Ish.

Once we get to the part that is intended to make us swoon for real... I didn't. There was the potential for there to be UST and pining and slow realizations, but it felt very watered down and dragged down by the protagonist's own uncertainty about what she wanted.

I also really struggled with the tone. It seems the author was aiming for PG-13, but Helen sounds really juvenile for her age. Things like the more than once "(whisper it)" before the protagonist thought of words like sex or drugs, repeatedly referring to her breasts as "bobs" as one creepy follower called them, and generally being not prudish but just weirdly childish about sex really turned me off. One part I won't spoil felt specially odd for a woman who had dated a guy for two years and, presumably, had sex with him, to think.

I understand that the book was trying to show what it's like to be a millennial in your early 30s, the struggle of your career not picking up, your friends moving on with their lives, feeling like nothing you do is enough. But the way it was done was irritating. Most of the story is about Helen beating herself up, and then it turns into a self-help book where she realizes that her single life actually wasn't so terrible and you should enjoy it while it lasts. Too bad she's only able to see it once she's no longer single! As we know, being single is a journey, not a destination...

Overall, I got the feeling that the book was an early draft, with the potential to be a good story after several edits. I liked Ish.

Links to my review will be added closer to publication date.

Thank you to Net Galley, for allowing me to read and review!

I enjoyed reading it, but I didn't really like that our main character in a sense became an internet stalker, although I understand why she did, but I myself, didn't care for that. I liked the authors concept on explaining why the last first date is better, then dating. I thought it was really interesting. Over all I thought it was cute!

This was delightful! And such a perfect light-hearted, palette cleansing beach read.

Helen has n’t dated since her last relationship di lei ended and at the suggestion of her di lei Nan di lei, she gets on a dating app and meets a man named Brody.

Helen and Brody have instant chemistry and a lovely date but they don't exchange numbers and the app they met on loses all of their data the next day with no way to get in touch, as Brody's only appearance on social media are a few photos on his work's website.

However, what I thought was going to be really predictable from the beginning really took a turn and kept me guessing! This story has some really great female friendships, close family bonds, themes of finding yourself and the importance of choosing the right partner and also some truly lovely moments that made me smile so big!

Some of the transitions from one scene to the next scene in the book are a bit choppy, but not enough that you can't follow along.

I really enjoyed how the epilogue was done too, I thought this was a really creative and fun way to catch me up on the characters lives.

Thanks to NetGalley and HQ Digital for giving me and ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Love this author. It was a super fun and easy to read book. Would 100% recommend it to a friend.
The love story was just amazing and super real.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book.

I enjoyed this book, I'd give it a re-read.

Ish is a beautiful soul. I wish there had been a little more hanging out with him to build the friendship more, and a bit more about his character in general.

The page before chapter 46 seemed very randomly written compared to the rest of the book and character development, I had to read a few times.

Elle is the friend you want in your life.

Thank you to Netgalley and HQStories for this ARC in exchange for an homest review.

In The Last First Date we meet Helen who is newly single, in her early 30s and a blogger. She is looking for love while navigating life and attempting to find herself. Helens shyness and anxiousness is something I found relatable which made me like her. Some of the twists and turns however, I wish hadn't happened 🙈 That's mostly just my preference, though. At the same time I relate to the message that things aren't always as they seem just because we want something bad enough.

Being a Kindle app user, the formatting wasn't the best but I managed to navigate through the book just fine (granted, sometimes I was left confused as the end/ beginning of a chapter wasn't too clear).

As others have commented before me, I quite enjoyed the side characters as well. Helens grandmother was a favorite!

All in all; it's a quick and cute read. It'll get you out of a reading slump and will most likely cheer you up on a cloudy day.

4/5 🌟

This was a really charming and fun read that got me out of a bit of a book funk.

Think this book is really going to suit women in their late twenties and early thirties who are comparing themselves to their friends and where they are at in life.

Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

When Helen sees her ex boyfriend is engaged to someone else, she begins her online dating journey. Matching with Brody and going on a date the next day, she thinks she’s met the one until the app deletes all its data. On the hunt to find Brody, this book takes you on an adventure of self discovery and the meetings of unexpected people.

This book was such an easy light hearted read! I wouldn’t be on the search for a guy after an app deletes all his details that’s for sure but this book sucked me in! I wanted to find out how it would be when they met again and how it was going to pan out. I loved Ish so much and how he popped up at all the right moments! Nanny G was my fave with her wickedness and just how close her and Helen’s relationship was. The ending summed up nicely how each character was doing which I liked. Overall I would recommend to those who are a enjoy a romantic read.

Thank you HQ & NetGalley for giving me my first ARC and I’m looking forward to read more in the near future!

The Last First Date by Hayley Quinn

Pub Date: May 20,2022

This is the story of Helen Pines and her journey to find her Last First Date. It’s a modern day love story where Helen is a social media vlogger, determined to find her true love.

I really enjoyed the writing and the character development of Helen. We start the book with an anxious, people pleaser Helen and by the end of it we discover a more confident, head strong Helen who cherishes her single life as much as the life she creates with her boyfriend.

The ending seemed abit rushed to me because I wanted to know what happens with Helen and Ish. Also the random texts from Brody, what happened to him and how did Helen handle Brody’s presence in her life.

Overall, I really enjoyed the plot, text conversations and the modern day vibes of this read. 100% recommend!!

Such a sweet, romantic read. A fast beach read that I enjoyed. Thank you for the advanced read! I highly recommend!