I have recently been in a reading slump and this novel helped me get out of it. The storyline is super unique and from someone who uses dating apps I needed to see how this turned out.

This novel does have the same Bridget Jones feeling. It’s a nice romance comedy for the perfect spring/summer day.

I found this novel also to be relatable with feeling behind in life. Helen is in her thirties and doesn’t have everything in life together, this is a character I can relate to and is important to be represented more.

Overall I liked the book, the idea behind was great!

Not to spoiler: here we have Helen who is in her 30s and kinda desperate for love, clinging to old relationships, wishing for that special guy. And then she goes on a dating app, meets “the guy” and…loses his contact information due to the issue of the app! So she is determined to find him, because, remember, he is THE guy… or?

I loved the side characters! Honestly, even more than the main one… and that was my biggest issue with the book. I understand why she does what she does and thinks that way but at the same time it was driving me nuts. She is basically the same age as me and I’ve been through similar paths as she’s been. Maybe (?) that’s why I was so annoyed sometimes by Helen. The way she was behaving, thinking…it was so childish, immature, and even selfish. Again, I get it but at the same time I don’t. Weird feeling and I cannot fully describe it.

I appreciated the “consent” parts, apparently it’s just my thing to see this in a book. But oh my…you lose me every time there’re “gluten-free” or “dairy-free” topics. No, just no, nope, not my jam.

The read was fast I just took an extra couple of days to finish the book, no rush. There were some small editing errors and the formatting wasn’t the best for kindle but that wasn’t a big problem. Overall it was cute and a nice debut work I think! Keep it up!

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

A quick and easy read. Sweet and romantic. A perfect short read! Thank you for the advance copy to review.

The Last First date was a story of a young woman searching for love while also working to find herself with the help of her friends and family. I enjoyed the modern love story.

Helen, the main character, felt relatable with her shyness and anxiety. She was insecure and realistic while navigating the complex world of modern dating. The anxieties she expressed through her internal monologues and her conversations with close friends were down-to-Earth and relatable.

There were moments where the lack of transitions was quite jarring. Characters would be in the midst of something and all of a sudden, with no warning, they are in a completely different setting.

I found there to be details in the wrong places and a lack of details where I wanted them most. I desperately wanted to know more about the main characters, since that was what was to drive the plot, but the lack of detail at times made it difficult to connect. I craved more about Helen and the small moments that would really help the story shine.

Overall, I did enjoy this modern love story and the growth that eventually took place in Helen. I appreciated the theme that emerged, commenting on how we can build something that we desire up into something unrealistic in our minds and desire it so much that it controls us, when in reality it wasn’t at all what it seemed to be. It also showed that this often distracts us from what we really would enjoy and prosper from, perhaps right in front of us.

Thanks @netgalley and @hqstories for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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

Echoing a few reviewers, I too thought this book tried to channel some of the charm and humor of Bridget Jones. Self-deprecating female lead? Check. Some cheeky humor? Check. At least one man not worthy of her? Double check. There were definitely some high spots in this book but we spent almost 70% of it building up to Helen trying to find her mystery man. The last 20% of the book did feel a bit rushed but I enjoyed the ending.

Her female friendships were a bright spot but with one caveat. The author's stereotyping of Elle, Helen's ~ spicy Latina bestie~. Off the bat, that is how Elle is referred to. And then it's mentioned again and again. She's fiery. She's a spitfire. She can dance because it's in her blood. It was brought up so often and felt so out of place and cringey.

I would have also preferred to get a full on sex scene vs a fade to black, but alas. I would also have loved to see the story line with her beloved Grandma fleshed out even more and perhaps learning more about Ish as well. Definitely would have liked to see more about Helen's career take off too.

Overall, a solid 3 for me. A quick cutesy read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an early release in exchange for an honest review.
I have to admit that I struggled to finish this book. It felt like it was going for a Bridget Jones persona however it just didn't seem to reach this potential. I found Helen to be, as one of the characters called her, "falsely modest" and continuously becoming hung up on this one man with a pursuit that seemed borderline obsessive.
While I appreciated the concept that the man of her dreams turned out to be "Not the One", it did feel like 70% of the book was therefore wasted and she suddenly made a U-turn for Ish.
Overall I did not feel invested in the characters and therefore not the plot. The writing style felt too stilted for me and Helen was not an interesting narrator to me.

This is an arc copy provided by @netgalley and read it only for two days. Just the light read that I need before going back to my fave genre of mystery, horror and thrillers.

Though there are high parts in this book, there are also the "lows". I quite enjoy some part of it especially the one she ended up with, Nana G!, her friends/family and the ones she met along the story.

The lows would be ,first and foremost, the main character herself. Women should now if the guy is not that into you. If the main character got the cue right from the very start, the story couldve centered on the one that's really meant for her in this story and spared the reader on wasting her time running after someone that is totally a d*ck.

The second low would still be the main character having low self esteem when everybody seems to be looking at her differently. Think about overthinking with low self worth kind of person.

This is the part where I fear reading a YA romance book. Eventhough they are supposed to be in a working class group, she still acts/thinks like a teenager. Overly dependent on her family and friends. And it is very obvious that the scenes were just put up together to create a novel. I just felt that at some point, the author needs more stories to build this book and so goes those parts that are not needed but were included in it.

Seeing the others review on this, I can tell that this may not be the kind of novel for me. The synopsis seems promising though Im nearly asleep during 1/3 of the book. It may work.for some.but it didn't for.me, sadly.

On the other hand, if you will just think of a book that will be a fast, light and entertaining read, go ahead and pick up this one. 🙃🙃🙃

This book was the first Arc I received, and I wanted to like it so badly. Unfortunately this book missed the mark for me, the premise had such potential but I didn’t like the mc at all. I never felt like she really developed as a character and her choices were painfully cringy. Ultimately it was okay it just didn’t deliver the way I hoped it would.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me early access to this title. If you need a light book this is for you. I think it would be a good beach read.

A really lovely five-star read. This wasn’t always five-stars, at times it was a little drippy and I did get frustrated a couple of times wanting to shake Helen, but overall, a really lovely story that won me over 100%. I must say that if it wasn’t for the character/rescuer of Ish it wouldn’t be as strong, he was so much fun with his history couplets, and encouragement. Helens journey was a fun one, and her Nan made me smile so much, I don’t know if it was as I recently lost my Nanna who was as important to me as Nanny G was to Helen, but that woman has fire in her belly and it added an extra layer to this story, all of these little things just made it a great read.

Thank you to HQ Digital and Netgalley for an ARC of this book which I voluntarily read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Before even getting past the synopsis, I thought I had THE LAST FIRST DATE all figured out: girl meets guy, girl has amazing date/day/conversation/adventure with guy, girl can’t get in touch with guy because of some mishap, girl searches and eventually finds guy. Simple, right? However, THE LAST FIRST DATE delves into some pretty emotional topics.

Helen is a thirty-one year old not-so-successful baking blogger who is in a bit of a slump after discovering that her most recent ex-boyfriend is engaged. She joins a dating app at the suggestion of her beloved grandmother and almost immediately has it off with Brody, the CEO of his own thriving company. After an amazing date, Brody never gets in touch, and enter the mishap! Helen can’t get Brody off her mind, sure he is going to be her last first date, and does everything she can to find him, all while growing and experiencing new things that might affect the way she sees this man she thought was so perfect for her.

THE LAST FIRST DATE was funny and cute (and I loved how everything wrapped up in the end, especially who Helen falls in love with!), but it is also going to resonate with so many people, especially those who feel as if they are falling or have fallen so far behind as their friends and contemporaries encounter these milestones we’re all expected to be working towards.

The Last First Date is a super cute romantic comedy! It gave me modern day Bridget Jones’ Diary feels! Sometimes what you think you want isn’t what your heart truly wants! Such a quick, fun read!

This was a cute and quick read. I liked the main character, but her friends irritated me. The storyline was cute though and I enjoyed this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc!

Thank you netgalley and publisher for the ARC, all thoughts are my own.

As much I loved the blurb, sadly I didn't feel the same for the book.
I feel like I didn't connect much with it.
Sorry but this isn't for me.

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

Helen hasn’t dated since her last relationship ended and at the suggestion of her Nan, 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.

4 stars!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


Thank You HQ, Harper Collins and NetGalley for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to HQ and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.


The Last First Date follows Helen, 30 something, single, struggling influencer as she dives into the world of internet dating after her commitment phobic ex gets engaged. Her first round on a dating app she meets Brody. He seems perfect. He’s charming, successful and everything seems to be going great… until the dating app crashes and Helen looses all way to contact him. Helen sets out to track him down, but life carries on, and how well can you know a guy after the first date?

I love a good dating-site-gone-wrong romance, so I was excited to start this book. I was expecting it to be a little like No Such Thing as Perfect by Emma Hughes, and it delivered. Helen is a loveable main character. Single, and surrounded by couples she feels a like she’s missed the boat. I enjoyed this part of her character, especially the ways it affected her relationships with her best friends Elle, and more significantly Sophie. It is such an under appreciated part of female friendships, especially when you are the one being ‘left behind’.

Helen’s relationship with her Grandmother is another high point of the book. Her quest to find her grandmothers wartime sweetheart was cute, and for me it was this relationship, as much as the relationship that kept the plot turning. Outside of these relationships, the emotional connection to the romance arc was a little lacking for me, I enjoyed the MLI, but the strongest word I can use to describe their relationship is sweet.

Spice lovers be aware that this is a fade to black romance, but for me it fit the tone of the book and it didn’t feel like there was anything missing.

Overall, an enjoyable, quick read perfect for a slow weekend or beach read.

Thank you for my earc of this book and for the chance to read it.
Unfortunately I didn’t finish. I just found the MC unlikeable, and struggled to pick the book back up.

I really wanted to live this book but I found it a little slow and the heroine needed a good shake still going on about her ex 18 months later which spoilt it for me if I’m honest

A quick, cute and fun read that I read in one sitting. I loved the writing style I found it engaging, the story really oulled me in and I found the characters to be well developed I especially loved Helen who I found to be believable and relatable. I suffer a lot from anxiety and self conciousness but luckily I dont have women around me like the ones in this book - however sadly they do exist and thats what makes this book so good - the author has captured them perfectly. An enjoyable read.

I received this book as an ARC in exchange for a review.

The Last First Date has a lot of the cozy familiar tropes that we know and love. Helen, the FMC, could easily slide into any of your favorite 2000s rom coms. But, there are some new twists to it too.

What lost me a bit was the way that women talked about other women. It often felt like a lot of comparison/competition. Also, there were times I wished for a lot more detail but instead, what I could considered essential moments were brushed over.