An easy to read romance book, with a somewhat predictable storyline. The writing style sometimes fell flat and the characters weren’t overly developed.

I adore the cover art and concept of the book, but the story fell flat for me. It was very slow paced. Even half way through it was hard for me to finish through.

I got this book as an ARC from NetGalley and the author is pretty new to me but I thought the description was very intriguing. While the storyline itself was great and I did laugh out loud multiple times, I thought it was a bit choppy, bounced around too much and too slow paced for me. I couldn't adjust to her writing style as desperately as I wanted too. WIth that being said, I really enjoyed the diversity among characters within the book and grew to like Helen more than the beginning of the story.

This was a light-hearted fun summer beach read. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and their experiences throughout the book. It was a little surprising at the end, but I still enjoyed it.

This was a sweet, light-hearted read. Helen is a fun character to get to know, although her character development did feel a bit shallow. As a fun summer beach read, this was as I expected, so this is not a fault of the book per se. I liked the different 'meet cutes' that Helen experienced throughout the book. It was a bit of a surprising twist to see that Brody wasn't a good man since the first date was written to be so overly positive.

This book was a fun read with elements that I enjoyed, but other elements that didn't work for me. I enjoyed the female friendships between Helen, Elle, and Sophie, as well as the family relationship between Helen and Nanny G. I felt like parts of this story dragged, but overall enjoyed the ending, especially the last half of the story. Parts of the dialog fell flat for me, but the chemistry between Ish and Helen was so heartfelt and I wouldn't mind reading more about their love story!  The epilogue allowed all the different story lines between characters tied up nicely, which I definitely appreciated. 

Thank you to @netgalley and @hqstories for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

I have to disagree with the majority that have read this book and say i adored our main character Helen! She was extremely relatable and quirky. It was a cute debut and i think you should give it a go before judging 😌

Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was an enjoyable book.

(Thank you NetGalley and publisher for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review)

This book follows 31 years old Helen who feels she’s far behind in terms of how her life should have been at 31 especially since her ex is also now engaged. While the book starts with an interesting plot I feel it derails and the book progresses despite a plot twist that I didn’t see coming. The narration and the story line loses grip somewhere in the middle and the main character changes her behaviour and outlook towards life suddenly and quite fast which makes the story look a tad bit unrealistic and forced for the ending it takes.

So 2 stars because I feel it could have been way better and was a little disappointing.

I want to begin by thanking NetGalley and affiliates for giving me an electronic arc for this book. When I requested it, I had very high hopes for the book. I adore the cover, and the book description intrigued me. Unfortunately, it was very slow paced for me, the storyline seemed to flip from what the description stated, and I found myself continuously hoping it would turn for the better. I appreciate the messaging behind the story for some of it, I just hoped it would have been advertised more honestly regarding the description.

A fun, quirky, off-beat read showing the trials and tribulations of Helen, the main protagonist, and her search for 'the one'.

This book is full of humour and wit and is a modern tale of dating in the 2020s, with social media and dating apps playing a huge part in driving Helen's worries, fears and angst on her past relationship, her desires for a new relationship, and her hopes of future love.

I found this book engaging and entertaining and I particularly loved Helen's friendships and family. Also I appreciated the journey of finding love in the most unexpected of places.

First and foremost, I would like to start this review saying thank you to Hayley Quinn and NetGalley for granting me to read this book before its release.

The Last First Date is a novel centred around Helen, a baking blogger looking for the great love of her life, similar to her Nanny G's and Vernon's one. Enter Brody: a seemingly too perfect man also looking for his so-called 'Last First Date', the pair match and instantly set it off, finishing the night with Helen coming home in his flip flops! However, events happen and Helen then spends the rest of the novel looking for Brody, her last first date.

If I was to sum this book in 3 words, it would be: fun, light and ....predictable. Each page was enrapturing, and I found myself falling in love with characters such as Elle and Ish more and more by the word, not so much Helen, but we'll get on to that.

HOWEVER:

Whilst this book is a fun enough read, focusing on the love life of Helen and her 'last first date', I have some critiques. First of all, I think that Helen was as developed as all of the side characters, almost appearing as if in some situations, she is also a side character in her first person narration. I think that other characters, Nessy and Nanny G seemed more interesting than Helen and I found myself more interested in what they were doing than what Helen was doing.

The Predictable: Most importantly, however, I found the book predictable. As soon as the *big event (hint. crash)* happened, I found myself guessing correctly as to what was going to happen before every page turn. I think that before though, the book was an apt mushy gushy romance for someone looking for a fun read.

If I was to recommend this book to anyone, it would be to someone looking for a fun, light and quick read.

The premise of this book is so good but the execution wasn’t as well done as I would have hoped. Helen is also a total disaster; I know a character growing is important but she was REALLY hard to like throughout most of the book.

The Last First Date by Hayley Quinn 🌸

Pub Date: 20 May 2022 

General Fiction  | Romance

Thank you to Netgalley and Harpercollins for this eArc in exchange for my honest review!

Thoughts: this is such a cute and relatable story! I thought it starts off kind of funny as she decides to start using dating apps And discussing it with her grandma.

I read other people's reviews online lol usually readers end up hating the fact that a protagonist will put themselves down because they aren't in a relationship and that's the biggest problem they have. But if every book character was likable then we wouldn't have very good story lines. Solely my opinion. That is something that this character does. But i liked the read!

The writing seemed choppy in the dialogue but it was OK!

Helen finds out her ex is engaged and decides to put herself out there and downloads a dating app. Where she matches with a gorgeous and normal seemingly guy named Brody. They hit it off immediately and they agree to meet in the small town she lives in.

The date goes absolutely amazingly and she is super happy until the app crashes and she loses Brody! I'd be SO SAD! With nothing but Brody’s name and job title to go on, Helen is determined to track him down.

But despite the initial chemistry, Helen realises she knows surprisingly little about her mystery man…

Burnt by the dating scene, burnt out from the idea of dating apps and burning with the desire to find that *real* love connection.

Sound familar? To me, it sounds like The Ghost of Kaley's Dating Past 😅. It also happens to be where my girl Helen is at when we meet her in the opening pages of 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆.

The debut novel from writer and dating expert Hayley Quinn, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆 follows budding baking blogger Helen Pines as she navigates single life and dating after your twenties. Helen has grand ideas about love and finding *that* perfect guy. She thought her ex might have been just the ticket, but after stringing her along for ages and leaving her high and dry, his engagement to someone else is all over social media.

Helen's left feeling like "the one before The One." And maybe a flawed one at that? Is she the roadblock keeping her from the man of her dreams? After gentle prodding from her loved ones, Helen joins Connex (think Tinder) and takes to the web in search of The One. Almost immediately she matches with cute, funny and successful Brody. Their attraction is quick and mutual, leaving both of them eager for a second date.

(I just need to add here that evidence suggests that Helen's saucy nonagenarian Nanny G also joined Connex, and may have had even more success than Helen 😂. Nanny G is hands-down the supporting star of this book.)

Helen is practically bouncing with optimism after such a promising first date. But, because a story isn't a good story without a few hiccups, the technology gods wreak havoc on her happiness almost immediately. After a sever crash, all of the user data on Connex is gone. No saved chats, no connections preserved, nadda. And who thinks to exchange numbers anymore, in this age of social media and messaging apps?

Not Helen.

Left with nothing but a screenshot of his dating profile and the feeling that this could really, truly be The One, Helen gathers as many breadcrumbs from their date as possible and utilizes her trusty friends and the pervasiveness of social media to find her way back to Brody.

The search is on!

As I mentioned above, I felt kinship with Helen immediately. She's quick-witted and resourceful, but she has some personal pitfalls (like any well-rounded character should). Through the course of 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆, she grows and flourishes, and discovering how much the approval of others factors into her choices is a majorly relatable turning point for Helen. (Been. There. 😮‍💨)

While I'm happily retired from the dating game, I remember that pressure to find the perfect partner, become the perfect couple and show off the perfect life. Something about the big 3-0 looming only magnified that pressure.
I ended up finding the perfect guy for me by trusting in the universe and kind of just letting go. The universe seems to be offering that same advice to Helen, pushing another guy right into her path while she's pining away for Brody.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆 had a nice fast pace, something I would inhale in one sitting with the proper attention span. Helen's dating journey has enough twists and turns that I was eager to get to the next chapter. (And wait until you see why some chapters are only one page, I actually laughed out loud 🤣)

I do wish more heat would've been present, maybe with a bedroom scene or two. Helen has undeniable chemistry with a certain character, and seeing that explored would have added more complexity to her dating/relationship awakening. That being said, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆 shines as a "fade-to-black" book, so don't let that deter you from picking up a copy.

If you enjoy romcoms with really loveable characters (Iike Ish, who I can't mention properly without spoilers, but he is 😍), I would absolutely recommend 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆. If you're looking to detatch from the worst aspects of dating like Helen, Hayley Quinn's knowledge as a dating expert is sprinkled all throughout this book. It could practically double as a how-to book for gaining the emotional intelligence to go after what you want instead of what you thought you needed.

Love chick lit. A nice break away from real life.

The characters are well rounds. Made you love them too. Everyone needs a nan like Nanny G.

Love ish. Maybe predictable but it didn’t make me sob at a sad bit for no reason or have unneeded angst. I enjoyed it.

Thank you to Netgallery for the chance to read it.

perfect lighthearted fun read
it gave me old school British chick-lit vibe
would recommend it to the fans of the genre

This is definitely a recommended read if you looking for a rom com, that’s easy to read with enjoyable characters. My favourite character has to be Nanny G, she is the OG, she brings so much fun, light, wisdom and comedy into this read as any nanny would! 💖

The plot was slightly boring and predictable at parts, and a bit jumpy. The plot had a lot of potential to be better. But I enjoyed how the author added in WhatsApp messages between Helen and her friend, made it feel more life like.

Also I love how this book addressed dating apps as this for me is the more realistic way a lot more people are meeting these days. Also the author mentioned some things about how previous exes can damage a persons confidence and how toxic some relationships can be.

It is a 3.5/5 stars for me. As romance novels are not usually my favourite genre but I enjoyed this.

thank you to netgalley and harper collins for the e-arc!

the last first date follows helen, a woman who is tired of being single and thinks she’s finally found the man of her dreams when she connects with br*dy on a dating app. blah blah things happen and they lose contact and she is determined to find him and live out her happily ever after.

what to say about this “book”? there is so much to say, and so little time. to start, the writing was pretty bad—there were an insane number of ellipses on every single page and the dialogue was terrible as well. i visibly cringed at so many lines in this!!! i’m not even kidding, there’s a part where someone just. replies to a question by singing a song by the weeknd?????

also this woman’s biggest problem is that she doesn’t have a boyfriend? girl you’re british, worry about that first!

it’s just so hard to put my critiques for this book into words because i feel like you need to read it to understand, but i would not wish that upon my worst enemy. if i could give this author one piece of advice, it would be to try reading a book (any book, seriously) before writing another one.

EDIT: oh my god i totally forgotten to mention the spanish character and how she CONSTANTLY mentions “being latin” and starts every sentence with “amiga” and people make comments like “she’s annoyed, but in the latin way” or “latins — they basically get dance moves as a birthright.” WHAT???

Many thanks to the publisher for approving me to read The Last First Date early! I rated the book with 3.25/5 💫

What I liked:
1) The themes of acceptance and self-growth were beautifully expressed through Helen's character! I loved seeing her grow throughout the story.
2) Nana G. Nana G. Nana G. I absolutely love books with grandmas, so The Last First Date was no different. :') Her advice and conversations with Helen made my heart feel so warm!!
3) Helen's two friends are absolutely amazing ~ everyone needs friends like them in real life. I love the friendship between Sophie, Elle and Helen, and I was OBSESSED with their group chats!

Things I didn't like ~
1) Even though I liked Helen's journey towards self-acceptance, she did annoy me quite a number of times throughout the story. 😭 I ended up liking the secondary characters more than her.
2) I felt like some chapters were completely unnecessary, and things could have been wrapped up sooner.
3) I wanted to DNF this book more than once, but I held on because I HAD to know how the story ended! The book needs to be edited once again because the repetition of punctuation marks bothered me so much. :')))

All in all, this was an enjoyable and cute book!