Cassie and Tom were the closest siblings after losing their parents at a young age. But 20 years later, Cassie has also lost Tom and feels incredibly alone. When she finds an envelope with her name on it, she knows it was meant to be the first clue in her annual Christmas gift scavenger hunt from Tom. A gift he had been telling her for months would be the most epic hunt he had ever done. As she goes on the adventure finding the clues Tom left her, Cassie also reunites with his best friend and her former crush, Sam. Throughout the hunt Cassie begins to heal and really starts to find herself and maybe even love in the process.

Wow. This book hit me in all the feels. Grab a box of tissues and prepare for an emotional and heart-warming journey. I loved this story and how we saw Cassie really work through her grief and begin to start over after so much loss in her life. I loved the support system she had and how her friends became a chosen family for her. This was such a beautiful story of grief and new beginnings.

Thank you to Ballantine Books for the advance copy.

This was a quick holiday read that I wasn’t expecting to be such an emotional ride. I enjoyed it. It dealt with grief and death in a thoughtful way but I loved the friendship and personal growth throughout. My first book by Emily Stone but it won’t be my last!

Heartwarming but also real - following the main character as she works through grief and finding herself. I found this to be a lovely holiday read.

Okay this book was an emotional journey. I felt so bad for Cassie and Sam, and the grief they went through and at the same time I wanted to so badly shake some sense into them. It was a rough ride for my romantic heart. lol As soon as I thought they would be good, the universe (Emily Stone) was like nope. Although from reading her other books, I should have known she wouldn't make this easy for the readers. lol Still I really enjoyed this book, and look forward to crying at her next book.

In ONE LAST GIFT by Emily Stone, Cassie and Tom lost their parents at a young age. Tom has always looked out for Cassie and tried to include her in everything, including activities with his best friend, Sam. One thing that Cassie always looked forward to were the scavenger hunts her brother created for her every Christmas. Until one day when Cassie gets the phone call we all fear, informing her that she has lost her brother, Tom as well. Now she totally feels alone. Keep the tissues close by! You are going to need them!

Switching between the thoughts of a young woman and her brother’s best friend, across multiple years, there is a romance storyline you will be routing for, but I will definitely say ONE LAST GIFT is going to pull at your heart strings throughout the story! Be prepared for Emily Stone to rip your heart out! She will do a nice job of putting it back together as well! Although her brother Tom is gone, Cassie discovers one last Christmas Scavenger Hunt adventure he organized before his tragic passing. Through flashbacks and letters, I love how the essence of Tom is still very much alive. In a way, ONE LAST GIFT is his story too.

I don’t want to say too much for fear of giving away all of ONE LAST GIFT but once I started reading this beautiful and heart breaking story, I could not stop! Everyone should have this unforgettable book on their reading list if you don’t already. The dialogue between Cassie and Sam, is just hysterical. There is so much pain in this story and in Cassie’s heart that I was crying like a baby while reading but mostly when I was finished! I was instantly emotionally invested in all of the characters from page one and I can not wait to read more by this wonderful and heart tugging author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was a very cozy, emotional holiday read. There were things I liked about it: the setting, the dialogue, the pacing, however I couldn’t fully connect to the main characters. I thought they lacked the chemistry to really set their romance over the edge. That said, it was a great story about grief and healing.

This story covers family loss along with a slow burn romance. I thought the treasure hunt was a fun way to engage readers. The struggles with Cassie and Sam seemed to drag on at times and I wasn’t really invested in them both. I really found Cassie’s friends so funny and interesting. I’d like to see the author do a story on Josh or Hazel.

This one hits you in the feelings. One Last Gift by Emily Stone is a master class in grief. I appreciate the opportunity for the ARC.

I can't believe it took me this long to write this review, apologies for being past the publication date - I read this over the holidays while out of town and forgot to submit my review. In any event, I loved this touching, heartbreaking AND uplifting novel by Emily Stone. I found the story to be charming and heartwarming.

If you are looking for a heartwarming and emotional Christmas book that will probably make you cry both sad and happy tears, do not skip on Emily Stone’s One Last Gift. I really enjoyed this book, and I love the idea of basing Christmas around a treasure hunt for a gift. But this last treasure hunt really was like they all knew it would be the last one. Exploring the topic of grief and forgiveness, there was a very soft, tender tone throughout.

Perfectly charming! Add it to your holiday reading list.

Many thanks to Random House and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

4/5

Content Warnings: death of a sibling, infidelity, pregnancy and death of a parent

What an emotional, sweet, tender and powerful Christmas book! This book at its core is sad but it is beautifully written and leaves you feeling so happy for great endings. Christmas nostalgia is so strong in this book and I loved hearing about Cassie and Tom's upbringing.

You would like this if you enjoy:
-falling in love with brothers best friend
-Holiday books
-great side characters
-lots of character growth
-British setting

I read this in one sitting! 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I almost didn’t wanna finish it but I am so glad I did! It broke my heart 💔 and put it back together ♥️, and broke it again 💔 and put it back together again…. This is one of those books that kind of leaves you feeling empty afterwards, that almost bitter sweet feeling…

Eh. I wasn't a big fan of the author's other holiday romance. The characters were just too hard to connect with. I didn't like this one as well.

Emily Stone's holiday romance novels are guaranteed to make me cry. One Last Gift was no exception. This is a perfect read for cozying up around the holiday season and learning to be grateful for the friends and family you have to share the season with.

Emily Stone has once again given me a book with a beautiful story but filled with lots of heartache.

Cassie and Tom lose their parents at a young age. While dealing with the tragedy of their loss and an emotionally unavailable aunt, Tom and Cassie find support in their community including Tom's best friend Sam. Tom takes good care of Cassie as they grow older, going as far to come up with complex scavenger hunts each Christmas for her to have a memorable day. As adults, they are best friends who rely on each other for support. But now, Cassie has received the devastating news that her brother has died during a hiking accident. Cassie cannot forgive Sam who was supposed to go on the hiking trip but missed it because of a bad hangover. As Cassie comes to term with her losses, she finds an envelope that contains the first clue of the last scavenger hunt that Tom organized for her before his death. In the meantime, Sam is struck with grief after losing Tom and decides to move to the USA to find himself. As Cassie and Sam heal from their pain, their path will cross again.

I truly can't believe how talented Emily Stone is to write heart wrenching stories as beautiful as this one. I must say after reading One Day in December, I knew to expect this to be a tearjerker, but I wasn't prepared for the painful journey I went through with Cassie after she losses Tom. The truth is that one of my biggest fears is losing anyone in my immediate family. I cannot even imagine the pain Cassie was dealing when she received the news of Tom's death. Not only has she lost her brother, but she ends up losing Sam because of his own feelings for Cassie. Overall, I'd say this is not a happy love story. Sam and Cassie go through years of not talking to each other, a failed engagement, and countless misunderstandings before they give each other a chance. This book was amazing for some reasons but the fact that Cassie was able to finishing up the scavenger hunt and find her purpose after losing Tom was the best story line. I truly loved this book and can't wait for Emily Stone to give me more of these incredibly beautiful stories.

The Last Gift, by Emily Stone, is a heart-rending story centering around Cassie Rivers, her older brother Tom, and Tom’s best friend Sam Malone. Cassie and Tom had been raised by their Aunt Claire, their mother’s sister, after their parents were killed in a car crash when they were quite young.

As Cassie grew up, her feelings for Tom’s best friend grew with her, although it seemed he never shared those feelings. Having witnessed his mother struggle raising him with his ne’er-do-well father flitting from woman to woman, Sam had convinced himself he wouldn’t do any better than his dad, so followed suit. This was a path he would not lead Cassie on.

However, when Sam carouses the night before a planned mid-December South American rock climbing trip with Tom and misses his flight, Cassie is livid that he would let his friend down like that. When Cassie gets a call from an unknown fellow climber of Tom’s in Patagonia to tell her there has been a terrible accident and Tom was lost in the fall, her life falls apart, and her anger toward Sam becomes hatred.

The only good thing left to Cassie is the traditional Christmas gift scavenger hunt Tom had set up and left behind. But Cassie isn’t ready to deal with anything at the time, not even her grief.

This is a story of love, loss, grief, forgiveness, and new beginning. Ms. Stone has woven an intricate plot bringing together endearing characters in a heartfelt story. I did enjoy this book and I do recommend it.

This was a complex story with some great characters. The family storyline was the best part of the book and what made it the most endearing, in my opinion. The relationship storyline between Cassie and Sam seemed to drag on a bit, but perhaps that is what make the book so realistic.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this title.

Wow, this was a tearjerker. I don't even have a brother and I was still crushed for Cassie losing Tom. My favorite parts of the book were their early scenes together and then the way she had to work through her grief and complete the scavenger hunt. The romance was just okay for me, I didn't totally love Sam but he grew on me more by the second half. Although marketed as a holiday story, could definitely be enjoyed anytime.

Emily Stone could write on a trash bag and it still be one of the best thing's i've ever read.

This is my second book by Stone I had the privilege to read and it was heart wrenchingly beautiful.

When Cassie and Tom were children, they lost their parents, so they relied on each other and their best friend Sam.
Later on in their adult life, Cassie has now lost Tom and years before she and Sam have drifted apart - so she's alone.
She finds an envelope from Tom, that turns out to be a scavenger hunt, that quickly ties her in with Sam.
If all things work out, Sam is her one last gift from Tom.


I just reviewed One Last Gift by Emily Stone. #OneLastGift #NetGalley