One Last Gift drew me in from the start! It has a lot of my favorite romance novel elements; friends to maybe lovers, travel, solid female friendships, and comedy! The characters are well developed, and it was easy to get immersed into the story.

I enjoyed this one but not as much as Stone’s prior book, Always, in December. I thought the characters were less fully formed in One Last Gift. The time jumps were used well to show how Cassie changed over time and I really loved watching her figure out the scavenger hunt clues. Sam’s growth was nice and I enjoyed how he continued caring for Cassie from a difference. If you enjoy friends to lovers than this is for you.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for sending me an arc in exchange for review. This was the cutest story. Loved the character and the author. Definitely recommend if you love a good romance.

After her brother dies in a hiking accident Cassie must move on without him. Each year he made a scavenger hunt for her. Cassie has to figure out how to move on with life and the scavenger hunt without him, but both are harder than expected.

Emily Stone has written yet another great holiday romance, One Last Gift. I couldn't wait until Christmas to open this one. What starts as a loss turns into a gain. While it is not an earth-shattering novel that will provoke deep conversations, one must remember there are times when we don't need that. This is a great holiday (similar to beach) read! Comfy chair...check, hot cocoa...check, new Emily Stone book...check! Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with an ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Emily Stone does love to get me in my feels! This is the second of her books that I have read and wow does she love an emo holiday read! I would approach this one with caution if you have had family members pass away as it may be triggering but it was a good read overall.

I loved last year's, Always, In December, another holiday/winter book that is a heartbreaker. If you're looking for a holiday book this season, do not skip on this one! But also don't go into this expecting a traditional Hallmark feel good holiday read! But this is so much better!

This is a story about a close sibling relationship, healing after loss, starting over, finding comfort and love in friendships and your support network. Cassie and Tom are siblings that lost their parents young and were each other's best friends and biggest supporters growing up.

This story is told from dual perspectives, spanning multiple years. This is definitely more women's fiction with a small side of romance. The characters are very well developed, complex, flawed, and show so much growth.There is a bit of miscommunication - which I don't usually love but it is handled well and resolved by the end. I don't want to spoil anything but go into this blind if possible!

Seriously good! This book was a fantastic romantic comedy, made even better with the holiday spin. I loved it!

This was a touching and sweet story, however, not as good as the last one I read by this author.

This is a sweet story overall about facing your fears and moving forward after tragedy. There are a couple of things that keep this from being as good as it could have been. I feel like this book never gets as deep emotionally as it should have, given the subject matter and how the story progresses.

Always, in December broke me when I read it last year because it was so emotionally touching. One Last Gift tries to get there, but to me it just didn't fully succeed. I admired Cassie's journey and was rooting for her to dig deep and discover her inner bravery, but overall everything stays very surface level, even when she is in the depths of her grief.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC

I loved Emily Stone's first book, Always, In December, and One Last Gift has solidified her as an auto-buy author for me. While both books deal with topics such as grief and loss, the author is able to still capture the complicated feelings so many people have around the holidays and letting the reader know they're not alone in what they're feeling, without being heavy-handed. I loved following Cassie and Sam along on their journey of healing and navigating the confusing aftermath of losing a loved one, especially how relationships can be impacted, how people deal with grief in different ways, and even questioning how well we really know the people we lose. I'd recommend this to anyone who loved P.S. I Love You, anyone who isn't looking for a typical Hallmark movie-type Christmas story, and anyone who has complicated feelings around the holidays. While it's an emotional book, the reader is left with a sense of comfort and hope.

I throughly enjoyed this novel. In fact, it’s one of the few lately that has held my attention throughout the entire story. While I could see a few things coming, I never felt like rushing though it. I would definitely recommend it to friends.

I enjoyed Cassie's journey, physically and emotionally, as she worked her way through Tom's final scavenger hunt. It truly was a gift to her to get to spend that additional time reading her brother's clues and feeling close to him again.
Cassie's troubles with Sam we're frustrating, and he needed time to grow and mature as well.
An enjoyable read, with some heavy moments. I really liked Cassie's support system.

This was SO GOOD!!! I think I liked it more than always in December?! But they’re very different so it’s hardly fair to compare.

This WHOLE book covers the topic of grief. If that’s hard for you to read then I would not recommend this one. But if you enjoy a sad story full of growth, an emotional plot, a Christmas present treasure hunt, and a little bit of romance, then please please please pick this up

This book was touching and heartfelt to its core. Such a lovely holiday read that I would recommend over and over.

A well loved brother leaves one last gift for his beloved sister that helps her find her way. The settings of her travels are beautiful and the story is inspirational. Loved the old friends she remembers along the way. Heartwarming read.

(Originally posted on Instagram):

It might be fall, but One Last Gift had me feeling all of the winter holiday feels. I’ve learned that I’m a sucker for an emotional Christmas story, and although this one spanned more than just the holiday season, it felt like Christmas all year as I followed Cassie along her treasure hunt.

One Last Gift is a beautiful story of love and loss, heartbreak and second chances, learning to be brave, and figuring out what you want to run toward instead of run away from. I’ve come to really love second chance romances, and this story definitely had that, but I wouldn’t call it a romance. More than anything it’s a story of self discovery, and I loved seeing all of the growth that not only Cassie and Sam go through, but really every character in this book goes through as well.

This book is heartwarming and sad and hopeful and lovely all in one, and I think anyone who enjoyed Emily Stone’s debut Always, in December will really like this one as well. I don’t want to say too much because I’m worried I’ll give things away, but I definitely recommend adding this to your holiday reading list! 🎄 (Just be aware that it heavily discusses death of loved ones throughout it)

This was not the holiday book I expected but it was a truly beautiful, heart breaking and heart warming read.⁣
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This book deals with a lot of grief and loss of loved ones. I truly felt the grief and sadness in the characters, the miscommunications, but also the forgiveness and strength of true friendships.⁣
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Cassie and Tom lost their parents at a young age. Tom sets of scavenger hunts for Cassie every year to find her gift, this one follows the biggest, most heartfelt scavenger hunt, and it means the most to Cassie.⁣
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Sam is Tom’s best friend and Cassie has adored him as long as she remembers, until he breaks her heart and she has nothing but spite toward him after for years. ⁣
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This is a journey of personal growth, bravery, going after what you truly want and not sitting and just existing on your normal day to days, friendships, friends to lovers, and forgiveness. It was a really sweet story. ⁣
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One Last Gift is a poignant, heartwarming story of family, friendship, and second chances. After losing their parents when they were children, Cassie and her older brother Tom were inseparable, relying on each other to cope with the loss and braving the future together. Tom's longtime best friend, Sam, has always been there for them both as well. Cassie had a crush on Sam, and at one point thought it might be something, but then he broke her heart in a way. Now 20 years later, Cassie has lost her brother Tom in a horrible accident and she's never felt more alone and unmoored. When she discovers an envelope from Tom with her name on it, she realizes that Tom had planned another Christmas scavenger hunt for her prior to his untimely death. Cassie has always looked forward to Tom's creative, fun Christmas scavenger hunts, and now this one will be the last one. Cassie sets out on a bittersweet journey that will wind up changing her entire future, and along the way she may just find love and rediscover herself in the process. This book feels like a warm hug for the soul, with its charming setting, quirky characters, and lovely storytelling.

There are always so many books that come out for the holiday season that it’s hard to choose which ones to read. Do you go with a romance with cookies and sleigh bells? Ski adventures or tropical holidays? Or the Hallmark miracles and hot chocolate variety?
One last gift is a bit of all of them, and if you want something to just sink into this year, I recommend it. Emily Stone has given her complex characters lovely, quirky personalities and while there is definitely romance, it isn’t the kind of direct, formulaic trail we usually follow. For one thing, there’s a lot of loved one who die. Cassie, our heroine, is a brilliant event planner stuck in a dead-end job with an ogre of a boss. Yet the banter and love she and Tom, her brother, as well as their best friends Hazel and Sam, share, makes you wish you had people like them in your life.
But tragedy strikes and turns this dynamic on is head. While Cassie tries to solve the treasure hunt her brother gives her every year, she finds more than the promised gift at the end. I won’t put spoilers in here, but I will remember these characters and the lessons they learned. Like don’t wait to tell people you love that you do.
Published by Random House/Ballantine on October 11, 2022. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved this feel-good romance. Cassie’s older brother, who was always there for her growing up, has died and left her one last birthday gift. It’s clues to a scavenger hunt which taker her around the world. She reconnects with Sam, her first love and brother’s best friend. There are many challenges and misunderstandings as Cassie & Sam find their HEA. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.