Cover Image: One Last Day of Summer

One Last Day of Summer

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Member Reviews

Warm, funny and fabulous.

I absolutely love Shari Low and this book brings all my favourite things, funny Glaswegians, Irish men and romance.

Until Bernadette, Tadgh, Hayley and Dev board the Plane to St Lucia they are complete strangers. Nine hours later and all their lives have changed getting off the plane.

This book has a lovely balance of fun and seriousness. Told from all four perspectives you glimpse into each world and as always they all collide in spectacular fashion. I have so many favourite parts and characters in this book. Even the secondary characters like Stefan the air steward brings all the fun and giggles.

It’s hard to explain how good this book is without giving too much away but it’s a truly wonderful escape.

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What a fantastic summer read! If you’re looking for something to devour poolside or at the beach, this is your book! Just pure summer fun— and I read it in about 24 hours!

Read if you like:
- Lifelong bestie love
- Forced proximity
- Second chance love
- Celeb-normie love
- Vacation love
- Oh, not to mention Friends references!

This is so sweet! I loved every single character except for the few I was supposed to hate. It’s a bit predictable but there’s enough twists and turns to keep you guessing! Again, just a perfect easy summer read.

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cw: gaslighting, emotional abuse, infidelity

One Last Day Of Summer follows the story of four strangers who find themselves sitting together on a nine-hour flight to St Lucia: Bernadette, 54 and divorced, embracing a second chance at life after an abusive marriage; Tadgh, 28, on his way to be married, but suddenly confronted with doubts about his fiancée's fidelity; Hayley, 32, married to THE most obnoxious fertility doctor and struggling to conceive; and Dev, 30, a FRIENDS loving writer and hopeless romantic following his heart after a one-night stand.

This was an absolutely gorgeous, sometimes painful, but often joyful story. My favourite characters were definitely Dev and Bernadette but I honestly loved them all. I'll be honest, I saw pretty much every twist coming, but the writing is so engaging, and the main characters so likeable, that I honestly didn't care. I'll even forgive the absolute hilarity of anyone in the UK actually clearing security in a few minutes, let alone actually getting a flight (IYKYK 😉😂). I was beaming and literally giddy for the final few chapters. This is a story not only about love, but friendship too, and I adored every single page.

This is my first book by Shari Low, but it won't be the last.

Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Heat Rating:
Emotional Rating: 💓😬😂😢💔😉💓😍

*Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to leave an honest review*

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Reading as paet of the #BoldBookClub #OneLastDayofSummer
I will be sharing my full review at the end of the readalong on Saturday

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EXCERPT: Okay, so far so good. Bernadette was on the plane. It had taken off on schedule around 12.30. She was going. She was doing this. Even if the slight apprehension of it all was making her chirp like a budgie to the poor chap next to her. A handsome bloke, probably about the same age as her Nina, so around thirty. He seemed quite happy to chat back, and so did the lass to his right. The guy at the other end of the row - Tadgh, he'd said his name was - clearly wasn't interested in chatting, but, dear lord, if she was twenty years younger and forty pounds slimmer, she'd be in love with him by now. There was none of that objectifying nonsense allowed any more and quite right too. However, it was absolutely fine as long as it was just a wee nugget of amusement in her own head and never passed her lips. She'd wasted the best years of her life on a man who didn't deserve it - the least she could do now was have the occasional moment of appreciation for a drop-dead gorgeous stranger, in the same way her and Sarah had a cheer and a good old round of applause every time that big bloke, The Rock, took his shirt off in a movie. They'd been hoarse by the end of that Baywatch film.

ABOUT 'ONE LAST DAY OF SUMMER': As a flight to St Lucia leaves the runway, four passengers meet for the first time.

After escaping her controlling husband, Bernadette Manson is taking the first extravagant holiday of her new life. But when her best friend cancels, will she be strong enough to fly solo?

Tadgh Donovan is about to jet off to his destination wedding when he sees a shocking text. Has his bride-to-be written her wedding vows… or already broken them?

Hayley Ford is the wife of a top fertility specialist yet her battle to get pregnant has almost broken her marriage. Can a trip to the sun heal their relationship or should she brace for a crash landing?

Dev Robbins is crossing oceans to track down the woman he fell in love with at first sight. Will it be a one way trip to happy ever after or a return journey to singledom?

MY THOUGHTS: I just loved, loved, loved this book! Once I started reading One Last Day of Summer, I simply couldn't stop and picked it up every opportunity I got, ignoring my other reads in favour of this.

I loved the characters, all of them very real, very relatable, and very entertaining. I was emotionally invested in them right from the start.

I loved that they weren't all the same age, or from the same background.

I loved each of their backstories and found myself holding my breath as the plane landed and . . .

Believe me, there are twists and turns in this book that I never expected, and it all gets unbearably tense at several points!

This is not my normal genre, but I ran the full spectrum of my emotions reading One Last Day of Summer and immediately want to rush out to find everything else this author has written and binge read the lot.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

#OneLastDayofSummer #NetGalley

I: @sharilowbooks @bookandtonic

T: @sharilow @BoldwoodBooks

#contemporaryfiction #romance

THE AUTHOR: In real life, once upon a time she met a guy, got engaged after a week, and twenty-something years later she lives near Glasgow with her husband and a labradoodle. Her two teenagers have now left home, so she spends an inordinate amount of time on video calls checking if they're eating well and keeping up to date with their laundry.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Boldwood Books via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of One Last Day of Summer by Shari Low for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

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ONE LAST DAY OF SUMMER
BY
SHARI LOW

Four strangers find themselves sat together on a 9 hour flight to St Lucia.
Tadgh, Bernadette, Hayley and Dev strike up a conversation and during the flight open up to eachother. As they do, they soon discover that they aren’t as different as they perhaps thought they were.
As the four become fast friends, what will St Lucia have in store for them all?

Each chapter is told from the perspective of one of the four main characters. We learn about their past stories and how they have come to be on the flight to St Lucia.

I must confess, I am a big fan of Shari Low and I adore her books. This one lives up to every one of it’s predecessors.
It’s relatable, warm, funny, touching and engaging.
One Last Day Of Summer is so well written. You will be hooked from the start and won’t want to put it down until you know where life is taking these four likeable characters.

This book is an absolute delight. Full of love and sunshine.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Out now on all formats.

With thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood for a digital arc of this title.

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Thank you #Netgally and #Boldwood for this amazing opportunity to read the ARC.
Oh my word, what an absolutely wonderful read you can lose yourself in.
I enjoy Shari's books so it's no surprise that I adore this one. Full of humour, pain, tragedy and raw life. We meet for strangers before they head on a flight to St Lucia. I was so engrossed in this story that I finished it in a day.
We meet for magnificent characters:
Divorced Nurse Bernadette Manson who a is mother of two adult children and two gorgeous grandkids. At the last minute she ends up on her new beginning on her own, which is a huge step for her.
Musician Tadgh Donovan who is on his way to St Lucia to marry his lifelong girlfriend Cxoxo, with him for the ride are his brother Shay who is a real Rockstar type, and their friend Conlan, who are not just his bandmates but his best men too.
Hayley Ford who is a wonderful teacher of dance and drama and downtrodden wife of a very selfish Lucas the Harley Street Fertility Specialist. Interestingly they got married in Farnham which I just had to mention as its Local to me in Leafy Surrey. They are on their way to St Lucia for a romantic break.
Dev Robbins who is a journalist who recently met the love of his life on a night out in the form of a one night stand who was on her way to a wedding in St Lucia, he then decides to follow her to the same hotel and profess his undying love.
For reasons I cannot divulge, these for wonderful characters all end up seated together for the lengthy flight and start conversations with each other that are enlightening, heart breaking, heart warming and inspiring. They are made to introspect and face themselves, their pasts, present and futures.
The chapters rotate between the four characters throughout their flight, fall in love you'll fall in love with Stefan the Flight Attendant who brings in the fun of his own. Beautifully written with an awesome playlist, yes, I did listen to some of the songs whilst reading the book.

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Shari Low writes the most wonderful romance stories and One Last Day of Summer is another beauty. Full of second chances, love and friendships, the four main characters we’re introduced to are fantastic. So different in age, background and lives they’re all brought together in the ‘bubble’ of travelling on the same plane to St Lucia, and as their lives intertwine we see the fullness of human nature come together. I loved how the four of them ‘clicked’ almost immediately and that their trust in eachother and willingness to share feelings and problems within the confines of the plane was just magical.

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If you've bumped in my reviews before, you probably know that I love Shari Low, her books and her characters.
One Last Day of Summer made no exception! As always Shari's books are a roller-coaster of emotions, they are funny and moving at the same time and the characters are so genuine, you end up thinking you know them in real life.
In One last day of Summer Shari revisits a style she has used before to follow the lives of 4 different people during the time of one whole day, in this case with added hours due to time zone difference in St. Lucia.
This is definitely a gorgeous read and, as usual with this author, the characters and their stories will stay with you for quite some time.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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One Last Day of Summer is not my normal genre but every so often I like to read something a bit different and I am so glad I picked this one. I flew through it as I did not want to put it down and one minute it had me laughing the next it had me crying. I really enjoyed it and I can't recommend it enough.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for my ARC.

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A serendipitous journey for four strangers, passengers on a flight to St Lucia, is an emotional and engaging read Bernadette, an A&E Nurse in Glasgow, is determined to live life fully after spending thirty years in an abusive marriage. Hayley's marriage is toxic; she knows but isn't sure how to escape her controlling husband. Tadgh is looking forward to his destination wedding, but the text message he saw is a cause for concern, and Dev, a lover of romcoms who is sure he's met the one, is following her to St Lucia.

I love the believable characters. The setting on a holiday flight to St Lucia is the equivalent of a locked room in the mystery genre. Their worlds converge, and for the four strangers, it creates an ethos of safety and sharing. The friendships that develop are meaningful and uplifting. There's camaraderie, humour, romance, and a little serendipity in this lovely story that is heartbreaking and heartwarming. The ending is satisfying.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

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Let me just say if you’re prone to crying happy tears then get out the Kleenex. I am not a person who cries at all but I did at the end of this book. First of all those Bernadette her husband was controlling dismissive and an all-around jerk, then there’s Haley her husband is currently a jerk and then there’s dev who is the nicest guy ever and let’s not forget the rock star Tadgh they all meet on the plane heading to St. Lucia. The rockstar is traveling with his brother and his best friend and right before getting on the plane to go to his own wedding he picks up his brothers drop phone and sees a text from the initial say that says “I can’t do this we have to tell him I love you XOXO“ C is the first letter of his fiancé‘s name who he’s been dating for 15 years and throughout the whole flight he’s the wind is Siri tell his brother or not. Then there’s dev, when he and his best mate Lizzie went to a local country bar in London he met a girl name Cheryl and he immediately feels like it is Love at first sight so when she tells him she is heading to St. Lucia for a wedding the next day he cannot stop thinking about her and so after a week he decides to bite the bullet and fly to find her. Next up is Haley her and her jerk of a husband Lucas are flying to St. Lucia to get away from the hustle and bustle of London. He is a prominent heart surgeon and he knows it and ask like he knows it his ego is so big it’s ridiculous. Not wanting to sit in business class he gets an upgrade and there’s only one seat so he sent a lady to sit by her self and this is where she meets Bernadette and the two guys. Bernadette is on the flight because she left her jerk of a husband Who was totally dismissive of her her opinions and just her in general, but when she left him all of a sudden he was in love this bite having a much younger girlfriend and trying to win her back she wrote a new will giving everything to her and secretly bought take us to St. Lucia. Unfortunately he could’ve really used Lucas‘s help because he died of a heart attack and Bernadette got it all including the trip and she was going to go with her best friend but her best friends daughter decided to climb up the side of an apartment building in fell and broke both her legs so she went alone and this is where she meets the gang. Sometimes the families we create are better than the ones we have and sometimes they’re so great we introduce them and involve them in the family we already have. This book was so so good! I wish I could give this book 10 stars! Oh I loved this book! It takes place mainly on the plane OMG!!! Did I say how much I loved this book it is a romcom NF I hate to pick the best book I read this summer this would definitely definitely be it! I have to get more books by Susan Lowe because OMG! If they’re all this good I am going to be a busy bee. I received this book from net galley in bold wood Books but I am totally leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review but all opinions are 100% mine!

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Four strangers interact on a flight to St. Lucia. The chapters flip back and forth among Bernadette, Tadgh, Hayley, and Dev so readers have a chance to learn their stories. A lot can happen in just a few short hours in the close confines of a plane.
I loved the way the stories came together and also the outcomes. Sometimes you just have to throw off convention and live life with newfound passion.
My favorite was Bernadette and I adored her results.
I love the bright cover. I need to make a flight reservation and see who I encounter.

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I was pulled straight into this story and genuinely couldn’t put it down until I forced myself. The story opens as Bernadette is faced with either cancelling the holiday of a lifetime or travelling solo. We get the feeling that she hasn’t enjoyed such freedom or adventure previously. As her story unfolds, we learn more about the reason why.
Tadgh Donovan is an upcoming rockstar, his bandmates are his brother and their best friend. The trio are flying out for Tadgh’s wedding, but a text throws him into confusion as he starts to doubt his fiancée’s fidelity.
I think Hayley was my favourite character, her life has become centred around her inability to become pregnant, a major issue when her husband is a fertility specialist. As I read more of her interactions with her husband, I was immediately hoping that she would find happiness whilst visiting St. Lucia.
Then we met Dev, his journey to the airport would have fitted right into the opening sequences of Four Weddings and a Funeral, as his best friend drove like a lunatic to ensure he caught the plane and found the girl who stole his heart.
When I fly, I am guilty of starting conversations with fellow passengers and have met some fabulous people on my travels. For that reason, this book captured my imagination and had me trying to guess what would happen. A lot can happen in the space of several hours when people are packed into a metal tube and flying thousands of feet above the earth.
Shari Low creates terrific characters and develops them beautifully as the story weaves its way through conversations from differing perspectives. The introduction of the supporting cast; Hayley’s husband, the bandmates and the fabulous flight attendant, each added darkness and light to this absorbing story.
For the avoidance of spoilers, I will leave it there, but I promise that this is a fantastic story which I found to be ultimately uplifting and joyful.

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Wow, what a great book, I flew through this one as I couldn’t put it down. Very different from her usual books but brilliant. I loved the characters and they made me smile. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

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One Last Day of Summer has a multitude of people in it, but they’re so relatable you feel like they’ve been friends with you for ages.
In the book we find a wedding, following one’s heart, trying to make a marriage work, and celebrating a marriage ended, brings all these people to a flight headed to St. Lucia. Where they will either find the answers they’re looking for after their 9 hour flight and landing, or they will return home broken hearted and alone.
Shari Low writes great books!

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*I went into this book blind. I won't give away much as I feel it is best read that way*

Four strangers are seated next to each other on a 9 hour flight. The four characters are:

Bernadette: Middle aged divorcee on a trip she never expected to be on.
Dev: On a trip to find a one night stand that he fell in love with at first sight.
Hayley: On a much needed vacation with her husband, struggling with fertility issues.
Tadgh: On the way to his destination wedding.

These four people couldn't be any more different. And yet as they get to know each other, there are striking similarities.

I liked how each character was introduced separately right at the beginning. It helped to get to know them a little before they met the others.

The characters were well written, each with a very relatable history. Each had their own struggles and successes, which made them likeable.

This is my first book by this author, but it won't be my last.

Thanks to netgalley and Boldwood Books for the arc.

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Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I loved this book and read it in one sitting.

On a plane to St Lucia, there’s four people, each person going for different reasons, there’s Dev, going to meet the lady he met on a one night stand, believing she’s the person he’s meant to be with, Bernadette, free from a bad marriage, Hayley, going on holiday with her husband after going through fertility treatment and Tadgh, who is getting married to his childhood sweetheart.

Four characters you’d love to befriend and stay friends forever.

I love Shari’s books and this had me laughing one minute and crying the next.

I recommend this book.

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I enjoyed this book very much. It was a quick read for me because it moved fast. I enjoyed all the characters and how it flowed. It really highlighted friendship and love and I'm always a sucker for those type of books. It also touched on some hard topics but in a gracious way. Overall I would recommend this summer read!

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I loved this book SO much!! I pretty much read it one sitting and didn’t want to put it down. Hayley, Bernadette, Dev and Tadgh, who are all total strangers, find themselves sitting together on a flight to St Lucia and each one of these gorgeous characters has a story to tell. Shari has nailed it once again with her perfect combination of love, humour, friendship and heartache all rolled into a glorious tale which is told over just a few hours.
I can’t get enough of Shari Low and her amazing characters….so please keep them coming!
Thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read this fabulous story before publication date in return for an honest review.

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