The Last Encore (eARC) — 4 ⭐️

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: When Avery’s ex-best friend, Josh, shows back up into her life after 10-years apart, her life is thrown for a loop. She wasn’t expecting to see him again, and her feelings for him are slowly returning. When they’re together, it’s like he never left. However, he broke her trust in more ways than just one. Can he prove that he’s different this time?

𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: I really enjoyed this one! Avery’s personality is relatable - she’s anxious, passionate, and stubborn, just like me. I found myself rooting for her throughout the whole story. Plus, I enjoyed her friendship with Brooke.

I’m surprised that this book is the author’s debut book! I really like their writing style, and I’m looking forward to reading their future books.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 —
💪 Strong Characters + Development
💗 Friends to Lovers
🏳️‍🌈 LGBTQ+ Rep
✌️Second Chance Romance
🧠 Mental Health Rep
🔓 Open Door Romance
🇨🇦 Based in Canada

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐟 —
📸 You want to have a photography business
💞 You fell hard for your high school crush
🐱 You’re a cat person
🙈 You don’t like to be the center of attention
💭 You strive to follow your dreams

𝐓𝐖: sexual assault, panic attacks, divorce, abandonment, sexual content, parental death (past)

Thank you, NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-Op, for providing me an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Last Encore is one of my favorite debuts I have read this year. Elodie poured her heart and soul into this novel and it shows instantly with the dedication.

Avery Clark and Josh Harding. Ones a photographer in Toronto. The others a well established pianist. Childhood best friend lovers who haven't talked or seen each other in ten years. That all changes one night at an event that Avery dreaded attending. Will these two friends be able to reunited those sparks and make a beautiful love melody? Or will this time be their last encore?

I enjoyed reading Elodie Colliard's debut novel. I felt for Avery instantly and wanted to be apart of the friend group that is Avery, Josh and Brooke. Each chapter is named and based on a playlist creatively crafted by Colliard herself. Fans of romantic reads and supporting debut authors will enjoy The Last Encore.

Thank you Elodie for my earc in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

It was a really fun story to read and I really enjoyed this book this is the first book I read from this author and it disappoint thanks netgalley for letting me read this one

4.5 / 5 stars

friends of emily henry + people we meet on vacation, look no further!

What if love is the key?

Avery Clark needs a break. Between her photography business not doing as well as she’d hoped and incessant family drama that does nothing to ease her spiking anxiety, she needs something to go her way.

And that was even before her ex-best friend, and talented pianist, Joshua Harding, ran into her during an event in Toronto, after he left her suddenly ten years ago, breaking the only promise he had swore he wouldn't.

When an opportunity to grow her business falls into her lap, Avery decides to put her doubts and resentment aside and agrees to photograph Josh’s sister’s upcoming wedding.

As they spend more and more time together, rediscovering each other and the people they turned into, Avery realizes that maybe, the spark she felt ten years ago wasn’t just a fleeting teenage phase.

But the past is never far away, and an unknown future is terrifying. Could Avery take that leap of faith?

The Last Encore is a fun and easy read that follows childhood best friends who reunite after a decade apart. I absolutely adored the concept of this book - second chance romance with childhood best friends? Sign me up! But unfortunately, this book just didn't quite hit the mark for me.

What I did like about this book were the bigger picture ideas. I thought the plot was interesting and had many unique subplots to consider and explore. However, the execution of these left something to be desired. There is a lot going on in this book - family drama, friend drama, mental health issues, all on top of the romance plot. Unfortunately, most of these were underdeveloped or solved in such a quick and easy way that they lacked meaning or depth.

For example, Josh's issues with his father, which we are told have been persistent his entire life, are solved within one chapter where Avery yells at him and then Josh plays him a song. Suddenly, years of family trauma are solved in a matter of pages. Similarly, Avery's issues with her father are touched on every now and then, and lead to some confrontation, but are often left on the backburner and are never really revisited. I think there were some really interesting subplots introduced, but there were just too many done too shallowly to really enjoy them.

The romance between Josh and Avery was sweet and steamy, but I wish it'd been a little less straightforward. It took almost no time for them to decide they liked one another, and then every conflict that arose was solved in a matter of pages, meaning the stakes were never really high and I wasn't overly invested in the couple's story. Avery was also comically oblivious, in a way that made her seem incredibly juvenile and frustrating - literally everyone around her could be screaming "JOSH LOVES YOU" and she'd still insist they meant just as a friend.

The writing was sporadically good, with funny dialogue and swoony conversations between Avery and Josh. However, it would occasionally become incredibly cringey - especially the dialogue, which occasionally read really unrealistically - for example, the word "hawt" was used earnestly in a conversation between adults. There were also lines borrowed from other big pieces of media, including a line taken almost verbatim from Hamilton. I don't have anything against taking inspiration from other works or even paraphrasing, but it was a really strange line that threw me out of the story.

I thought this book really had promise, with its ambitious plot and ideas, as well as a unique setting and a couple with an interesting backstory, but I just think the execution left it lacking.

This book is a story about second chances and new beginnings, the characters are sort of strangled friends.
TW: THE BOOK HAS A TW WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT. So the story goes a little bit around it but handles it well.

honestly, I don't think editing will change the fact that this is a very juvenile style of writing. I was very disappointed to find it read like a watttpad book rather than an adult professional writer.

The cover caught my attention immediately. THE LAST ENCORE by Elodie Colliard was a cute second-chance love story but it just wasn't quite for me. I never felt connected to the characters or got hooked at any point. There was some adorable moments throughout and it was well written. However, with so much shared experiences from Avery and Josh's past, there was still a lack of communication and openness between them that got repetitive. Overall, I'd say it's a3.5 stars. Just didn't hit the mark for me.

In The Last Encore, Avery Clark runs into Joshua Harding at a benefit after 10 years apart. Best friends separated by a whole ocean, meeting up again leads to rediscovering each other and who they have both become since adolescence. This book does contain a trigger warning for sexual assault which I appreciate, but I did take a star off related to a certain comment made by Josh during an intimate moment. I thought it was very insensitive but the overall book did a great job with consent and handling a sexual assault.

A debut from Elodie Colliard, this book has a friends to lovers kind of trope, with everything I like in a good romance. The main subbjects in here are prrety relevant, such as mental health and Family dillemas, that makes a well constructed background to Avery's and Josh's journey to find love and partnership. The narrative contains spicy love scenes, so to the readers who doesn't like stories with this kind of content, remains the mention. T conclude, I say that the experience was super positive and I am interested in get more of the author's titles that is to come in the future.

🍁 The Last Encore by Elodie Colliard 🍁

Rating: 4/5⭐️
Spice: 2/5 🌶
Pub Date: Nov 1, 2022- out today!

When Avery Clark’s ex-best friend, Josh, comes into town suddenly after 10 years, Avery is shook. Avery always felt betrayed by his sudden urge to leave town, especially since he promised he would never leave her. But when she finds herself photographing Josh’s sisters wedding, she puts her resentment aside, while they rediscover their friendship and potential of something more.

What a debut!! This was such a sweet and charming story. I love a good second chance romance with childhood best friends. Avery and Josh had so much chemistry and you could just feel the love they had for each other.

I really appreciated the mental health rep in this book. I 100% can relate to Avery in her over thinking, ruminating and panic attacks. Avery’s character was so freshing to see. She had flaws, made mistakes and was her own worst enemy. Avery’s best friend Brooke was my absolute favorite! She was hilarious, so whitty and I loved her love for Avery.

What to expect:
✨ Second chance romance
✨ Friends to lovers
✨ Small town romance
✨ Mental health rep

This was a great debut!

Is it perfect? No, it's a debut, but as debuts go, this was pretty awesome.

Sex tension and chemistry 10/10, she nailed it (ha). The chemistry between Josh and Avery was palpable and just delicious. The mental health rep with panic attacks was handled beautifully and the consent!! Can we take a minute to talk about the consent? Just lovely to see.

The author does include an explanation at the beginning as to why they included the on page SA scene and personally I skipped it, and I don't feel like I missed out. But I also understand their want to include it. I appreciate how open they were in the beginning about it, so I was well informed in my decision making.

As for the issues with the book, it was more to do with her best frined character, I can't say that Brooke was fully developped, and as a queer best friend, that is frustrating. Some of their interactions were puzzling, but all in all, it wasn't so distracting that it took away from the story. And I can' say that this is an issue, something that I noticed is that this comes from a very priveleged perspective, but not necessarily in a patronizing way?

I would read it for the sexual chemistry alone. Either way, it was good for the romance part of it, and you know, that should be the minimum with it being a romance novel, but this was a GOOD romance.

Thank you to Netgalley and Victory Editing for an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

If you love to read a light second chance friends-to-lovers romance, give this one a try!
Make sure to read the trigger warnings below before diving into this one.

After reading so many thick and dark books in October, this one feels very refreshing for me. The plot is simple and I love the flow of the story, it was easy to get sucked into.
Fast pacing and loveable characters also keeps me interested until the end.

The author did very well about the mental health rep, like the panic attacks and anxiety the MC -Avery felt in this book. Moreover, the spicy scenes are also well written, it has the perfect amount.

While I really enjoy reading this book, I wish the secondary characters are more developed. I like to know more about Avery's mother and Avery's best friend - Brooke.

As for the romance, I honestly like the spark between Avery and Josh. I felt myself rooting for them.
However, they fall back together slightly too fast. I was hoping for more angst moments - the anger and longing for each other.

Overall, this is a lovely debut novel. It's simple and enjoyable, I could barely put it down.
Seeing this debut, I will continue reading this series. I'm looking forward to read the next book with the new couple!

⚠️ TW: Sexual assault, depression, anxiety and loss of a loved one

I received an advanced review copy for free from Netgalley, the author and Victory Editing NetGalley. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Let me start my review with the first thing that I loved about The Last Encore ~ the intro about the trigger warnings. I appreciate it so, so, much when authors take the time to discuss the themes expressed in their books, so TLE automatically gained a thousand points just from the first page! The mental health rep in this book was really well done. I am sure many readers like me will relate to Avery's struggles with anxiety. Kudos to the author for being creating such a remarkable and thoughtful character like her. 🖤

Avery and Josh were the absolute best, oh my gosh. Second-chance romances are either a hit or miss for me. But The Last Encore won the prize for the former! The book isn't a traditional second-chance romance, though. I enjoyed the book more because of the friends-to-lovers aspect, anyway! Avery and Josh's moments together, especially the vulnerable ones where Avery was struggling with her demons were so touching. :') The family drama was such a bonus too! I also obsessed over Avery's friendship with Brooke AHHH. So heartwarming!! The musical vibes were on point too.

The pacing was a bit off at times, but that's understandable seeing this a debut novel. I can't wait to read more from Elodie!

✨𝐑 𝐄 𝐕 𝐈 𝐄 𝐖✨

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐄𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐝

Happy pub day @elosreadingcorner! 🙌🏼📚I was so excited to read this sweet & spicy debut novel by one of our very own. I was so impressed by this story, it definitely did not disappoint 🫶🏼

👍🏼: I loved Avery & Josh’s story as both a friends-to-lovers/ second change romance! I was immediately swooning over Josh & his acceptance and understanding of Avery’s anxiety/past traumas. Avery was such a relatable character & I admired her for so many reasons. While there were some tough moments for the characters, this was overall such an enjoyable, feel-good read for me ☺️

👎🏼: While I loved both of these characters and the overall story development, there were some moments that went too quick for me & other moments that seemed to slow the pace of the story 🤷🏼‍♀️

Overall, this was an extremely heartwarming, relatable romance with the perfect amount of spice 🙌🏼😍 Super impressive as a debut novel & I definitely recommend checking it out!

Thanks to @netgalley & @elosreadingcorner for the e-ARC 📚 OUT NOW! 🎉

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What I loved —
🧡 friends to lovers trope 🫶
💜 great mental health rep
🧡 all of the music + photography 📸🎶
💜 Canadian vibes 🇨🇦
🧡 family dynamics
💜 fall vibes 🍁
🧡 Avery’s friendship with Brooke

I appreciated that Elodie talked about the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book. She wrote about some tough topics with grace. I felt seen while reading about Avery’s struggle with anxiety.

I also loved the build up between Avery & Josh and thought there was the perfect amount of steam. The characters have so much depth and I adored how they found their way back to each other 💜

What a debut! Packed with family drama and second chance love, I was hooked from the start. I’m always a big supporter of mental health rep and could see a bit of myself in our FMC, Avery. Her story was heartbreaking, but her journey through it all was inspiring. All around, this was beautifully written!

3.5 stars

This was a very sweet friends to lovers romance.
Our mcs were best friends in their teens and were separated just before their friendship could become something more. Now as adults, they reunited and sparkles fly once again.
I liked the idea of this yet as much as I enjoyed the romance, I felt the development of the plot fell short. I was left wanting more. I wanted more built-up because I felt our mcs got together too fast. And maybe this is just me wanting more groveling and slow burn but in this case, it felt too rush.
I liked that the author using part of her own experiences (check TW) for the book because it made me appreciate the story even more.
I always say trigger warnings are not spoilers and I'm so glad to see authors caring about their readers putting the CW upfront. 👏👏
I also liked the mental health rep and that it was done realistic and with care. As someone who suffers from anxiety and depression I appreciate the truthful portrait of it.
Overall there were some great ideas and the story was cute and now I'm very intrigued in this authors future work because I see potential.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a lovely debut romance from Elodie Colliard! Avery and Josh have been friends since childhood. They were the best of friends until he left ten years ago and never made contact after that. Now he's back in their hometown and hoping to make amends for the mistake he made in not reaching out. But his absence hurt Avery in ways that "I'm sorry" can't make up for. Josh had promised to always be there for her and then he wasn't. It was a big promise to break and she's understandably afraid to open herself up to heartbreak again.

I'm always a sucker for characters with baggage. Let's face it, real life is messy and we all have some type of internal battle we are fighting. Avery and Josh's struggles may have been a bit more intense than some, but they were still very relatable. I like that the author didn't shy away from addressing difficult topics. She didn't sugar coat things and wanted people to understand clearly how painful certain situations are and the long lasting impact of both action and inaction.

I was team Avery and Josh from the beginning. I love second chance romances. You can tell that what they have was based on friendship but goes much deeper. I just needed for Josh to understand how much his absence hurt Avery and to actually feel remorse. It was good that we got his side as well and it indicated he wasn't in a good mental place during the time he was gone. It's easier to mesh the storyline together that way for me.

Overall, I found this to be an impressive debut and look forward to reading more by this author. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

Avery and Josh’s story is ABSOLUTELY swoon 👏 worthy 👏 - it is equal parts sexy and sweet with a story that begs the question what if the one that got away suddenly reappeared in your life? 👀

I am obsessed with a good friends to lovers story, but this one was something different… the friendship was complicated, there was an obvious and deep connection there, but in some ways, they were also complete strangers. I enjoyed this element of the story because we got to watch Avery and Josh grow back together by learning about who the other person became during all their years apart and it just felt so genuine!!

I also loved the mental health representation in this story and thought that the author did a great job of handling sensitive topics in a way that was respectful but also very real and raw.

This is definitely going to be a book I come back to time and time again - we love a good comfort read over here, especially one that gives me the butterflies the way this one does!