This was a nice book. I loved the premise and the main characters. I also really loved the mental health representation. However, a few times the plot felt half-baked. I don't know how else to describe it. It felt like something was missing and as though some important bits were rushed.

Either way it was good book overall, nice and easy to read.

Thank you to the publisher for kindly providing me with an ARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing the ARC.

Normally, I am all for the best friends to lovers books, but this one fell a bit flat for me.

The characters were very one dimensional, with their behavior a bit unrealistic. I thought the reasoning behind Josh leaving was pretty poor, especially in this day and age, where communication can happen immediately. I thought that Avery was a bit boring and I didn't jive with her at all.

The prose was dry and unimaginative, lending it to a difficult reading experience. It's not something I'd wish to repeat.

Not my favorite.

The Last Encore has all the feels in this second chance childhood friends to lovers story between Avery and Josh. They haven’t seen or spoken to each other in over 10yrs since Josh did the one thing he said he would never do- he left her. Now, back in each other’s lives again and the pull they once felt for each other is still there plus something more, something Avery is hesitant to explore. Can they trust each other again and finally give into their feelings or will their fears and insecurities hold they back from something amazing?

Excellent debut for @elosreadingcorner! You can tell she poured her heart and soul into this story drawing from personal experiences and truly gave all the feelings justice. Avery and Josh are so sweet together and Josh was so patient and understanding with Avery beyond anything she ever experienced before. Can’t wait for Avery’s brother Miles’s story and the glimpses of Avery and Josh’s life together.


Thank you @elosreadingcorner and @netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback

This was a cute romance book. I liked the over all story. I loved the realtionship between the main characters. I think this book needs more hype.

I liked the sound of this book and was excited to read it but I could not get into it and had to give up reading it after 100 pages. I found the characters all kind of unlikeable although that wasn’t the intention I don’t think. And because of that I didn’t feel invested in the story and after avoiding it for weeks I finally have thrown in the towel.

I truly adored this story! It made me feel all the feels! It was such a sweet yet steamy story with raw and difficult topics of mental health and sexual assault handled with such care! I loved Josh and Avery, they were so real with their life struggles. They were both so relatable and vulnerable. I also loved the side characters, they were the perfect addition to this amazing story.

Also, can we talk about how gorgeous this cover is! Perfection!! 🙌🏻

If you like second chance, friends to lovers romance stories that give you all the feels and are perfect for fall, I definitely recommend this one!

3.5 stars

I honestly picked this book up on a whim, I liked the description and the cover but I honestly quite enjoyed this one. It was cute, light and easy to read, good storyline and characters. Would give this a try if you're looking for a second chance friends to lovers book.

I have mixed feelings. I really wanted to like this book but for some reason, I just couldn’t get into it. I tried so many times but the entire thing just wasn’t engaging enough. So I ended up only getting halfway

This was cute and romantic and a solid debut! Loved the setting in Toronto and loved the mental health rep with Avery’s anxiety, really written well. This is a friends to lovers trope and second chance romance. The characters were well developed, I became very attached to Avery and Josh. Looking forward to more by this author. Thank you NetGalley, Victory Editing and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book is available now

Such an enjoyable little romance!

I loved Josh and Avery's story of unexpectedly reconnecting after 10 years apart and just automatically having such strong feelings towards each other all over again! It's like fate knew these two needed to be reconnected and be together so that they could both be happy finally!

I also loved Avery and Brooke's friendship and how they were always there for each other no matter what - ultimate friendship goals!

Overall, such a heartwarming, surprisingly spicy and cute read!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5

Let me start off this review by saying that Josh Harding is the best book boyfriend out there. THERE, I SAID IT! Fight me! He is sweet, attentive, and oh so talented with his fingers 😉 Get your mind out of the gutter - he’s a pianist. This story was a slow-burn and worth every second! I was immediately drawn to Josh and struggled alongside Avery as she learned how to trust again after all of the hardships she encountered. This novel covered some very difficult topics, coping with the death of a parent, past sexual assault, panic attacks, and many others. Despite the harder subjects, the love between Avery and Josh was intoxicating. Their chemistry was electric and the spice was impeccable!

I hope you give this story a chance because I definitely recommend it. I cannot wait for the second in this series coming out next year!

The Last Encore was published on November 1, 2022.

Thank you to Elodie Colliard, Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op, and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a pretty good book for a debut. It’s a second chance, friends to lovers romance that deals with a couple of serious topics but still manages to be a fun and cute read. All in all I really enjoyed it.

A cute romance that blends together popular tropes and explores the relationship between two childhood friends who have been pining over each other for years. The story was enjoyable, oftentimes the writing let it down a little for me.

Congratulations on your debut, elodie! So proud of you and your hard work! Can’t wait to see what else you write <3

I recieved this one as an arc without knowing anything about it. I just liked the cover and name of it tbh. Anyway, the writing is so easy to follow and makes it such a quick cute story. This is about Avery and Josh, who were best friends until he moved away all of the sudden for 10 years without ever contacting her again. After 10 years they meet again and as you’ll probably already guessed this is a cute little friends to lovers book. Is it revolutionary? No, but it’s a cute, fast and easy romance read. I enjoyed it.

I had very high expectations for this book solely because of the amazing cover! Unfortunately this book was a no from me. I did not DNF, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as i had hoped. The main character annoyed me a lot throughout the book..

I was really looking forward to this one but sadly it just didn't work for me. I didn't seem to gel with the characters or story and it didn't have the development or tension I was looking for and the dialogue didn't feel natural - these are all my personal opinions based on what I like from a novel, especially a romance, and others may have an entirely different experience, so please pick this one up, because it may be your new favourite!

I really appreciated the discussions and representation on mental health, which is where this book shone for me.

For a debut, I can see potential and I'm intrigued to see Colliard's writing and stories grow.

I really tried giving this a try. I didn’t hate it.. but I didn’t like it. And to be honest, I didn’t finish it. Nothing was holding my attention.

This is more of a “it’s me not you” situation. This one just wasn’t for me.

This was a delightful second-chance romance (childhood friends to lovers); the characters were very well thought out! It took me a bit to get used to the writing, as sometimes it felt like the author didn't go through an editing process. That doesn't take anything away from the story that was very cute. Recommended for romance lovers who are into the friends-to-lovers trope!

Alright booksta, do your thing! Our fellow bookstagrammer @elosreadingcorner wrote a book and it was an incredibly stunning debut!

This was such a great story about friendships and second chances at love. Going into this, I knew that Shawn Mendes as Elodie’s muse for Josh and I loved every part of that as it made him so much more swoon worthy in my eyes!

I absolutely relished in the setting of this one and the vivid scenery and detailed perfection of Toronto that Colliard used. I also throughly enjoyed the depth of the characters that Elodie was able to create. This one has such a charming and endearing supportive cast which I think takes your typical romance novels to a whole new and engaging level! And luckily for us, this is the start of “It’s Always Been You” series and we’ll get to continue with a new plot featuring Miles & Riley!

This one has hallmark movie written all over it (less the steam, and oh was there some steamy bits😉) and I can’t wait to read more!