Sammy & Max met one fateful night when they were 18 with all the promises of a future together, but when Max leaves the next day and doesn’t reach out, Sammy realizes he’s left her like how people always do – like her mom who rarely prioritized her daughter while chasing the next best thing or guy, or her girlfriend who just got tired of their relationship. Sammy returns to her hometown after learning Max is there considering reviving his rock career and intends to write a review. Overall this was a quick read and had moments of really strong emotions, even though both characters were complicated and borderline unlikeable. This story is overflowing with miscommunication and toxic relationships, but the best part of the story is Sammy’s reunion with her late father’s mother and learning more about her paternal family history.

Thank you Random House/Dell and Netgalley for the ARC.

I love when books and music collide - and that is exactly what Sammy Espinoza's Last Review did. Sammy ruins her job to try to save her relationship. She may be able to save that job, but she will have to head to her hometown and find her old flame. Will she be able to do so?

A cute romance!

Tehlor pretty immediately cemented themselves as an auto-read for me with their YA "We Set the Dark on Fire" duology, but Sammy Espinoza just did not stand up to that. I don't know if it's because this is contemporary or just a case of a story not hitting me in the right feels, but this felt like on elf those books where there's a lot of pages but not a lot actually happens. I still plan to keep Tehlor on my radar, but their contemporary may just not be to my taste...

3.75 stars. Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for this E-ARC. I cant believe it took me this long to read this book, but I enjoyed it soooo much. I loved Sammy because she was so real all her issues are things that we all go thru. The realness of this story is what got me hooked from beginning to end all the family interaction/drama was represented in such a real way that I loved it. Cant wait to read more from this author

Loved!

I really enjoyed the voice of the writing: it just flowed and was so easy to read. I really enjoyed that. The romance was good, not great but as a whole I enjoyed the story and all of the characters.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

I loved the found family and second chance romance tropes. Those are two tropes I adore in romance novels. Thank you so much for the advance reader copy.

First of all... THAT COVER!

Second of all... LOVED IT. I have a big soft spot for found family and second chance tropes. I loved Sammy and Max. The music and the romantic banter were the icing on the cake.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC

I’m sorry to say this they should have ended up together at all. This should have been book about them growing up after separating

I adore Sammy Espinoza and everything about Max Ryan. Obsessed! I loved everything about this unlikely love story and can’t wait for others to read it!

This probably would've worked better as a contemporary than as a romance as the main couple just should not be together. Otherwise the book has some lovely other plots and messages but the central theme is the romance and unfortunately it just didn't deserve the second chance it got.

Sweet, cute, and trope-y romance about crawling back, finding home, and reconnecting. I'm tired of messy male characters, but I guess Max is honest about it.

I had very low expectations for this book, and I will say the book exceeded these expectations, particularly the first half. I enjoyed getting to know Sammy and the other characters in the book. I thought she made some poor choices but I was still entertained by it all. The last third was a little over dramatic for me and more challenging to motivate myself to read.

This book wasn’t my cup of tea. I made myself not DNF but then I didn’t enjoy it as I felt I just had to get through it. I didn’t like Sammy and Max or their relationship in the book. That ruined it for me.

I am usually super critical of second-chance romances - but I adored Sammy Espinoza's Last Review! I do love a good rockstar romance and this one was so well done. First, I loved the relationship between Sammy and Max - it felt so fun and genuine.

Sammy is a bit infuriating to start with; you kind of want to shake her as she makes a series of mistakes - but you still have a soft spot for her and her happy ending - which I think is the mark of a good writer, creating a flawed character that I still root for.

My one big flaw with this novel - that keeps it from being five stars - is the reason for Max's sudden disappearance; while realistic, it seems like it came out of nowhere - which felt just a bit too convenient for the story.

Overall though, a fantastic read and I would gladly read more from this author.

This book was such a warm hug, I really enjoyed the romance, the found family and the depth of characters.

A great read for music and book lovers alike, Tehlor Kay Mejia’s novel Sammy Espinoza’s Last Review (which comes out today) shares what life is like when you’re trying to look towards the future, even if you haven’t fully reconciled with your past.

I don’t think Sammy’s story can be classified as strictly a romance because there were just so many moments of self-discovery for her to go through before getting to the actual love protein of the book.

While I found myself wanting to just throw my book across the room and knock some sense into Sammy, I still appreciated her journey as a person and seeing her reconcile her past with her present.

The full cast of characters was really well developed and I’ll admit to shedding more than a few tears at the ending.

Overall, this was a great adult debut and if your looking for a pseudo-coming-of-age adult romance novel, then this is a great choice!

*I received an ARC from Random House in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was fun. Not one that I would immediately flock to at the book store based on the description. I didn't really resonate with the character of Sammy, so I think it was hard to connect to the book.

Sammy needs a career resuscitation and knows just the person to do it. When she heads back to Ridley Falls to find former rocker, Max Ryan she is also faced with confronting her family and past.

This one was cute and endearing. I just loved the characters and the setting.

This was a complex read for me, but one that I really enjoyed.

On the one hand, I love a second chance romance - a missed connection. I also love a good rock star romance.

That said, Sammy was the only child of a single mom and has daddy issues. Big ones. Like me. How do I keep stumbling on these books?

I could have used some trigger warnings for abandonment, parental gaslighting, and many deaths/grief. Maybe they were in the physical copy and I skipped over them on the audio?

Despite that, I really did enjoy this story. The writing was beautiful and made me cheer for the FMC at the same time I was cringing and thinking, "Oh, honey."

The side characters were well-developed and not just there to boost up the FMC.

I will say, the ending felt a little rushed. I love an HEA but it felt like everything was resolved in one fell swoop. Which, good on the author for having that plotted out, but it was jarring. We were in the depths of despair and then all of our wildest dreams came true. Some middle ground for a quick breather would have been appreciated. Emotional whiplash takes me out of the story.. It could have been that I was reading the story at 2am because I couldn't put it down. A double-edged sword.

I look forward to reading more by this author. Her middle grades and YA seem perfect for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this book that I sat on too long. I ultimately switched back and forth between the ebook and audiobook (from Spotify) for this read. The narration was hard to turn off. I loved it.