Sammy Espinoza’s Last Review
By Tehlor Kay Mejia
4 stars

If you’ve ever had an emo phase (it’s not really a phase) or you really love music, this book will be for you. It was kind of like reading a fanfic of your favorite musician in a good way. I loved all the music business talk and really enjoyed Sammy and Max’s relationship but I did have a hard time with the miscommunication. I just kept cringing every time Sammy wasn’t telling the truth because I was waiting for it all to blow up. Max had some stuff he was keeping from Sammy as well and though I understood and guessed why, I do wish he would’ve just communicated with her at least a little bit so we didn’t have the whole third act breakup. There were just a lot of dishonesty and some of it was hard to get past.

I was not expecting it to be as emotional as it was when Sammy was digging up her family history. To avoid spoilers, I will not be elaborating but it was beautiful and sad at the same time. I definitely teared up a little bit.

Read if you like
Second chance romance
Rockstars
Messy characters
Found family
LGBTQ+ rep

This was a slow starter for me, for sure. From the beginning I thought it would just be your average romance. I connected with these characters, however, and it ended up being an emotional read for me. The connection with Sammy and Max was great but I never really like a story that hinges on the MC lying (by omission) to the love interest.

The found-family aspect was touching, I found myself with tears more than once. The romance was good, so good I wish there’d been more. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from Tehlor Kay Mejia.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group, Ballentine for this complimentary ARC. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

We have been busy with end of year shenanigans and it seemed like every time I sat down with this book something came up. As soon as I really sat down with it, the story and characters drew me in. The relationships built and broken within Sammy Espinoza’s Last Review left me laughing and crying along the way. I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did. I highly recommend you grab this when it is released this summer!
Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
I was provided a free copy of this title from the publishers, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Sammy’s life is in disarray, so she goes back to the one home she connects with to regroup with the support of her childhood friend,Willa.
What she finds is a complicated relationship from and a series of truths that make her reevaluate her life. While there is a decent romance in this book, it is more a coming of age tale. The secondary characters making up Sammy’s found family were my favorite, and the ending made me quite emotional.
3.5 stars.

I really liked the story's premise and fast pace reading, but I never fully connected with any of the characters. Maybe this one wasn't for me. It is well written (though highly formulaic) and I recommend it to those who enjoy coming-of-age / finding-oneself / second chances romance stories. It would be a good beachy read - one that engages, but you don't have to have too much focus and can read a chapter or two at a time and easily remember the storyline.

Advanced copy courtesy of NetGalley.

This was *really* good. I wasn’t initially sold in the first few chapters, but this slow burner builds into such a heartfelt story. While it at its core is a romance, so much of it is a family story and a coming of age story. It’s emotional and incredibly well written and a must read.

The Emily Henry blip pulled me in + the fact that I really enjoyed Miss Meteor but this one was totally different and totally sexy. I loved every second and I can’t wait to gush to everyone about it.

Thank you so much to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed every single page and I would happily read this again and again just to feel the happiness I felt while reading. It was engaging and kept me on my toes. It's one of those books that it's easy to get lost in! Highly recommend!

I originally found this book from a recommendation from Emily Henry. I'm so glad she used her voice to talk about this book because its a little outside of my typical genre so I may have not picked it up. But this was such a beautiful story about found family and self love. It was beautifully written and I am so glad I read!

I enjoyed Sammy Espinoza’s Last Review but I can’t say that I loved it. The biggest problem with this romance book is that it doesn’t seem to really want to be a romance. When the book is tackling other plots (Sammy’s family struggles, figuring out what she really wants and who she really is), it’s great. But the relationship with Max? Not so much.

Once of my absolute least favorite things about romance books is the lack-of-communication leads to a break-up trope. And this one I could see coming right from the beginning. I even had hope that when it was addressed during the middle of the book that we would avoid the third act break up, but no such luck.
Another issue with the romance part is the two main characters. There’s no way that Sammy and Max would ever be in a committed relationship. Their individual issues confirm the other partner’s deepest fears and insecurities at every turn. There is a complete lack of trust and the immaturity of both of them makes it difficult to buy into the HEA.

But, if we put aside the romance part, this was a good book. Sammy connecting with Paloma and sorting through her issues and realizing that she could choose her own path in life kept me engrossed. I also enjoyed many of the side characters (Larry and Maeve especially) and would have loved spending more time with them.

All in all, I’m excited to read more from Tehlor Kay Mejia.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC.

I’m sorry I had to DNF, it could be me being in a reading slump because this one seemed alright! My rating is 3 stars because I see the premise is there, it just wasn’t for me

Different and unique . It hold my attention from the start.
Small town romance , second chances , found family and amazing character growth

This was such a fun read! Definitely a great addition to collections with strong contemporary romance readerships and fans of It's funny that you should ask!

This book started off a little slow but very soon had me hooked. This was so funny and romantic and I truly had a good time reading this. Sammy and Max went through it but had me rooting for them the whole way!

Sammy Espinoza's life is crashing down around her, so she does what she knows best and runs. This time she runs to the place that at one time, for a brief shining moment of her life, felt like home.

Max Ryan has been hiding for years, nursing a bit of fear, shame, and a few more of his own issues. Can a chance encounter with Sammy, for the second time in his life change all of that?

This book was, simply put, emotional. I, and many others, identified with Sammy and her fears. This book forces you to sit in the discomfort of those feelings of loneliness, and longing to belong. Its definitely a book that will leave you with an emotional hangover. This book is special for sure.

An emotional rollercoaster of a romance novel but one that I enjoyed so much for how it melded the storylines of Sammy revisiting her past both on a familial and a romantic level. Small-town homecoming stories really do lend that sort of warmth overall, but then Sammy was just such a likable protagonist that it made me root for her to have everything she wanted — including a connection to the family she never had the chance to know. In many ways, the found family element felt a little more important to the story than the romance — complete with what seemed more like a HFN ending rather than a HEA — but this book wields a strong sense of place and a poignant narrative that is going to stick with me for a long time.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What a story! I laughed, I cried, I swooned and I fell in love with every single one of these characters.
Sammy Espinoza is on a bit of a downward slope. She was dumped and pretty much fired from what she thought was her dream job. She decides to lick her wounds in a place she once called home, a place she hasn’t been in years and holds a lot of memories for her, Ridley Falls. Not only does she hope to spend time with the people who aren’t blood but family to her, a chance to save her career comes in the form of former flame Max Ryan, past rock god who once broke Sammy’s heart.

If you love music, I think this book is for you. Sammy is a music critic and feels a lot of her emotions through different songs. She connects back with Max through his music and their love of what is behind the lyrics. You’ll fall in love with swoony Max who has a lot of baggage and demons of his own to work through, and you’ll love Sammy who has a lot of family issues and internal struggle with who she is and where she comes from.

There is LGBTQ+ representation that made my heart happy, found family and second-chance romance in this book that really checked all my boxes. I love how emotional this book was, while it was a romance at its heart it also deals with Sammy figuring out her past in the town her father’s family is from, where she comes from and how she can connect with her roots. It’s deeper than the average romance and I loved everything about it. The side characters are heartwarming and wonderful, and the main characters are truly the standout as they try to be together despite secrets and baggage.

I highly recommend this book, which comes out July 18! Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Check out a full review on my podcast Pages n’ Pages episode released May 27, 2023, on all streaming platforms.

What makes a family? What doesn't? How do you find them (again)? These questions are at the core of Sammy Espinoza's Last Review and Mejia has knocked the answering out of the park. I have been a fan of theirs since the WSTDOF days, but this may be my favorite yet. As a musician myself, it was so centering to read the way Sammy/Mejia thinks about that art form and the community around it. Sammy is such a deeply relatable character, her own struggles winding a knot round your finger and pulling on your heartstrings. Mejia had no intention of pulling punches - the way this book grapples with grief, especially the far-off kind of strangers who should've been more, is a special thing. The relationship that blossoms between Sammy and Max is such a gentle and vulnerable thing too, each choosing to learn and grow over time. I laughed my ass off, cried so hard I couldn't see through my tears - a must-read.

4 stars

I've consistently enjoyed Mejia's YA novels, but I *REALLY* enjoyed this adult romantic debut.

Sammy, the titular m.c., finds herself in a difficult spot when the novel begins: an unstable career, an embarrassing and public breakup, and many buried issues from her familial past and origins. Out of desperation, Sammy goes home to Ridley Falls, a small town where many of her problems await to face her head on...literally in most cases. Since there's a pretty solid second chance romance situation happening here, it's no surprise that one of the first encounters Sammy has upon her triumphant return is an unexpected one with Max, the dude who broke her heart 10 years ago. Between Max's presence, her caring but over involved best friend/makeshift sister, her stand-in parents, the profusion of her belated father's memory, her disastrous mom, and a mythical grandmother she's never met, Sammy has a lot to manage and a lot of self-discoveries to make, all while trying to save her career and - unbeknownst to her - star in a romance.

The romance is charming, but it's really Sammy's growth that's most rewarding to encounter. At 30, she's learned some hard lessons, but she still has a few to go, and it's enjoyable for readers to meet her at this stage: some knowledge under the belt but some wins left to tally.

There are some minor characters whom I wanted to know more about, and there are a couple of too-tidy resolutions. These small issues aside, I remained engaged in this read and rooting for Sammy's success consistently. I'm glad this author has ventured into new territory and am looking forward to reading whatever they produce next!

The reason I requested SAMMY ESPINOZA'S LAST REVIEW was because it's written by Tehlor Kay Mejia; the story seemed so unlike anything else they'd written. At first, I wasn't sure the romance could hold my attention--the ending seemed fairly obvious from the novel's early pages. However, in I found myself drawn in by the characters. It's a fast read but the characters and exploration of family is very compelling.