I really enjoyed this book, but I almost wish it wasn’t a romance! My favorite parts of the book weren’t the romance, which is unusual for me, and I think I would have liked it even more without it. I loved the found family aspect especially, and some parts of the book were really emotional. Something was just lacking in the romance story for me. I’m excited to read other books from this author!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an eARC!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I loved this and could not put it down. A story on a music critic down on her luck and a former rock star.

I’m such a sucker for a small town romance. Sammy Espinoza has had a rough past and heads back to the closest memory of home, Ridley Falls. With a mission to restore her job and avenge her teenage heart, Sammy is set to overcome more than she originally set out for. I loved the concept of this book. It had romance but it also had a plot of found family and honesty throughout everything. As far as the characters I loved the self reflection and the importance of relationships to keep and to let go. Just a good read to satisfy those seek second chance, small town romance with a strong family support system.

I really enjoyed Sammy Espinoza's Last Review, a coming-of-age romance between a music critic who's down on her luck, and a former rock star. Mejia has a knack for bringing together all the elements of her world into a book that's heartfelt and clear-eyed, making this into a read that made me tear up and laugh at different times.

There is a way in which this novel sometimes feels more like a YA novel — and it is Mejia's adult debut after writing YA and middle grade novels — but I think that overall, Mejia does a good job of crafting a complex story between adults who are trying their best to grow and support each other.

Overall, I am very glad to have read Sammy Espinoza's Last Review, and I recommend it.

Thank you to Dell and NetGalley for providing me with an advance review copy of Sammy Espinoza's Last Review. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC of this fabulous book!

Sammy Espinoza's Last Review contains so many elements that I love in a romance. It has LGBTQ+ characters who are central to the story. There is found family, along with strong friendships that are as important as the romance. Sammy is a mess, and she has been through some things. She and Max have a history (whether he remembers it or not) and this is a great second chance romance. They are not all that young and are not at all naïve. Small town life is complicated and not for everyone. Family is hard.

Basically, Sammy met Max many years ago, just before the launch of his wildly successful musical career. She is a music lover and connoisseur, and they bonded immediately, almost at a molecular level. Then, he disappeared. Many years later, her biological grandfather dies, and she realizes that she only has so much time to connect to her remaining family. She returns to her small town (where Max lives) to find her family and maybe, possibly, get a sneak peek of Max's new music that could save her dwindling career as a music journalist.

Tehlor Kay Mejia, who wrote the popular middle-grade series Paola Santiago and the River of Tears, knocks it out of the park with her adult romance debut. She writes messy, believable characters who feel things deeply, who love and care for each other, and who make their fair share of mistakes. It's wonderful to watch them connect, grow, and mature.

Music lovers especially will swoon over Max and connect to clever Sammy. The only hiccup for me was a deception on Sammy's part that was sure to reveal itself in a painful way. I knew it was coming and dreaded it.

I give it 8/10 stars and recommend it to anyone who loves books with swoony rock stars, self-discovery, and found family.

I must say, I was pleasantly surprised!

Although I've read other books with a similar makeup of Sammy Espinoza'a Last Review, I felt that this was an enjoyable read. It was a bit slow to start, but once Sammy's world started to crumble a bit, things picked up and became interesting.

I appreciated the fact that we got to see Sammy grow up a bit by basically hitting rock bottom. I think the book had some great messages, great characters, and really allowed me to connect.

Thank you to @netgalley for the advanced copy of this book.

Sammy Espinoza is a music critic in a crisis - a bad breakup and bad decisions in her career send her spiraling and she comes up with a crazy plan to try to save her job. Said plan takes her back to the small town she once called home. The home of her estranged family and of her closest friend and also reclusive musician Max Ryan who ghosted her and broke her heart years prior. When she runs into Max again and he doesn’t remember her, she plans on exacting her revenge and saving her career in the process. During the course of her stay, she reconnects with the family who took her in and cared for her when she needed it most, meets her estranged grandmother and develops a relationship with her and also is having crisis of conscious about building her relationship with Max based on lies. There was a lot of emotion in this book and coming to terms with how sometimes the family you choose is more real than the family you’re given. That sometimes forgiveness and excuses on behalf of your loved ones isn’t healthy. Her friends Willa and Brook are amazing as are Willa’s parents. Sammie’s grandmother was a delight and my heart soared for every moment spent in her company. This is not a happy go lucky book but it was a hopeful one that I am really glad I read. Sammy was not a perfect MC, I wanted to shake her sometimes but she felt so human and fragile and I was invested in her journey to self discovery and acceptance.

Sammy Espinoza’s Last Review is such a passionate story about finding yourself, fighting for the life you want, holding close the family you choose, and how our past is part of our history but does not have to define our future. Tehlor Kay Mejia wove such a sweet and complex path for Sammy that will make you laugh and cry and help you remember to be true to yourself. This was a wonderful read.

🎵BOOK REVIEW🎵

Sammy Espinoza’s Last Review - @tehlorkay
Rating: 5/5 ⭐️

“In Mejia’s adult debut romance novel, Sammy Espinoza has ten days to save her music journalism job, and get her ex-girlfriend back, and make the life she always wanted for herself. Stuck in a spiral of epic proportions, Sammy targets her teenage crush aka former rock god Max Ryan to make her career comeback.”

Sammy is a music journalist who, trying to boost her ex-girlfriends band’s reputation, ruined her own credibility with her boss and fans. Facing a job loss and breakup, she heads to the only home she’s ever known - the town where her grandparents live and where her mom left her with her friend’s parents. There’s also rumors swirling that an old one night stand, turned love interest, is also back in town trying to revamp his career. Oh and he’s also a huge rock star. She forms a plan to use him to get a good story for her boss to get her job back… but it’s never that easy.

I resonated with Sammy’s story so much - the complicated family dynamics and grief/confusion that come along with it. I straight up cried multiple times throughout the story when she reminisces on all the way her found family, the family of her best friend, had been there for her no matter what. Sure, she can come off as selfish at times, but we discover why she guards herself in this way. For me, this was ultimately a story about accepting the love around you, even when it may not be coming from the person you expect.

Without the mild spice, I feel this book could have easily read as a YA novel. It did not take away from the story at all for me, though.

Recommend if you enjoy:
- Found family
- Overcoming abandonment
- Second chance romance
- Lots of music references
- Discovering your heritage
- Complicated mother/daughter dynamics

Publish date: July 18, 2023

I enjoyed many parts of 'Sammy Espinoza's Last Review' except for the romance, and that's a problem for a romance book. The main characters, Sammy and Max, met and spent a great night together ten years ago. Max was in a band, and he told Sammy that he would take her with him on tour, but he ghosted her. Being ghosted forced Sammy to think more about herself and her career. It led her to being a music critic and reviewer. She has held on to the pain of that night for all of these years. Sammy's reaction seemed very juvenile, and it was hard to believe that she was 29 years old. That part of the story read as very YA.

When Sammy hears a rumor that Max is back in his hometown and working on a new album, she sees it as her opportunity to get answers about her past. The problem is that he doesn't remember her when they meet. I really don't like miscommunication, lying, and deceit in romance stories, and Sammy had all of those issues with Max. I felt uncomfortable reading those parts of the book because I didn't want their relationship to be built on lies. I didn't want Max to get hurt.

I really didn't like what happened toward the end of the book and the third act breakup seemed like it came out of left field. I wasn't rooting for them to be together, and I didn't believe that they could make things work.

If I remove the romance part of the book, I enjoyed the rest of the story! I loved how Sammy had a found family with Willa and Brook, Willa's parents, and her grandmother. I connected to those parts of the story, and I loved that she was able to meet her grandmother and have a bond with her. Meeting with her grandmother was such an emotional part of the story, and it brought me to tears many times. Willa and Brook had such a strong marriage, and I wanted more of their characters. I would enjoy a romance book about their backstory and their love story together.

If I focus on parts of the book other than the romance, I enjoyed this book so much. The romance was lacking for me because it was built on dishonesty. I wish that Sammy and Max had been honest from the beginning. It would have helped to create a strong foundation, and it would have allowed me to root for their happy ending together.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for an ARC of this story. If you're looking for a story with a found family, supportive friends, and music references, this is the book for you.

Overall, I liked it, but I had a hard time rooting for Sammy. It’s one of those books where I was just thinking “talk to each other!!!” the whole time. The growth saves it, though.

How should I review a book inspired by a music critic herself? Here it goes... At first I'm kind of afraid to read a novel that I haven't heard about, especially now since I just started reading again, but I don't even regret anything about it😍

Sammy Espinoza's Last Review by @tehlorkay is about a music critic's life and the struggles she had growing up without a real family by her side. I can't imagine how she managed to do it, but I can say the author did a great job of making it so relatable. I even teared up once or twice, especially about the family🥺 Sammy is such a strong female character. I loved how her thinking matured along the way

But it's not just about family and struggles; it's also about second chance romance and small town genres! So if you love a decade-long second chance story, you must read this one! From teenage to adult life, Sammy loved Max like, wow, tell me again about first loves

This couple is not perfect, but I loved how they owned up to their actions and did something to change for the better. It reminds me that there are always two sides to the story so you must not judge or act out without talking because it can cost you a lot.

Again, if you want a book about second chances and redemption, this book is worth your time! Thank you @netgalley and @randomhouse for the ARC

It will be worth the wait! Book will be publish on July 18 2023🥳

3/5 stars.

There were parts of this book that I liked, but overall I wasn’t the biggest fan of this book.

Sammy Espinoza’s job is to write reviews about singers and musicians. When her job is in jeopardy, her last chance to save it is to write a review about Max Ryan, a rock god who just happens to be her ex who ghosted her years ago. Once she heads back to their shared hometown, they get back together. But will the issues that drove them apart in the past resurface, or can they get through them?

I didn’t think that the “romance” part of this romance book was particularly strong. It felt like Sammy and Max’s relationship was the same as last time, so why would it last now if nothing has changed?

I wasn’t super connected to their of the characters and didn’t really feel like I was rooting for them.

It was an easy and quick read, though, and overall enjoyable. It was a predictable ending but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC.

I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN!!!

I have no idea where to start when it comes to this book. Tehlor Kay Mejia's debut adult novel is such a great read. There were so many layers to the story and the plot didn't just center around Sammy's love life. It felt so much more encompassing of someone's real life and not just a fictional character. There's so much packed into this story but it's not overwhelming at all. Mejia's writing is wonderful and she made me cry a few times.

3.5 stars rounded up.

I really liked the premise for this book. I loved the relationship between Sammy and the Cross family and Willa and Brook were my two favorite characters. I enjoyed learning more about Sammy’s place in their lives and the special sisterhood Willa and Sammy share. I felt the exploration of Sammy’s relationships with her mother and grandmother were extremely well done. You understand why Sammy makes the choices she does and why she constantly worries about being abandoned. It’s easy to see why as an 18-year old she got caught up in a whirlwind one-night connection.

I wasn’t, however, sold on Sammy’s and Max’s relationship. Their relationship begins almost exactly the same way - a chance meeting and an instant connection - and they continue to make the same choices as their teenage selves. There’s no growth in their interactions that shows why they should be together. I know this is a romance novel but honestly that’s the weakest part of the book. I think I would have been more invested with the story just focusing on Sammy’s return to Ridley Falls and her connection to the Espinoza family. She has amazing growth in the novel that is somewhat diminished by her choices regarding her relationship with Max.

Overall, this was an enjoyable and charming read. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

After reading the first few pages, it seems like it is still a YA book. I know this was her debut novel into adult romance but to me it does not seem that is the case. Reading more I just felt this was not the book for me but does not mean it is not the book for everyone else. Give this book a try!

Sammy writes reviews of bands and their music. However, she has been fluffing them to reflect well on her untalented lover who is a singer. She has one last chance to save her job with the magazine, but it involves interviewing the elusive rock god Max Ryan, who originates from her home town and ghosted her years ago. A mess, she heads back that tiny hometown, following clues that he's hiding out there. They run into each other and restart their romance. But the issues that pulled them apart before still exist. Can they get together in the end, issues resolved?

I had trouble getting into the story and almost stopped reading. Sammy was so unformed for her age (29), her married friends who helped save her weren't very interesting, and her relationship with her mother, which was pivotal, was hard to understand for a long time. It just made Sammy seem kind of lame. But then the story got going, Sammy started showing some backbone, and the mysteries were clarified. I did really like Paloma, and her time with Sammy was rich and poignant. The ending was predictable.

The protagonist lying and manipulating the love interest made it impossible for me to enjoy the romance, I just spent most of the book feeling bad for Max...And then the third-act conflict is so artificially and explicitly tailored to each character's worst fears, it was jut too much.

While this was a fun read, I didn’t feel like it quite hit the mark for adult fiction and read very young adult in terms of the conflict. This works be perfect for someone who likes to read YA but wants to dip their toes into something slightly more mature. However, I’m very sad that it wasn’t really my cup of tea.

This book was such an adventure. The main character, Sammy, was down on her luck. Being dumped and losing your job really sucks. Some of the choices the main characters were making were unlikeable but everything was so relatable. It honestly took me back to my college days with some of the decisions that were being made... whew thank goodness I'm past all that.

The expected chemistry between the characters was well done. We all know what we are getting into when we read romance.. and even though we know what's coming, the author did a great job with the conflict/resolution.

It was an enjoyable read and exactly what I need & look for when I'm picking up a book for an "escape."

Thank you Random House for reaching out personally to ask me to read this ARC & leave an honest review.