Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! This book is a second chance romance (one of my favorite tropes) that is really a found and second chance family story - which had me SOBBING multiple times. I’m a sucker for a sweet story set in a small town, but this also had deeper themes of heritage, childhood trauma and loss, among many others. I really enjoyed this novel, tears and all!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much to Penguin Random House/Ballentine for an advance copy of this book!

This book dug deeper into heavier topics than I was expected! Sammy Espinoza returns back home after she is hanging on a thread in hopes that she can convince her former crush Max Ryan to give her the scoop on his solo album that could save her job. But coming back to her hometown is with mixed emotions as she is scared to confront her family history and meet the grandparents who never wanted her.

I did end up really enjoy this book. When I was reading it, I was super into it but I wasn't finding myself itching to go back to it. Listening to the audio in tandem really helped push my reading along. The narration from Victoria Villarreal was excellent! I thought they did such a wonderful job with all the characters!

One relationship that so wonderful to see the journey that Sammy develops with her grandmother. I love how we had such a negative assumption about her based off what we knew from Sammy. But Sammy herself was wrong about her because of the lies her mother was telling her. It was beautiful to see how close they came in such a short time & Sammy was able to learn about her grandfather and more importantly her father.

The female main character frustrated me mostly because I wanted her to be honest about her intentions with Max Ryan right from the start. Whenever I think it was going to happen something got in the way. I would have been curious the direction the story would've gone in if she had confessed early.

The love interest Max Ryan, made me so mad!!! Moreso towards the last quarter of the book. One thing I do not tolerate when it comes to any sort of relationship is ghosting. I understood why he suddenly disappeared but still could've left a note, a text message, SOMETHING. Despite that I really did love his character and come on I'm a sucker for a musician.

It may seem like I did not like the book but I really did!!! I really love Sammy & Max together. They just connected in a way that felt genuine and at the root really connected by music. I think that is why I was so frustrated in why they harmed one another because they had such a good thing going when it all could've been avoided. Of course one of my favorite moments was when they were singing karaoke! You know I will always point that out in a review.

If you are a fan of music, queer representation, found family, second chances this is the book for you!!!

This was such an unusual premise. Sammy is a pansexual music critic on a downward spiral and Max is a former rockstar looking to make a comeback.

This has a lot of my favorite tropes: second chance, small town, and found family, but this books totally puts a spin on them. While this is a romance at heart, it tackles a lot of tough subjects. It really feels like a coming of age story for Sammy, albeit a little late in life.

Max has issues of his own and is surprisingly sweet for a rockstar. This feels a little more like Sammy’s story than Max’s though and I was hoping for more from the ending.

I think this was written well and showed promise but it’s not a sub genre I enjoy. The characters were easy to follow and understand. Lots of inner dialogue though and not much true interaction/dialogue

Sammy Espinoza ruins a great job to try save her relationship with her girlfriend. She's got one chance left to salvage her music column, but it will involve heading to her hometown, of sorts, in Washington, to track down an old flame, Max Ryan. A former and beloved rock star, Max has been in hiding, and rumor has it, he's recording a new album in their hometown. If Sammy can review it, she'll win back her job. But can she forgive her history with Max to do so?

I loved this book very much! It's such an ode to music, but also has great banter and romance. There's a lot of lies and miscommunication and family issues! Sammy's mom is a bit of a mess, always abandoning her daughter for her latest love (including leaving her in Washington for a year with a whole other family). But Sammy can't see that: she's constantly making excuses for her. So Sammy has a whole host of frustrating excuses for her mom--and life--due to these abandonment issues: shutting down, bailing, and just being a general doormat for her mother. Apply this to Max--and you can see a whole train wreck about to happen. Oh Sammy. Some of the miscommunication was a bit too much (just tell him what happened with your job, Sammy!).

But the rest of the story was really picture perfect. Max and Sammy have amazing banter and chemistry. The small town setting is just lovely while the theme of found family is so well-done. The book is filled with diverse characters, including pansexual and queer folks. Parts of Sammy's story truly made me cry. It's such a funny, sweet, and touching tale. The book deftly explores abandonment and anxiety as well as love and music. Overall, a truly lovely read.

Sammy Espinoza’s Last Review was a sweet, emotional and unexpected surprise for me. I expected a light and fluffy romcom and instead was delivered a book filled with emotion and heart, and an ending that had me in tears at times. The main character Sammy was definitely hilarious, I really loved all her witty lines- especially in her moments with Max. And Max, holy smokes. How do some fictional characters just come alive so vividly in your mind? Max was so well-written, and the author used such great writing in the physical descriptions of his body language, posture, facial expressions, everything. I fell head over heels for him from the very first page and found myself smiling at the book anytime the two of them were flirting. Both characters had great story arcs and I really enjoyed the way they found each other, had this second chance at love, and began to heal some of their broken parts together.

The family side of this book is what really took me by surprise- I expected it to be more of a background plot point, but it’s not. Sammy is desperate to learn more about where she came from and the family she never got to know, and it’s very emotional and heartwarming, as well as heartbreaking to read. I loved these scenes so, so much.

I will warn readers that there is miscommunication in the story- it’s pretty upfront the entire time as Sammy has a secret she harbors for most of the book. It was frustrating at times to read because we as readers just want to scream “tell the truth!!” I can, however, appreciate the way the author tied both Sammy’s and Max’s issues together by the end and represented both of their worst fears. While it wasn’t always fun to read miscommunication, there are times like this it does wind up helping the characters grow.

Read if you enjoy:
•found family
•second chance love
•LGBTQ+ rep (pan MC, queer side characters)
•family connections
•music (Sammy is a music critic and Max is a musician)

Sammy is in her late 20's and her life is a mess. She recently broke up with her music star girlfriend and she is at major risk of losing her job as a music critic. To try to save her career she returns to the only place that she can loosely claim as her hometown after being raised by a very flighty single mom. She hopes to find a reclusive rock star there who she had a one-night stand with many years ago in hopes of interviewing him to save her career. Although the plot might appear trite, this book had a bit of everything in it. I was cheering for Sammy every step of the way as she tried to figure out her life. This is solidly a romance book but the writing is excellent.

**Thank you to Random House and Tehlor Kay Mejia for sending me an ARC of Sammy Espinoza's Last Review in exchange for an honest review!!** I really enjoyed this book. I was intrigued by the premise and I was also excited to see that the main character is bi. Sammy's life is honestly a mess, which made her very relatable. Her relationships with Willa and her family were so heartwarming and I really liked seeing how they truly embraced her. Willa and her wife Brook were such interesting characters and I liked seeing Sammy's friendships with both of them. The plotline of this book is very interesting and it really makes you think about missed chances and opportunities throughout your life. I also liked seeing Sammy talk about how isolated she felt by not knowing her Mexican relatives. It must be very frustrating to not know about a big part of your heritage and culture. I definitely cried reading this book but I was happy with the resolution. I look forward to reading more books from Tehlor Kay Mejia!

This was a good debut adult novel. I really enjoyed Sammy and her chaotic self learning how to work out all of the choices she was needing to make to keep herself from drowning. Her relationship with Max is instant connection from the beginning, and I could feel that when they met when they were 18 and again at 29. I was relieved when Brook called Willa out on her controlling behavior towards Sammy, because I was getting extremely annoyed in the beginning with her constantly repeating herself. I felt like the resolution was good between them. I also liked how Sammy’s relationship with her mother wasn’t resolved within the short time frame of this book. Sometimes books wants everything wrapped up in a pink bow at the end, and that’s just not how life works. It’s messy and complicated, and I think Mejia did a great job of showing that through Sammy and the people in her life. Even her relationship with Max is complicated and messy from the start, but along the way they begin to work out things and how they’ve hurt each other in the process. I was so sad for her when Paloma died. I wanted to give her a hug, but I was so glad that she got some time to love on her grandmother and learn a bit about a side of her heritage she didn’t grow up knowing.

I would’ve liked to have been able to read the Last Review or at least snippets of it. The ending felt a bit rushed to me, but it all wrapped up nicely and I felt good how it ended. The epilogue gave a glimpse into what was going on with Sammy, Max, and the rest of their found family. Found family is one of my favorite tropes, and this book was a great reflection of it. I also loved the queer representation in this book. It wasn’t flashy or a huge plot point, but just a normal part of Sammy’s existence. I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Sammy Espinoza's Last Review to review!
3.5 stars
Sammy has hit her quarter life crisis. She is about to lose her job as a music critic and she just got broken up with in a stint of public humiliation. She decides to move home to Ridley Falls to find her ground again but she also read a rumor that Max Ryan, a former rock star that also happens to be from Ridley Falls, is living in his hometown and working on his first solo album. In an attempt to save her job Sammy decides to try to find Max Ryan in Ridley Falls to convince him to let her review his yet to be released solo album. When her accidental meeting with Max turns into more than she could've ever predicted, her plan is pulled out from under her and her trip home brings her more than she could've imagined.
This book was so much more than I initially thought it would be. It had a great love story but it was also a great story about finding yourself and growing more connected to your friends and family. I love rock star love stories and Max Ryan seriously gave me Daisy Jones & the Six vibes. I also loved the whole "met once at 18 and never saw each other again" addition. I thought that was a very cool touch even though it wasn't super relevant to the story. I thought Max was a 10/10 love interest. I loved seeing Sammy become more connected with her biological and non-biological family throughout the story. I thought Brooks and Willa were so cool and I loved how they brought a little bit of comic relief while still being extremely relevant to Sammy's personal growth. I also thought the ending was very unpredictable which I loved, sometimes it's really nice to just go into a book like this with zero expectations and see where it takes you. I also thought the writing was so much more evolved than I expected it to be. I did think that the last third of the book dragged a bit but other than that I thought this was a genuinely enjoyable read that I was pleasantly surprised by.

4.5/5 stars
1.5/5 spice

An emotional journey of finding oneself, healing past trauma, and the importance of being honest.

Tropes:
Second chance romance
Small town vibes
Found family
Self discovery
Latinx rep
LGBTQIA rep
Musician MMC
Single POV

Loved this book so much! Sammy is relatable. I think we've all had a moment in life that was basically a "sit in my car in the rain and cry" kind of meltdown... or equal to. She experienced so much growing up that you're immediately rooting for her to finally be honest with herself and be brave enough to face her past.

I loved that her found family, although flawed, still had her back and loved her unconditionally. She had guidance but ultimately needed to answer all her questions by herself. I didn't agree with her choices in the beginning, but it makes sense for her character growth. She needed to slowly come to the conclusion that the only way to solve her problems was to be 100% honest, with herself and with those around her.

Since this was a single POV, it felt less of a romance and more of a self-discovery journey with a romantic subplot. Her romance with Max was part of the healing process, and I actually enjoyed the author's choice for a single POV. Whereas I usually crave that second POV, in this book, it was unnecessary and worked this way.

Since Sammy is working through some past traumas, please check the trigger warnings. The spice level is low even though it is open door. It wasn't very detailed and focused more on the emotion.

Overall, I highly recommend this book for fans of flawed heroines who are in a journey of healing, second chance romance, and small town vibes.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and offered voluntarily.

Trigger/Content warnings:
Death of parent (past tense), neglectful and narcissistic parent, child abandonment, teen pregnancy (past tense), sexual content, addiction

This book is hard for me to give a rating to, because in many ways it felt very much like two separate books. Sammy’s personal life and very complicated, layered, difficult family drama could be an entire “women’s fiction” book on its own. There are glimpses or really interesting growth and depth and I would have love to seen more, especially as it relates to learning about one’s own cultural heritage. But these family/friend segments were far superior to the romance. Sammy and Max, the entire relationship is built on a complete (hurtful, awful) lie and it made me lose all respect and understanding for Sammy. The final conflict literally does not make sense to me, as Max could have behaved in any number of ways but the one he did. I dunno, I couldn’t root for them at all, and the romance was a big downer for me. If you like a good deal of drama, miscommunications, and a sprinkling of music this may be for you. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to provide my honest review.

Sometimes it feels like when life gets you down it won’t let you up again and you’re afraid of messing up any good that comes your way. This is Sammy Espinoza. She’s trying to find her way but not being true to herself or the people around her. This was a peaks and valleys read. When the story hit a peak it was gooood but I feel that I spent too much time down in the valley just waiting for Sammy to get on with it and figure out her life. The story took turns I was expecting and turns that I wasn’t expecting. Big city girl returns to her small town to find herself. Second chance romance.

This was a fun, quick read for me. I enjoyed the story and the characters, but I wasn't overly invested. It was a nice read

Thank you so much to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for an early copy of this title.

Tehlor Kay Mejia is a new to me author, but she has published many young adult and middle grade novels. I thoroughly enjoyed her adult debut.

This book takes us on a journey of growth and healing as Sammy navigates her childhood trauma while in the only place she has ever felt at home, Ridley Falls Washington. Sammy, Seattle based music critic, has fled the big city for a small-town reprieve after her famous rockstar girlfriend publicly dumps her and she is in hot water at work. Spending some time with her best friend Willa, her wife Brook and pseudo parents seem like the perfect way to mend her broken heart and fix her career.

Told in single POV, this book follows Sammy as she gets a second chance with a missed connection from years earlier, confronts her paternal grandmother who shunned her mother and deals with the loneliness and baggage her moms choices has left her with.

There were so many things I loved about this book: Willa and Brook, Willa’s parents (reminded me so much of Georgie’s parents from Georgie, All Along), the pacing, the small town setting and chance to rebuild a relationship with her grandmother. The romance piece was a little bit light since Sammy had so many other things going on and I didn’t quite understand the reason for their broken promises in the past, but I still enjoyed it. But the true winner for me was the found family development, discussions with her mom and time spent learning her culture with her grandma.

Overall, I flew through this adult debut and look forward to reading what comes next for Tehlor Kay Mejia.

To be honest, this book just wasn't my cup of tea. I didn't feel a strong connection with the characters, Sammy and Max, as they seemed to exhibit more teenage behavior rather than mature individuals in their late 20s. The romance aspect didn't engage me either, and overall, I didn't find the reading experience enjoyable. Initially, it seemed promising, but my interest quickly waned. The writing style was a bit scattered, making it difficult for me to follow the storyline. Moreover, it relied heavily on explanations rather than vivid descriptions, which made it challenging for me to immerse myself in the book. Unfortunately, I couldn't overlook my issues with the characters and the writing. Nevertheless, I believe there may be other readers who would appreciate it.

Highlights:

Queer representation.
Second-chance romance.
Small town setting.
Rock star hero.
Found family.
Overcoming child abandonment trauma and addiction.

Sammy Espinoza's Last Review has a couple of tropes that I usually enjoy. And I think I liked the idea of the book more than the execution. I found it hard to warm up to the characters and get swept away by the love story. Sammy and Max are pushing thirty, but both made immature decisions that frustrated me. Some very likable secondary characters made the story better. I loved Sammy's best friends and her grandma. I wish we got more of Sammy's grandmother. But Sammy's relationship with Max left me wanting more. I might recommend this book to romance readers who enjoy the tropes mentioned.

This was a really lovely read. Lots of hard topics are brought up and covered here (loss, parental emotional abuse, alcoholism, etc.) so it has a more serious tone than I normally read, but still really good.

Sammy was an interesting character to hear this story through. She's on the brink of losing her job, she's grown up with a flighty mom and almost no one else, and now she's being strong-armed into returning to the only town that kinda felt like home. She goes through a lot in this book. She's forced to confront lies she always thought truth, her past demons, the people who were in her life but maybe didn't really care for her, and more. It's a lot happening to her and Mejia handles it all beautifully. This book really could have been bogged down with Sammy's internal and external problems, but there were still light and heartfelt moments that kept me from feeling in down in the dumps about everything.

Also, I loved getting to know Max, our love interest. He's an ex-rock star so I expected him to be super arrogant and demanding and maybe abrasive, but he wasn't at all. He was soft and nervous and forward yet considerate. He really took me by surprise which doesn't happen all too often.

Overall, this is a definite read for those who enjoy realistic romances and plots. I typically enjoy something more lighthearted and comedic, but I still sped through this book in a couple of days. Two thumbs up from me.

I loved following along on Sammy’s journey. This was a heartfelt story and i loved the writing style.
Many thanks to Random House and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Sammy Espinoza’s Last Review by Tehlor Kay Mejia is a second-chance romance filled with self-discovery and a great found family.

This story follows Sammy, whose life is a bit of a mess after going through some things and hitting rock bottom. After her grandfather passes away, Sammy decides she needs to connect with the family she has left. She then returns to her small town to be with her family. She also has hopes to save her career by getting a sneak peek at a musician’s new music. The musician is Max, who Sammy had met years before and had a connection with before he disappeared.

I loved the relationships in this story of strong friendships and found family. I loved watching the characters connect and grow. The setting of the small town was so great and filled with quirky characters. Both characters have miscommunications and baggage but they also have amazing character growth.

If you are in the mood for a swoony romance that features rock stars, self-discovery, and found family then this book is for you!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.