Don't be fooled by this colorful, beachy cover. You're going to want to have your tissues ready when you read 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗧 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘.

I love a book that makes you feel all the things and this is one of those books. I laughed and cried along with Kate, a young, widowed mother trying to rebuild her life while mourning her husband. Emma Grey captures this in a way only someone who's experienced such a loss herself could (don't miss the author's note). The reader is on the emotional rollercoaster right along with Kate, finding joy in small moments while being shattered by others as she figures out how to create a life so different from the one she imagined, how to balance preserving memories with moving on and how to allow herself to be happy after experiencing such tragedy. But I promise this book isn't a downer. With a cast of wonderful side characters, there are so many funny moments, but what struck me the most is how real it all feels. The grief and guilt are palpable but so are resilience and hope.

The Last Love Note is considered a rom com, but that pigeonhole is not a good fit for me. This novel is about losing. Losing love, jobs, babies. Sounds depressing right, but the novel is about so much more. The setting is Australia, so the places were unfamiliar, but Emma Grey’s sense of place takes over! At the novel’s core is the journey of a widow through grief, the understanding and acceptance of the self-sacrificing actions of others, and the mosaic of the human heart. There are secrets, low points and turning points-all revealed through love notes. Readers will long remember the overall theme that ‘love outlives death.’ This novel is humor and scaffolded grief shrouded in wisdom.

This book explored the topic of love after an early widowhood. I really appreciated the depth and breadth the author brought to the experience, but it moved way too slowly for me. I felt the timeline for the story itself was fine, but the author and editors could have cut about 70 pages.

Kate and Cam are the perfect couple. They are madly in love both with one another and their little boy Charlie. But after a car accident, the doctors note something that Kate has been noticing recently, too - Cam is having trouble processing and understanding language. And that’s when their entire world flips upside down. Kate loses Cam and has to navigate this new life as a widow at only 38. Her best friend Grace, and her boss Hugh, have been nonstop by her side, picking her up when she falls, helping her to hold her life together. And now when Kate and Hugh become stranded together, Kate gets the opportunity to learn more about Hugh and why he’s really been there for her.

This book will definitely be in my top of the year. I felt everything in these pages - I felt joy, and heartbreak, and a swell of love. I cried, and I smiled, and I was so devastated that I had to put the book down and walk away. The way that the author explained grief and how it felt to watch Cam diminish in front of Kate’s eyes, you knew that she had experienced something similar.

It reminded me of how I felt while reading Someday Maybe by Onyi Nwabineli - like I was being punched in the gut over and over again. But that also, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. This book both looks and sounds like it’ll be a romance. And it is absolutely not that - or, at least not in the typical sense. This book is a love story - a love story between Kate and Cam, a potential love story between Kate and Hugh, but really a love story about what it means to find yourself again after unimaginable loss.

My heart broke for Kate over and over and over again. I felt the pain that she felt as she had to say goodbye to the person she never expected to lose.

My one tiny quibble is that I thought the end wrapped up too simply, but that didn’t stop me from loving this entire book, even through the tears streaming down my face, and giving it five stars.

I chose this book based on the brief description. I am so glad I did. The paragraph completely undersold it. It was so much. Yes, a romcom, but a beautifully emotional story of grief, loss, love, acceptance, and learning how to move forward from the life you planned on. The evolution of Kate from an overwhelmed, heartbroken, struggling single mom who felt like she was failing at everything to finding herself again was a great read. That she never lost her sense of humor was amazing and so important. I really enjoyed every moment of this story. It was my first book by this author, but will most certainly not be my last.

Kate's husband died two years ago. She's raising her young son alone, working, and trying to ignore everyone telling her it's time to move on...and fix her up with her hot neighbor. When a chance flight problem leaves her stranded for a week, will she use the time to process her grief?

This book was beautiful, heartbreaking, and hopeful. You can tell the author has dealt with her grief. I highly recommend it.

The Last Love Note was my first read by author Emma Grey.



Kate is a 40 year old, widowed, single mom. She lost her husband at the age 0f 38 due to early onset Alzheimer's. She is just trying to keep her head above water and to take care of herself and her child. I found this book to be a surprisingly accurate depiction of grief. Once I read the author's biography, I learned that she was widowed at a young age, which completely explains the accurate depiction. Grief can be all encompassing and so hard to overcome.

This was a quick and easy read. I think I set my expectations to high for this book going in, based on some reviews I had seen that raved about this book. Overall, I found this to be an accurate fictional depiction of a woman who has been widowed, learning to live again.

Emma Grey's The Last Love Note is a wonderfully welcome romance story that's more than a romance story, which is why I liked it so much. Hopeful grief, the main character is processing the loss of her husband and yet finding that life, and joy, must move on. How they move on and how she gets there is a lovely character driven story with self growth, some humor and charm, and indeed hope for what's next.
Definitely a great read for someone looking for that blend of romance with strong character growth, a good book for holiday travel, a book that will help you manage time sitting in an airport or on a plane or a book to escape to when you need a break from all the holiday togetherness.

Ok so I’m not a huge romance reader. Esp with the feeling that so many of them these days are contemporary romance with a side of smut. Listen, nothing wrong with that but for me, I need a depth of character and emotional connections for me to love it.

And this had both.

This was the Quiet love story that felt relatable and gentle. The romance that feels like ‘home’.

The best friends turn lovers is my favourite trope and this one has the added bonus of a second chance at love that finds you hopeful.

Ps. The book centres around grief and healing over a loss but that’s not the core of the novel. The novel is about second chances and a gentle love.
4.5 stars

This was my first book to read by this author but it won't be my last! This was a beautifully written novel that evokes so many emotions. Don't miss out on this one!

Kate is a mess. A full blown, falling apart mess. After the loss of her husband to early onset Alzheimers, Kate isn’t sure how to go on. Luckily her boss Hugh has been a fantastic support during every step of her grief. He won’t ever tell her about his love life, but he is there for all the important moments in her life. When flight issues leave them stranded, the two spend the weekend getting even closer.



Whew, this book is technically considered a romance, but damn if it isn’t really about grief. I will say my first thoughts were that it was kind of strange how quickly her boss jumped into being her savior. From the minute he hired her, he was allowing her time off and super accommodating to her life situations. While that was lovely, and you would hope that anyone would react that way to what Kate had going on, I have never known a single boss that would be that understanding to a brand new hire. Besides that though, I really loved this book. I enjoyed the back and forth between before Cam passed and after, even if it did break my heart while reading. This book will hit you in all the feels.

I honestly don’t think there are words to do this book justice. It was an emotional nightmare - the story of a young widow, young mother, and the horrific end of her husband’s life. But it is also about love. Unconditional love. Love of friends. Love for family. Love of coworkers. Love of a marriage that ended too soon. It’s about growth, especially after experiencing very dark and difficult days. It’s about finding yourself as a parent and a spouse. Chasing dreams, as scary as that can be. The characters were incredible. The dynamics and interactions were realistic and incredibly well done. I cried through this entire book, yet couldn’t stop reading it. Just a beautifully written, heartbreaking story about love, support and grief.

Thank you NetGalley for my advanced reader copy.

I absolutely loved this story. I could feel the emotions leaping off the page. There were a range of emotions in this book and I think that takes skill to do that well!

I REALLY wanted to love this, but just meh for me. The topic was a touching but the narrative jumped around too much and the characters were so idealized they were outright laughable.

Get the tissues ready - The Last Love Note is a beautiful story about grief but also hope. When Kate lost her husband at age 38 she was adrift, buried in grief and barely getting by. But then flight troubles strand her with her handsome boss in a seaside town and she starts to wonder: is this my Part 2? The book made me cry (a lot) but also laugh while rooting for Kate all along. A really great read and wonderful debut from Emma Grey.

The story revolves around a 40ish woman who lost her husband several years ago and is raising a young son. She's a mess. Can't find a way to move forward from her tragic loss. But she has an amazing group of friends and family to support her and help her find her way forward. Every time my husband walked in the room and I was reading, I was also crying. When he asked why, I told him this book was breaking my heart. And it did. But it also made me laugh and feel great joy. Highly recommend this one if you crave all the feels. Thank you NetGalley and publishers for providing a digital ARC for review.

A very moving story about a woman who becomes a widow at a young age, how she handles (and doesn't handle) losing the love of her life and raising her son on her own. I totally admit to tears. The older I get and the more loved ones I lose, the more I worry about losing my husband. This story both broke my heart and lifted my spirits, a difficult task. The only reason for 4 stars instead of 5 was because of some repetition that got a bit annoying. Absolutely worth your time.

This was a story of overcoming heartbreak and loss. It was definitely an emotional read and I truly felt for Kate. Losing her husband in such a devastatingly slow way was hard. She learned how to be stand on her own two feet though. Hugh is an amazing man and friend throughout even though he starts off as Kate’s boss. The ending was as I expected with a little less drama than I was hoping for.

The way the story jumped timelines was a bit all over the place for me. It felt slightly disjointed at times but did come together in the end. There were a few times I thought about possibly not finishing this book but I am glad I did. Australia is definitely on my travel bucket list and this book made me want to go there that much more.

I made a reading goal this year and I am so glad this title met that goal. Between its pages hosted everything this reader enjoys. True love, kindness, humor and strength to be open to what life has in store even when it is not what was ever imagined. The heart break these characters experienced as well as their joys are still resonating with me after turning the last page.

Thanks to NetGalley, Emma Grey and Zibby books for this ARC. This is a beautiful, intimate portrait of grief. Before I read the author’s note at the end, I knew they had suffered a great loss. Kate and Cam’s great love story is interrupted in the worst possible way. Kate’s boss and Cam’s friend Hugh is there as a support person throughout the story. The descriptions of Kate’s suffering and her memories tell a beautiful tale of her relationships before and after her great loss.