Ahhh, these second chance romances! Like a moth to a flame, they burn me every time with heartache.

It's not all bad though - I don't know how anyone can't root for Emerson and Theo. They are so sweet together, and I love how they compliment and support one another.

Theo and Emerson were inseparable from the moment they met. They made a pact that if they weren't married by the time they turned 28, they'd marry each other. They set a reminder in their phones, starting from Theo's birthday, giving them a week to get married.

Neither of them expected that when the reminder went off, it would be 10 years since they had talked to each other. This is their chance to reconnect, but things like a meddling agent get in the way. An agent who's angling for Emerson to fake-date another celebrity for publicity, and takes it upon himself to text Theo warnings to stay away from Emerson.

I know nothing about the fashion industry, the life of super models or photographers, but Betty managed to make you feel like you were there! I also really loved that at least on this set, the models weren’t out to get each other, but encouraged and supported one another.

I laughed, I swooned. I cringed, I raged, and yes, I even cried. I was completely invested and loved every minute of it.

Thank you to the publishers through Netgalley for the ARC!

This cute and sweet debut novel had me hooked from the beginning. (Also, the cover is absolutely beautiful!) One Last Shot is a dual POV, slow burn, friends to lovers story that I will recommend to anyone. The flashbacks really propelled the story. Both characters were great and I was rooting for Theo and Emerson from the start. They have such a beautiful love story and throughout the book you can tell exactly how much they have always loved each other and also how much they both hurt due to their falling out 10 years ago.

One Last Shot was an absolutely amazing read and I’m looking forward to reading more by Betty Cayouette!

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange my honest review.

Unfortunately, this fell a little flat for me. I loved the premise, and that the book was mainly set in Cinque Terre, but I felt like Theo and Emerson could have been developed more. The book was solid enough that I'm still interested in reading what comes next from Betty.

A lovely sweet second chance romance about miscommunication, best friends. a long time promise and two people finding their way back to each other. Emerson, a supermodel had a tough upbringing and the only person who helped her through it was her best friend Theo. They absolutely loved each other and made a marriage pact ten years post graduation. Then something awful happened to Emerson and she bolted and disappeared from his life. Fast forward ten years, they are both successful in their own right, but something is missing from each of their lives. When her reminder goes off, Emerson sets off to reconnect and maybe finally find love. This was a very sweet, romance with a wonderful happily ever after.


I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book is super cute. I love when a guy will do anything for a girl who seems emotionally disconnected. This was a second chance romance and it delivered on the romance. I thought the writing was well done, the characters well thought out, and the plot interesting. The female MC was a bit annoying at times and not as relatable as I'd like, but it all worked out in the end.

Falling in love is amazing. It's everything you want it to be (hopefully), until it's not.

But falling in love again, as a more mature person is remarkable.

Reading Emerson & Theo's love stories really touched me. They felt real to me, even though Emerson was a supermodel. She felt like somebody I could be friends with. Theo is the guy all the girls want their men to be like. Flawed, but always trying.

I really liked this book and would recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

incredible debut romance!!!
great setting, plot, writing and characters
this should be the romance of the summer!!!
trigger warnings in authors note

One Last Shot
By: Betty Cayouette
Review Score: 4 Stars

Boogie’s Bulletpoints
•Emerson and Theo are simply amazing.

•I love a dual POV.

•This is set in Cinque Terre, one of my favorite places in Italy.

•I really love the time jumps (and trying to figure out what happened between Emerson and Theo).

•No spoilers, but I really enjoyed the ending of this book!

—————————————————————

One Last Shot was kindly provided as an ARC by Netgalley and St. Martin's Press. Thank you for allowing me to enjoy this wonderful book!

Release Date: 5/7/24

I went into this book thinking it would be a fun and flirty book about a couple reconnecting in a beautiful place. And while there is that, there is so much more (which I did not expect)!

There is pain, betrayal, sadness, and loss. There is hurt and fear. There is also redemption, and loyalty, and trust. This book really has every emotion (and I felt every emotion as I read it)!

I really enjoyed this book. It was fun and funny, but also intriguing and moving.


#bookstagram #books #readingnow #boogiereadsbooks #fivekeyfeels #audiobooks #audiobook #fiction #arcreview #netgalley #boogiesbulletpoints #onelastshot #bettycayouette #stmartinspress

Really enjoyed this love story, even though the miscommunication trope was very strong!! I look forward to seeing what this author writes next, I think there’s a lot of potential here.

4.5 stars rounded up. I am so grateful that SMP reached out to me about reading One Last Shot because I absolutely LOVED IT! I read this book as an e-ARC and immediately requested the audiobook version as soon as it became available so I could listen to this story be told as well.

Theo and Emerson 🥹🥹 my heart really wasn’t prepared for how much love those two had for each other. I’m not usually a miscommunication trope kinda gal but with this one, it was done so well. I fell in love with the characters right for the start. This story had a lot of depth. My heart ached for these two to finally get their happy ever after. Excellent read and fantastic listen!

A huge huge thank you to Macmillan audio, NetGalley and SMP for the ALC and ARC of One Last Shot.

This is a Friends to Lovers, second chance romance. Theo and Emmerson are High School best friends. Their Senior year they finally became a couple only to have it ripped away from them. Fast forward 10 years and their marriage pact alarm is going off on their phones, but they haven’t talked in a decade. Emmerson finds a way to get on to Theo’s photo shoot to see if anything is still there. While miscommunication is a big trope here, it didn’t bother me as much as it usually does. Probably because in my life as a woman, sexual trauma is left out of everyone’s bio (There is a trigger warning in the book by the way). So, it was easier to understand why there was miscommunication to begin with. I really enjoyed the dual point of view and timeline. The way we got to see from both sides in High School and present day in Italy. Italy was its own character bringing in beautiful scenery, brilliant sunrises, some surprising hikes, and so much yummy food!! This is a fantastic debut novel by Betty Cayouette. I look forward to seeing what’s next!

I wanted to love this so much more than I did! It had so many elements of a really great, 5 star rom-com, but the pacing just didn't do it for me. It went slow and didn't get me saying "just one more chapter." I loved the characters and the relationship between not only the FMC and MMC, but also the FMC and the other models on set with them. Despite the pacing missing the mark for me, this is Betty's debut and I'm really excited to see her grow in her career as an author! Endlessly thankful to Macmillion Publishing, Netgalley, and Betty Cayouette for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this one!

One Last Shot was a cute second chance at romance! The story follows Emerson and Theo. In high school they were inseparable best friends, until it turned to something more. Just as they think they’re getting their happy ending, Emerson goes through a traumatizing experience that causes her leave Theo. Ten years later, Emerson is a famous model and Theo is a famous photographer. Emerson gets a notification that their “marriage pact” is in a week, and when she learns that Theo is in Italy for a shoot, she takes the plunge to go to him and win him back.

It was definitely a sweet story that I think many will enjoy, however it didn’t do it for me. The most infuriating trope is miscommunication, and Theo and Emerson’s story is one big miscommunication from beginning to end. It was incredibly frustrating! I was happy to see their growth by the end, as well as their happy ever after. :)

Two best friends from High school meet back up in Italy. One is a supermodel and the other is a photographer working on the same project as her former friend, can they finally realize their love for each other, or are they doomed to repeat it again? This book is a Second-chance romance with many flashbacks.

Although this book is well written and done so well I felt like the back story of the main characters was a bit lacking in depth, I wish I had a bit more background, so I could understand better what happened so many years ago I love flashbacks/second chance romance with best friends but a lot of times I feel like the back story is underdeveloped, I loved both characters and their stories. The story's pacing was also great ( if this was a slow burn I would have DNF it a long time ago, so I'm happy this was not the case with this book. ).

While this book ended up being a DNF for me, I wanted to give it a second try (sometimes the book just isn't the mood at the moment), but while I made it farther into One Last Shot this time, I still couldn't buy into the story Cayouette was telling.

Estranged best friends with a marriage pact is an incredible premise - but having them both in the same professional field and never crossing paths felt a bit far-fetched to me. Then, when the Pact reminder came up on Emerson's phone, her willingness to completely torpedo her career when a simple phone call (like Theo did to her agent) would have worked. Once it's revealed that Anthem is shooting in Greece(?) and Emerson is already over in Europe, all I could see was how hard Cayouette was forcing these two together instead of letting her plot tell the story.

I'm sure the flashbacks were meant to help me believe in this past Great Love, but for me they did the opposite (and I generally love flashbacks in romances!). I think my main issue was Emerson's POV and her celebrity. I don't usually go for celebrity romances, and I thought a model would give me a different vibe but I got massive Taylor Swift vibes from Emerson and not in a good way.

I do think this book will find it's audience and people are going to love it! I just am not one of those people.

This is a second chance at love story. Emerson and Theo have made a marriage pact and it’s time to cash it in. It is an emotionally charged story as the couple tries to recapture the close relationship they had lost years ago. There are wonderful characters that offer entertainment throughout the story. Readers will enjoy the stories happy ending.

‘One Last Shot’ is a second-chance romance for two former best friends who ended things for unknown reasons at the beginning of the story and work in the same industry (fashion). The story includes a dual timeline, reliving high school between the two main characters and the present day.

The miscommunication trope isn’t my favorite, but I wasn’t as annoyed with it in ‘One Last Shot’ because the author spent time detailing the characters thought process and it made sense given the situation. I think the author did a good job of creating longing between the two characters. However, I don’t like that the main characters got back together before talking through the miscommunication that caused their breakup in the first place. The story also felt drawn out at the end and I think the book could’ve ended sooner. Overall, this was a solid debut and I look forward to what the author writes next!

4/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF @ 35%. Both MCs drove me insane. The refusal to communicate things + the dumb decisions the FMC made had me wanting to repeatedly throw my kindle at the wall.

ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥: 𝓐𝓾𝓭𝓲𝓸𝓫𝓸𝓸𝓴 & 𝓔-𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓴

ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨: 𝐀𝐦 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐦-𝐜𝐨𝐦? 𝐘𝐞𝐬. 𝐀𝐦 𝐈 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥? 𝐀𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐲𝐞𝐬. 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲: 𝐈 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐭, 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥!

𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄-𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐨; 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥. 𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐄𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝟐𝟖, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡-𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥, 𝐄𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐨’𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐢𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞, 𝐈𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐲. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞, 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲.

𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥-𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐮𝐧, 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 (𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫 – 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫, 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰) 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭!

ℙ𝕦𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝔻𝕒𝕥𝕖: 𝕄𝕒𝕪 𝟟, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟜

𝐻𝓊𝑔𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝐵𝑒𝓉𝓉𝓎 𝒞𝒶𝓎𝑜𝓊𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒, 𝑀𝒶𝒸𝓂𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒶𝓃 𝒜𝓊𝒹𝒾𝑜, 𝒮𝓉. 𝑀𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒾𝓃’𝓈 𝒫𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC of One Last Shot by Betty Cayouette. I enjoyed the premise of this book a lot. The friends-to-lovers storyline had me interested and once I started this book I just couldn't put it down.