One Last Shot is a strong debut novel. Cayouette brings new twists to the “second chance romance,” and balances sentimental touches like the marriage pact, dreamy careers, and the beautiful Cinque Terre setting with the sobering reality of trauma, anxiety, and insecurity. I can’t wait to read Cayouette’s next work and highly recommend this novel to romance and general fiction readers.

The plot: Emerson and Theo meet as teenagers and become instant best friends. Flash forward ten years later, and Theo is a moderately successful photographer and Emerson is the “it” supermodel on top of the world… except when it comes to her love life. A week before Emerson’s 28th birthday, fresh off another disappointing breakup, her calendar alerts her to the pact they made as teenagers to marry at 28 if they were still single. Only… she and Theo haven’t spoken in the decade since their mutual attraction caused their friendship to fall apart. Emerson resolves to rekindle their relationship and seizes the opportunity to model on Theo’s upcoming four day fashion shoot in Cinque Terre. But when she arrives, Theo doesn’t appear excited to see her even after all these years… the next four days may be more challenging than Emerson expects.

My opinion: I really enjoy romance books that are dimensional and present characters who feel “real.” Although Emerson is a supermodel with a very unrelatable life, Cayouette wrote her in a way that felt grounded. I was rooting for Emerson and Theo throughout and felt invested in not only the development and resolution of their present-day romance, but also the development (and ruination) of their relationship as teenagers. The mental health and emotional conflicts were much deeper than I expected based on the cover and description, with both Emerson and Theo suffering through emotions and the reality that love is not always enough to make a relationship work. The “miscommunication trope” between the characters bordered on being too strong/repeated near the end, but Cayouette brought enough variety overall to keep me engaged. I was really impressed with this debut novel and look forward to Cayouette’s next work.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC!

This was a fun, sweet read. Two friends who haven't been in touch for ten years have another shot at love. Can they be honest with each other about the things in their pasts that got between them? Or are they too different from the people they used to be?

I really enjoyed this story. The characters were well-written and nuanced, and the story flowed for me. Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for the ARC!

Emerson is a top model, very successful and well known. Emerson and Theo met during orientation for high school. She was standing alone, and Theo introduced himself. The rest is history. Emerson had a hoarder for a mother and never had any close friends. It was Theo who helped her through the years of high school. When Emerson was chosen to be a model, she left for L.A. saying she no longer loved him. Theo became a talented photographer and after 10 years, Emerson shows up in Italy and is one of the models he is shooting. Emerson is determined to try to rekindle their relationship. There are people who do not want her to do this, and in truth, the relationship could hurt both their careers. This was a great book! I loved the close-knit relationship Theo had with his parents, brother, and his brother’s family. I loved the support Emerson had from her friend and past boyfriend. There were a lot of insecurities and I enjoyed watching Emerson and Theo work through those. Emerson’s fame and Theo’s reaction to her life made the book really interesting. Wonderful story and characters!

I was so excited to read this book after following Betty for a while on socials. She didn’t disappoint. This is such a fun lighthearted romance. I loved the lack of third act breakup! I really enjoyed the character building with the MCs with their story from high school. After finishing the book I immediately went out and bought a maple bar donut! There were some typos but nothing that I couldn’t look over!

One Last Shot follows the story of Theo and Emerson, two high school best friends who reunite ten years after a fall out when a reminder of their pact to get married if they were both still single at 28 appears on their phones. The story begins when Emerson, now a supermodel, decides to try to reconnect with Theo while he's the main photographer for a clothing campaign.

I liked most of this book, the jumps between past and present were nice, all the situations they had with their supermodel-photographer relationship were interesting, the moments where they remembered old times and the tension every time they got close, everything there was very good.

I think it could have been a great read, but that last 20% completely killed the vibe for me. It felt like it was never ending and I lost almost all interest in their relationship. Personally, I hate with my soul the miscommunication trope, that drama at the end could have been resolved much better if they had only talked things through properly instead of constantly running away or pushing the other away.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a sweet second chances romance between a famous model and a photographer who were best friends turned sweethearts. Circumstances drove them apart ten years ago, and Emerson gets a notification on her phone. They had promised to marry each other when they turned 28 if they were still single. Time is up, and she wants Theo.

I enjoyed the flashbacks mixed in with the present story. The only ding for me was that the misunderstandings got to be a bit much towards the end, but it all worked out fine.

Thanks as always to NetGalley for the ARC.

this was such a cute friends to lovers second chance romance!

I always feel that second chance and friends to lovers is such an iconic combo. emerson and theo were the best of friends starting the day they met in high school. but in present day— they haven’t spoken for 10 years due to a falling out. emerson gets a alert on her phone reminding her of the pact she and theo made when they were 18. if neither of them are married by the time they’re 28, they would marry each other. emerson who has dated many losers in the past few years is ready to mend her relationship with theo. emerson has been working as a high fashion model and theo works as a photographer. emerson finds out about the latest project theo is working on and has her agent pull strings to get her on that project so they have an excuse to work together. this brings emerson and theo into close proximity in the beautiful and romantic cinque terre in italy. theo is shocked to see emerson after so many years and is nervous to reconnect with her after all these years.

I immediately wanted to know why emerson and theo had their falling out! esp bc the chapters from the past showed they were truly the best of friends!!!! I loved their friendship so so much. it was so damn cute and heartwarming!!! the time jumps from past to present really helped the reader to see the solid friendship and support system they created. but at the same time it made me sad seeing they had a falling out 💔 in present time it took a while for them to start opening up to each other but once they did it was so sweet! I felt like the middle part of the book had my attention the most and had me giggling over the rekindling of their friendship. the ending did throw me a bit and I became a little disinterested. but all in all seeing them end up together and happy made me very happy. it was a very cute and quick read!!!

High school besties meet back up in Italy. One is a super model and the other is photographing the shoot. Second chance romance/flashbacks.

This book is so well written and done so well. I love flashbacks/second chance romance with best friends but a lot of times I feel like the back story is really under developed. This was not the case with this book. I loved both characters and their stories. The pacing of the story was also great.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book!

Cute cute cute! I loved this one though it was a little different than what I was expecting. At the heart, it was definitely a second chance romance. I always love those! I think I expected it to be a little lighter based on the description but I enjoyed that the author gave the characters some more details in terms of backstory and that there was more depth. The story line goes back and forth between present day and high school and switches narrators between Emerson and Theo.

Emerson is a super model who made it big right at the end of high school. Theo is a commercial photographer for places similar to Target, etc. As high schoolers, they became best friends and were inseparable throughout all 4 years. As teenagers, they made a pact that they would marry each other at 28 if they were unattached. They were secretly already in love with each other at this point of course, but too scared to tell each other. The book picks up with Emerson and Theo seeing the reminder of the marriage pact on their phones and then how to choose to try and reveal their feelings to each other after a decade long break in their friendship due to miscommunication and trauma. Their romance was a sweet one and I really enjoyed it!
I would definitely read other books by this author!

A charming second chance romance with plenty of longing set in the Italian coast. The beautiful, sunshine-filled setting created a cozy, summer time vibe.

The two leads clearly have chemistry but I did feel like the ongoing miscommunication and misunderstandings detracted from the overall story. I enjoyed learning about some of the behind the scenes of fashion photography/photoshoots as Theo is a fashion photographer and Emerson is a model. Readers looking for an angst-filled second chance and friends-to-lovers plot may enjoy this one!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

This was cute little second chance romance. Theo and Emerson were childhood friends with the potential for more and then it's ends. 10 years later, a marriage pact reminder pulls them back together to remind them of who they were and the love they've always had for each other. As much as I love a second chance romance, I felt like something was missing. The story overall was amazing, but the miscommunication throughout the book was frustrating. So many insecurities could've been resolved if they'd just been honest.

This was pretty fun. There were aspects I liked but it wasn't as engaging as I wanted it to be. 3 solid stars.

ONE LAST SHOT is a second-chance love story between a fashion model and photographer, ten years later on a fashion shoot in Italy. It's a dual point of view with some chapters told in the past of Emerson and Theo's years together in high school. While I was intrigued of the premise, I found myself hoping for a little more angst and tension between them. But knowing the history of why things ended the first time and Theo's wholesome nature, it makes sense why they would quickly and smoothly jump back in which it felt to me. It wasn't quite my cup of tea, but I can see others really enjoying this book, especially for the feel-good and the sweet soul that is Theo! 3.5 stars rounded to 4.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the arc in exchange of my honest review.