I have followed Betty on social media for the last few years, and I was so excited to hear she was writing a novel! This was a great debut! I loved the way she handled the insecurities of the main characters! A really great read.

4.5 rounded to 5 ! I have been so excited to read this book ever since I saw Betty was writing her own book! This book was super cute…

*Dual POV and timeline
*childhood friends to lovers
*second chance romance
*set in Italy
*celebrity romance
*slow burn

LOVED! and the ending was just like the movies- so swoony !

Also, the narration on this book was amazing !! Brittany Presley and Sean Patrick Hopkins did a great job bringing Emerson and Theo to life

DNF @ 36%

This may be for some, but its not for me.

I can't stand Emerson (and honestly everyone surrounding her) and miscommunication is the WORST trope imo. I just don't have patience to read this trope, and life is to short to read books with tropes you dont care about.

Unfortunately I missed the date to download this - but I have heard great things about this one! Thank you to NetGalley anyway.

This book irritated me so much. I can understand miscommunication in a romance book because people sometimes hide their feelings, get things wrong and so on. BUT this book ONLY exists because of miscommunication. If Emerson and Theo were to talk for five minutes there would be no book. I understand the miscommunication for when they were teenagers and about everything that happened to her. But they couldn't even talk about their own feelings when they are 27?

There are so many instances. It's one after the other. Theo's gets a text saying Emerson doesn't want anything to do with him but then she appears on his photoshoot. But he never asks her about it. But keeps thinking about it and how it is inconsistent with her behavior. TALK TO HER. Emerson pretends to be in a relationship with another guy just because. JUST TALK TO HIM.

I just hated it so much.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.

I loved this one. Told in then and now and dual perspective it had me rooting for Emerson and Theo and the entire story. Thank you Netgalley and St Martin!

Read for:
- Second chance romance
- Set in Cinque Terre, Italy
- A+ narration from Brittany Pressley and Sean Patrick Hopkins
- Celebrity romance
- Gelato
- Debut romance novel
- Marriage pact
- A+ grand gesture

I appreciate when books discuss deeper themes and aren’t afraid to break past a surface level. Betty does something really unique with One Last Shot and addresses a topic in her introductory author’s note that the characters don’t discuss until later in the book. While it could be considered a spoiler, I think it actually reinforces Betty’s point that things that happen in our lives don’t have to define and shape our story.

Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin for the gifted ARC. All thoughts are my own.

Extremely fun romance taking place in some amazing settings! Best friends growing up, they finally get together but {something happens} and it all falls apart. They fall out of touch until Emerson gets a reminder on her phone about the marriage pact they made ten years ago. They meet up at a photo shoot in Italy (she is a model, he is a photographer) and there are mishaps and romance perhaps!

I wanted to read this book, because I follow the author’s book reviews and visited (and donated to) her little free library in Salem, MA. I was excited to know that part of the book takes place in and around Salem, which is an immediate add to TBR for me. The Italian setting also does not disappoint! Their story is filled with unexpected turns, and donuts.

Loved the setting and the second chance romance in One Last Shot. I wish one of them had maned up and told the other how they felt at any point past or current but I guess if they had, there wouldn't be much of a book. Other than that, I liked the characters and their journey apart was as interesting as their time together.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for early access to One Last Shot!

Emerson and Theo are high school best friends and crushes when they decided to set a marriage pact for 10 years after graduation. They stop speaking shortly before graduation so when the alert about their pact goes off, Emerson decides this is the way they can reconnect and hopefully fall back in love with each other. Emerson has become a very famous model since high school and Theo has become a successful photographer. They reconnect on a photo shoot in Italy that Emerson gets herself on to and the sparks fly from there. This story is one with lots of miscommunication both in the high school scenes and the present day Italy/LA scenes, which got to be slightly too long for me. I enjoyed the back and forth timeline overall and the personal issues that the characters were navigating while falling for each other. I will definitely explore other books by this author but hope that miscommunication isn't such a main plot point. This would be a good book to take on a vacation, especially to Cinque Terre!

2.5 stars

A perfectly fine romance for fans of second chance, friends to lovers, dual pov, dual timeline, and miscommunication. This felt incredibly tropey to me and while I love a good dual pov I can't stand a dual timeline. Any progress that you make in the story takes two steps back when your timeline shifts to the past. I find it very frustrating to get into a good flow with the story.

The characters were likable enough but a marriage pact? At 18 years old? Don't make me laugh. Is this a Lifetime Romance movie? I couldn't hang with that.

And 10 years of miscommunication is just 10 years too much for me. If your best friends than you should be able to do a better job of reading your friend and their intentions. These two would shamelessly flirt with each other, because duh, feelings, and neither of them quite understood what the other was doing. And the dreaded third act breakup because of miscommunication? No thanks. It's possible to have a romance with no break up.

Thank you to St Martins Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

3.5 Stars

Emerson and Theo were inseparable in high school and they made a marriage pact to marry each other at 28. Their friendship ended abruptly and haven’t spoken to each in years.

It’s nearing Emerson’s birthday. She’s a supermodel and Theo is a fashion photographer. When a calendar reminder goes off on their phones, Emerson makes a plan to reunite. She gets a job as the model in Theo’s next campaign. The job is four days in Cinque Terre, but will Theo want to see Emerson?

I loved the setting of Cinque Terre and seeing the two characters have a second chance to romance. It wasn’t a smooth road to rekindle their feeling but their struggle was worth it in the end. I adored the ending and I really enjoyed the flashbacks of their relationship when they wee teenagers. My one complaint was the miscommunication trope…there was a lot of miscommunication in this one. Other than that it was a sweet omance with an Italian backdrop.

The PERFECT book to read if you wish to be transported to the most gorgeous setting in Italy!!! I knew I would love this book but I didn't realize just how much. I'm such a sucker for dual POV and it worked SO WELL with this story. Emerson and Theo were so likable and their chemistry flew off the pages. I'm excited to read more of this author's work!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
One Last Shot
By: Betty Cayouette
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pub Date: 5/07/24
Friends to lovers is my favorite romance trope at the moment so this one fits perfectly!
From debut author Betty Cayouette comes a coming of age story. This book is told from dual POVs.
It’s freshman orientation when Emerson meets Theo for the first time and in just 4 years they are inseparable. As senior year starts to wind down they become more than friends. Theo’s a photographer and Emerson is already starting to model. They plan on moving from Boston to NYC. While on a photo shoot some awful things happen and Emerson starts to push everyone away including Theo. It’s now been 10 years, Emerson realizes he’s the one, always has been but they haven’t spoken in all that time. She orchestrates a chance encounter by becoming one of the models on his next campaign. To say he was shocked is an understatement. Their worlds are so different but maybe just maybe they can get back to where they once were.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. I'm not the biggest fan of slow burns or the miscommunication trope but I think this one used it well enough to help us get a real sense of the story. It wasn't perfect, but it was such a sweet summer romance. I think the way the author handled the mental health rep and the depiction of sexual assault was spot-on and I appreciated it because you can tell they went out of their way to handle these topics with care.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC! I thought this was a cute and quick read and as an Italian myself I did love the fact that it mostly took place in Italy. I would definitely recommend it to clients looking for a second chance romance!

Emerson is a supermodel and her upcoming birthday has her looking at her life. She wants to find love but hasn't been able to accomplish that one little thing. When a reminder on her calender makes her think of a pact she made with her friend Theo when they were teens she thinks there is a chance she might find some happiness. She sets up a chance meeting with Theo hoping to rekindle that long ago romance they had as teens. She books the job that gets her in his sights but soon learns he might not be on the same page that she is on. Follow along and see where this journey takes the two. Will hearts win out or will they fizzle in the end?

ARC
I adored this book! I feel like people either love or hate friends to lovers/second chance romance, but it's a personal favorite for me. I feel like it had all the microtropes I love and wish I could write myself - marriage pact, traveling, it's always been you, etc. The multiple timelines was so much fun and relatable to high school romance/friendships. Definitely recommend

One Last Shot follows the love story of Emerson and Theo, middle school best friends turned strangers turned lovers. Emerson graduated high school, was “discovered” and is now one of the world’s top supermodels. Theo, who took her very first digital photographs, is now also an established fashion photographer, but he only works for mass market fashion brands. And something happened ten years ago that caused them to lose touch with each other.

I absolutely adored this rendition of a marriage pact reuniting long lost best friends! One of the best executions I’ve read in a long long time. The writing style is snappy. Emerson’s inner dialogue felt like my own, but wittier. Theo’s struggles felt understated but absolutely real. The story felt true, in the best way possible.

The book setting of a small town in Italy is chefs kiss. It added that cozy small town vibe that instantly elevates any romance. Having the purpose being a fashion shoot also made the vibe tres chic. It really was the perfect blend for people who like city or small town vibes.

Trigger warning, the book does tackle sexual assault but it’s off page, in the distant past, and definitely NOT the center of the story. In fact, I was to give kudos to the author for having tackled it sensitivity while still ensuring that it wasn’t the entirety of the story. Just how real life can be at times as well.

Overall, I highly, HIGHLY recommend. I think Betty is a new auto-buy author for me in the contemporary romance genre!

Emerson and Theo met when they were fourteen becoming everything to each other, until they weren't. Fast forward to age almost 28 and a reminder pops up on their respective phones of a vow they made to get married when they turn 28. Setting into motion a reconnect for them on a photo shoot in Italy combined with flashbacks of what went right and wrong. While I enjoyed their story, I never connected with either of them. So I was left with a pleasant story without any emotional impact.