Loved this! Kate Robb’s writing makes me giddy. The Kitty plot line reminded me a bit of Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry. With that being said, I do wish the magical realism was a bigger part of the book like in Kate’s other books. Loved the romance but I also wish it was fleshed out a little more between the ending and the epilogue. Thank you for the early copy!

Amazing book loved the characters and plot. I couldn't stop reading I stayed up all night. I loved the book so much thank you for the arc.

A bit slow at times which mad emerges push through but the conclusion was sweet and worth it! This magical realism reminded me of 'The Seven Year Slip' and Kitty's flashbacks reminded me of 'Great Big Beautiful Life." Funny enough, Jule's was my least favorite character. There was so much emphasis on Reeve and he is SO SWEET and careful that Kate didn't have to try too hard for me to like him, OR Jule's best friend Zoe. She's sassy, confident and her 'I'll destroy you if you hurt her' personality had me laughing. Outside of the magical realism, the story felt extremely relatable and Reeve and Jule's took their relationship slow. It didn't feel forced or too instant which I respected. Kitty St. Clair's story moments were slow for me and I didn't see where the story would go until the conclusion which I appreciated!

I wish instead of the epilogue, we would get an interconnected standalone centered around Zoe!

Kitty St. Clair’s Last Dance is a heartfelt, whimsical read with a touch of magic and nostalgia. I enjoyed the emotional journey Jules takes as she uncovers Kitty’s past and reconsiders her own future. The dance hall setting and time-slip elements added a unique charm to the story. While some parts didn’t fully click for me, I appreciated the creative premise and moments of quiet growth.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance reader copy!

Thank you so much to Random House publishing for the advanced copy of this delightful novel.

When Jules inherits a run-down former dance hall from a resident at the assisted living facility where she works, she is confused and questions why she was given this gift. Said former patient, Kitty St. Claire, had a larger than life personality. She was confident and bold, with a side of sass.

As Jules is bringing Kitty’s belongings to the lawyer of her estate, she discovers a journal. She takes a peek inside, and then decides to snatch up the journal to see if she can find out more about why she was given this dance hall.

Jules lives in a beach town north of Toronto called West Lake. It’s a quaint town where everyone knows everyone. Wealthy city people flock the town during the late summer months. Two years earlier, while Jules is celebrating her best friend Zoe’s birthday, she sparks a conversation with a charming Toronto boy named Reeve. They end up spending the night together and Jules thinks they have a real connection. She gives him her number, but never hears from him again.

Fast forward to Kitty’s celebration of life at the Legion. Zoe and Jules are at the bar and Reeve shows up. He tries to talk to Jules and ask her out, but she’s still bitter and doesn’t want anything to do with him.

Later that night, Jules is home and decides to read Kitty’s journal. She falls asleep soon after and awakes in a vivid dream where she experiences Kitty’s past through the eyes of Kitty’s best friend, Dotti. This was such a well done use of magical realism. I loved the flashbacks to Kitty’s past through Jules’ dreams.

Jules eventually gives Reeve’s a chance after his persistence and when she finds out that he did try to contact her, but she had typed her number in his phone incorrectly.

I really enjoyed this story! I thought the character development was great. Jules was raised by a single mom and has a very unhealthy relationship with her mother. She struggles financially for years and has to put off her dream of going to medical school as the result of choices her mother made. When she learns that Reeve came to town to find the owner of the dilapidated dance hall to make an offer to buy the space for condos, she has to decide if the money is worth the change it will bring to her small community.

One of my favorite Kitty-isms: “Life may not be the party we signed up for, but while we’re here, we might as well dance.”

This is definitely a book you want to add to your Fall TBR!

I liked this but I also wish there were more flashbacks to Kitty’s life so we could see her character fleshed out.

This was my second Kate Robb read and I really loved the touch of magical realism woven throughout! The story was a bit slow for me in parts, so it took me a little longer to finish but I’m so glad I stuck with it because the ending was totally worth it. And can we PLEASE talk about Kitty?! She was the absolute cutest and totally stole my heart. 🥹✨
Thank you to NetGalley and Dial Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Spoiler Free summary

FMC has been paying for her mother's financial mistakes for years. She has had to push off her own dreams and life to get herself out of debt due to her mother. Instead of going to medical school, FMC takes a job taking care of the elderly. One day, one of the residents pass and she inherits a property, and a diary. As she reads the diary, she relives the memories and resolves the mindset that she is currently stuck in.

Vibes
This was a super quick and feel-good read. At one point it definitely makes you ugly cry. You really do resonate with this book. The author really makes a great POV for a millennial. She shows the importance of looking at views and finding out other perspectives /why they think that way, all the while enticing the narrative that you need to put yourself forward.

Chapter 39 will make your heart hurt!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was such a heart warming and cozy read. I really like Jules and Reeve both as separate characters and together as a couple. Overall a fun time! A perfect fall read coming out October 2025!

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for an ARC!

I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this book but Kate Robb does such a good job weaving in the magical realism part of the story.

I enjoyed the balance between Jules real life and her time with Kitty and how even what Kitty was going through could still resonate (maybe a little differently) to how things were changing for the folks in West Lake in the present time.

Also, loved Jules and Reeve and that Jules could always count on Zoe!

Overall I really enjoyed this and quite honestly devoured it pretty quickly.

This story follows Jules, a young woman working at a senior center, who is stunned to learn that Kitty St. Clair, a beloved resident who recently passed away, has left her an old, run down dance hall in her will. As Jules grapples with what to do with the unexpected inheritance and begins to reevaluate the direction of her life, she crosses paths with Reeve, the man she met at a party two years ago and the one who got away.

Kate Robb’s magic realism is truly some of the best out there. I loved how the magical elements were subtle, while still allowing most of the story to unfold in the present. I completely fell for Reeve. His kind gestures and his big, caring heart won me over. His relationship with Jules developed slowly, but the banter and text exchanges were so much fun to read. The small Lake Huron town added so much charm and depth, with a close knit community that knows everything about everyone and how some residents worked to push back against gentrification in a post COVID world.

Read if you like:
-Opposites attract
-Right person wrong time
-Magic realism
-Strong female friendships
-Small town Canadian setting

Thank you Dial for the early copy!

I really enjoyed Kitty St. Clair’s Last Dance—it made me feel so many things at once. The writing was gentle but emotional, and I found myself thinking about the book long after I finished it. It wasn’t a loud or dramatic story, but it had this quiet strength that really stuck with me. It’s one of those books that sneaks up on you and leaves a mark.

What an enchanting read!  This book sort of fell into my lap and I'm so glad it did!  In this story, by Kate Robb, we learn of a young woman named Jules who inherits a dance hall by the infamous Kitty St. Clair.  Soon after, Jules starts to have vivid dreams of the dance hall from its heyday. In walks Reeve, a promising developer who has his eye on the prize - the dance hall, but after a chance encounter with Jules, things fall into place while pieces of her heart are starting to scatter.  Between being torn over Reeve and medical school, Jules faces her present by visiting the past. When the past starts to mirror her present, will Jules find the answers she is looking for?  Kate Robb has done a marvelous job bringing the characters to life on page. I would highly recommend this book!  Robb's writing will draw you in and you wont be able to help falling in love with the characters and story!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

• magical realism x contemporary fiction
• small town lake setting
• second chances

I had such a dreamy experience reading this book - I loved the touch of magical realism. The main characters have great chemistry, and I enjoyed their relationship. Be sure to read the Acknowledgments and the inspiration behind Kitty. 🥹

🗣 Thank you to Random House/Dial Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book via gifted eARC invite! All opinions are honest and my own.

Don’t let that cute cartoon cover fool you!! This story isn’t sunshine and rainbows. It dips into some pretty gloomy moments, but the ending lands with real payoff soooo the heartache was worth it!! LOL!

3/5⭐

First off, this cover is everything. The purple??? Perfection- I only wish I loved the inside just as much.
This book was cutie and fun with a little bit of a deeper theme throughout and I absolutely loved the description of the dance hall and I dream of having a place like it someday (and it will STAY A DANCE HALL).

At the beginning of this book I was hooked. It was giving the Seven Year Slip and I was eating it up and then it took a turn.
I hate the miscommunication trope just like everyone else and this book actively tried to not have it but in doing so had the DUMBEST reason for why they didn't talk for years. Although their relationship didn't bother me too much in the beginning.
My favorite part of the story was the 'past scenes'- I was dropped right into 1940s/50s beach summer and I wish the book was about Kitty and not Jules. But I also had gripes with Kitty- if she wanted that one guy so bad then WHY DID SHE MARRY SOMEONE ELSE??? It actually makes no sense. And Mr. Reeve the awful businessman was so horrible at the end omg. I was seriously like "WHY WOULD YOU STILL WANT TO BE WITH HIM???" and for a book with a toxic parent subplot, Jules' mom was VERY toxic and yet Jules was fine with the 'I'm sorry I won't do it again' line?? PLEASE. Girlypop needs therapy because her mom is awful and her boyfriend is awful (at the end- Reeve was pretty good at the beginning and then he just wasn't my favorite)- but at least her job is good (those scenes at the retirement home we SO wholesome!!) Also, I hate to say it but I predicted the plot twists from the beginning of the book.

This book was cutie and fun with a little bit of a deeper theme throughout and I absolutely loved the description of the dance hall and I dream of having a place like it someday (and it will STAY A DANCE HALL).

I'd say to give this one a shot and see what you think- it was fun but just not for me!

Thank you to Random House, NetGalley, and Dial Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Jules and Reeves meet at a beach party and there is instant chemistry. A wrong phone number causes him to unintentionally ghost her, only to show up 2 years later. At this point Jules is working at Sunnyvale, an assisted living facility. She has great relationships with the residents but is shocked to learn that Kitty St Clair has bequeathed her an abandoned dance hall. But Jules’ dream is to become a doctor. Should she sell it to developers and open her community up to gentrification so she can go to med school?

Then- out of the blue- she gets Kitty’s diary from her youth, there is a bit of a love triangle- and ghost Kitty is also there via the diary, Tom Riddle style.

I really loved Reeve, he is a good book boyfriend. It’s a worthy plot although a bit predictable. If you like a magical realism romcom, Kate Robb is one of the best. There is good banter and fun side characters.

When it comes to romance and to magical realism, Kate Robb doesn’t disappoint!!

This is one that has a great balance of magic and realism. First, the magic, as our main character is transported in her dreams to the dance hall in its heyday. The peek into Kitty’s life is done with a Grease-like lens of the past, but with well-written brushes of a love triangle and a love of dance halls. You can tell just how much Robb adored writing Kitty.

The realism is perhaps the strongest part of the book, as our two MCs navigate a long-distance relationship and financial woes. While the love develops well, it’s so beyond real. Folks looking for escapism won’t find it in the present timeline, but I found it to be a breath of fresh air in a genre that often prioritizes tropes over characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and and Dial for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

**Kitty St. Clair's Last Dance** by Kate Robb is a sparkling, clever, and totally charming novel that feels like a big-hearted hug. Robb delivers a story full of wit, warmth, and memorable characters you can’t help but root for. It’s a delightful blend of humor, heartache, and self-discovery, all wrapped up in a breezy, compulsively readable package. Perfect for anyone who loves stories about second chances and finding joy in unexpected places — this one will leave you smiling.

I thoroughly enjoyed Kitty St. Clair's Last Dance. I feel like you could feel Kate Robb's voice throughout the whole book and through the characters. I was originally introduced to Kate Robb by reading This Spells Love. And no pun intended, I fell in love with her stories and her story telling ability. I love that she weaves the metaphysical with the real world. And she does it in ways that makes sense or doesn't feel off putting. We've all been there. We've had a dream or daydream that has felt all too real only to wake up and find ourselves still in the "real" world. She finds such interesting ways to help her characters grow and learn lessons. The characters of Jules and Reeve are no different in Kitty St. Clair's Last Dance. In truth, when I read the title I thought I would be following the main character of Kitty St. Clair but imagine my surprise when I got Jules. And I'm so thankful we did. We meet dreamer Jules who has the whole world in front of her in the prologue of the book. Only to meet down on her luck trying to make the best of it Jules in the first chapter. And that is what made Jules so relatable. We've walked in Jules shoes, we've had big dreams only to have the real world coming crashing down around us and sometimes making us realists instead of dreamers. And like Jules, we meet Reeve who is a dreamer and fighting living up to the expectations of his family in the prologue. But chapter 1 Reeve has given into his family and isn't the same dreamer he was at the beginning.
And what follows is a story of two people trying to determine who they are and who they want to be. And who they are and can be to each other. Add in real estate that is worth some money and one of them being a real estate developer you've got yourself a story full of questions and worries and the potential for enemies to lovers. I haven't even added in visits from a recently departed Kitty St. Clair in dream form sharing some wisdom from the grave. Kitty St. Clair's story and Jules story parallel each other. And like most of us, we don't always understand the wisdom that is being shared and Jules reads into the story before getting to the end and truly understanding the the purpose of her dream visits.

I do believe my only real issue with the book was that I didn't get enough of Kitty St. Clair's story. I also wasn't fond of not getting all of Jules backstory. I do wish the story had spent a bit more time exploring the relationship between Jules and her mom. I do feel like a lot could have been mined from that story and given a bit more insight into Jules.