The Last Time by Anna Bloom is live!

Second Chance at Love, Forbidden Relationship, Grumpy/Sunshine, Found Family, Medical Drama

Amazon US  |  Amazon UK  |  Amazon CA  |  Amazon AU

Free in Kindle Unlimited

Blurb

“He swore he wouldn’t fall. She never expected to want him to.”

OLIVIA

Boxing Day was supposed to be spent with my children. Instead, I was alone in a hotel bar, drowning in heartbreak while my ex played happy families with his new girlfriend. And then he walked in.
Dr. Ryan Simmonds—arrogant, guarded, and too damn gorgeous for his own good.
He was supposed to be a one-night escape, nothing more.

Not my sister’s heart surgeon.
Not the man making my children laugh.
And definitely not someone I could fall for when my world is already crumbling.

RYAN

I don’t get involved. Not after my fiancée left me for my brother.
But Olivia Brown is a complication I never saw coming.

She’s fierce, exhausted, and willing to fight the world for her sister.
She’s the one woman I shouldn’t want.
And she’s breaking down every wall I’ve built.

Her sister’s failing heart means I’m her only hope. But Olivia deserves more than a man who can’t afford to love her.
Now I have to make an impossible choice:
Be the surgeon who saves her sister… or the man who won’t break her heart.

 A heart-wrenching, slow-burn romance about love, fate, and impossible choices.

Add to Goodreads

Review

2.5 stars

A dramatic single parent romance where two broken people come together unexpectedly and against all odds, finding love and healing when they never expected it.

This is the second book in The Last Ever series, and a follow on from the amazing The Last Kiss. It’s the story of Olivia, who is the sister of Jules, heroine from The Last Kiss. This story takes place on the same timeline as the first book, and though you can read this book as a standalone, note that it contains spoilers for the first book, so if you’re planning on reading The Last Kiss (and you absolutely should!), read these in order.

Separated single mother, Olivia’s life is falling apart when she meets a stranger in a bar who invites her to dinner and steals her heart. She’s not in a place where she can be starting a relationship, so they part ways at the end of the night thinking they’ll never see each other again. And then Ryan turns out to be Olivia’s sister’s heart surgeon.

Ryan is a broody surgeon who is married to his job since his fiancée left him for his brother. He doesn’t want a relationship, and he definitely doesn’t want to get involved with a single mother, but there’s something about Olivia that draws him in. He can’t stop thinking about her, he can see that she’s struggling, and he wants to help her, and despite his best intentions, he can’t stay away.

Ryan and Olivia are in a complicated situation. She’s a hot mess, he’s determined to be alone, and they both have family issues to deal with. Bizarrely, the fact that he is her sister’s surgeon (and the person deciding whether she goes on the heart transplant list) really doesn’t factor. I thought it would be a major ethical sticking point to them being together, but it’s not. It’s more their personal issues that cause the drama.

There is quite a bit of push and pull, mostly coming from Ryan as he battles his feelings, and I enjoyed seeing him wrestle with his emotions. When he finally gives in and embraces all that he’s feeling, it’s sexy and it’s sweet, and I liked seeing him step into Olivia’s life and be there for her and her kids.

“I’ve been ready for you since the moment we met.”

But unlike the first book in the series, in this one, for me, the feels weren’t there.

Olivia had some great moments but I didn’t warm to her as much as I wanted. She seemed so helpless. And for somebody who is so stressed and devastated over her sister’s illness, she doesn’t really do anything to help. Given how unwell Jules was, and how close the sisters are, I thought Jules would appear in the book more, but she sort of just exists on the periphery until those final chapters. And it’s those chapters which finally brought the emotion. And though I loved seeing Ryan’s walls come down, I thought there were some questionable choices when it came to how his character was written and how he reacted to falling for Olivia.

The main issue with this book for me was that it all just felt a bit disjointed – like the book was written in pieces, bits were moved around, and things didn’t make sense or contradicted other parts of the story. I found myself questioning and flicking back, and though I can usually overlook things like that, it happened a lot and I found it distracting. I did read an ARC of this book, and wondered if it was an early draft, so I bought the book on release to check the published version and those issues were still there. It just needs an edit for continuity.

So yeah, it wasn’t what I was expecting, but I did like the story. I liked seeing Ryan and Olivia come together, and their story finishes in a good place.

2.5 stars.

An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author for an honest review.

The Last Ever series

About the Author