[Elizabeth’s Review]: Last Chance Books by Kelsey Rodkey

Don’t you just love the smell of old books in the morning?

Madeline Moore does. Books & Moore, the musty bookstore her family has owned for generations, is where she feels most herself. Nothing is going to stop her from coming back after college to take over the store from her beloved aunt.

Nothing, that is—until a chain bookstore called Prologue opens across the street and threatens to shut them down.

Madeline sets out to demolish the competition, but Jasper, the guy who works over at Prologue, seems intent on ruining her life. Not only is he taking her customers, he has the unbelievable audacity to be… extremely cute.

But that doesn’t matter. Jasper is the enemy and he will be destroyed. After all—all’s fair in love and (book) wars.

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I remember reading the synopsis of this book and immediately feeling so excited with the idea of bookstore enemies turned lovers and I have to say that I was not disappointed! Madeline and Jasper were so fun to read and I enjoyed reading about their pranks and hilarious conversations all throughout the book. I loved Madeline’s determination when she is told that their bookstore, Books and Moore, will be closing at the end of the summer. I felt that her character was so bold and confident, which I loved, and her development throughout the book stuck with this characterization by also showing how she was flawed in her blind determination at times. Jasper was my soft boy and I would protect him with my entire life. I loved his development throughout the book and how he pushed Madeline’s buttons in the best way possible. Their romance was definitely one of the most enjoyable aspects of the book.

I did feel that Madeline’s family was intended to be another aspect of the book that tried to be as impactful as the romance, but it fell a bit short. We find out that Madeline’s biological mother, Dahlia, has been an absent parent for practically Madeline’s entire life, but her summer visit may change things. We are introduced to the importance of family and we see Madeline struggle with her true feelings about Dahlia throughout the book, but I never felt that these feelings were resolved or created a significant impact. I think this book tackled the different conflicts we encounter throughout the book at a surface level, but the lack of depth is what kept me from fully falling in love with this book. While I did enjoy the romance between Madeline and Jasper and still feel that it was the most successful part of the book, we see them at their surface and don’t go more in-depth into their backgrounds—especially Jasper. However, I still found myself binge-reading the last half of the novel so I did get invested in the story towards the end of the book.

It was definitely a lighthearted read that I did enjoy and had fun reading, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone searching for a fluffy read!

Elizabeth

Hi, I’m Elizabeth!! I am 22 with a bachelor degree in English Literary Studies. I love to read and talk about books 24/7, and when I’m not reading I am usually rewatching my comfort movies and shows for the hundredth time—specifically, anything Jane Austen!