TITLE: Your Last First Kiss
AUTHOR: Avery Maxwell
RELEASE DATE: 5/10/2023
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
TROPES: Small Town Romance, Single Mom, Cinnamon Roll Hero, Friends-to-Lovers, Emotional Read, Falls For Her Kids
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
BLURB:
My name is Penny Mulligan and my life is a mess.
After a disastrous marriage that left me with three perfect, rowdy boys and an ex-husband whose middle name might as well be Trouble, I’ve got more than enough testosterone in my life. I’m absolutely not getting involved with anyone.
Besides, at the end of the day when I collapse into bed, I’m too exhausted to think sexy thoughts. Except maybe about the one man who makes my life just a little easier…Mr. Wednesday, a.k.a. Dillon Henry.
Handsome, charming, thoughtful—the man is fantasy material.
And not just because he brings me my favorite coffee every Wednesday when he meets with my boss.
I’ll be ready to date again…someday…maybe after my boys are in college and I finally have the energy to think about myself. For now, I’m content to stick to my late-night fantasies about a certain coffee-bringing, suit-wearing flirt.
At least, that’s what I tell myself until Dillon Freaking Henry shows up on my doorstep in my hometown, demanding that I let him out of the friend zone.
He’s not intimidated by the fact that I’m a package deal or that my calendar is chaos or that my ex is a monumental pain in the…neck. Nope. Dillon is determined to change my mind.
Part of me almost hopes he can.
MY REVIEW:
DISCLAIMER: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Avery continues to amaze me! I thought her book, Without a Hitch was good but damn, Your Last First Kiss blew that out of the water!
Going in, I knew this book was going to wreck me, and it did (in the best possible way!) Because of my work schedule, it usually ends up taking me a week to finish a book. I was having none of that this week! I blew my bedtime off to read, and I even snuck in some time to read before I had to get ready for work, even when I was already crunched for time because I just could not get enough!
Penny broke my heart in this book. She’s a single mom, struggling to raise a houseful of kids while also trying to monitor her ex-husband’s whereabouts in the hopes of preventing her kids from experiencing anymore emotional damage from him. The only time she feels happy, or seen, is when Dillon comes by her office every Wednesday with a coffee while he waits to meet her boss.
Dillon probably has taken over my top book boyfriend spot. I loved him in this story! Not just how he treated Penny, but I especially loved how he loved on her kids. Penny’s kids have been through a lot, and trusting a man doesn’t come easy for them, but Dillon patiently and lovingly showed them that some men do keep their promises.
I absolutely loved all the side characters we met in this story, and the potential for their HEAs. (Miller, Grady, Andrew, Ryder, etc.) Remy reminded me of GG with his ability to know things and speak cryptic wisdom. (GG is the family grandmom from Avery’s Westbrook series.)
I can’t wait to explore more of Chance Lake and its residents in future Avery books!
Thank you Avery, Rhon, and That’s What She Said Publishing for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book!
(I heard Kane Brown’s What If only the radio the other day, and I think it could totally be Dillon and Penny’s theme song, so I added it below for your listening pleasure.)
Interested in reading this book? You can pre-order the book now, or wait until May 10th to rent this in KU!