Heartfelt Summer Romance at Its Best

 

Image copied from Goodreads

This is the first book by Rebekah Crane I've read. I was intrigued by both the title and the story blurb and so requested an e-galley for Last Call for Love from NetGalley. A novel about summer romance set in Ireland sounded like the perfect read for July and I wasn't disappointed. I loved the themes of transformation, second chances, fake feuds, coping with grief, and found family that or woven into this tale. Last Call for Love had me laughing and at times crying as I followed Maeve and Briggs on their respective journeys toward love and fulfillment.

At the start of the novel, Maeve is running away. She'd let herself love someone and then was abandoned and betrayed by that person. Full of shame, she escapes the shambles her life has become in her hometown of Chicago by going to the tiny island of Inishglass in Ireland. Her birth father, Liam Doherty, who she never knew, has died and left her a mysterious inheritance. Maeve has hope that whatever he's left her will somehow help her out of the enormous debt her no-good ex has left her in. Once in Ireland, Maeve finds that she has been left an Irish pub, one of only two on the island. The other is owned by the Doherty family's rivals, the Murphys. 

Native islander, Briggs Murphy has just received a diagnosis confirming what he's always known, he is destined to die far too young just like his father before him. It is why he's never let himself get too attached to any one woman. Why he's continued to live in his childhood home, but never bothered to make it his own, why he's content to run the family business with his mate Hugh and not plan a future for himself beyond that. Then he sees a woman dancing, badly, all alone in her dead father's empty pub and suddenly Briggs can't help but be fascinated. Striking up a conversation, he's even more drawn to Maeve when he purposely makes a mess with the drink she's offered him, only to find her obsessively cleaning it up, as if unable to help herself. Maeve explains that if you can control the messes in one's life then perhaps you can keep from being hurt. A flawed logic that Briggs finds heartbreaking but instantly appealing.

From there the two begin a stumbling journey toward love while pretending to keep their family's long-running feud alive for the sake of both their businesses and those of the other island residents. Along the way, Maeve learns to know something of the man her birth father was and begins to come to life again within the caring community of this tiny island Liam Doherty called home. The journey toward transformation both characters navigate as they each come to terms with grief and loss is heartfelt with some refreshing moments of humor mixed in. I was thoroughly engrossed in finding out how Maeve would reconcile her troubles she ran away from with a future on the this island that becomes more of a home to her than the city she grew up in and loved. I also was anxious to see how things would unfold with Briggs and his heart condition. I loved the fact that he refers to it as a broken heart in the literal sense but that comes to also represent his brokenness that he's never quite come back from after losing his Da at such a young age. I was surprised to see that this book says its marketed to a young adult audience. I would say it's more appropriate for a new adult audience as the characters are in their mid to late twenties. 

All in all though, I would love to see some follow up books for some of the other characters in this book and look forward to reading more by Rebekah Crane. Thanks to NetGalley and Skyscape Publishing for giving me the chance to read this free e-galley in exchange for my honest review. If you would like to obtain a copy of this lovely summer read, Last Call for Love comes out August 6, 2024.

Stayed tuned for next month when I review another NetGalley read that is billed as The Princess Bride meets The People We Meet on Vacation, E. B. Asher's cozy romantasy This Will Be Fun. The cover image and blurb below were copied from Goodreads. 

Ten years ago, they saved the realm. It ruined their lives.

Everyone in Mythria knows the story of how best friends Beatrice and Elowen, handsome ex-bandit Clare, and valiant leader Galwell the Great defended the land from darkness. It’s a tale beloved by all—except the former heroes. They haven’t spoken in a decade, devastated by what their quest cost them.

But when they receive an invitation to the queen of Mythria’s wedding, it’s a summons they can’t refuse . . . and a reunion for the ages, with Clare secretly not over his long-ago fling with Beatrice, Beatrice fighting the guilt she feels over how everything ended, Elowen unprepared for the return of her former flame (the cunning Vandra), and all of them lost without Galwell’s presence. And if reuniting with old friends and lovers wasn’t perilous enough, dark forces from their past have returned, plotting a domination that only Mythria’s one-time defenders can stop. Maybe.

Dusting off old weapons and old instincts, they face undead nemeses, crystal caves, enchanted swords, coffee shops, games of magical Truth or Dare, and, hardest of all, their past—rife with wounds never healed and romances never forgotten.

This time around, will their story end in happily ever after?