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PRODUCT
One Last Summer
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Original price was: $29.00.$14.99Current price is: $14.99.
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From the cohost of the award-winning Forever35 podcast comes a dreamy, laugh-out-loud summer romance that asks: What do you do when the life you’ve planned isn’t what you’ve dreamed?
Clara Millen’s life is spiraling out of control: her dream job is a nightmare, she’s resoundingly single, and it’s been years since she’s taken some time off. Thankfully, the last problem she can fix—this year she’ll join her friends on their annual summer vacation to their beloved childhood sleepover camp for a much-needed escape.
But when Clara arrives at Pine Lake Camp, she faces yet another unwelcome change: the owners are retiring and selling the property. The news turns her plans for revelry into a night of reminiscing . . . and prompts a surprise heart-to-heart between Clara and Mack, her old camp nemesis and constant competitor, who’s still just as annoying (and annoyingly handsome).
Soon the campfires aren’t all that’s throwing off sparks. And when one wildly passionate night turns into two (then too many to count!), Clara begins to wonder if she and Mack could have a future together. But when Clara’s boss finally offers her everything she’s worked so hard for, Clara will need to decide if the life she’s always wanted is the life that makes her feel truly alive.
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Categories: Best Books of 2024 So Far
Product name:
One Last Summer
Price:
Original price was: $29.00.$14.99Current price is: $14.99.
Jenna –
Thank you to Forever and Grand Central Publishing for the advanced reader copy! All thoughts are my own.
One Last Summer follows Clara Millen, a burnt out millenial who is having a rough time: her boyfriend dumped her and her dream job has become a nightmare. When her boss forces her to take a mini vacation, Clara decides to join her friends for their yearly visit to their beloved sleepver camp in the woods of northern New Hampshire. When they arrive to the property, they all discover that the camp is closing and has been sold off. While trying to enjoy their last hurrah, Clara ends up spending a lot of extra time with her old camp nemesis Mack. Clara has held onto her teenage crush on Mack after all these years and as they get closer, sparks begin to fly and Clara begins to question if her life back in Boston is what she truly wants.
I loved this camp setting in New Hampshire. As a child of New England, I am VERY familiar with the concept of sleepaway camps in the wilderness. Though I never went to one, Maine itself boasts about 140 camps itself and I’ve crossed paths with campers, counselors and even camp families. The setting of Pine Lake Camp was incredibly realistic and I really enjoyed being there! One of the best things that this book did was talk about the concept of how camp is a home away from home for a lot of campers; things might be going on that they’re escaping from and camps can often be a safe space for them. I loved that Kate really highlighted that when talking about Clara’s own experiences.
I really wish we had gotten a bit more flashbacks of this friend group, especially some scenes between Mack and Clara to really emphasize how they were “rivals” and still had that old school rivarly after all these years. It felt like there was a lot of telling about their relationship overall, when I would have preferred some actual scenes.
Overall, I really enjoyed this nostalgic summer camp romance. This was my first Kate Spencer book but it definitely won’t be my last.
asdustomer –
This is such a great summer read! A second change romance set at a summer camp makes for a perfect poolside read. Clara’s life is spiraling out of control so she decides to go back to the camp she attended as a child with some friends. When she gets there, she discovered two things: her old camp nemesis Mack is there and that the owners are selling the camp. I love the last hurrah aspect of this book. It makes for a good nostalgic moment and reminded me of my camp experiences. I also loved Clara’s friend group. it was so fun and supportive.
Alex –
I loved this second chance summer story! I was rooting for Clara the whole time. Spencer is a MUST READ!!
Szpera florian –
This book was everything I like to read in the summer : a beautiful lake, summer camp, traditions with friends and a cute second chance romance.
I went through a burn out a few years back so I could totally relate to Clara and her feelings while reading. Realising you are not happy doing something that brought you joy at some point is really difficult. And then having to find out who you are, what makes you feel good about yourself after that is so painful. And sometimes to heal, you have to come back to where you grew up to make a kind of “reset” of yourself.
Maybe the romance was a bit fast for me. If you love a slow burn, this one’s not for you ! But, it was nice to see Clara becoming herself again with Mack. Because you may be lost but the people who love you still know who you are.
I like it when a book stays realistic and the characters are full of flaws. This group of friends is very mature and it was nice to see them talk about their issues rather than just giving the silent treatment to each other.
Amy A. –
For anyone that loves reading about found family, friendship and beautiful settings as much as a good romance, you’re going to love this book!
📚 One Last Summer
✍ Kate Spencer
📖 RomCom
⭐4/5
🌶️ 🌶️ (mostly closed door but sex is implied)
➡ Caught up in her whirlwind career, Clara Millen has missed the last five summers of camp reunions where her small, dedicated friend group relives their glory days at Pine Lake Camp in New Hampshire. When her boss proposes a new ‘mini-sabbatical’ company benefit and brazenly assigns Clara to be the first employee to partake, she returns to Pine Lake only to find that she’s missed out on a lot more than a few campfire stories.
Upon her arrival, she quickly realizes that her friends have all grown during their time apart and that the beloved camp they’ve returned to each summer has been sold to a new owner. Determined to fit everything they can into their one last week at camp, they set out to relive their best experiences together before the camp turns into a glamping facility. For Clara, the week means revisiting everything she thought she wanted at 15, including her camp crush and constant rival, Mack with a fresh set of eyes- and what she finds may shift her version of the past…and the future.
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🙏 Thank you to Grand Central Publishing, NetGalley and Kate Spencer for the advanced copy of One Last Summer. All opinions are my own.
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🎯 What I loved: The summer camp setting was so visceral and well described that I really felt like I was there- I think this is going to make a GREAT beach read! And I loved that this book was as much about Clara finding herself as it was about friendship evolution and romance. I enjoyed Clara’s character journey and self-discovery and appreciated that she wasn’t perfect even though she did a lot of things that I didn’t like during the course of the story. There was strong authentic representation of LGBTQ+ relationships, a journey to single motherhood and childhood challenges that were all well done.
🙅♀️ What I didn’t: A lot was packed into this book considering that it all happened in a week. I think I would have liked the timeline to be a little more stretched out to make it more believable as it’s just really hard to forge or re-forge connections so deep in a matter of days. There was also a lot of miscommunication/lack of communication between characters which I found frustrating. My biggest bone to pick though is that I struggled with liking Clara as a character and found her really immature- between her inability to put her work down and need to re-engage in summer camp competitions so intensely and put down the people around her, it was hard to connect to her but I do think she had a good character arc and readers were able to see some strong self-development by the end of the book.
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Read if you love:
*summer camp settings & lots of reminiscing without dual timelines
*found family
*second-chance romance
*self-discover & questioning career choices
*opposites attract
*friends to lovers
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See also: Reasonable Adults, Say You Still Love Me, Summer Sisters
MamainSF_Luv –
Kate Spencer’s latest is a wildly endearing rom-com-dram(a). I never went to sleepaway camp, but One Last Summer sure makes me wish I had. I couldn’t stop routing for Clara, who is trying to find her sense of self and happiness, something that runs true for me. What a special read!