[Review] Last Call by Lainey Davis

Publisher's synopsis: We struck a deal. All business. Now he's changing the rules.

It was just supposed to be a marriage on paper. Koa needed a path to citizenship and I needed the money to open Bridges and Bitters.

All I've ever wanted is to take care of my sisters and run my own bar, my way. What did I care if I had a technical husband? A husband with too many dimples and more charm than he should have...

So when he rolled into town after five years to deal with some paperwork, he's turned everything upside-down.

Sure, Koa is charismatic and fun, but he's also a nomad. I don't have time for vacations and I don't know how to play games.

I'm not sure how I ended up hitched to a smoking hot rugby coach without a plan, but I need to sort this all out. Fast.

If I can't figure out a way to slice through all this red tape, it could mean last call for Bridges and Bitters.  

My thoughts: I love a good marriage of convenience story, and Koa and Esther's romance sure hit the spot. This rom-com features a lovable, nomadic rugby coach and a big sister who will do anything to protect her younger siblings. While featuring characters who are all part of a wider story, Last Call can definitely be read as a standalone; this was my first time reading a Lainey Davis book, but I loved these characters so much that I've already gone back and bought the first book in the Bridges and Bitters series just so I can better meet some of Esther's friends. 

I adored the juxtaposition of Koa and Esther. Koa has no plans, doesn't know where or when his next coaching job will come along, and is very much the opposite of me. Esther, on the other hand? I found her so relatable, with her need for security and stability first and foremost in her mind. Esther and Koa brought out the best in each other and constantly challenged each other to dream differently, even when dreaming differently felt like dreaming of the impossible.

With shorter chapters and alternating points of view, Last Call quickly swept me away into the story, and I was more than ready for Esther to make me a signature drink at her bar. All Esther's friends/found family were a perfect welcome for a nomad like Koa, and Last Call provided a perfect backdrop for compromising and realizing that stability might very well come in the form of a fit, nomadic athlete. 

[A huge thank you Lainey Davis for providing a physical copy of Last Call. This physical copy costs vastly more for an author to send versus an electronic copy, and I can't express my gratitude enough for adding that extra expense on top of all the other marketing and publishing costs an indie author takes on.]   

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Release date: 6/29/23

Format: paperback

Paperback provided via: the author and Xpresso Book Tours