My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️.5
Disclaimer: I received a review copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. Thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley.
General Thoughts: ARC review. I was super excited to be approved for this ARC because I loved the first in this series, and I was very interested in Cal. I hadn’t known anything about the author before reading the first, but after really enjoyed that one, I had high hopes for this one.
This is a pretty direct modern version of Cinderella plus Beauty and Beast elements. Like pretty directly at first. I enjoyed the story much more once we got out of the direct Cinderella retelling world and got more into the Beauty and the Beast world. June, the FMC, is the embodiment of the new Cinderella “have courage and be kind” motif. Particularly, the be kind. But what really caught my interest and kept it was Cal. Oh, how I liked Cal, his character, his background, everything. Cal was the one who kept me interested.
On the whole, I enjoyed the book. However, because I had such high expectations, it fell a little short. I thought June’s reason for allowing herself to be treated so poorly by her family for so long didn’t make sense, I thought the current plot was a bit shallow at times, and it was a bit light on the suspense elements compared to her others.
BUT I loved Cal and the look into his character. I don’t know much about the character of book three, but I can’t wait to learn more. I’m interested in that one. I would definitely still recommend this one, it just wasn’t my favorite of hers.
Steam Meter: ❤️🔥❤️🔥.5 Some sexual content. Very high level and not overly descriptive. More frequent.
Romantic Tropes
-dual POV (third-person)
-small town romance
-Cinderella Beauty & the Beast mash-up
-scarred hero
-former military
-insta love
-plus-size heroine
Goodreads Blurb:
In this modern Cinderella story, New York Times bestselling author Susan Stoker weaves a tale of stepfamilies, stalkers, and a suspenseful, sweeping romance that proves true love can conquer all.
Former military man and member of a royal family Callum Redmon can’t deny his sense of responsibility. So when his cousin’s latest love interest claims to have a stalker, Cal reluctantly meets with the young woman and her mother. He wants to write off the situation as a complete farce—if only his feelings for another member of the household could be as easily dismissed.
Since her father’s death seventeen years ago, Juniper Rose has been at the cruel beck and call of her stepmother and stepsister. Her fantasies of escape mean leaving behind her father’s beloved home, but enough is enough: when Cal offers her a way out sooner rather than later, June takes the leap.
Cal’s home in Maine with his military brothers seems like the safest place to start fresh. But as Cal and June’s fairy-tale romance blossoms into something real, they find that the dangers stalking them may have been real all along.
My Last Romance 