Harper Jenkins is a journalist at a well-known magazine, and has worked very hard to gain the position of Celebrity Editor. Her kind and caring nature make her the perfect candidate for celebrity interviews because she genuinely cares about their answers and wants to show them in their best light. Everything was going brilliantly in her career until a glimpse of her past arrived in the form of Ryan, a coworker from her early days in journalism. Ryan shakes things up for Harper in ways that she never could have expected.
A cute office romance with a little “enemies-to-lovers” trope mixed in, The Last Word is easy to get immersed in quickly. The beginning of the book really focuses on Harper and how much of herself she really invests into her career. It was nice to have so much time devoted to the Main Character and what truly makes her someone to root for. Harper immediately comes off as confident, caring and incredibly good at her job. It was an interesting juxtaposition after her confidence took a hit and she came across much whinier.
The slow build of the relationship was brilliantly done and the chemistry was undeniable in very typical Katy Birchall fashion. I’ve read a couple of her books by now and have never been disappointed by the relationships, and this book is no different. It is always wonderful to see a couple where they are always trying to build one another up to the best of their ability. There were a few situations where I didn’t agree at all with their actions, but going into detail would leave far too many spoilers.
The only part of the book that I took any issue with whatsoever was the last quarter of the book. While I know it is necessary to have conflict, I thought the method with which it was done was repetitive. The conflict broke the beautiful flow that the rest of the book had built up so nicely. It also seemed to dismiss what the characters had gone through and took away from some of their growth that had developed throughout the novel. It is always a disappointment to trip at the finish line and I think that is what has happened here.
Overall, I had a great deal of fun with the book. I flew through it, loving the characters (especially the side characters) and the tension.
3.5/ 5 stars rounded up for characters and tension.
2 Spice
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.
The Novel Llama 