I didn’t read nearly as much this week as last week, but I have got lots to say about the book I did read.

The Last Dance by Aimee Brown. First I want to acknowledge that the blurb mentions this book is perfect for fans of Nicholas Sparks, Jodi Picoult, & Anna Bell. I don’t know who Anna Bell is but neither of the other two authors write romance, but I was willing to give this book a try because the hero is a widower and falls in love with his wife’s sister, who’s is also his BFF. Y’all know I LOVE this trope. I had to give this book a try.

This book is filled with angst. When the story opens, Ambri is 24. Henry is a little older. They are grieving the loss of her sister and his wife. It’s complicated, but also not. They have lots of complicated feelings for each other. They have sex. The next day they are both confused about the sex and Henry runs away. Literally. He gets a job in LA and leaves for two years. Then book flashes forward.

Henry moves back to Portland and brings his girlfriend with him. Ambri is sort of living with her current boyfriend. In a weird coincidence that only occurs in romance novels and Hallmark books, Ambri and Henry run in to each other when Ambri is working with Henry’s girlfriend. Ambri is mad at Henry for leaving. She was heartbroken. They haven’t spoken since he left. They both have unresolved issues and feelings. They are both in relationships with other people that the author did a good job of making things feel not quite right with.

But this book was equal parts boring and overly dramatic. There was a lot of them talking about how they were hurting, but it wasn’t enough that I actually felt like it. It seemed a little superficial. I made it to 45% and I just couldn’t take it anymore. It felt like nothing was happening.

I was willing to power through and keep reading but there were some weirdly worded things about weight and food that I couldn’t handle. Ambri has a treadmill set up in front of her TV. She probably has an eating disorder. But it is never addressed. She exercises when she eats too much or feels too much. This is not healthy. She is described as being slim. She talks about when Henry left she ate cried in to ice cream, ran on the treadmill and the weight she lost was the silver lining. Maybe it was addressed later in the book, but I doubt it. Only days after reading a wonderfully fat positive book, Teach Me by Olivia Dade, it was hard to read these things in this book. I don’t read to feel bad about myself so I decided it was best to DNF and move on.

Grade: DNF

Goodreads l Amazon

That’s all I’ve got for today. But I will be back tomorrow with the weekly wrap-up and my post for #rombklove (Seasoned Romance)