Last Beautiful Girl (Magnolia Sound #7) by Samantha Chase -Review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date SEPTEMBER 28, 2020

When Kyle Jones let Sydney Albright walk out of his life, he gave up on the idea of settling down. How could he when he broke the heart of the only woman he ever loved? For years he distracted himself with a parade of women, all the while hoping he would see Sydney again.

But he never wanted it to be like this…

Sydney wasn’t prepared to become a mom overnight. When she loses her sister and brother-in-law in a tragic accident, she moves back home to become the caregiver for her heart broken niece. It is no surprise to her when the small town rallies to offer support to one of their own. However, that doesn’t make Kyle showing up on her doorstep any less jarring.

While Kyle claims he is only there to help, Sydney is instantly on edge. Not only did she vow never to fall for him again, but his timing couldn’t be worse. Her niece needs to be her number one priority. Still, seeing the pain in Sydney’s eyes, Kyle won’t turn his back on her… not again.

He always said she was the first beautiful girl he loved and now he’s determined to make her the last.

••••••

REVIEW: LAST BEAUTIFUL GIRL is the sixth instalment in Samantha Chase’s contemporary, adult MAGNOLIA SOUND romance series focusing on the people of Magnolia Grove. This is construction worker Kyle Jones, and Sydney Albright’s story line. LAST BEAUTIFUL GIRL can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Kyle and Sydney) LAST BEAUTIFUL GIRL follows the rebuilding romance and relationship between construction worker Kyle Jones, and Sydney Albright. Twelve years earlier Sydney Albright walked out of Kyle Jones’ life, and in the ensuing years struggled with what was and what will never be but the death of her sister and brother in law left Sydney the guardian of their now twelve year old daughter Hayley, a young girl who continued to struggle with the loss of her parents. Reluctantly moving back to her hometown of Magnolia Grove to raise her sister’s daughter found Sydney wondering if she would be able to face her past, a past that was about to come full circle when reparations are needed on her sister’s home. Enter construction worker Kyle Jones. What ensues is the rekindling romance and relationship between Kyle and Sydney, and the back and forth, yin and yang, roller coaster ride that treads the find line of love and hate between our leading couple.

The relationship between Kyle and Sydney is at best, tempestuous, and vitriolic, at its’ worst. Sydney battles between head and heart, unable to forgive Kyle for sins of the past as Kyle desperately tries to make amends but epically fails at every turn. Add a hormonal, pre-teen who has yet to accept the changes in her life, and the relationship between Kyle and Sydney is doomed to fail, before it begins. All of the $ex scenes fade to black or are implied.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful, energetic and well-meaning but thoughtless secondary and supporting characters who are constantly at odds with our story line couple. Most believe Kyle is no good for our story line heroine, and constantly point out Kyle’s fault as though he is a serial killer in disguise.

LAST BEAUTIFUL GIRL is a story of love and loss; grief and acceptance; of family and friendships; second chances and moving forward. The premise is captivating; the romance is passionate; the characters are animated but I struggled with the heroine’s acerbic and abrasive attitude towards the man that she loved.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews

Sunkissed Days
Remind Me
A Girl Like You
In case You Didn’t Know
All the Befores 3.5
And Then One Day
Can’t Help Falling in Love

Reviewed by Sandy

Copy supplied for review

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New York Times and USA Today Bestseller/contemporary romance writer Samantha Chase released her debut novel, Jordan’s Return, in November 2011. Although she waited until she was in her 40’s to publish for the first time, writing has been a lifelong passion. Her motivation to take that step was her students: teaching creative writing to elementary age students all the way up through high school and encouraging those students to follow their writing dreams gave Samantha the confidence to take that step as well.

When she’s not working on a new story, she spends her time reading contemporary romances, playing way too many games of Scrabble or Solitaire on Facebook and spending time with her husband of 25 years and their two sons in North Carolina.