One Last Summer by Kate Spencer: My Review

Kate Spencer’s latest release, One Last Summer, is the perfect summer romance for 2024. Check out my book review below to see why I recommend this as a summer read and a friends to lovers romance worth reading.

*Disclosure: This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

One Last Summer Summary:

What do you do when the life you’ve planned isn’t what you’ve dreamed? 

Clara Millen’s life is spiraling out of control: her dream job is a nightmare, she’s resoundingly single, and it’s been years since she’s taken some time off. Thankfully, the last problem she can fix—this year she’ll join her friends on their annual summer vacation to their beloved childhood sleepover camp for a much-needed escape.

But when Clara arrives at Pine Lake Camp, she faces yet another unwelcome change: the owners are retiring and selling the property. The news turns her plans for revelry into a night of reminiscing . . . and prompts a surprise heart-to-heart between Clara and Mack, her old camp nemesis and constant competitor, who’s still just as annoying (and annoyingly handsome). 

Soon the campfires aren’t all that’s throwing off sparks. And when one wildly passionate night turns into two (then too many to count!), Clara begins to wonder if she and Mack could have a future together. But when Clara’s boss finally offers her everything she’s worked so hard for, Clara will need to decide if the life she’s always wanted is the life that makes her feel truly alive. 

One Last Summer: My Review

I fell in love with Kate Spencer’s debut novel, In a New York Minute, so I was beyond excited to read her second book, One Last Summer and it did not disappoint.

If you’re looking for a book to make you nostalgic for youthful summers spent at summer camp or a book to inspire you to finally seize the life you’ve always wanted then this is it.

I think a lot of readers, including myself, may be able to identify with Clara. You’re almost in mid-life and realize that your life isn’t necessarily falling into the plan you had set for yourself. She however has a letter from her younger self that shows her just how off the mark her current life is and it throws her in a tailspin.

Throw in a bit of work burnout and a “forced” opportunity to spend a week with her friends and Clara finds herself trying to relive the fun of her summer camp days one last time.

While I never had the whole sleepover camp experience, this book made me nostalgic for it and jealous of something that I could have had in my life. I’d be up for a summer of sleeping in cabins, participating in relay races and competitions, swimming in the lake and exploring nature if I got to do it with a group of friends who would stick with me for years to come.

Clara is lucky to have that friend group and yet I could also understand how she let those friendships take a back seat to her job and her relationship. Only being forced to spend the week with them did she realize what she’d been doing and what she’d been missing.

So for me one of the best parts of this book, in addition to the camp nostalgia, is Clara’s awareness of how her life has gotten off the rails from overworking and living in such a sterile apartment with no joy in her life that she could identify.

Seeing her reflect on her priorities and make changes was fun though I’m not sure I’d check off that last box of hers in quite the same way she did!

Returning to her summer camp of youth put her in front of her camp crush Mack and I was all over their connection from the start. I’m glad that Spencer didn’t draw out their romance but jumped us right in so that they could work through their own issues.

Both of them could really use some work on their communication skills but they seemed to thrive off the competitive nature of their relationship and the antagonism.

I liked their chemistry together even if they really needed to work on their communication which made their romance a great addition to the story and Clara’s transformation.

Another piece to this story that I loved was the setting. I lived in Boston for over twenty years so I could easily picture downtown Beantown where Emma lived and worked. You could tell that Spencer either lived or visited Boston and definitely spent some time in the Public Gardens.

The lakes in New Hampshire are so beautiful so New Hampshire was a great choice to locate the camp. I once spent a retreat weekend at a camp location in New Hampshire so it was easy to imagine Pine Lake Camp in my head.

This is definitely a great summer romance to read if you’d like to escape to New Hampshire on a staycation in a book. I highly recommend it!

*Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

Related Book Lists:

• Best Books About Summer Romance
• Best Summer Reads 2024
• Best Beach Reads
• Top 10 June 2024 Romance Book Releases

Check out my Interview with Kate:

Tune into the She Reads Romance Books Podcast for my interview with Kate Spencer where we talk about One Last Summer and summer romance books!

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