Review: Last Chance Book Club by Hope Ramsay

Summary 
After a painful divorce, Savannah White wants nothing more than to find her happy place. So when she gets the chance to pack up her life—and her son—and move to the idyllic town where she spent childhood summers, she jumps as the opportunity. Last Chance is just as charming as she remembered. She’s even invited to join the local book club, where talk soon turns to Savannah’s plan to bring the ramshackle downtown movie theater back to life. A new challenge is just want Savannah needs to move forward . . .

Dash Randall wants to put his fortune to use, but he remembers Savannah as the bratty “princess” who descended upon him each June, causing no end of trouble. But the teenager he remembered has grown into a gorgeous and generous woman, and it isn’t long before Dash finds himself wanting to make brand-new memories with Savannah. But first, Dash and Savannah will need to make peace with their pasts to find a new chance for love. 

Review 
Sometimes, in order to make a new start, you have to go all the way back to the beginning. And though you are starting over at the same place, this time, you might end up going in a whole new direction. This novel,Last Chance Book Club, is about going back to your roots to reorder your life, escaping the world you were lost in and finding out where you belong. I would also say Last Chance Book Club is about reconnecting with the people you love as well as your past. Learning to let go of the things and people you don’t need and embracing your loved ones and discovering what you’re truly capable of. 

I will say that this book kind of reminded me of my own hometown. I live in North Carolina and it’s small in that way where everyone kind of knows everyone. While that can be annoying, (because everyone knows your business) it can be quaint and comforting to know that you’ll always have someone there for you. And I think that is exactly what our heroine, Savannah White thought, just before she moved back to Last Chance. 

Of course Savannah had legitimate reasons for coming back to Last Chance, South Carolina. Her Uncle Harry had died and she wanted to come pay her respects as well as come visit with Aunt Miriam. But she also was planning to move back to Last Chance to get away from the clutches of her wicked mother-in-law as well as possibly force the hand of her ex-husband, Greg, to start being more fatherly to their son, Todd. Yet upon her arrival, she is reunited with none other than her “kissing cousin” Dash Randall. 

For those of you who don’t know, “kissing cousins” are people who are related to someone in the family yet somehow are not related to each other. At least that has been my understanding from this novel as well as having grown up in the South. 

But back to the story, Savannah runs into Dash and she is none too thrilled. He is still the same immature bad boy she had known all those years ago. Teasing her and calling her “princess,” having a lack of respect as well as faith in her. See, Savannah wants to revive The Kismet, the local movie theater but Dash doesn’t think she can do it due to her lack of funding and lack of business experience, yet giving up is the last thing Savannah wants to do. Also, she has joined the Book Club, which means she has somehow also become a knitter. And in the book club, it is where Savannah learns the gossip of the town. Also, Savannah has been dubbed perfect for Bill Ellis, the minster of the church but Savannah isn’t looking for love. She has had enough of that. Now she just wants to revive The Kismet and make a life here in Last Chance as well as a home for her and Todd. 

Meanwhile, Dash tries to get used to the idea of Savannah living in Last Chance. He still sees her as the spoiled snotty princess she was but he soon realizes what a great cook she is, how loving and patient she is as well as “mama lioness” about her son Todd and mostly how everyone gravitates toward her and loves her. 

Thus Dash decides to give her the money as well as his expertise, even if she doesn’t want it. So he loans her the money through the Angel Development, the company the ladies of Last Chance have started. But in the process, Dash lets go of his long time crush, Hettie Marshalls and begins to develop feelings for Savannah. And he has even found himself fathering her son Todd and growing attached to him in a way he never thought possible. And soon Dash finds himself wanting to be a part of their family, or rather, make them his family. 

And what about Savannah? Aside from realizing she can’t knit worth swat, she has the money for the renovations of the theater and even a good business proposal in place; and Todd has someone to be there for him in a way his father or hers ever was. Suddenly, Savannah finds herself falling for Dash and becoming less and less interested in Bill. But her mother-in-law is still trying to destroy her new found happiness by trying to force her to return to Baltimore with Todd. Can Savannah really leave now that she has found her home, now that Todd finally has someone who’ll be there for him? And what about her plans to revive the theater? What about her growing feelings for Dash? Can she really leave it all or will she finally stand her ground and stay? 

I know I threw a lot of elements at you but there are a lot of elements to this story. Last Chance Book Club is as I stated, a book about starting over at the beginning but going in a totally different direction than you had before.  This book is also about making new friends out of familiar faces and reconnecting with your past. Yet most importantly, Last Chance Book Club is about learning to lean on friends and family and cut lose those who are toxic to you and things you don’t need as well as discover who you are and what you can do. 

Reviewed by Camia Rhodes

Book Information
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication date: 3/26/2013
Pages: 384