The field of sweet romantic comedy novel offerings is growing deep, giving sweet romcom lovers an ever-expanding wealth of delightful options. As I shared in this post, I believe light-hearted, fun novels are tailor-made for summertime, when readers reach for that perfect beach read or desire something happy to help escape regular life while on vacation. I discovered newbie author Annah Conwell shortly after she launched her debut novel, The Love Audit, last fall. I immediately fell for her storytelling style and likable characters. I’ve automatically pre-purchased each of the subsequent novels in her Sweet Peach Series. One Last Play is the final book in the four-part series (plus a novella). Did she close out the series on a high note?
ABOUT THE BOOK:
She could be the one. I’ve spent twelve years caring for my niece Maddie who I adopted after my sister died. Having a daughter has made me picky when it comes to the women I spend time with. Not to mention dealing with the pressure of being a college football coach. But when I spot MJ at a mutual friend’s wedding, something draws me toward her. My friend tells me to forget about her, but how can I when she becomes Maddie’s art teacher and our paths cross again? I ask her out, she turns me down. Rinse and repeat. But I don’t plan on giving up any time soon. My instincts are always right, and they’re telling me Meadow Jane Carter might just be my future wife. One Last Play is an age gap, reverse grumpy/sunshine romcom for fans of sweet romantic comedies. It has all the sizzling chemistry you love, without any explicit scenes. Check out the fourth and final installment of the Sweet Peach Series, a four-book sweet romcom collection about best friends living in Atlanta, Georgia!
MY THOUGHTS:
I’m not going to beat around the bush. I loved One Last Play. I think it usurped The Love Audit as my favorite in the series. I’ve genuinely enjoyed each novel in Sweet Peach. Conwell creates rich, unique, endearing, but flawed characters with relatable issues. Her stories have great tension (especially of the romantic variety) and pacing, the sweet heat level is just right, and the comedy strikes a perfect balance of funny but not over-the-top.
One Last Play focused on the final roommate of the bestie quartet: Meadow Jane, or MJ. I was intrigued by MJ thoughout the previous novels because she seemed the most aloof, the hardest to get to know, but not in a completely off-putting way. I could sense there was depth to her and looked forward to discovering it.
We met her love interest, Sebastian “Coach Bash” Holt in the previous novel, The First Taste. A colleague of Bennett’s, he is the head coach of the fictional Georgia Thrashers football team, MJ’s favorite team. I was excited to get to know Coach Bash more in this story because he was adorable in The First Taste. A hottie former college and pro football star-turned-coach who adopted his infant niece after his sister died in childbirth … yes, please!
Readers soon discover the reasons behind MJ’s tendency to be closed off and hold people—even those she loves—at arm’s length. Expecting she is destined to lose people she cares about and also believing her true self to be too much for anyone to handle, she withholds herself and her feelings from those around her. Meadow Jane only expresses herself completely through her art. As a result, she comes across as a grump and even a little scary at times.
Sebastian, on the other hand, is a ray of sunshine. He views everything around him with positivity and embodies a can-do attitude, believing to go for everything one might wish for is worth the risk. Bash feels drawn to Meadow Jane the first time her lays eyes on her and is upfront about his desire to pursue from the first time they speak. It turns out that MJ is his daughter Maddie’s favorite teacher, which affords him many opportunities to spend time with MJ. Even when she pushes him away and shoots him down, he insists he will be as patient as it takes to win her over. With Maddie (who is equally crazy about her) by his side, MJ doesn’t stand a chance.
I love the way Conwell handled the various losses experienced by different characters and how each grieved in their own way. The slow crumbling of MJ’s defenses and her softening toward both Maddie and Sebastian felt authentic. And her gradual growth and increasing ability to trust rang true. Bash’s tenderness and patience toward Meadow was a thing of beauty, pushing him way up on the hierarchy of best book boyfriends. The slow burn of this novel was exquisite, and each scene between Meadow and Bash ratcheted up the tension something fierce.
A bonus in this book is the groundwork Conwell laid for her next series featuring MJ’s four brothers. The But He’s a Carter Brother Series will kick off with strait-laced Adrian’s story. But He’s My Grumpy Neighbor launches late summer and features former CIA agent Adrian, in all his frowny, growl-laced glory. I am already dying for this series because the introductions to each very different brother promises more swoon-inducing heroes from Conwell. Just the way the four brothers interacted with and became putty in Maddy’s hands in One Last Play is enough to make this new series a must-read for me.
If you’re a sucker for sweet romcoms featuring buzzy tension, found family, relatable leading ladies, and swoony heroes, I highly recommend the Sweet Peach series. Conwell is very active on social media and a lot of fun to follow. She’s been very open about her writing journey and has shared she feels she is really discovering her voice and finding her way as a new author. I couldn’t agree more!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Annah Conwell is a sweet romcom author who loves witty banter, sassy heroines, and swoony heroes. She has a passion for writing books that make you LOL one minute and melt into a puddle of ‘aw’ the next. You can find her living out her days in a small town in Sweet Home Alabama (roll tide roll!) with the love of her life (aka her husband), Ryan, and her two goofball pups, Prince and Ella.
She loves coffee, the color pink, and playing music way too loud in the car. Most of the time she’s snuggled up under her favorite blanket on the couch, reading way too many books to call it anything other than an addiction, or writing her little hopeless romantic heart out. Learn more about Annah and her books on her website.