leasummer's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 rounded up. Good story about sisters and finding your way home. I like how the romance was handled, taking realistic consideration of her hesitance to start a new relationship. I enjoyed this quite a bit.
jesijae's review against another edition
3.75
Basic love story and family reconciliation. Nothing to deep, easy read.
hillzxrenee's review against another edition
5.0
A book so good I stayed up all night reading it. I laughed, I cried, I smiled.
sabrinaelf's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
kbranfield's review against another edition
4.0
Last One Home by Debbie Macomber is a very heartwarming novel of healing and reconciliation for Cassie Carter and her estranged sisters. Cassie's return home is fraught with tension as she tries to recover financially and emotionally from an abusive marriage. At the same time, she is also trying to repair her fractured relationship with her sisters, but years of separation and little communication make their attempts to reconnect awkward and uncomfortable.
Cassie and her twelve year old daughter Aimee have had a difficult life but they are finally on their way to achieving their goal of having a permanent home. Cassie has a stable job, she volunteers at a local women's shelter, and her application for a house through Habitat for Humanity has just been accepted. She must put in sweat equity hours in exchange for the house and her first meeting with job foreman Steve Brody is contentious. Cassie is delighted when her older sister, Karen, offers her the chance to claim items from their parents' estate, but their interactions are uneasy and stressful for the sisters.
Cassie and Steve soon work through their initial animosity and quickly become friends. Steve is a widower who has been slow to recover from the loss of his wife and both he and Cassie are surprised by their unexpected attraction to one another. However, Cassie's residual fears and concerns from her marriage make it difficult for her to commit to a serious relationship.
Cassie and her sisters also begin to make progress on mending the rift between them. Neither Karen nor Nichole are aware of what Cassie suffered during her marriage, so Cassie's previous attempts to reconnect were rebuffed. The women slowly begin rebuilding their relationship and their bond is unexpectedly strengthened when Karen and Nichole encounter unexpected problems in their personal lives.
In Last One Home, Debbie Macomber touches on some very difficult topics in a realistic and forthright manner and the resulting story is very touching and uplifting. While not all of the storylines are fully resolved, the novel's conclusion is believable and emotionally satisfying. It is a lovely read that touches on life's more serious moments and will leave readers hoping to revisit these flawed but lovable characters in the future.
Cassie and her twelve year old daughter Aimee have had a difficult life but they are finally on their way to achieving their goal of having a permanent home. Cassie has a stable job, she volunteers at a local women's shelter, and her application for a house through Habitat for Humanity has just been accepted. She must put in sweat equity hours in exchange for the house and her first meeting with job foreman Steve Brody is contentious. Cassie is delighted when her older sister, Karen, offers her the chance to claim items from their parents' estate, but their interactions are uneasy and stressful for the sisters.
Cassie and Steve soon work through their initial animosity and quickly become friends. Steve is a widower who has been slow to recover from the loss of his wife and both he and Cassie are surprised by their unexpected attraction to one another. However, Cassie's residual fears and concerns from her marriage make it difficult for her to commit to a serious relationship.
Cassie and her sisters also begin to make progress on mending the rift between them. Neither Karen nor Nichole are aware of what Cassie suffered during her marriage, so Cassie's previous attempts to reconnect were rebuffed. The women slowly begin rebuilding their relationship and their bond is unexpectedly strengthened when Karen and Nichole encounter unexpected problems in their personal lives.
In Last One Home, Debbie Macomber touches on some very difficult topics in a realistic and forthright manner and the resulting story is very touching and uplifting. While not all of the storylines are fully resolved, the novel's conclusion is believable and emotionally satisfying. It is a lovely read that touches on life's more serious moments and will leave readers hoping to revisit these flawed but lovable characters in the future.
mostlyaudio47's review against another edition
3.0
I chose not to scroll through all 54K reviews to see if I’m the only one who felt the way I did about this book. I’ve read quite a few of Macomber’s other books, and I was looking forward to reading about how a survivor of domestic abuse could find her way back to her family, how she negotiated single-motherhood, and the possibility of new romance. In the end, I gave 2 stars for the story & another star for one of my favorite narrators, Rebecca Lowman.
Maybe my background as a social worker made me read too much into how horribly Cassie was treated by the people around her. So much of surviving domestic abuse rests in taking back your power, your right to make your own choices, your right to set boundaries that make you feel safe. Every time Cassie tried to stand up for herself, she was overtaken by people who didn’t bother to listen to her: Steve, who just wouldn’t take no for an answer and couldn’t give Cassie the space she asked for to figure things out for herself; her “friends” at the salon, insisting on giving her a makeover she clearly didn’t want in order to “win” the man who was pressuring her into a relationship she clearly wasn’t ready for; and her sisters, who just assumed she was being selfish and running away from her family. Asking Cassie why she didn’t leave her abuser was ignorant and insensitive. And what of her share of their inheritance? One sister blew it on a sports car & left her cheating husband anyway, and the other sister’s husband gambled it away in the stock market to save his own pride. And they called Cassie the selfish one for leaving with her abuser when she was still a naive teenager?? I’ll give Cassie’s daughter a pass on her plotting with Steve, because she’s a child.
Maybe my background as a social worker made me read too much into how horribly Cassie was treated by the people around her. So much of surviving domestic abuse rests in taking back your power, your right to make your own choices, your right to set boundaries that make you feel safe. Every time Cassie tried to stand up for herself, she was overtaken by people who didn’t bother to listen to her: Steve, who just wouldn’t take no for an answer and couldn’t give Cassie the space she asked for to figure things out for herself; her “friends” at the salon, insisting on giving her a makeover she clearly didn’t want in order to “win” the man who was pressuring her into a relationship she clearly wasn’t ready for; and her sisters, who just assumed she was being selfish and running away from her family. Asking Cassie why she didn’t leave her abuser was ignorant and insensitive. And what of her share of their inheritance? One sister blew it on a sports car & left her cheating husband anyway, and the other sister’s husband gambled it away in the stock market to save his own pride. And they called Cassie the selfish one for leaving with her abuser when she was still a naive teenager?? I’ll give Cassie’s daughter a pass on her plotting with Steve, because she’s a child.
verothepanda's review against another edition
1.0
Was a good premise. The beginning was good, but after halfway, it felt way too rushed and it wasn't a pleasant read.
leedigesu's review against another edition
4.0
Feel good book, typical expectations, but exactly what I love about a Debbie Macomber book.
japamela's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed it for what it was, a romance novel. The story was pretty predictable and the writing was simple. A nice book during a stressful time.