Opposites attract when a real estate developer's quest for a promotion returns her to the coastal hometown she loathes—where she's reunited with her teenage crush turned town golden boy.
There’s no place like home…and that’s exactly how real estate developer Samantha Leigh plans to keep it. When she ditched Rock Island, Florida for New York City, Sam left everything behind—her alcoholic mother, the high school bullies, her ex-best friend, and her first crush, Austin Marcs. She’s never looked back—until her boss ambushes her with an extended assignment on Rock Island, where promotion will be on the line. Sam has no choice but to book a flight home . . .
. . . to where nothing has changed. Her mom still drinks, the mean girls became mean-girl mommies, and Austin? The town’s golden boy is now its favorite ferryboat captain—still smoking hot, inexplicably devoted to the island, and Sam’s total opposite in every way. He insists Rock Island is perfect as is, without her big corporate ideas, and he’s determined to prove it. Before long, Austin’s personal tours of sandy beaches and swoony sunsets almost make Sam forget her hometown hate. But is falling for the guy—and the town—she left behind worth the risk?
There’s no place like home…and that’s exactly how real estate developer Samantha Leigh plans to keep it. When she ditched Rock Island, Florida for New York City, Sam left everything behind—her alcoholic mother, the high school bullies, her ex-best friend, and her first crush, Austin Marcs. She’s never looked back—until her boss ambushes her with an extended assignment on Rock Island, where promotion will be on the line. Sam has no choice but to book a flight home . . .
. . . to where nothing has changed. Her mom still drinks, the mean girls became mean-girl mommies, and Austin? The town’s golden boy is now its favorite ferryboat captain—still smoking hot, inexplicably devoted to the island, and Sam’s total opposite in every way. He insists Rock Island is perfect as is, without her big corporate ideas, and he’s determined to prove it. Before long, Austin’s personal tours of sandy beaches and swoony sunsets almost make Sam forget her hometown hate. But is falling for the guy—and the town—she left behind worth the risk?
Title: As A Last Resort
Author: Kristin Wollett
Publisher: Forever
Publication Date: September 2, 2025
Review:
Thank you to Hacette Audio, Forever, and NetGalley for supplying me with an audio copy of this book to listen to and review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I'm all about trying new narrators with audio books. You never know what you'll like. And I love dual narration of a book. While many narrators can do male/female voices well enough, I always find it better in a romance when I have two different voices. It was interesting the author of the book chose to be the narrator for the FMC. I enjoyed her voice as Sam. I think she did a great job capturing the character and her development throughout the book. Patrick Zeller is a narrator I'm not sure I've heard before. I enjoyed his deep tone. Though I will say there were times when he spoke it was so soft and deep I had to rewind several times to hear what he was saying. That got to be a bit annoying and I felt like he could have annunciated some areas of the book better.
I enjoyed the story of Sam and Austin's chemistry. The book is billed as an opposites attract but I didn't really feel that. The only thing that might strike as that is him wanting to stay in their town where they grew up and her wanting to get away as fast as she could. So you did get the small home town versus city vibe from that. The two characters have history and it's obvious there was attraction many years ago. It's definitely a slow burn throughout the story with memories visited and time well spent getting to know each other once again.
The side characters, especially Lexi, were great. They really added extra layers to the story.
The plot definitely reminded me of a Hallmark movie, which I always love to watch. It gave me warm and fuzzy feels to see Sam come back to her hometown and realize there's more to small town living than she saw when she left. There's so much emotion the characters dig down into. The pacing is done well and it kept me wanting to listen whenever I could. And there is a good mix of banter along with some great heart felt moments.
Overall, I enjoyed this solid debut title and it's narration but I do believe I would have liked this one better had I read it in print.
If you're looking for a sweet, girl comes home again, best friend's brother romcom, pick this one up and give it a try. I will definitely be watching out for Wollett's stories in the future.
3.5 stars rounded to 4.
Author:
My name is Kristin Wollett.
I've been in the story telling business since I was a kid. I've always loved creating characters and building worlds inside my head, so no surprise, I ended up being an actor.
Perhaps it was inevitable that when the world shut down for a hot minute in 2020, and the lack of in-person acting jobs instantly evaporated, my creative outlet needed reforming. I picked back up my love of writing and here we are. I wrote my first YA fantasy that's still in a box under my bed. That book taught me how to write a book. And, more importantly, taught me I could finish a book.
My second book, As A Last Resort, will be published September 2nd of this year with Forever. And I'm currently working on my next romance that will literally tear your heart out and stitch it back up in a way you didn't see coming. 🖤
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