Swoony Historical Romance || Review: The Last Word

You know how you just know if a book is one you’re going to reread forever and ever? Yeah, The Last Word is going to be one of those books for me.

Title: The Last Word
Author: Samantha Hastings
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Genres: YA Historical Romance

Official Synopsis

1861. Miss Lucinda Leavitt is shocked when she learns the author of her favorite serialized novel has died before completing the story. Determined to learn how it ends, Lucinda reluctantly enlists the help of her father’s young business partner, Mr. David Randall, to track down the reclusive author’s former whereabouts.

David is a successful young businessman, but is overwhelmed by his workload. He wants to prove himself to his late father, as well as to himself. He doesn’t have the time, nor the interest, for this endeavor, but Lucinda is not the type to take no for an answer.

Their search for the elusive Mrs. Smith and the rightful ending to her novel leads Lucinda and David around the country, but the truths they discover about themselves—and each other—are anything but fictional.

Plot

The premise for this book is fantastic. I’ve certainly been burned by a book series that was never finished, so I related to Lucinda’s plight immediately. The mystery aspect of the plot has some fun twists and goes at a steady pace. I never felt like the mystery was too slow or too rushed at all.

And the romance!!! Oh my word, the transformation from spurned friendship to trusted companions was beautiful and touching and so dang funny. The banter between Lucinda and David is honestly the BEST. I could not get enough of it. They just have so much respect for each other, something I really appreciate in a romance. It was just So. Much. Fun.

Characters

I immediately warmed to Lucinda. She loves to read, she loves math, and she’s a feminist. What’s not to love? Her greatest desire is to work in her father’s counting house, something she’d been able to do when she was younger. She also wants to find out the ending to her favorite novel, and is willing to do anything to get it. I loved her passion, her smarts, and her spunk. She was so much fun to ride along with.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that we get David’s pov in this novel too! He was such an easy love interest to fall for—he’s dashing, intelligent, and treats Lucinda as an equal. His respect for her, as I mentioned before, is one of his greatest traits.

Setting

I love historical settings, and the research the author did for this novel really showed. It was fun to dive into this time period and immerse myself in the details. The clothing and food detail in particular were fantastic.

Overall

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Sooo… I read this in a day. If that doesn’t tell you I loved the book, then here we go: I LOVED THIS BOOK! I could not stop laughing, swooning, and overall just making a nut of myself while reading this book. I cannot wait to read Samantha Hasting’s next book!

Have you read The Last Word? What did you think? Do you have any historical romance recommendations?