The Last Best Kiss by Claire LaZebnik

The Last Best Kiss
by Claire LaZebnik
320 pages

Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: April 22nd 2014
Rate: Enjoyed it

Anna Eliot is tired of worrying about what other people think. After all, that was how she lost the only guy she ever really liked, Finn Westbrook.

Now, three years after she broke his heart, the one who got away is back in her life.

All Anna wants is a chance to relive their last kiss again (and again and again). But Finn obviously hasn’t forgotten how she treated him, and he’s made it clear he has no interest in having anything to do with her.

Anna keeps trying to persuade herself that she doesn’t care about Finn either, but even though they’ve both changed since they first met, deep down she knows he’s the guy for her. Now if only she can get him to believe that, too....

With her signature wit and expertly authentic teen voice, Claire LaZebnik (the author of fan favorites Epic Fail and The Trouble with Flirting) once again breathes new life into a perennially popular love story. Fans of Polly Shulman, Maureen Johnson, and, of course, Jane Austen will love this irresistibly funny and romantic tale of first loves and second chances.

All Ms. LaZebnik's books are the perfect definition of sweet stories. And this new one is nothing different. 

Ms. LaZebnik wrote a sweet, romantic story that shows us the mistakes we can make in life. But she also tells us that not everything is doomed by you past actions and that love can beat anything. I simply adore this stories.

When Anna was a freshman at high school she started to feel something for Finn, they boy who carpooled with her sister and her. He was a different, nice boy that seemed to get Anna like anyone did. He kissed her, she liked it, but she kept their relationship a secret, because Finn was not in the popular crowd. An humiliation made Finn stop his relationship with Anna and after that he left the city.

Now, three years after, Finn's back. Hotter than before and more noticeable. Even for her friends. And Anna can only think in the boy that always told her random facts which she loved and the only boy that gave her the best kiss of her life. 

But how can Finn forgive the only girl that humiliate him and that broke his heart? And how is Anna going to convince him that she's not the same naive girl who tried to fit in high school when she feels she's losing Finn?

The first chapters where a little bit weird for me. I didn't know what to think and I was wondering if the story would be like that all the time. This chapters explain what Anna did three years ago that drove Finn away and that made him not talk to her ever again. I think that the weird factor was brought, because Anna talks about a lot of things: Finn, her family situation, high school... and it kind of confused me. I didn't know how this would continue.

Despite this, after those confusing first chapters, the story starts to take a promising path and you start wondering what's going to happen with these two. It becomes an addiction to know what's going to happen and if their love story is doomed thanks to Anna's actions when she was a freshman at high school.

Although I didn't like Anna's acts when she was younger, I couldn't help but feel an ache for her when she realizes that still has feelings for Finn and Finn doesn't want anything with her. She regrets what she did and she acknowledges that if she would have known better, maybe she would have done things differently. She seeks forgiveness and tries to forget Finn, because he deserves to be happy. But she can't. So yes, at first you don't like the girl and you wonder how she could act like that with a sweet boy that cared for her. I even felt Finn's embarrassment! But then you see a more mature Anna that regret her past mistakes, and you connect with her.

It's also true that Anna has a messed up family that would drive me crazy and made me act like a lunatic, but Finn didn't deserve it. So Finn won my sympathy.

Finn, as I said, is sweet, noble, handsome, nerdy and a good boy. I liked him and felt more connected with him in the first chapters than with Anna. And she's the main character! You see his change through Anna's point of view. How he always was cute, but when we returned, he was hot and that made the girls look at him. 

The plot, as I also said, started weirdly those first chapters, but completely swooned me when Finn came back to Anna's city. The author wrote about the life of normal teenagers and you can feel that reality throughout the pages. 

I loved how Ms. LaZebnik wrote about the mistakes of a girl did and how a more mature version of herself tries to redeem herself while trying to win the love of her life back. It's was a nice, swoony and perfect love story worth reading it. 

THE TROUBLE WITH FLIRTING is now available! It's a lighthearted romance loosely based on Jane Austen's MANSFIELD PARK (with a twist). If you liked my first YA novel EPIC FAIL, you'll like this one. And come visit my Facebook author page. We have book giveaways, news about book signings, and fun discussions about pretty much anything.