{"id":30214,"date":"2023-05-03T08:55:34","date_gmt":"2023-05-03T12:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/?p=30214"},"modified":"2023-05-03T08:55:37","modified_gmt":"2023-05-03T12:55:37","slug":"review-the-last-word-by-katy-birchall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2023\/05\/03\/review-the-last-word-by-katy-birchall\/","title":{"rendered":"Review \u2764\ufe0f The Last Word by Katy Birchall"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-30214\" data-postid=\"30214\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-30214 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    \t\t\t<!-- module_row -->\n\t<div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_row themify_builder_row tb_eufv250 tb_first tf_w tf_clearfix\">\n\t    \t\t\t<div class=\"row_inner col_align_top gutter-narrow tb_col_count_2 tf_box tf_rel\">\n\t\t            <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-1 tb_2e1r250 first\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module image -->\n<div  class=\"module module-image tb_nk5b250 rounded drop-shadow customBorderRad_top image-center auto_fullwidth tf_mw\" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div class=\"image-wrap tf_rel tf_mw\">\n\t\t    <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"326\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/the-last-word-katy-birchall.jpg?resize=326%2C500&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"wp-post-image wp-image-30215\" title=\"the-last-word-katy-birchall\" alt=\"the-last-word-katy-birchall\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/the-last-word-katy-birchall.jpg?w=326&amp;ssl=1 326w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/the-last-word-katy-birchall.jpg?resize=196%2C300&amp;ssl=1 196w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/the-last-word-katy-birchall.jpg?resize=400%2C613&amp;ssl=1 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 326px) 100vw, 326px\" \/>\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/image-wrap -->\n    \n    \t<\/div>\n<!-- \/module image --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_nk2k251 customBorderRad_bottom repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Harper Jenkins is at the top of her game. A brilliant, determined journalist with a well-known knack for getting tight-lipped Hollywood stars to open up to her, Harper loves her job as Celebrity Editor at a newspaper\u2019s glossy weekend magazine and has the best contacts in the business.<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">But when her awful boss hires talented reporter Ryan to be the new Features Editor, Harper is furious. Because the two have met before: a decade ago, they were interns at the same publication, where they fell into a whirlwind romance\u2026until Ryan betrayed Harper, and they never spoke again.<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Thrown together in a busy newsroom, their dynamic is a disaster from the start. They can\u2019t agree on anything and bicker constantly\u2014Ryan can\u2019t bear how chaotic and messy Harper is; Harper finds Ryan\u2019s condescending nature infuriating. They clash over who\u2019s writing what article, and fight over who\u2019s going to which event.<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Yet as they\u2019re forced to spend more and more time together, Harper realizes she may have misjudged Ryan and can\u2019t help but feel a spark growing between them. Long buried feelings start to resurface and, when they\u2019re thrown together on a romantic press trip abroad, their chemistry comes to a head.<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">But all is fair in love and magazines, and with the news that layoffs across the department are imminent, Harper is left to wonder: who will get the last word?<\/span><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-2 tb_ae7g251 last\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_x4tp251  repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-16471 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/2_5-hearts-1.jpg?resize=107%2C44&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"107\" height=\"44\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Release Date:<\/strong> May 2, 2023<br \/><strong>Heat Level:<\/strong> Hot<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong> Macmillan<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong> St. Martin&#8217;s Press\u00a0<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $11.99<\/p><hr \/><p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\"><strong>Harper<\/strong> loves her job as a celebrity editor for a magazine. She is thriving in life, and everything is going fine at the magazine until her boss hires <strong>Ryan<\/strong> as the Feature Editor. She and Ryan share a strong past. Years ago, the two were in an intense relationship. Harper really thought she had a future with Ryan, but he ended up betraying her.<\/p><p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\">Harper and Ryan can\u2019t seem to agree on anything. They are at odds, and Harper realizes they have little in common when it comes to their work style. This is her career, and she will not jeopardize that by fighting with Ryan.<\/p><p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\">Honestly, though this is probably one of my favorite tropes, it didn\u2019t give me the feels that I wanted. The romance is a slow burn, and while I normally don\u2019t care for that, I have learned to appreciate them when they are done correctly. In this case, the author uses the beginning of the story to focus solely on Harper to give readers insight into her personality. I might have enjoyed this more if I got to get a little of Ryan as well.<\/p><p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\">I also felt the romance is very light. It takes a long time for them to connect as older adults. Harper kept going back and forth. She blamed Ryan for every single offense imaginable. I had a very hard time connecting with her. She is a bit of a mess, both professionally and personally. Ryan isn\u2019t much better. He doesn\u2019t communicate well, and it&#8217;s frustrating. The two seem to go in circles, almost reliving their past mistakes.<\/p><p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\">Overall, this is a case of a strong premise that was not executed properly. I would still give this author another chance.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>~ Samantha<\/em><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_zpqd251 customBorderRad repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3LNWXsY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a><\/span><span class=\"s2\">\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apple.co\/42jmcZz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">iBooks<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/the-last-word-katy-birchall\/1141976636?ean=9781250882769\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">B&amp;N<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/the-last-word-46\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">Kobo<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Katy_Birchall_The_Last_Word?id=7mCBEAAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">Google Play<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n            \t    <\/div>\n\t    <!-- \/row_inner -->\n\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/module_row -->\n\t<\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Harper Jenkins is at the top of her game. A brilliant, determined journalist with a well-known knack for getting tight-lipped Hollywood stars to open up [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,48,50,59],"tags":[142,216,217,419,421],"class_list":["post-30214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-macmillan","category-reviews","category-samantha","category-st-martins-press","tag-2-5-stars","tag-contemporary","tag-contemporary-romance","tag-rom-com","tag-romantic-comedy"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review \u2764\ufe0f The Last Word by Katy Birchall - Smitten by Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2023\/05\/03\/review-the-last-word-by-katy-birchall\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review \u2764\ufe0f The Last Word by Katy Birchall - Smitten by Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Harper Jenkins is at the top of her game. 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A brilliant, determined journalist with a well-known knack for getting tight-lipped Hollywood stars to open up to her, Harper loves her job as Celebrity Editor at a newspaper\u2019s glossy weekend magazine and has the best contacts in the business.<br \/><br \/>But when her awful boss hires talented reporter Ryan to be the new Features Editor, Harper is furious. Because the two have met before: a decade ago, they were interns at the same publication, where they fell into a whirlwind romance\u2026until Ryan betrayed Harper, and they never spoke again.<br \/><br \/>Thrown together in a busy newsroom, their dynamic is a disaster from the start. They can\u2019t agree on anything and bicker constantly\u2014Ryan can\u2019t bear how chaotic and messy Harper is; Harper finds Ryan\u2019s condescending nature infuriating. They clash over who\u2019s writing what article, and fight over who\u2019s going to which event.<br \/><br \/>Yet as they\u2019re forced to spend more and more time together, Harper realizes she may have misjudged Ryan and can\u2019t help but feel a spark growing between them. Long buried feelings start to resurface and, when they\u2019re thrown together on a romantic press trip abroad, their chemistry comes to a head.<br \/><br \/>But all is fair in love and magazines, and with the news that layoffs across the department are imminent, Harper is left to wonder: who will get the last word?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/2_5-hearts-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"107\" height=\"44\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Release Date:<\/strong> May 2, 2023<br \/><strong>Heat Level:<\/strong> Hot<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong> Macmillan<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong> St. Martin's Press\u00a0<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $11.99<\/p><hr \/><p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\"><strong>Harper<\/strong> loves her job as a celebrity editor for a magazine. She is thriving in life, and everything is going fine at the magazine until her boss hires <strong>Ryan<\/strong> as the Feature Editor. She and Ryan share a strong past. Years ago, the two were in an intense relationship. Harper really thought she had a future with Ryan, but he ended up betraying her.<\/p><p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\">Harper and Ryan can\u2019t seem to agree on anything. They are at odds, and Harper realizes they have little in common when it comes to their work style. This is her career, and she will not jeopardize that by fighting with Ryan.<\/p><p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\">Honestly, though this is probably one of my favorite tropes, it didn\u2019t give me the feels that I wanted. The romance is a slow burn, and while I normally don\u2019t care for that, I have learned to appreciate them when they are done correctly. In this case, the author uses the beginning of the story to focus solely on Harper to give readers insight into her personality. I might have enjoyed this more if I got to get a little of Ryan as well.<\/p><p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\">I also felt the romance is very light. It takes a long time for them to connect as older adults. Harper kept going back and forth. She blamed Ryan for every single offense imaginable. I had a very hard time connecting with her. She is a bit of a mess, both professionally and personally. Ryan isn\u2019t much better. He doesn\u2019t communicate well, and it's frustrating. The two seem to go in circles, almost reliving their past mistakes.<\/p><p style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\">Overall, this is a case of a strong premise that was not executed properly. I would still give this author another chance.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>~ Samantha<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3LNWXsY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apple.co\/42jmcZz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">iBooks<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/the-last-word-katy-birchall\/1141976636?ean=9781250882769\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">B&amp;N<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/the-last-word-46\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kobo<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Katy_Birchall_The_Last_Word?id=7mCBEAAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Play<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30214"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30222,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30214\/revisions\/30222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}