The Last Message by Catherine Hope

Posted April 18, 2023 by elzaread in Blog Tour, Book Review / 2 Comments

The Last Message by Catherine Hope

The Last Message by Catherine HopeThe Last Message by Catherine Hope
Published by Headline Review on April 11th, 2023
Genres: Romance
Format: ARC
Source: Caffeinated PR
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A message meant for another. A love meant only for her.

If you love Holly Miller's The Sight of You, Rebecca Serle's In Five Years and Nicholas Sparks, you won't want to miss the breathtaking love story of the year that will grip your heart in every way.
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This year I am sending my last message to you. I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive myself, and I will never forget you, but I have to find a way to let you go.

When Lizzie is woken in the night by a text message clearly not meant for her, she is intrigued and haunted by the words she sees. After losing her beloved twin brother, she knows something of grief and the struggle to rebuild a life.

Nick, a widower for three years, is haunted by the disappearance and presumed death of his wife.

When these two lonely hearts are drawn together, an unexpectedly deep and powerful emotional connection is formed. Perhaps finally this is the chance for both of them to live again - if they can overcome scars of the past which have a longer reach than either could have imagined.

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I’m not a big romance reader, but there are a few key elements that will draw me in. Lost letters and the mysterious death of a loved one, are bound to catch my attention.

Luckily for me, both of these elements formed a strong basis for The Last Message. Lizzie, a travel photo blogger and freelance journalist, is using her travels to deal with the death of her twin brother, Rob. She clumsily loses her phone on the ferry to Savage Cove, a small and quaint seaside settlement she plans on calling home for the next six weeks. Unable to buy a new phone immediately, she buys a secondhand phone to keep her on the network while she waits for her new phone to arrive.

When Lizzie receives a text message on her brand-new secondhand phone late at night, she is haunted and intrigued by the message. Obviously a last message. Who sent it? And who was the recipient suppose to be?

On the other side of the coin, we have Nick. A brooding widower who just happens to be a multimillionaire with a very cute dog.

Are these two grieving and searching for happiness souls bound to cross paths? And is there more to the death or presumed death, of Nick’s wife than the obvious facts?

The Last Message is an intriguing love story filled with mystery and a profound sense of hope and redemption.

Read and Excerpt

I looked at the face of the phone and rubbed my eyes to clear my vision. There was a message. Who on earth would be texting at this time in the morning? Nobody I knew had this number.

I opened the text. I needed to read it a couple of times, as it didn’t make any sense to my sleepy brain.

“W-what . . . who . . .?”

Marissa, this year I am sending my last message to you. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive myself, and I will never forget you, but I have to find a way to let you go.

“Huh?” I blinked and ran my fingers through my hair. Marissa? I checked the time again. Only a few minutes past the last time I checked. I squinted to read the text again. There was no number showing who sent it.

Unknown caller.

Even if my first instinct was to reply, I wouldn’t be able to. There was no way I could let the sender know the message had gone astray. I gently put the phone down on the bed and sat there, thinking about it.

The message was raw. Emotional. Soulful. I kneaded my chest with my knuckles, surprised how affected I was by the despair the words conveyed. They were meant for someone else, and I couldn’t help feeling I’d intruded on someone else’s pain and heartache.

It took a moment for my heartbeat to settle down. After a quick trip to the bathroom, I shut the windows, turned off the light, and crawled back into bed. I yawned and snuggled into the pillows, desperately needing more sleep.

But I lay there, sleep now firmly out of reach. I couldn’t get the text message out of my head. I groaned and fished for the phone tangled in the sheets. I read the illuminated message again.

Either someone had made a mistake, or this number used to belong to somebody else.

Despite my curiosity, it was none of my business, but there was something so heart-wrenching about the message.

I put the phone down and fell back into the pillows. I finally nodded off again, but it was a rough sleep. I floated between waking and drifting off, constantly thinking or dreaming about the text. I couldn’t shake off the words or stop them running like a reel of ticker tape through my brain.

Finally, I gave up trying to sleep and got out of bed. I padded into the kitchen and made a cup of tea. Sticking my arms into the cable-knit sweater I’d made, with tea in hand, I grabbed a throw blanket from the sofa and went outside.

I slung the blanket around my shoulders and sat on a lounger, tucking my legs under me, hands cupping the hot mug.

The moon was full and its reflection glittered off the waves. Stars were out, but they paled in the moon’s light. I stayed, thinking and planning, until the sun rose, bathing the shore and water in gold. It was too beautiful for words. Exhaustion finally overtook me and I snuggled back into bed, knowing exactly what I was going to do about the text.

About the Author

Catherine Hope’s love of reading began at a young age. Her parents always had a book close by, although they read vastly different genres, which rubbed off on her as she devoured everything from romance to espionage. She fondly remembers her mom with a book propped against her cosy covered teapot at lunchtime. Catherine started telling stories as a child, and it naturally grew into a passion for writing. Her goal is to breathe life into her characters and worlds and transport her readers into the pages of heartache and triumph. Catherine is excited for her debut release coming in early 2023 – THE LAST MESSAGE, with Headline Eternal, UK Division of Hachette. When Catherine’s not writing or thinking up fresh stories, she spends time with her family, friends, and menagerie of pets. But she’s always ready to jet off to explore the world, where many of her experiences find their way into her books. Catherine lives in a small town in Ontario, Canada.

Website | Instagram | Twitter

Giveaway

Enter to win a $25.00 Amazon eGift Card. Giveaway ends April 26, 2023. May the odds be forever in your favor.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you to Kimberly at Caffeinated PR for providing us with a copy of the book and for inviting us along on the book tour. Much appreciated!

Lots of Love,

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