One Last Gift

A Novel

By: Emily Stone

Narrated by: Heather Long

Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

When a young woman finds herself lost and at a crossroads, one last gift from her brother just might give her another chance at life and at love in this epic holiday romance from the author of Always, in December

“Heartbreaking, romantic and full of warmth . . . waterproof mascara recommended!”—Sarah Morgan, author of The Christmas Sisters

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: PopSugar

Sometimes the best gifts in life are the ones you don’t expect.

Cassie and Tom lost their parents at a young age and relied on each other—as well as a community of friends—to cope. They were especially close with Tom’s best friend, Sam, who always made sure that Tom and Cassie were surrounded with love. But, twenty years later, Cassie has lost Tom as well. And in a way, she’s also lost Sam; over the years they’d drifted apart, and now the man she always had a crush on is someone she doesn’t even recognize anymore.

She’s never felt more alone.

Then Cassie finds an envelope with her name on it, written in Tom’s terrible handwriting, and she knows immediately what it is. It’s the first clue in the Christmas scavenger hunt that Tom made for her every year; he’d promised her for months that this year’s would be the grandest one yet. At first, she’s too scared to open the envelope—what if she can’t figure out the clues without his help? Or what if she does figure them all out and her last connection to Tom is gone?

Tom’s present sets Cassie on a heart-wrenching and beautiful journey that will change her life—if she lets it. And as she travels from London to the Welsh mountains to the French countryside, she reconnects with old friends, rekindles a lost love, and, most important, rediscovers herself. But once she’s solved the final clue, will she be brave enough to accept the gift her brother has given her—and the love it’s led her to?

©2022 Emily Stone (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Emily Stone’s One Last Gift is a tender book about love, loss, and healing.”—PopSugar

“A gorgeously poignant novel . . . Emotional and wholeheartedly romantic, Cassie and Sam’s story is guaranteed to sweep you off your feet.”—Holly Miller, author of The Sight of You

“With this beautiful and heart-wrenching Christmas story, Stone delivers an epic story of family, loss, and the triumph of love. . . . Stone’s masterful tale does not shy away from the messiness of grief, resulting in a complex and emotional story that tugs on every heartstring. Readers should have tissues at the ready.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Love Conqueres All

When you’re young and you fall in love with your brothers best friend, it can become a disaster before it even starts to happen. Cassie and Tom, sister and brother share a mutual person, Sam. Cassie has fallen in love with him and Sam can’t reciprocate. After all, it’s his best friends sister. So what if they grew up together. She’s off limits. Fast forward, Tom has died in a tragic accident but not before starting, in motion, Tom and Cassie’s Christmas tradition scavenger hunt. Because of Tom’s death, Cassie blames Sam for not being there thinking he could have prevented it so her resentment for Sam continues to grow. This is the story of how three lives are so intertwined that through the knots and loops, love conquers all.

Sad, but lovely story ❤️

**Spoilers**

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Watching Cassie go through losing her brother after losing her parents as a child was so absolutely tragic. Jessica was not right for Sam and I'm glad they didn't end up getting married, but I'm not happy about how that part played out... at the same time though, Sam was deep in the midst of his grief and Jessica either didn't see that or didn't acknowledge that.. maybe things would've turned out differently if she would've postponed the wedding like he'd asked but I guess we'll never know. I'm really happy that Sam and Cassie ended up together and how frickin cute is it that he hung onto that necklace for all those years!!! So. Romantic. ❤️

Thoroughly Enjoyable

Sweet Story about love, grief, and creating a life worth living. Very well told and written.

Emotional and beautiful!

This is definitely heavier than your typical rom-com. Stone beautifully elicits strong emotions through her writing in this story. It’s a happy ending love story, yes- but with such emotional content along the way. It’s just as much about family and friendship as it is about love, and having grown up in a very strong family with a culture of love and support, this one hit home for me. I was able to feel so many of the emotions the characters felt. True heartache, guilt, frustration, anger, joy, excitement, confusion.. you feel them all in these pages. It’s not often that a romantic comedy can bring out all of that.
I definitely recommend. I also recommend having tissues handy!

A good, but sad story

I enjoyed this despite how sad it was (although maybe less so than the author’s previous book.)

I loved the friendship that Cassie and Tom had. I was originally rooting for her and Sam, but it was hard to see how badly he treated her and how he changed as he grew up.

I loved Tom’s treasure hunt and clues for Cassie to follow. I think I would’ve liked more of a reconnection between Cassie and Sam. Overall, I still really enjoyed this one! I listened to the audiobook and the narration was fantastic.

Good story but predictable

Good story but predictable. I did enjoy the narrator and loved the character development. Well written.

Sometimes sad but sweet story

One thing I really loved about this book was mystery with undercurrent of romance. I thorough enjoyed this novel and loved the audio.

Perfect Story!

This was a great story and could easily be made into a movie! I loved all the characters and wished it would never end!

Such a sweet story

Great performance and well told story. Really tugs at your heart strings. I would recommend.

Boring Predictable Story

While this is a heart warming book, it’s a very boring and predictable story — wouldn’t recommend.