I wanted to love this more, but it seem like a throwback to the Naiad Press novels I read during that publishing company's later days. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the plot, even if it seemed dated.

The Last Time I Saw Her is a second-chance romance set in the late 80's. Lane, who has been pining for her lost love, Alison, for the last 15 years and they re-connect at a music festival. Unfortunately, I just couldn't connect with either character and, despite the story being told in Lane's POV, I never quite got a handle on her - at times she seemed much less mature than her years, This was a miss for me.

Not my favorite of this author's books. The voice of the narrator seemed rather repetitive to me. I enjoyed the details about the behind the scenes of the women's festival, that brought back some fun memories for me'; in fact that was really only reason I finished it. The idea of reuniting with a lost love/first love is very sweet, and the setting of the festival was very appealing, but for the most part, the story telling fell a little flat.

I received an advanced copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I thought this would have more references to the 1980s considering it was supposed to happen during that time, but alas, that was not the case. This is not what my main problem was with the book. The main characters in the book, while they were fine alone, together there was no spark between them. There was plenty telling there was, I didn't read much into the fact there was.
If you are into women's music festivals, this may be the book for you, but romance novels, this is not it.

This book was not for me. It moved too slowly, I did not find the characters interesting and the festival was not fun. Too much technical info on running the festival and not enough fun experiences.

This story is a unique one due to the author understanding and being part of the LGBT community. The characters are dynamic and realistic within the community.
First loves are always the hardest to get over. But what happens when you get a second chance to prove yourself as an adult. Will the main characters face their past and move forward or let it prevent a friendship?

Thankyou to NetGalley, Flame Tree Press and Kathleen Knowles for the opportunity to read and review a copy of The Last Time I Saw Her.
From the description of the storyline, I thought that this book would be an interesting read. Unfortunately, it was anything but. I struggled to finish this book. I found the pace very slow and did not hold my interest.
Sorry, but this book did nothing for me.

I have to admit that this was a weird book for me. I'm still trying to pinpoint what I didn't really like about it, but it was a lot of the basics. The two main characters interactions with each other bored me, especially in the beginning. Lane seemed to be immediately still interested in Alison, but Alison couldn't have been more standoff-ish. Not in a good "playing hard to get way" but a legitimate "I don't really care to have anything to do with you" way. There just wasn't the chemistry.
Also, Lane saw the name "Alison" on the roster of workers and immediately starts thinking that it's her Alison, despite different last names and where they lived. Was there such a small amount of Alison's in 1987 that it was an uncommon name? It was such a leap to start the backstory of these two.
Overall I think there are just better books out there.

The use of flashback to explain how Lane and Alison met when they were teens was easily identifiable and helpful in creating the today version of the characters. I think maybe this book was a little long given the story content, and the version I read had probably two dozen missing periods at the end of sentences. Since the story was set in the 1980s, I would have enjoyed an epilogue describing their lives today.

This story was easy to read and interesting enough for me to finish in one sitting. Something about summer camp meets music festival was just not my favorite romance aesthetic. If you are into those things, this is the book for you!

I loved he synopsis of this book and was really looking forward to reading it. But....I just never connected with either character. They both just fell flat for me. I also didn’t like that it was set in the ‘80s. I will definitely read another book from this author because I think there is potential.

Oh goodness, where to start with this? Sometimes books just aren’t your cup of tea, and this is one of those times.

This of the story of one woman, Lane, reconnecting with her first love, Allison, at a lesbian music festival in the 80s. It’s told entirely in Lane’s first-person POV, but despite that, I never really clicked with either woman. I also felt the connection and chemistry between the two was lacking, and for the life of me I don’t understand why Lane was so desparately in love with Allison, despite the flashbacks and endless rehashings of what happened in girl scout camp 15 years prior. It honestly made Lane feel more like she was still stuck in teenager-mode in her relationship with Allison, and it wasn’t a pretty thing. I think their relationship was better established at the end of the book, but it felt like too little too late. Honestly, the whole thing was a bit of a slog for me, with a very slow pace. I did like the music festival setting (that, and the fact that it was set in the 80s, was what made me pick up the book), but it felt underutilized.

Overall, I’m really struggling to find anything positive to say about the book, so I’ll leave it there. I’ll give it two stars as I thought it picked up towards the end, and I liked learning about the music festival.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This story is about two women reconnecting at a women’s music festival. I like the premise behind the story, and the whole festival atmosphere. I got quite into it. The main characters had some promise, but their personalities and issues made it difficult to really like them. The writing is tight and flows well, as I’d expect.
I did like this book, but as much as I enjoyed much about it, I can’t say I loved it.

I really rooted for this book to be good, based on synopsis, but unfortunately somehow, for me, it did not deliver... I couldn’t connect to Lane or Allison, and it kind of lacked in chemistry between them. The plot was ok, but I didn’t feel the depth of the characters, and it’s a dealbreaker to me because of that.

I need to start by telling you I hate giving a bad review. Having said that, Ms Knowles give us a story about two women who while in their teen went their separate ways. They never forgot the other. When Lane Hudson goes to work at a music festival in Georgia she is finally able to try making thing right with Alison Bickford. Should and could have been a great story but unfortunately she fall short. We have some flashbacks telling us just what happened but even these are slow and boring. Sorry to say but this wasn’t the story I’d hoped for.
eARC via NetGalley

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40201933-the-last-time-i-saw-her" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="The Last Time I Saw Her" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1527132296m/40201933.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40201933-the-last-time-i-saw-her">The Last Time I Saw Her</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4836937.Kathleen_Knowles">Kathleen Knowles</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2420598311">2 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
A storyline that covers the music festivals of the 1980's with main leads Lane and Alison who meet as teenagers in the 60's/70's and re-connect in the 80's. The author does a wonderful job describing the women's music festival settings but I found the plot too long and quite slow. It pains me to only rate this book 2.5 stars.<br />I rec'd an ARC from NetGalley/Bold Strokes Book for review.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/31134832-gail">View all my reviews</a>

I couldn’t get into this one, it was almost a DNF. Not because it’s badly written, but just because I found it a bit of a slog. It’s the first I’ve read by this author, and didn’t make me want to try another. I didn’t like either main character, found the setting boring (I had thought the music festival setting would be a fun backdrop, but not so much) and honestly found the time period (80’s for the present, late 60s early 70s for the flashbacks) a bit off putting. Not sure why, it just didn’t gel for some reason. The flashbacks also added nothing to the story that couldn’t have been covered by the character’s thoughts or through discussion and were therefore unnecessary. Might also have helped if it wasn’t told in first person, but I doubt having Alison’s perspective would have made me like her more. 2 stars.

This was my first experience with a Kathleen Knowles book. I always enjoy reading books written in the first person because I can really get to know what the main character is thinking. The use of flashback to explain how Lane and Alison met when they were teens was easily identifiable and helpful in creating the today version of the characters. I think maybe this book was a little long given the story content, and the version I read had probably two dozen missing periods at the end of sentences. Since the story was set in the 1980s, I would have enjoyed an epilogue describing their lives today.

I found this book quite boring. The story of two women who meet in adolescence, in the sixties and seventies, and who meet again in the eighties, I would have been much more interesting, from my point of view, without all the gibberish related to the music festival for women in which the reunion takes place. In addition, the past is explained in small flash backs in the middle of the story that often does not clarify much the alleged problem that had the two protagonists in adolescence. In addition to the little interest that the festival and its preparations have had for me, the two protagonists have not seemed engaging enough to me, neither together nor separately. In short, a boring and uninteresting book, only recommended by some anecdotes that can be credible of the life of the lesbian community in the eighties.

<i>An ARC was sent to me from Bold Strokes Books through NetGalley for an honest review </i>

Sadly I can’t think of a single good thing to say about this book. The writing was tedious with way too many boring details about how a festival works. The main characters were annoying. Nicknaming someone Miss Tits and using that name endlessly for half the book was offensive. By the time I’d read up to the dated goddess ritual I was losing the will to live. But then for yet another dire moment there was probably the worst line I have ever read in a lesbian romance. “She was sweet but I tasted a faint undertaste of garlic”. In what way is that romantic?! Total mood killer.