First Crush, Last Love by Elizabeth McKenna (Review & Giveaway!)

It's great to have a romance novel to escape with occasionally and this one was a good story. It also brought me back to my high school years in the 80s!

Book Details:

Book Title: First Crush, Last Love by Elizabeth McKenna
Category: Adult Fiction, 314 pages
Genre: Romance - Contemporary
Publisher: Elizabeth McKenna
Release date: Aug 1, 2017
Tour dates: Oct 16 to Nov 3, 2017
Content Rating: PG-13 + M (There are a few short, mild sex scenes - nothing too graphic. There is swearing by certain characters. Mature themes include drinking/alcoholism, verbal abuse with some physical pushing, AIDS (a minor character is gay), stalking, brief descriptions of child abuse by a step-parent, and suicide attempt (overdose).

Book Description:

Remember your first crush? How your heart raced and your cheeks flushed whenever you saw him? Jessie Baxter does, and it’s happening again. Ten years ago, despite her best efforts, Lee Archer wanted to be just friends. Now, he wants more, but Jessie's still recovering from a psycho ex-husband. Can she learn to trust again and make her first crush into her last love?

Elizabeth McKenna’s latest novel will have you remembering the angst of high school, the grief of a failed relationship, and the happiness of true love.

My Review:

Reviewed by Laura Fabiani

First Crush, Last Love was a fun book to escape with. The first part of the book is set in 1984 when both Jessie and Lee are seniors in high school. I graduated in 1986 so this was my teen era. It actually brought me back to those awkward teen years when I also experienced my first love and dated my first boyfriend.

The story follows two teens, Jessie and Lee, who are friends. But Jessie has a serious crush on Lee who only reciprocates with friendship. Once they graduate, the story follows their lives as they move to different cities until they meet again at a 10-year high school reunion in their hometown. They have both experienced life-changing paths and although their meeting again is bittersweet, it also brings them back to their friendship.

I enjoyed the author's writing style. She can skillfully move the story forward with great dialogue and emotions that are felt through the scenes. Although this seems to be primarily Jesse's story, at one point the chapters alternate between both Jessie and Lee's point of view so that we get to know him better. I liked this and enjoyed both their stories.

As for content, there are a lot of scenes with drinking, getting drunk and partying. The sex scenes aren't too graphic and there is language with a few f-bombs and some marital abuse.

If you enjoy books set in the 80s with a solid all-American romance story, then you will enjoy First Crush. Last Love.

To read reviews, please visit Elizabeth McKenna's page on iRead Book Tours.

Buy the Book:

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Meet the Author:

Elizabeth McKenna works as a full-time technical writer/editor for a large software company. Though her love of books reaches back to her childhood, she had never read romance novels until one Christmas when her sister gave her the latest bestseller by Nora Roberts. She was hooked from page one (actually, she admits it was the first love scene).

She had always wanted to write fiction, so she combined her love of history, romance and a happy ending to write Cera's Place and Venice in the Moonlight. Her short story, The Gypsy Casts a Spell, is available for free on her site http://elizabethmckenna.com/. She hopes you will enjoy her first contemporary romance novel, First Crush Last Love, as much as others have enjoyed her historical romances.

Elizabeth lives in Wisconsin with her understanding husband, two beautiful daughters, and a sassy Labrador. When she isn't writing, working, or being a mom, she's sleeping.

Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram

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