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263rd out of 394 books
—
770 voters
Welcome to Last Chance (Last Chance #1)
by
Hope Ramsay (Goodreads Author)
Dear Reader,
Yes, our town is way off the beaten path, but strange, wonderful miracles happen a lot around here.
I've owned the Cut 'n' Curl beauty shop for years, and I've seen folks come for a visit, then stay for a lifetime. Take Jane-that pretty firecracker of a girl who just arrived in town. I would swear she's running from something. She came with only five dollars in...more
Yes, our town is way off the beaten path, but strange, wonderful miracles happen a lot around here.
I've owned the Cut 'n' Curl beauty shop for years, and I've seen folks come for a visit, then stay for a lifetime. Take Jane-that pretty firecracker of a girl who just arrived in town. I would swear she's running from something. She came with only five dollars in...more
Paperback, 332 pages
Published
March 1st 2011
by Grand Central Publishing
(first published February 1st 2011)
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3.5 stars
Jane Coblentz has five dollars, a ticket to Last Chance and a lot of hope. She wants to start over in Last Chance after making some bad decisions in her past. Clay Rhodes had his eyes on Jane the minute she walked into the bar where he was playing. Clay has suffered a few setbacks both professionally and personally and has returned to Last Chance. Despite their one night together, neither Clay nor Jane thinks there’s a future together. Then when Jane starts to settle down in Last Chan...more
By the time I reached chapter 4, I was fairly certain that I'd never read the word 'big' so many times in one book. A man can't be a man, he has to be a big man, with broad shoulders, and a towering height. A man can't just pick up some fallen change, he needs to do so using his large, dependable hands. I started to pay attention to how big, broad, or large everything was, and forgot about the story.
The story of a down-and-out diamond-in-the-rough girl-on-the-run isn't too unique. The bad boy w...more
The story of a down-and-out diamond-in-the-rough girl-on-the-run isn't too unique. The bad boy w...more
I loved this book. I picked it up on Saturday night and finished on Sunday morning. I was having a bad weekend and this book helped me smile. WELCOME TO LAST CHANCE features characters that are flawed, funny, rude, and sweet. Jane and Clay are both very flawed. They’ve been abused, screwed over, and have every right to see the glass half-empty. Clay is very negative and is kind of letting life run over him. Jane has been running for a long time, but she believes that life is going to eventually...more
WELCOME TO LAST CHANCE written by Hope Ramsay
03/11 - Grand Central Publishing - Mass Market Paperback, 368 pages
When you run from the past how far can you get before it catches up to you?
In a town called Last Chance you would think something good might happen. Jane believes it has to get better since it has been so bad so far in her life. But without any money and this being the end of the bus line her glass half empty is more of a reality than she would like it to be. Jane is a dreamer and beli...more
03/11 - Grand Central Publishing - Mass Market Paperback, 368 pages
When you run from the past how far can you get before it catches up to you?
In a town called Last Chance you would think something good might happen. Jane believes it has to get better since it has been so bad so far in her life. But without any money and this being the end of the bus line her glass half empty is more of a reality than she would like it to be. Jane is a dreamer and beli...more
Welcome to Last Chance by Hope Ramsay
Contemporary Romance – Feb. 22nd, 2011
3 stars
Pursued by her unsavory pasts, Wanda Jane Cobletz took a bus to town of Last Chance with nothing more than five dollars in her pocket and the clothes on her back. But, when she got to Last Chance, she is disappointed to see a dying small town instead of a nice size city where she can blend in, hide and get a job. Not a promising place for her to get her life together again. Despite herself, she finds herself drawn...more
Contemporary Romance – Feb. 22nd, 2011
3 stars
Pursued by her unsavory pasts, Wanda Jane Cobletz took a bus to town of Last Chance with nothing more than five dollars in her pocket and the clothes on her back. But, when she got to Last Chance, she is disappointed to see a dying small town instead of a nice size city where she can blend in, hide and get a job. Not a promising place for her to get her life together again. Despite herself, she finds herself drawn...more
Author Hope Ramsay was born in New York and grew up on the North Shore of Long Island, but every summer her mother would pack her off to her aunt to go visiting with relatives in the midlands of South Carolina. Hope earned a BA in Political Science from the University of Buffalo, and has had various jobs working as a Congressional aide, a lobbyist, a public relations consultant, and a meeting planner. She’s a two-time finalist in the Golden Heart Awards through the Romance Writers of America. Sh...more
This is a book that will keep you rapidly turning pages. Hope is one of those surprising talents that you don't often run across. This story of two people down on their luck, but yet not ready to give into completely failure, will warm your heart. In the beginning of the story, you find two people who are as different as night and day. While one still holds out hope that things will one day get better soon, the other one is so negative about everything and everyone around him. There is no way th...more
I hate giving up on a book. I try to push through and finish no matter what. But sometimes a book isn't working for me on any level, and given my limited reading time these days, giving up is just for the best. Which is what I decided to do with this book. I just had no interest in continuing to read it.
Series Note:
First book in the "Last Chance" series about a small South Caroline town.
Summary:
Read the summary on the book page. I didn't read enough of the book to give a more accurate summary:
"R...more
Series Note:
First book in the "Last Chance" series about a small South Caroline town.
Summary:
Read the summary on the book page. I didn't read enough of the book to give a more accurate summary:
"R...more
I read Last Chance Bride before Welcome to Last Chance. Honestly? It was a good idea that I did. Only because Last Chance Bride takes place almost twenty years before Welcome does. It allows you to fall in love with the people of Last Chance, and see how loving and comical the townsfolk are. While Bride deals with Stoney- the olders Rhodes brother, Welcome starts off with his middle brother Clayton. Clayton has run from Last Chance, on the first bus out of town (seeing as how that's the only mod...more
I haven't decided which side of the fence I'm on for this book.
Positives: I kinda liked Wanda Jane/Mary. She was the kind of character that I could sympathized with and I found myself really wanting her to succeed. I really enjoyed several of the supporting cast as well: Ray, Haley, Miriam and Clay's mother.
Negatives: I didn't care much for Clay. Not only could I not see him as an attractive man (ponytails are gross), but I just didn't like him personally. He was really wishy washy about his fee...more
Positives: I kinda liked Wanda Jane/Mary. She was the kind of character that I could sympathized with and I found myself really wanting her to succeed. I really enjoyed several of the supporting cast as well: Ray, Haley, Miriam and Clay's mother.
Negatives: I didn't care much for Clay. Not only could I not see him as an attractive man (ponytails are gross), but I just didn't like him personally. He was really wishy washy about his fee...more
‘Welcome to Last Chance’ is one of those books that have readers craving the closeness that comes from living in a one traffic light town. Ms. Ramsay gives us a story that contains quirky characters, a tale full of heart, two people who are most definitely not looking for each other, and adventures that somehow come off as comedic and yet dangerous at the same time. On top of that, there is the interesting back story of the angels, the mystery surrounding the Sorrowful Angel, and wanting to give...more
WELCOME TO LAST CHANCE, SOUTH CAROLINA
Dear Reader,
Yes, our town is way off the beaten path, but strange, wonderful miracles happen a lot around here.
I've owned the Cut 'n' Curl beauty shop for years, and I've seen folks come for a visit, then stay for a lifetime. Take Jane-that pretty firecracker of a girl who just arrived in town.
I am always looking for the first book of a great new series, like the Debbier Macomber Cedar Cove books. This one was a little too "romancey" for me, but the seri...more
Dear Reader,
Yes, our town is way off the beaten path, but strange, wonderful miracles happen a lot around here.
I've owned the Cut 'n' Curl beauty shop for years, and I've seen folks come for a visit, then stay for a lifetime. Take Jane-that pretty firecracker of a girl who just arrived in town.
I am always looking for the first book of a great new series, like the Debbier Macomber Cedar Cove books. This one was a little too "romancey" for me, but the seri...more
In Hope Ramsay's latest series, a young girl on the run from her tortured past, manages to purchase a one way ticket to Last Chance, South Carolina. The girl, Jane, arrives on the bus with five dollars in her wallet and hopes of a positive life. She enters 'Dot's Spot' and encounters Clay playing his fiddle. He isn't Sir Galahad, but, he might help her get a meal and somewheres to sleep over night.
Clay, a songwriter home for his own reasons, sees a hot woman enter the bar, and gives in to his ba...more
Clay, a songwriter home for his own reasons, sees a hot woman enter the bar, and gives in to his ba...more
I liked and didn't like this book. It was very entertaining and the main characters were very flawed conflicted people, and you get to see them work their way through some issues. The town people as portrayed presented a typical little town with the busybodies and gossipy environment. What I didn't like was that all the time Clay was looking for a woman to marry and dismissed Jane all the time. I didn't get a sense that he appreciated her or respected her. He was kind, but he's kind with everyon...more
This was a cute one, one where you have to love the town, it's crazy people and it's charm. I loved how both Clay and Jane were lost, in different ways, but lost none the less. You could tell right away that they needed each other, but it would take a while. Their interactions had me smiling, at times all they could do is snipe at each other, at others they found a safe place for a bit.
I loved all the old ladies at the town, how they would but in, especially the matchmaker. She was funny when sh...more
I loved all the old ladies at the town, how they would but in, especially the matchmaker. She was funny when sh...more
Probably a 3 and a half stars.
Enjoyable read--Mary, who's really Wanda Jane, ends up in Last Chance when she's on the run from an abusive ex boyfriend. She meets Clay, a songwriter with a tendency to rescue, and they hit the sheets. Despite the scorching encounter, she knows he's not the answer to her troubles, and meets a whole host of town folks--some welcoming, and others not so much.
The story moved along well and it was a lovely visit to a small Southern town--charming and warm. Will definit...more
Enjoyable read--Mary, who's really Wanda Jane, ends up in Last Chance when she's on the run from an abusive ex boyfriend. She meets Clay, a songwriter with a tendency to rescue, and they hit the sheets. Despite the scorching encounter, she knows he's not the answer to her troubles, and meets a whole host of town folks--some welcoming, and others not so much.
The story moved along well and it was a lovely visit to a small Southern town--charming and warm. Will definit...more
Set in a very small, gossipy, Southern town, Welcome to Last Chance was very light reading with likable characters. Clay was an interesting figure, collecting "needy" people like some do shoes, and his falling for on-the-run Jane/Mary was predictable, but you still you found yourself rooting that all would work out. However, the author's consistant use of "hoo boy" was a little irritating.I hope to learn more about some of town people's ability to see angels, including little Haley's "Sorrowful...more
When I read about this book in RT I couldn't wait to try it. I have to say it just wasn't for me. One of the biggest problems I had with the book was she described every man the same way. They were all big. Plus the book moved so slow. I just couldn't get into it. Just when I thought I'd like a character I'd keep reading and think to myself "who cares" I'm not sure if the problems are due to the fact that she is a new author and is working out some bugs in her writing or if this is just her. In...more
Anyone living in the southern tier of states can recognize and sympathize with the characters in Welcome to Last Chance by Hope Ramsey. Her first chapter drew me in and held my attention throughout the entire story. I laughed, cheered, and hissed at the villians. Wonderful story. I can not wait to pick up the rest of the series. She wasn't recommended to me, just a lucky pick at the bookstore in preparation for the hurricane. Which, oddly enough is just how the book begins. Three Cheers for Last...more
What a GREAT beginning to what looks to be a fun, small-town series, with characters that capture your hearts and have you wishing Last Chance, South Carolina actually existed. A few chapters into Welcome to Last Chance and I was sucked in, I simply loved it, reminded me so much of Susan Elizabeth Phillips earlier books when her characters practically jumped off the pages.
From the first page I LOVED Clay Rhodes...well Clayton P., but only his Momma or Jane can call him that. He is so much more t...more
From the first page I LOVED Clay Rhodes...well Clayton P., but only his Momma or Jane can call him that. He is so much more t...more
Welcome to Last Chance was so much better than I initially would've thought. Of course it was light and cute and semi-funny - as suspected, but besides the apparent fluffiness it clearly featured appealing and flawed characters who definitely kept me entertained till the very end. I’d rate it somewhere between 3 and 3,5. The main lead female character, Wanda Jane Coblentz, made all the difference; she was engaging, self-deprecating and likeable. At twenty-five, she might have made a lot of bad c...more
I've been reading small town romances and romances where the town itself becomes a character in the story, so Hope Ramsay's WELCOME TO LAST CHANCE jumped out at me from the pages of Romantic Times. The reviews I read were concerned that there were a few too many Southern stereotypes in the book and that it ran the risk of coming across as superficial. After finishing the book, I can see the reviewers' point. LAST CHANCE is fun and light and there are definitely some characters who, at least init...more
Jane and Clay make this book worth reading. The author develops both characters in a convincing way, making them both flawed yet ultimately honorable. The first meeting between Clay and Jane is especially well done. It's not often an author makes me feel the connection between people who have just met, but Ramsay manages to make it believable and sexy, while still creating a feeling of poignancy.
From there the book becomes uneven, perhaps trying to be too many things: a humorous small town roma...more
From there the book becomes uneven, perhaps trying to be too many things: a humorous small town roma...more
This is a brand new author. No, really! It says so right on the cover of the book. There's definitely potential here.
This is one of those books that a review is best told by the characters themselves.
Jane: The main lady, is broke and on the run from a disasterous past. Let's just say this poor girl has made quite a few made decisions, all of them revolving around "weasel" guys. Her words on the weasel characteristic. She arrives in Last Chance on the 9:30 bus from Atlanta. Pay attention here,...more
This is one of those books that a review is best told by the characters themselves.
Jane: The main lady, is broke and on the run from a disasterous past. Let's just say this poor girl has made quite a few made decisions, all of them revolving around "weasel" guys. Her words on the weasel characteristic. She arrives in Last Chance on the 9:30 bus from Atlanta. Pay attention here,...more
Mary Smith, aka Wanda Jane Koblentz, has no luck but bad luck and she's on the run from some pretty unsavory characters so she buys a bus ticket to Last Chance. Clayton P. Rhodes is knight in shining armor type of guy that always tries to rescue damsels in distress only to end up having them hurt him. Miriam, the local matchmaker, tells Clay that his new wife is going to arrive on the 9:30 train and suddenly Clay is surrounded by eligible women that have arrived on the 9:30 train including miss...more
This tale is the introduction to a little town called Last Chance. It seems at first glance that everyone who ends up in Last Chance is a looser. But, it's not really so. Take for instance our Hero and Heroine of this story. Both are lost souls. Jane lands in last chance with nothing but a few dollars in her purse. Her hero, Clay sure need help also. They find themselves and each other during a zany week that includes car chases and a multitude of bad guys. A cute light hearted romp!
Omg this was so horrible! Jumbled up ridiculous book ive seen in a while! Jane/wanda/mary whatever her name is gets off a bus in Second Chance SC why??? Sounded positive however she has $5 left to live on. Enters some bar to score food, random type guys that made no sense to me! Sleeps with one, feels dirty blah blah who cares! This just sounded like a creepy town of wack jobs and if id had gotten past page 80 im sure it would have gotten worse. -5 minus!!!
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I was in the mood for a small town romance and I'm glad I picked up Welcome to Last Chance from my TBR. Really enjoyed the quirky cast of characters here and at times the book had me thinking of Steel Magnolias with the hair salon, the interspersed episodes of humor and seriousness, and the intertwined lives of all the people in Last Chance. The book takes a lot of unpredictable turns which keeps things hopping until the very end.
Romance.
Butterflies when you are near that certain someone.
Questions raised that you don't understand.
Feeling good.
All things I felt while reading this book. The writer had a way of putting you smack dab in the book. Through descriptive writing, and great characters, you really get lost in the drama.
I don't know that this was a "wow" book for me, but it was a solid story. One romance lovers will gobble right up!
Butterflies when you are near that certain someone.
Questions raised that you don't understand.
Feeling good.
All things I felt while reading this book. The writer had a way of putting you smack dab in the book. Through descriptive writing, and great characters, you really get lost in the drama.
I don't know that this was a "wow" book for me, but it was a solid story. One romance lovers will gobble right up!
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Hope Ramsay was born in New York and grew up on the North Shore of Long Island, but every summer Momma would pack her off under the care of Aunt Annie to go visiting with relatives in the midlands of South Carolina. Her extended family includes its share of colorful aunts and uncles, as well as cousins by the dozens, who provide the fodder for the characters you’ll find in Last Chance, South Carol...more
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Dec 09, 2011 04:53pm
Dec 09, 2011 04:58pm