The Last Page
By: Katie Holt
Expected Publication: May 12, 2026 by Alcove Press
320 pages
Genre: Adult, Contemporary
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss (Thank you!!)
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Goodreads description--A bookseller with a dream of running her beloved bookstore vs. the owner’s out-of-touch grandson who inherits everything. Game on.From the author of Not in My Book comes another irresistible, bookish contemporary romance.
Ella has grown up at The Last Page, a charming local bookstore in New York City where she now works. Her first kiss was in the women’s health section. A boyfriend dumped her in comedy. The owner is like a second father to her and has begun training her to take over the store. So when he unexpectedly dies and his estranged grandson is left everything in the will, Ella is devastated.
Henry doesn’t know the first thing about running a bookstore. With his aging mom back in Tennessee, he plans to stay in New York just long enough to ensure things are running smoothly and then head back home. What he never could have counted on was the beautiful, funny bookseller who loves The Last Page more than any place in the world—and who sees him as the villain who’s come to ruin her life.
But when it becomes evident that the store is in deep financial trouble and Henry and Ella are both at risk of losing everything, they have no choice but to put their differences aside and team up—despite the inconvenient chemistry blossoming between them.
Fans of Christina Lauren and Ali Hazelwood will adore this rivals-to-friends-to-lovers bookish romance!
I loved Katie Holt's last book. Not in My Book was so much more than I expected, and I have been looking forward to her next book ever since. No lie, The Last Page was probably one of my most anticipated books of 2026. Unfortunately as you can tell from the title of my review, I ended up DNFing this book at 45%. Since my review policy allows me to review books that I've read 25% or more, here's a brief breakdown of why The Last Page didn't work for me.
Ella is one of those characters that think New York City is the best city in the world. Obviously, there's nothing wrong with loving where you come from, loving where you live or any of that. But it can be alienating to readers who don't come from the same location. I have never visited New York City so I can't say that I would love or hate it, but I know that I don't love big cities in general. Too many people in one place makes me anxious. And so I really have no desire to visit New York City. If the opportunity presented itself to me, I probably wouldn't turn it down because I'm open to having my mind changed on something like that. But it would probably not even be in my list of top ten cities or places to visit should I have my choice of locations. And it isn't even Ella's love of New York City that bothered me. It was her disdain for any place that isn't New York City. It was her put down of other places that bugged me.
Henry originally lived in New York but he grew up in Memphis. Sure the size of these cities doesn't really compare, but it isn't like he grew up in the corn fields of Kansas...or let's say the cotton fields of Alabama where I very much live. And so Ella's disdain for Henry's upbringing and all things that makes Henry a non-New Yorker was annoying to me.
Typical of New York and bigger cities in general, the left woke idealogoy permeated this book. Mentions of Bill Clinton in a positive light, George Washington as a fascist, Henry is a fascist, one side character is they/them, discussing people who wear tails and dress in speedos as normal, a new boss coming in and making changes in hopes of helping the store survive were mindblowing to all of the side characters and could only be a way of asserting himself in the most "toxic masculinity" way, anti-JK Rowling, anti-capitalism, anti-anything rural America, anti-anything non-New York, anti-anyone who disagrees with the main character's thoughts, but the ultimate dealbreaker for me was the pro-drag queen story time. None of this is surprising for anyone who comes from New York. This is the exact image in my head of a typical New Yorker and thus only serves to confirm that New York is not in fact for me.
As much as I was looking forward to The Last Page I was so let down. Ella wasn't a likeable character to me at all. And I assume she grows as a character and learns some lessons throughout this book, but I just had no desire to continue to force myself to read a book where the character (and potentially the author?) holds such disdain for things I value and places that aren't New York City. I wouldn't go as far as Henry when he says that "everyone" is automatically patient and kind, quick to smile and slow to judge" here in the South. That is a broad generalization that just blanketly isn't true. But you definitely will get a "bless your heart" before you get a much harsher cursing out. Having recently been on the tail end of a definitely f-you "bless your heart" I can say that it stings no less even if it is coated in sticky sour sweetness. Regardless, I'd rather be from po-dunk broke down, backwoods Alabama than stuck up, upside down New York freaking City. End rant. DNF'd The Last Page at 45% immediately after the positive inclusion of drag queen story time.
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