Final Offer by Lauren Asher
I’m the Kane brother who is the subject of rumours in private. Trust-fund b*tch a ruined athlete. Alcoholic with high functioning. She is the only one who truly knows me. My childhood best friend and the one lady I ever loved was Lana Castillo. I vowed to never go back to Lake Wisteria after breaking her heart six years ago. Up until my grandfather’s will, I stayed true to my pledge. I had to spend a summer at the family lake house before selling it in order to get my inheritance. The request seemed straightforward in theory—that is, until the first day when my entire strategy went kaput. It turns out that Lana not only resides there but also claims to be its owner.
Alana, It was a mistake to fall in love with Callahan Kane. He told me as much six summers ago, just before he broke my heart and our friendship. I foolishly trusted him when he said he wouldn’t return. Cal then returned with plans to sell his grandfather’s lake house.
What was his strategy’s major shortcoming? The deed has my name.
Final Offer by Lauren Asher
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The wizard that is Lauren Asher! Her words and love have genuinely worked absolute magic. Cal and Lana’s story, as well as the stories of Declan and Iris and Zahra and Rowan, has SO much thought, care, sensitivity, purpose, and love that it shines vividly through every tiny, minute detail. She is such a lovely and priceless writer! Everything she writes is a complete delight to read.
It was so lovely how he just simply evolved into being everything she wanted. However, even though I generally liked Lana, I did find her to be a little intolerable at times. She frequently loses her temper with Cal and verbally degrades him out of a need to defend herself from being harmed by him once more. She continues to act in the same way even at the 92% mark, which is very disappointing. Her willingness to be with Cal, in my opinion, was the one real step forward in her character. Although we do see her develop professionally, I wish we could have seen her emotionally mature a little more.
Additionally, the town’s supporting cast is terrible. They speak to Cal in “support” of Lana, but the words they say are painful. There is not a shred of empathy to be found. Anyone with an addiction would undoubtedly find it difficult to maintain sobriety when forced to interact with people who only want to make it known to you that they don’t like you. Even Wyatt, who battled addiction, first decided to tease Cal. Addicts can be treated with compassion, just as Cal did for Lana’s sister. I just wish he got to see it from more people.
Callahan and Alana and the struggles they both faced. I adored Alana’s strength as a woman. She was both charming and fierce. She didn’t accept all of Cal’s nonsense.
It’s challenging to approach a severe problem like addiction without praising it. Asher excels at doing it. Cal’s journey is influenced by his desires and concerns from his everyday existence; it is not lessened to advance the plot. Lana emphasizes how difficult it is to love someone who has an addiction yet is equally as powerful in her own right. She’s a fantastic mother to Cami and doesn’t back down. The scenes that were present were fantastic, but there was clearly no emphasis on spice. The plot precisely addresses the reasons why I rank this book as the best in the series.
