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The Last Kiss
A tender and triumphant story of forbidden love in the aftermath of war
When Captain Ashleigh Arthur Dalton went to war in 1914, he never expected to fall in love. Yet over three long years at the front, his dashing batman, Private West, became his reason for fighting—and his reason for living.
But Ash’s war ends in catastrophe. Gravely wounded, he’s evacuated home to his family’s country house in Highcliffe. Bereft of West, angry and alone, Ash struggles to re-join the genteel world he no longer understands.
For Harry West, an ostler from London’s East End, it was love at first sight when he met kind and complex Captain Dalton. Harry doubts their friendship can survive in the class-bound world back home, but he knows he’ll never forget his captain.
When the guns finally fall silent, Harry finds himself adrift in London. Unemployed and desperate, he swallows his pride and travels to Highcliffe in search of work and the man he loves. Under the nose of Ash’s overbearing father, the men’s intense wartime friendship deepens into a passionate, forbidden love affair.
But breaching the barriers of class and sexuality is dangerous and enemies lurk in Highcliffe’s rose-scented shadows.
After giving their all for their country, Harry and Ash face a terrible choice—defy family, society and the law to love as their hearts demand, or say goodbye forever...
When Captain Ashleigh Arthur Dalton went to war in 1914, he never expected to fall in love. Yet over three long years at the front, his dashing batman, Private West, became his reason for fighting—and his reason for living.
But Ash’s war ends in catastrophe. Gravely wounded, he’s evacuated home to his family’s country house in Highcliffe. Bereft of West, angry and alone, Ash struggles to re-join the genteel world he no longer understands.
For Harry West, an ostler from London’s East End, it was love at first sight when he met kind and complex Captain Dalton. Harry doubts their friendship can survive in the class-bound world back home, but he knows he’ll never forget his captain.
When the guns finally fall silent, Harry finds himself adrift in London. Unemployed and desperate, he swallows his pride and travels to Highcliffe in search of work and the man he loves. Under the nose of Ash’s overbearing father, the men’s intense wartime friendship deepens into a passionate, forbidden love affair.
But breaching the barriers of class and sexuality is dangerous and enemies lurk in Highcliffe’s rose-scented shadows.
After giving their all for their country, Harry and Ash face a terrible choice—defy family, society and the law to love as their hearts demand, or say goodbye forever...
254 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 26, 2020
148 people are currently reading
1411 people want to read
About the author
Sally Malcolm
38 books293 followersSally Malcolm was bitten by the m/m romance bug in 2016 and hasn’t looked back. It’s fair to say she’s obsessed with the genre. She has four contemporary m/m romances out, set in the fictional Long Island seaside town of New Milton.
She's also the author of eight Stargate novels and novellas, including the hit "Apocalypse" trilogy. She has penned four Stargate audio dramas for Big Finish Productions, including Stargate SG-1: "An Eye for an Eye" starring Michael Shanks, Claudia Black, and Cliff Simon.
Sally lives in South West London.
She's also the author of eight Stargate novels and novellas, including the hit "Apocalypse" trilogy. She has penned four Stargate audio dramas for Big Finish Productions, including Stargate SG-1: "An Eye for an Eye" starring Michael Shanks, Claudia Black, and Cliff Simon.
Sally lives in South West London.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 239 reviews
April 17, 2020
Utterly brilliant, at once tragic and romantic, The Last Kiss is both a love story and a story of war. It is about the bonds we forge in the battlefield, the forbidden love that blossoms and defies all odds, the memories that haunt us, and the trauma, the overwhelming trauma, of watching your friend drown in mud while you stand by helpless making promises you can't keep.
The way Malcolm writes the battlefield scenes and describes Ash's PTSD is astonishing. She spares no punches.
The entire time I was reading The Last Kiss, I was thinking of the poem Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen. The first time I read that poem I was a sophomore in high school, and it has stayed with me for nearly thirty years.
The last line translates to it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. What a lie indeed, perpetuated still some 100 years later.
When Ash returns from war, he is a broken man. A below-knee amputee, Ash is trapped by class conventions and his tyrannical father, who finds it distasteful to talk about Ash's injury and "nervous disposition." The only thing that makes sense is Harry West, a fellow soldier, Ash's closest friend, the man who saved his life.
But Harry is a commoner and eventually a stablehand in Ash's household, and Ash is being pushed to marry Olive Allen, the bright, independent daughter of a wealthy family who longs to study medicine. I loved Olive almost as much as I loved Ash and Harry. I'm always so happy when authors include strong female characters in M/M books.
I have focused on the horrors of war in my review, but I must mention that this book is not just about that. The Last Kiss is a beautiful romance about two men so in love, they would do anything to be together.
As much as Ash is a cynic, he is also quietly hopeful. He believes that he and Harry can make it work. It takes longer to convince Harry, who has a sister and nieces depending on him and doesn't want to bring shame on the family.
This book is sensual, tender, and beautifully written. It is slower-paced but gripping because there is always the anticipation of Ash and Harry being found out. The way Harry understands and takes care of Ash, and the way Ash thinks of Harry first always, made my heart ache. Forget petty arguments and relationship woes; these men are just so grateful to have a chance to live and love.
The secondary characters—the villains (Ash's parents who care more about appearances than their son; Olive's father who'd sell her like cattle; John the stable boy, lonely, angry, and defensive) and the heroes (headstrong Olive who understands wanting to be free; Harry's savvy, practical sister Kitty; the stable master who suspects but doesn't judge)—are fully realized, and the HEA, while not ideal by present-day standards, is as close to perfect as it can be for the year 1920.
If you like historical romance, I implore you, read this book! And if you don't, read it anyway.
The way Malcolm writes the battlefield scenes and describes Ash's PTSD is astonishing. She spares no punches.
The entire time I was reading The Last Kiss, I was thinking of the poem Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen. The first time I read that poem I was a sophomore in high school, and it has stayed with me for nearly thirty years.
In all my dreams before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
The last line translates to it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. What a lie indeed, perpetuated still some 100 years later.
"Why should they imagine glory when the truth is blood and mud and horror?"
"Because it's kinder."
"Kinder? Easier you mean. Wrap it all in King and Country and forget what war really is. It betrays them, it betrays everyone who died."
When Ash returns from war, he is a broken man. A below-knee amputee, Ash is trapped by class conventions and his tyrannical father, who finds it distasteful to talk about Ash's injury and "nervous disposition." The only thing that makes sense is Harry West, a fellow soldier, Ash's closest friend, the man who saved his life.
But Harry is a commoner and eventually a stablehand in Ash's household, and Ash is being pushed to marry Olive Allen, the bright, independent daughter of a wealthy family who longs to study medicine. I loved Olive almost as much as I loved Ash and Harry. I'm always so happy when authors include strong female characters in M/M books.
I have focused on the horrors of war in my review, but I must mention that this book is not just about that. The Last Kiss is a beautiful romance about two men so in love, they would do anything to be together.
As much as Ash is a cynic, he is also quietly hopeful. He believes that he and Harry can make it work. It takes longer to convince Harry, who has a sister and nieces depending on him and doesn't want to bring shame on the family.
This book is sensual, tender, and beautifully written. It is slower-paced but gripping because there is always the anticipation of Ash and Harry being found out. The way Harry understands and takes care of Ash, and the way Ash thinks of Harry first always, made my heart ache. Forget petty arguments and relationship woes; these men are just so grateful to have a chance to live and love.
The secondary characters—the villains (Ash's parents who care more about appearances than their son; Olive's father who'd sell her like cattle; John the stable boy, lonely, angry, and defensive) and the heroes (headstrong Olive who understands wanting to be free; Harry's savvy, practical sister Kitty; the stable master who suspects but doesn't judge)—are fully realized, and the HEA, while not ideal by present-day standards, is as close to perfect as it can be for the year 1920.
If you like historical romance, I implore you, read this book! And if you don't, read it anyway.
No words between them, just breaths, no thoughts to trouble them, just touch and taste and feel. Only delight, only joy. Only love.
November 2, 2025
I feel like it’s a bit of a canon event that once you read In Memoriam, that you find yourself seeking out more queer WWI romances cause you struggle to let go lol….. So here we are…..
In the final months of WWI, Captain Ashleigh Dalton receives a near fatal wound, but is rescued by Private Harry West, his closest friend and reason for surviving through years on the front line. At the front line the close friendship and love that existed between a working man like Harry West and the son of a Baronet like Ashleigh was not only possible but went largely unquestioned with people simply more concerned with more important things like surviving. However, as they find themselves returning to the England and the world they left behind, the claustrophobic and out dated societal conventions, which they cant escape, work to seperate them and deny their friendship, never mind the deeper connection and love they share.
It was interesting to have the focus of the story be so heavily weighted on the ‘after’ experience of the war. Ash makes for an empathetic protagonist as he processes his PTSD from war and grapples with the frustrations of returning home following an experience which has changed him so significantly that he no longer feels there is a place for him as their was prior to fighting on the front.
Olive was a wonderful side character and I really enjoyed the friendship that existed between Ash and Olive. Seeing them bond over a shared feeling of being forced into roles they don’t fit and feeling a sense of being ‘othered’ and desperate for social change felt genuine to their characters. There was a scene where Ash has a moment of introspection when watching Olive working in the hospital, so assured and confident, and in a role and opportunity that can only exist for her due to the war and the sheer loss of life, that he finds himself questioning if the benefits were worth the sacrifice, but recognising the opportunities which the war bought for some women and that they would not have come to exist without the war.
Im not normally a huge fan of ‘forbidden romance’ as a trope because it mostly just makes me really anxious waiting for the other shoe to drop, and you can see it coming from a mile away here, but the ending came together in a really satisfying and enjoyable way.
This was definitely a lighter entry into this genre of WWI romances though (and honestly I think I needed it hahaha).
In the final months of WWI, Captain Ashleigh Dalton receives a near fatal wound, but is rescued by Private Harry West, his closest friend and reason for surviving through years on the front line. At the front line the close friendship and love that existed between a working man like Harry West and the son of a Baronet like Ashleigh was not only possible but went largely unquestioned with people simply more concerned with more important things like surviving. However, as they find themselves returning to the England and the world they left behind, the claustrophobic and out dated societal conventions, which they cant escape, work to seperate them and deny their friendship, never mind the deeper connection and love they share.
It was interesting to have the focus of the story be so heavily weighted on the ‘after’ experience of the war. Ash makes for an empathetic protagonist as he processes his PTSD from war and grapples with the frustrations of returning home following an experience which has changed him so significantly that he no longer feels there is a place for him as their was prior to fighting on the front.
Olive was a wonderful side character and I really enjoyed the friendship that existed between Ash and Olive. Seeing them bond over a shared feeling of being forced into roles they don’t fit and feeling a sense of being ‘othered’ and desperate for social change felt genuine to their characters. There was a scene where Ash has a moment of introspection when watching Olive working in the hospital, so assured and confident, and in a role and opportunity that can only exist for her due to the war and the sheer loss of life, that he finds himself questioning if the benefits were worth the sacrifice, but recognising the opportunities which the war bought for some women and that they would not have come to exist without the war.
Im not normally a huge fan of ‘forbidden romance’ as a trope because it mostly just makes me really anxious waiting for the other shoe to drop, and you can see it coming from a mile away here, but the ending came together in a really satisfying and enjoyable way.
This was definitely a lighter entry into this genre of WWI romances though (and honestly I think I needed it hahaha).
August 18, 2023
Beautiful historical book that made me ugly-cry and swoon at the same time. The writing is wonderful and I have no words to tell you how tender, emotional and full of feelings it is. It’s honestly one of the most beautiful historical MM books there is and I would have given it 5 stars had I not read Ninety one whiskey FanFic by Komodobits before this one. That one is my absolute favorite war MM romance (WWII) but this WWI one by Sally M is a close second. Also I loved Harry and Ash with all my heart but I really have to mention how much I loved Olive too - we rarely see such amazing female secondary characters in MM romances. Excellent book and if you like historical MM please read it , it’s totally fabulous ; romantic and very well done historically ..
October 1, 2021
5 “You and I, who we are, what we are, changes the world” stars
”You make me so bloody happy I can hardly stand it. And I’m sorry I was a coward. I’m sorry I hurt you. I never want to hurt you again because I love you. I love you so much and, if you’ll have me, I want to be with you for as long as this blasted world will let us be together.”
Actual review to come soon as i’m still crying my eyes out over this book. But for now I have a comment to say to this book:
I have loved the books by Sally Malcolm I have read previously so I knew I would enjoy this one but I was already a sobbing mess after the first chapter of this book. And I barely stopped crying during the entire book. This book totally broke me, but it also put me back together and made me feel better. This was everything I wanted in a book and I adored it. I also love a good hard fought romance and god was this one hard faught, it was painful but it was so worth it.
Brief summary
The book starts in 1917 when Harry and Ash fall in love while serving for their country during world war I. They are separated after that but they keep communicating by letters and Harry goes to visit Ash on his family’s estate and Harry starts to work on the estate to provide for his own family. They start to sneak around and spend all the time they can together but it’s complicated for them between their obligations to their family and the need to marry a woman to hide the fact that they are gay.
This book was fucking realistic to how I would imagined life to be in 1919. And while I adored that the book was so realistic in its approach it so painful to read because of it. This book was so gritty and emotional but in a good way. It did shatter my entire heart but it gave me an HEA so thats all I could have asked for and more. There is a lot of drama coming from characters outside of the main couple in this book and thats not something I normally enjoy but given that this book is set in the 1910s, I could understand it and none of it felt gratious. It was realistic to what I imagine life would have been for gay men in the 1910s so it totally worked for me.
”You make me so bloody happy I can hardly stand it. And I’m sorry I was a coward. I’m sorry I hurt you. I never want to hurt you again because I love you. I love you so much and, if you’ll have me, I want to be with you for as long as this blasted world will let us be together.”
Actual review to come soon as i’m still crying my eyes out over this book. But for now I have a comment to say to this book:
I have loved the books by Sally Malcolm I have read previously so I knew I would enjoy this one but I was already a sobbing mess after the first chapter of this book. And I barely stopped crying during the entire book. This book totally broke me, but it also put me back together and made me feel better. This was everything I wanted in a book and I adored it. I also love a good hard fought romance and god was this one hard faught, it was painful but it was so worth it.
Brief summary
The book starts in 1917 when Harry and Ash fall in love while serving for their country during world war I. They are separated after that but they keep communicating by letters and Harry goes to visit Ash on his family’s estate and Harry starts to work on the estate to provide for his own family. They start to sneak around and spend all the time they can together but it’s complicated for them between their obligations to their family and the need to marry a woman to hide the fact that they are gay.
This book was fucking realistic to how I would imagined life to be in 1919. And while I adored that the book was so realistic in its approach it so painful to read because of it. This book was so gritty and emotional but in a good way. It did shatter my entire heart but it gave me an HEA so thats all I could have asked for and more. There is a lot of drama coming from characters outside of the main couple in this book and thats not something I normally enjoy but given that this book is set in the 1910s, I could understand it and none of it felt gratious. It was realistic to what I imagine life would have been for gay men in the 1910s so it totally worked for me.
Read
January 29, 2026I loved this! Swoony, angsty, post war historical romance at its finest 🥰🫠 RTC after book club.
December 24, 2021
4 stars ⭐️ This is such a beautiful yet heart-wrenching story written by such a gifted writer, Sally Malcolm. The couple, Ash and Harry were really lovely. This was the story of them during the war and after the war. I loved Ash and Harry so much. They were amazing as a couple and as friends.
At that time, it was really hard to live as a gay couple. But I loved how they risked everything to be together. It wasn't that simple. But love always wins. They believed it.
“Ash curled his hand around the back of Harry’s neck and brought their lips together in a soft, yearning kiss. “My God I want you, Harry. Every single beautiful part of you. Always.”
“Then you’ve got me.” Harry smiled against his lips, Ash could feel the curve of his mouth and smiled himself when Harry’s hand slid down over his backside and squeezed gently.”
This story was beautifully written, and I will def read more books by this author. Highly recommended!
At that time, it was really hard to live as a gay couple. But I loved how they risked everything to be together. It wasn't that simple. But love always wins. They believed it.
“Ash curled his hand around the back of Harry’s neck and brought their lips together in a soft, yearning kiss. “My God I want you, Harry. Every single beautiful part of you. Always.”
“Then you’ve got me.” Harry smiled against his lips, Ash could feel the curve of his mouth and smiled himself when Harry’s hand slid down over his backside and squeezed gently.”
This story was beautifully written, and I will def read more books by this author. Highly recommended!
April 22, 2024
This was so beautiful and utterly romantic.
One of my favorites this year! 💕
Harry knew that beyond their hidden haven the world still turned, that its hate-fuelled guns still thundered. Perhaps they always would. But here, together, they were building a life in defiance of that cruel old world and with hope for a kinder one to come.
And that is victory, Harry thought with a fierce rush of a joy. This is peace.
One of my favorites this year! 💕
Harry knew that beyond their hidden haven the world still turned, that its hate-fuelled guns still thundered. Perhaps they always would. But here, together, they were building a life in defiance of that cruel old world and with hope for a kinder one to come.
And that is victory, Harry thought with a fierce rush of a joy. This is peace.
March 1, 2020
Oh, my heart, Sally Malcolm, has a way of writing that pulls me into her books.
-Historical Romance
-Brutality of war
-Friends to lovers
-Sensual
-Tender
-Dual POVs
-Class difference
-An amazing friend
-And the epilogue 💗
Their love, fear of being caught, and helplessness of their situation- talk about feels that hurt so good.
5 Stars. Highly recommend it.
-Historical Romance
-Brutality of war
-Friends to lovers
-Sensual
-Tender
-Dual POVs
-Class difference
-An amazing friend
-And the epilogue 💗
Their love, fear of being caught, and helplessness of their situation- talk about feels that hurt so good.
5 Stars. Highly recommend it.
August 2, 2022
Up until ~80%, this was a very enjoyable romance. Tender, heartfelt, sweet and angsty in just the right measure. I loved the writing and the pace; the characters were flawed and real, and the setting itself was great!
It begs the question, WHY had I been struggling so freaking hard to finish this book for the last three days?
↓↓↓
DRAMA. So much unnecessary, predictable, super-cliche, OTT drama packed in that last 20%. It read like a completely different book. 🤯 I get that it’s a historical, and therefore it’s meant to be dramatic, but this was just excessive… When one of the MCs placed his sister’s esteem above all else, and then suddenly did a one-eighty after she ‘accepted’ him, the romance lost all its remaining shine for me. I pretty much had to force myself to finish this.
It begs the question, WHY had I been struggling so freaking hard to finish this book for the last three days?
↓↓↓
DRAMA. So much unnecessary, predictable, super-cliche, OTT drama packed in that last 20%. It read like a completely different book. 🤯 I get that it’s a historical, and therefore it’s meant to be dramatic, but this was just excessive… When one of the MCs placed his sister’s esteem above all else, and then suddenly did a one-eighty after she ‘accepted’ him, the romance lost all its remaining shine for me. I pretty much had to force myself to finish this.
April 5, 2020
What a beautifully moving and powerful book from Sally.
When I was a teenager, historical romances were where I was at, before I switched to my first love of Fantasy/Sci-Fi and Paranormal and they remain right at the top of my list for the genre of book I love to read the most within the MM world.
So it was such a joy to pick up this book and have a reading experience which was not only authentic to the time period, but which brought ALL the feels, both good and bad, set as it was in the closing stages of World War I and then 20s England.
Everything about this book felt utterly believable, the unimaginable horror of the frontline conflict, the fears about being a man who loved differently, even Olive and her desire to go outside her rigid class structure and change the world.
The men who came back from the War were changed, but so too was the society they left behind, none more so than women. Those of the upper classes who had found new meaning in the many convalescent hospitals, and those of the working class, who stepped into the jobs their fathers, brothers and husbands had vacated.
Sally Malcolm perfectly depicts that world, the old men with their Victorian sensibilities who couldn't understand how the world had changed, the brave new world that grew from that massive loss of life.
And firmly anchored at the centre are Captain Ashleigh Dawson and his batman Harry West, and I fell for them both and I rooted for their love with every fibre of my being.
When I was a teenager, historical romances were where I was at, before I switched to my first love of Fantasy/Sci-Fi and Paranormal and they remain right at the top of my list for the genre of book I love to read the most within the MM world.
So it was such a joy to pick up this book and have a reading experience which was not only authentic to the time period, but which brought ALL the feels, both good and bad, set as it was in the closing stages of World War I and then 20s England.
Everything about this book felt utterly believable, the unimaginable horror of the frontline conflict, the fears about being a man who loved differently, even Olive and her desire to go outside her rigid class structure and change the world.
The men who came back from the War were changed, but so too was the society they left behind, none more so than women. Those of the upper classes who had found new meaning in the many convalescent hospitals, and those of the working class, who stepped into the jobs their fathers, brothers and husbands had vacated.
Sally Malcolm perfectly depicts that world, the old men with their Victorian sensibilities who couldn't understand how the world had changed, the brave new world that grew from that massive loss of life.
And firmly anchored at the centre are Captain Ashleigh Dawson and his batman Harry West, and I fell for them both and I rooted for their love with every fibre of my being.
May 26, 2020
This is a new-to-me author and I'm quite impressed. Her sense of time and place is masterful. This felt like 1919. This felt like two men ravaged by war and grappling with how to be together in a post-war era. Where their class differences meant nothing on the front line, it now threatens to keep them apart as society and old traditions put pressures on them.
Ash and Harry were both well-rounded characters and likable, and their bond was palpable even from the opening pages in the trenches along No Man's Land. Ash has to not only deal with his injuries and PTSD but also the societal expectations that come from being a baronet's son. Harry's personal difficulties were not as front and center as Ash's, but being of the working class made things difficult for him after the war, coming back to few opportunities for making a life for himself.
The risks for them to be together were sufficiently explored, though sometimes the repetition felt unnecessary. Still, it gave a tension to the story it could have otherwise lacked. Even though I saw the solution coming a mile away, it didn't dilute that tension at all since the characters themselves couldn't see it for believable reasons.
A tad predictable, but well told and kept me rooting for the MCs. Not many typos either, though there were a couple of instances of the wrong name being used.
Ash and Harry were both well-rounded characters and likable, and their bond was palpable even from the opening pages in the trenches along No Man's Land. Ash has to not only deal with his injuries and PTSD but also the societal expectations that come from being a baronet's son. Harry's personal difficulties were not as front and center as Ash's, but being of the working class made things difficult for him after the war, coming back to few opportunities for making a life for himself.
The risks for them to be together were sufficiently explored, though sometimes the repetition felt unnecessary. Still, it gave a tension to the story it could have otherwise lacked. Even though I saw the solution coming a mile away, it didn't dilute that tension at all since the characters themselves couldn't see it for believable reasons.
A tad predictable, but well told and kept me rooting for the MCs. Not many typos either, though there were a couple of instances of the wrong name being used.
August 23, 2021
3.5 stars
I loved the depiction of how Harry and Ash’s relationship was forged during the war and their dynamic in general, they were lovely and caring with each other without being sappy—okay, maybe they were a tiny bit sappy at times, but they more than earned the right to be.
I also appreciated the commentary about , it was well incorporated with the romance and it made room for a great female secondary character.
The solution to the main conflict became pretty obvious to me at a certain point, but the characters’ reasons for not seeing it as clearly as I did were realistic, to the point where it would’ve felt less realistic if they had seen it sooner.
I got a bit tired of the constant reminders that . Their concerns were valid, but after a while it started to feel repetitive and the only thing that saved that aspect from being depressing as hell was that I knew I was reading a romance and there would be a happy ending. Even with that, it dragged my mood down a little.
On the plus side, the writing made me believe in the characters’ feelings, which is always a good sign even when , and by the end I was left feeling good about their lives and future.
I loved the depiction of how Harry and Ash’s relationship was forged during the war and their dynamic in general, they were lovely and caring with each other without being sappy—okay, maybe they were a tiny bit sappy at times, but they more than earned the right to be.
I also appreciated the commentary about , it was well incorporated with the romance and it made room for a great female secondary character.
The solution to the main conflict became pretty obvious to me at a certain point, but the characters’ reasons for not seeing it as clearly as I did were realistic, to the point where it would’ve felt less realistic if they had seen it sooner.
I got a bit tired of the constant reminders that . Their concerns were valid, but after a while it started to feel repetitive and the only thing that saved that aspect from being depressing as hell was that I knew I was reading a romance and there would be a happy ending. Even with that, it dragged my mood down a little.
On the plus side, the writing made me believe in the characters’ feelings, which is always a good sign even when , and by the end I was left feeling good about their lives and future.
September 15, 2024
✰ 3.5 stars ✰
“Will you have time, do you think?”
“All the time in the world. My whole life if I could share it with you.”
Is it wrong of me that I appreciate the romances when their focus is more on the yearning, rather than when the couple finally gets together? 🥲 There's something so deliciously satisfying about seeing the desperation of the intense want for someone, when they know the consequences are dire or fleeting, or even trepidation. Emotions are so much more heightened and irresistible, tension is palpable and the desire and need is something so fierce that it's consuming. 🤌🏻🤌🏻 'But love like theirs could only exist on the fringes of the world. They were outlaws, he and Harry; society made them so.' Where every stolen glance or every lingering touch, where every treasured time spent together in the shadows of watchful and disapproving eyes, where every kiss could be The Last Kiss ever shared. 😢
“In truth, the only time he breathed easily was with Harry, whom he loved with that same red raw ferocity — and whom he’d love with passion given the chance.
But he wouldn’t get that chance. The world forbade it.
“Fuck the world!” he shouted, and then laughed because it was ridiculous.”
And I'm all about the pining; the taste of something so forbidden and out of reach feeds me like nothing else, and this delivered it handsomely. The yearning was so delicious that I was aching for West and Ash to defy reason and expectation and just trust in their hearts that they could be together without judgment or fear. 🥺🥺 The author captured that urge so very well and the relationship between two officers - two friends who fought alongside during World War I and then had the chance opportunity to reunite after - 'how West had been everything to him in this nightmare — his solace, his succour, his burgeoning joy.' A moment shared between the two that tested their friendship and placed their relationship in new light, where Ash suffered an irrevocable loss, making him a cripple and a weakness in his family's eyes, his only worth to be resigned behind a desk and fulfill his marital duties. 😞
When Harry comes to work as a stableman on his family's estate - he is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing as a reminder to the free-spirited soul that he was - a time when he felt alive and happier to ride freely and without restraint, and a curse, for how his strong feelings for his beloved friend can threaten to escape and endanger both of them if it ever came to light how badly his heart ached for him - for them both to hold each other closer than public approval would allow. 'I love you, Ashleigh Dalton, every single beautiful, damaged, precious bloody piece of you.' 🥹🥹 I loved how Harry treasured Ash for all his flaws - showering him with adoration - a gentle reassurance that never allowed him to feel him unworthy of love. The way their friendship deepened was very lovely - very sweet and sincere and expressive - 'as if they had been made only for that purpose and for each other.' 💌 With tender emotion and kindness, the romantic in me saw them tentatively test the boundaries of their affection, before it was impossible to deny - despite the fear of his father's disownment, as well as the risk of Harry's earnings. It was bittersweet, but still so very affectionate. ❤️🩹❤️🩹
“I mean, I think you’re right. We who were there, we know, don’t we?”
“Yes,” Dalton said thinly. “Christ, they were happy enough for us to die together b-but God forbid we dine together.”
“You’re right. We are friends. I didn’t mean to say we weren’t, it’s just… I dunno. It’s different, back home. People don’t understand. It’s like we don’t fit no more.”
Dalton nodded and beneath Harry’s hand he turned his own over, threading their fingers together.
“We d-don’t fit. That’s it exactly.” He hesitated, then in a lower voice said, “B-but we fit together, you and I.”
Oddly though, when they did actually get together - the story kinda lost its steam. Not that the steam factor did not have its moments, but the feeling of love once fulfilled did not stir the same weight of passion in me as when Ash and Harry were unable to convey their deepest desires and most intimate secrets. I was happy for them, don't get me wrong, but the writing did not sway me. It fell a little short for me and rather than fearing for when the shoe would inevitably drop on them, I was rather underwhelmed at that moment. 😕 'I’d marry you, in that world, Ash. If you’d have me. But that world would never exist, not for them.' I think it also had to do with the fact that the moments that they were together were overshadowed by Ash's PTSD; the ever-present nightmares that still overcame him and Harry's protective nature come out so very strongly. In hindsight, it is essential to the plot for Harry to be there to comfort him, but it did not really move me as much it should have. 😔
Most of the horrors of the war are touched upon in flashback, save for the tragedy that tore them apart, and also what claimed a part of Ash's soul. But, it's not really about the time of war, but the time after - when all time spent on the battlefield is lost and forsaken, for the sake of family standings and social stature. When outside forces have malicious intent if they even breathe the same air together, for how easily people are eager to throw a flame at them. 'Because Harry knew there was no forever... There was only today, there was only tonight.' 😥 Ash's own passionate outrage over his family's judgment of Harry, simply based of his servitude was tangible. In times of war, truly what does it matter who is in the trench with you - and why should it matter when they are out of it. It is that unforgiving and unyielding truth that prevents once comrades, brothers-in-arms from even being in the same rank, let alone in the same social standards, simply because of what their status is. It is another one of those hindrances - aside from two men being in love, that is both forbidden and foreboding; if they are caught, it is inevitable that the consequences will be dire. 😟
“But it’s a dream, Ash. It was always a dream.”
“Not to me. To me it was always a hope.”
And it does end on a hopeful note; even if it is a disbelieving nature, it is a pure one that promises a future, where 'slowly, perhaps, but surely, we’ll reshape the world. Love will win.'. Despite Harry's own inherent fears of rejection and shame and doubts about their relationship ever working out - be it their difference in ranks or appeasing his own family's opinion of him, Ash refuses to lose faith. And while I do believe Harry's reasonings were valid - that he had a lot more to lose than Ash - they also felt a bit overly sentimental in portrayal; or maybe that's my own writing critique pouting. 😅 Perhaps, to have the conclusion be so convenient and helpful to their distress and unfortunate plight was too much of a fantasy and a bit too easy for my angsty heart, but just to see West and Ash be happy and content in the life that they envisioned for each other gives me hope that maybe in our present day, such things could be possible, too. 🌈🫶🏻
“Will you have time, do you think?”
“All the time in the world. My whole life if I could share it with you.”
Is it wrong of me that I appreciate the romances when their focus is more on the yearning, rather than when the couple finally gets together? 🥲 There's something so deliciously satisfying about seeing the desperation of the intense want for someone, when they know the consequences are dire or fleeting, or even trepidation. Emotions are so much more heightened and irresistible, tension is palpable and the desire and need is something so fierce that it's consuming. 🤌🏻🤌🏻 'But love like theirs could only exist on the fringes of the world. They were outlaws, he and Harry; society made them so.' Where every stolen glance or every lingering touch, where every treasured time spent together in the shadows of watchful and disapproving eyes, where every kiss could be The Last Kiss ever shared. 😢
“In truth, the only time he breathed easily was with Harry, whom he loved with that same red raw ferocity — and whom he’d love with passion given the chance.
But he wouldn’t get that chance. The world forbade it.
“Fuck the world!” he shouted, and then laughed because it was ridiculous.”
And I'm all about the pining; the taste of something so forbidden and out of reach feeds me like nothing else, and this delivered it handsomely. The yearning was so delicious that I was aching for West and Ash to defy reason and expectation and just trust in their hearts that they could be together without judgment or fear. 🥺🥺 The author captured that urge so very well and the relationship between two officers - two friends who fought alongside during World War I and then had the chance opportunity to reunite after - 'how West had been everything to him in this nightmare — his solace, his succour, his burgeoning joy.' A moment shared between the two that tested their friendship and placed their relationship in new light, where Ash suffered an irrevocable loss, making him a cripple and a weakness in his family's eyes, his only worth to be resigned behind a desk and fulfill his marital duties. 😞
When Harry comes to work as a stableman on his family's estate - he is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing as a reminder to the free-spirited soul that he was - a time when he felt alive and happier to ride freely and without restraint, and a curse, for how his strong feelings for his beloved friend can threaten to escape and endanger both of them if it ever came to light how badly his heart ached for him - for them both to hold each other closer than public approval would allow. 'I love you, Ashleigh Dalton, every single beautiful, damaged, precious bloody piece of you.' 🥹🥹 I loved how Harry treasured Ash for all his flaws - showering him with adoration - a gentle reassurance that never allowed him to feel him unworthy of love. The way their friendship deepened was very lovely - very sweet and sincere and expressive - 'as if they had been made only for that purpose and for each other.' 💌 With tender emotion and kindness, the romantic in me saw them tentatively test the boundaries of their affection, before it was impossible to deny - despite the fear of his father's disownment, as well as the risk of Harry's earnings. It was bittersweet, but still so very affectionate. ❤️🩹❤️🩹
“I mean, I think you’re right. We who were there, we know, don’t we?”
“Yes,” Dalton said thinly. “Christ, they were happy enough for us to die together b-but God forbid we dine together.”
“You’re right. We are friends. I didn’t mean to say we weren’t, it’s just… I dunno. It’s different, back home. People don’t understand. It’s like we don’t fit no more.”
Dalton nodded and beneath Harry’s hand he turned his own over, threading their fingers together.
“We d-don’t fit. That’s it exactly.” He hesitated, then in a lower voice said, “B-but we fit together, you and I.”
Oddly though, when they did actually get together - the story kinda lost its steam. Not that the steam factor did not have its moments, but the feeling of love once fulfilled did not stir the same weight of passion in me as when Ash and Harry were unable to convey their deepest desires and most intimate secrets. I was happy for them, don't get me wrong, but the writing did not sway me. It fell a little short for me and rather than fearing for when the shoe would inevitably drop on them, I was rather underwhelmed at that moment. 😕 'I’d marry you, in that world, Ash. If you’d have me. But that world would never exist, not for them.' I think it also had to do with the fact that the moments that they were together were overshadowed by Ash's PTSD; the ever-present nightmares that still overcame him and Harry's protective nature come out so very strongly. In hindsight, it is essential to the plot for Harry to be there to comfort him, but it did not really move me as much it should have. 😔
Most of the horrors of the war are touched upon in flashback, save for the tragedy that tore them apart, and also what claimed a part of Ash's soul. But, it's not really about the time of war, but the time after - when all time spent on the battlefield is lost and forsaken, for the sake of family standings and social stature. When outside forces have malicious intent if they even breathe the same air together, for how easily people are eager to throw a flame at them. 'Because Harry knew there was no forever... There was only today, there was only tonight.' 😥 Ash's own passionate outrage over his family's judgment of Harry, simply based of his servitude was tangible. In times of war, truly what does it matter who is in the trench with you - and why should it matter when they are out of it. It is that unforgiving and unyielding truth that prevents once comrades, brothers-in-arms from even being in the same rank, let alone in the same social standards, simply because of what their status is. It is another one of those hindrances - aside from two men being in love, that is both forbidden and foreboding; if they are caught, it is inevitable that the consequences will be dire. 😟
“But it’s a dream, Ash. It was always a dream.”
“Not to me. To me it was always a hope.”
And it does end on a hopeful note; even if it is a disbelieving nature, it is a pure one that promises a future, where 'slowly, perhaps, but surely, we’ll reshape the world. Love will win.'. Despite Harry's own inherent fears of rejection and shame and doubts about their relationship ever working out - be it their difference in ranks or appeasing his own family's opinion of him, Ash refuses to lose faith. And while I do believe Harry's reasonings were valid - that he had a lot more to lose than Ash - they also felt a bit overly sentimental in portrayal; or maybe that's my own writing critique pouting. 😅 Perhaps, to have the conclusion be so convenient and helpful to their distress and unfortunate plight was too much of a fantasy and a bit too easy for my angsty heart, but just to see West and Ash be happy and content in the life that they envisioned for each other gives me hope that maybe in our present day, such things could be possible, too. 🌈🫶🏻
October 5, 2023
Re-Read: July 2023
Original Read: Aug 2021
This book was amazing! Not only is it a fantastic piece of historical fiction but it's also an amazing romance and it's on my list of favorite books of all time.
I've come across multiple pieces of media before that emphasize how much WW2 ended up changing our society but this book made me realize that WW1 had an even bigger impact. WW1 was the first time in hundreds of years that a huge number of young men from Western Europe were killed or disabled (physically and mentally) within a very short span of time. This resulted in the Victorian way of life (that had existed for 200 years by that point) not being able to continue and it forced massive societal changes that directly brought about our modern society. This book does a beautiful job of demonstrating why and how this change came about while also delivering a beautiful love story between two compelling characters. This book made me think a lot and it made me learn about our own history and I love it when that happens.
Regarding the characters, I loved both Ash and Harry. I adore plot situations where people from different social classes are thrown together in a situation where they treat each other as equals before they go back to their normal lives where they're once again separated by a social divide. I loved watching Ash and Harry's friendship develop as fellow soldiers trying to survive in the filth and horror of WW1 trenches. They share stories about their personal lives and bond over their shared love for reading, their experiences as soldiers and their attempts to protect the younger soldiers who are constantly showing up on the front. The war is depicted in a gritty, harsh and horrifying way that brings home the terrible reality that these young men faced, which I appreciated because it added depth to the story.
Ash (who comes from an upper class family) quickly realizes that social classes are meaningless and create unnecessary and horrible divisions in society and this forever changes his perspective on his life, his family's lifestyle and the people who are around him. If he hadn't gone through a war like WW1 (a war where upper class officers were forced to suffer in the same conditions as the lower class enlisted soldiers, which wasn't the case in prior wars), he wouldn't have ever lived through the experiences that taught him these lessons. When this is combined with Ash being left with physical and emotional scars from the war (he loses his leg and suffers from severe PTSD), he returns to England a completely different man. Watching his interactions with his family and how he tries and fails to adjust to his past life is painful but also fascinating.
It was also really neat to see Ash and Harry's relationship on the frontlines (where they were fellow soldiers) and contrasting that to when Harry comes to work for Ash's family and they struggle to find the right balance between being best friends/fellow soldiers versus master and servant. I also loved the way the author portrayed Ash's ongoing PTSD and his struggles with his prosthetic leg and the limitations his disabilities leave him with. Harry is a constant and amazing source of support for Ash and I loved watching their relationship slowly turn from friends to something more.
Another thing I really appreciated in this book is how the author dealt with the idea of Ash having to marry a woman in order to receive his inheritance and how he and Harry navigated that hurtle. The woman Ash is supposed to marry is wonderful and I adored her (as did Ash). The solution the author comes up with for all three of them is fantastic and fits very well with the time period while also respecting each of the characters involved.
Overall, this book was absolutely fantastic and it should definitely be on all historical M/M romance lovers lists!
Original Read: Aug 2021
This book was amazing! Not only is it a fantastic piece of historical fiction but it's also an amazing romance and it's on my list of favorite books of all time.
I've come across multiple pieces of media before that emphasize how much WW2 ended up changing our society but this book made me realize that WW1 had an even bigger impact. WW1 was the first time in hundreds of years that a huge number of young men from Western Europe were killed or disabled (physically and mentally) within a very short span of time. This resulted in the Victorian way of life (that had existed for 200 years by that point) not being able to continue and it forced massive societal changes that directly brought about our modern society. This book does a beautiful job of demonstrating why and how this change came about while also delivering a beautiful love story between two compelling characters. This book made me think a lot and it made me learn about our own history and I love it when that happens.
Regarding the characters, I loved both Ash and Harry. I adore plot situations where people from different social classes are thrown together in a situation where they treat each other as equals before they go back to their normal lives where they're once again separated by a social divide. I loved watching Ash and Harry's friendship develop as fellow soldiers trying to survive in the filth and horror of WW1 trenches. They share stories about their personal lives and bond over their shared love for reading, their experiences as soldiers and their attempts to protect the younger soldiers who are constantly showing up on the front. The war is depicted in a gritty, harsh and horrifying way that brings home the terrible reality that these young men faced, which I appreciated because it added depth to the story.
Ash (who comes from an upper class family) quickly realizes that social classes are meaningless and create unnecessary and horrible divisions in society and this forever changes his perspective on his life, his family's lifestyle and the people who are around him. If he hadn't gone through a war like WW1 (a war where upper class officers were forced to suffer in the same conditions as the lower class enlisted soldiers, which wasn't the case in prior wars), he wouldn't have ever lived through the experiences that taught him these lessons. When this is combined with Ash being left with physical and emotional scars from the war (he loses his leg and suffers from severe PTSD), he returns to England a completely different man. Watching his interactions with his family and how he tries and fails to adjust to his past life is painful but also fascinating.
It was also really neat to see Ash and Harry's relationship on the frontlines (where they were fellow soldiers) and contrasting that to when Harry comes to work for Ash's family and they struggle to find the right balance between being best friends/fellow soldiers versus master and servant. I also loved the way the author portrayed Ash's ongoing PTSD and his struggles with his prosthetic leg and the limitations his disabilities leave him with. Harry is a constant and amazing source of support for Ash and I loved watching their relationship slowly turn from friends to something more.
Another thing I really appreciated in this book is how the author dealt with the idea of Ash having to marry a woman in order to receive his inheritance and how he and Harry navigated that hurtle. The woman Ash is supposed to marry is wonderful and I adored her (as did Ash). The solution the author comes up with for all three of them is fantastic and fits very well with the time period while also respecting each of the characters involved.
Overall, this book was absolutely fantastic and it should definitely be on all historical M/M romance lovers lists!
February 5, 2024
This was so beautiful. The darkness and pain of the First World War. Ashleigh coming back broken, in both body and mind. Harry, his best friend, his love, his servant, knowing how impossible this is. Olive, feminist, “woke”, passionate, strong. The world changing. But not fast enough. Not in the elite circles Ash and Olive grew up in.
Is it possible? Can love win? Can they unburden themselves of the societal expectations, and risk it all?
This changes the world. You and I, who we are, what we are, changes the world. Olive, too. And a thousand others like us, Harry. Slowly, perhaps, but surely, we’ll reshape the world. Love will win.
Is it possible? Can love win? Can they unburden themselves of the societal expectations, and risk it all?
This changes the world. You and I, who we are, what we are, changes the world. Olive, too. And a thousand others like us, Harry. Slowly, perhaps, but surely, we’ll reshape the world. Love will win.
April 12, 2020
The Last Kiss by Sally Malcolm is an intense and interesting novel set in England right after the end of the First World War.
Focusing on the deep bond between Ashleigh Dalton (an army Captain who has lost a leg in the war and suffers from what was known at the time as shell shock) and his former aide-de-camp Harry West, the novel investigates not only the effects of the war on its survivors, but it also concentrates on society's reaction - or lack thereof - to the massive changes triggered by the conflict.
Ashleigh is a forward thinker, a dreamer perhaps, who stubbornly wants to see in the war not simply an enormous tragedy, but a chance to rethink the world and make it better, more just and fair. His convictions are heartwarming and so is his personal predicament. Tormented by nightmares and incapable of coping with everyday life without plunging into terrifying visions, he finds in his beliefs and in Harry's unwavering emotional support a much-needed life anchor.
Harry is a more dejected figure in the novel. Having grown up in the working class, he perceives very acutely the chasm that still exists between his and Ashleigh's social standings and, although he loves and supports Ashleigh in a steadfast way, he seems incapable of seeing the possibility of an alternative "new" world. His barriers are more rational than emotional, however, and Ashleigh's resourcefulness might prove to be too much to resist, even for him.
The longing for a better and freer world is not experienced only by the queer people in the novel, but also by women. I really liked the character of Olive and her fight to become independent and fulfil her dreams and ambition to become a doctor. She is also a loyal friend to Ashleigh and Harry, taking in stride their relationship and her prickly and direct personality was a nice touch.
The finale is hopeful and positive and really well deserved for all the main characters.
This was a truly enjoyable reading. A solid 3.5 rounded to 4 stars.
Focusing on the deep bond between Ashleigh Dalton (an army Captain who has lost a leg in the war and suffers from what was known at the time as shell shock) and his former aide-de-camp Harry West, the novel investigates not only the effects of the war on its survivors, but it also concentrates on society's reaction - or lack thereof - to the massive changes triggered by the conflict.
Ashleigh is a forward thinker, a dreamer perhaps, who stubbornly wants to see in the war not simply an enormous tragedy, but a chance to rethink the world and make it better, more just and fair. His convictions are heartwarming and so is his personal predicament. Tormented by nightmares and incapable of coping with everyday life without plunging into terrifying visions, he finds in his beliefs and in Harry's unwavering emotional support a much-needed life anchor.
Harry is a more dejected figure in the novel. Having grown up in the working class, he perceives very acutely the chasm that still exists between his and Ashleigh's social standings and, although he loves and supports Ashleigh in a steadfast way, he seems incapable of seeing the possibility of an alternative "new" world. His barriers are more rational than emotional, however, and Ashleigh's resourcefulness might prove to be too much to resist, even for him.
The longing for a better and freer world is not experienced only by the queer people in the novel, but also by women. I really liked the character of Olive and her fight to become independent and fulfil her dreams and ambition to become a doctor. She is also a loyal friend to Ashleigh and Harry, taking in stride their relationship and her prickly and direct personality was a nice touch.
The finale is hopeful and positive and really well deserved for all the main characters.
This was a truly enjoyable reading. A solid 3.5 rounded to 4 stars.
April 11, 2020
This is a beautiful book. A wonderful historical with a seamless meshing of fact and fiction. This is also a gorgeous love story. Romance doesn't do the love between Ashleigh Dalton and Harry West the justice it so richly deserves. They are characters who get under your skin and into your very soul and make you love them. I'll not forget them.
Sally Malcolm has written a book that is not always easy to read, there was a pandemic then, as there is now, and the brutality of war is not glossed over, not really.
Apart from the wonderful MCs, there are secondary characters who make the book better for being in them. Thank goodness for writers who don't make women bitchy caricatures and lousy plot devices.
If you love a good gay romance historical, The Last Kiss is about as good as they come. Do yourself a favour and read this book. It's worth every one of the 5 stars I've given it.
Glorious reading.
Blog review, both written and audio at-
Sally Malcolm has written a book that is not always easy to read, there was a pandemic then, as there is now, and the brutality of war is not glossed over, not really.
Apart from the wonderful MCs, there are secondary characters who make the book better for being in them. Thank goodness for writers who don't make women bitchy caricatures and lousy plot devices.
If you love a good gay romance historical, The Last Kiss is about as good as they come. Do yourself a favour and read this book. It's worth every one of the 5 stars I've given it.
Glorious reading.
Blog review, both written and audio at-
January 31, 2026
This was all kinds of lovely ❤️ RTC
November 10, 2020
3.5 stars
I really liked this. I thought the author did a great job making it feel accurate to the time period while still allowing for an HEA.
It illustrated how and why WWI became a turning point in English society without ignoring how slow-moving these kind of turning points feel in the moment. I especially loved the conversations about taking tiny steps, one person at a time, to trust that it would lead to larger changes long-term. (I intentionally followed this with a contemporary set in England that made the perfect case for how true this really is, and the contrast definitely elevated the experience for me.)
Ash's PTSD, and the way it was brushed aside by his family, did not make for an easy read, but it was balanced nicely by the strong support system he eventually finds.
This was my second read by this author, and they're certainly not ground-breaking in any way, but I've found them both to be solid, above average, enjoyable romances. I'll definitely be reading more, even though I'm going to have to buy the next one since I've now exhausted the KU offerings :)
I really liked this. I thought the author did a great job making it feel accurate to the time period while still allowing for an HEA.
It illustrated how and why WWI became a turning point in English society without ignoring how slow-moving these kind of turning points feel in the moment. I especially loved the conversations about taking tiny steps, one person at a time, to trust that it would lead to larger changes long-term. (I intentionally followed this with a contemporary set in England that made the perfect case for how true this really is, and the contrast definitely elevated the experience for me.)
Ash's PTSD, and the way it was brushed aside by his family, did not make for an easy read, but it was balanced nicely by the strong support system he eventually finds.
This was my second read by this author, and they're certainly not ground-breaking in any way, but I've found them both to be solid, above average, enjoyable romances. I'll definitely be reading more, even though I'm going to have to buy the next one since I've now exhausted the KU offerings :)
April 1, 2020
The Last Kiss is definitely the book I was looking for while stuck at home, self quarantined, in the year of Corona.
Ash and Harry broke my heart, made me cry and finally sighing happily in the end.
It's not easy for them when the death toll was still there after struggling the war. Didn't know what they'll face in teh future, but I was glad they're living for their today, no matter what will happen in this cruel world.
Maybe the time was right, but surely it's the author's writing that hypnotized me, this book was wonderful.
Recommended for readers, who miss historical romance.
Ash and Harry broke my heart, made me cry and finally sighing happily in the end.
It's not easy for them when the death toll was still there after struggling the war. Didn't know what they'll face in teh future, but I was glad they're living for their today, no matter what will happen in this cruel world.
Maybe the time was right, but surely it's the author's writing that hypnotized me, this book was wonderful.
Recommended for readers, who miss historical romance.
July 8, 2022
Sally Malcolm gives us a nuanced heartbreaking account of WWI and all those brave young boys who marched into battle giving their all for King and country, only to find upon returning to "normal life" that people only wanted the glory of war instead of the sacrifice, death, nightmares, destroyed bodies and minds.
The main characters are Captain Ashley (Ash) Arthur Dalton and Private Harry West who serve together in the trenches and find their soul's partner:
Malcolm also does a brilliant job with Olive Allen, who has been an aide at an auxiliary hospital throughout the war and is now expected to return to home and hearth and start having babies. She is trapped just as surely as Ash and West into the defined roles that English society deems appropriate. Where this story really shines is how Olive, Ash and West manage to find a solution that feels true to the era, and shows one of the ways that people at the time must have managed to live authentic lives.
I love this story and highly recommend it. 5 stars.
The main characters are Captain Ashley (Ash) Arthur Dalton and Private Harry West who serve together in the trenches and find their soul's partner:
Different lenses, West had called it, the way they'd seen mankind stripped bare, down to its bloody bones. Private or general, illiterate or scholar, honest British tommy or young Indian jawan - they'd all lived and died the same in the end, equally possessed of brutality and compassion, of love and hate. Of pity. Of blood. Just men clinging to their humanity and finding joy in each other, in scarlet bursts of friendship as bright and unexpected as the poppies that bloomed among the dead.Upon returning from the war, it is expected that Ash will return to his boring job at a London bank, while West struggles to find employment. Ash offers a job to West at his ancestral estate, but they have to walk a fine line between exploring the love they share, and all those who expect that Ash will marry well, and that West will uncomplainingly serve as a lesser.
Malcolm also does a brilliant job with Olive Allen, who has been an aide at an auxiliary hospital throughout the war and is now expected to return to home and hearth and start having babies. She is trapped just as surely as Ash and West into the defined roles that English society deems appropriate. Where this story really shines is how Olive, Ash and West manage to find a solution that feels true to the era, and shows one of the ways that people at the time must have managed to live authentic lives.
I love this story and highly recommend it. 5 stars.
October 19, 2020
No me gustan mucho los libros históricos MM, me obsesiona cuando leo la situación de la comunidad LGBT+ en ese momento histórico, la necesidad de esconderse, pero este libro es precioso, muy muy romántico, adorable.
April 29, 2020
I've given this a B+ at AAR / 4.5 stars
Sally Malcolm’s latest novel is something of a departure for anyone familiar with her excellent New Milton series. The Last Kiss is an historical romance set in England immediately after World War One, and it features two characters for whom the class divide is as insurmountable an obstacle to their love for each other as is their sexuality. Ms. Malcolm is one of my favourite writers; her ability to delve deep into the thoughts and emotions of her characters is something that always impresses me, and here, she combines that with a sharply observed, unvarnished look at the problems faced by the men who were lucky enough to return from a war that forever changed them – to a world in which they no longer fit.
Captain Ashleigh Dalton and his batman Private Harry West met in 1914, and became close friends in spite of their difference in rank and backgrounds. Ash is the son of a baronet and worked in a bank and Harry was an ostler in Bethnal Green, but war is a great leveller; they’ve lived side-by-side and have been through hell together, and as time has worn on, their friendship – and deep mutual affection – is just about the only thing that has made life bearable for both of them. The story begins in the early hours of a morning in October 1917 when Ash and his men are waiting for the final command to go over the top. Ms. Malcom brilliantly evokes the overall feelings of trepidation and despair felt in the trenches and also does a fantastic job of showing readers the strength of the bond that exists between Ash and Harry – not with words, because they can’t possibly say any of the things they feel, but rather through the actions that communicate their obvious care for one another. When Ash is severely wounded, Harry’s world almost comes to a stop, and fearing the man he loves is dead, his first thought is to invite a German bullet to end it all. But seeing the men look to him for guidance and reassurance, he can’t do it. Clinging to hope, Harry somehow finds the courage to carry on, and one month later, receives the news that Ash is alive, and is being sent home to England.
The fact that Ash lost part of one leg and is suffering from “nerve damage” (which we’d call PTSD today) are not the only things that have made it impossible for him to pick up the reins of his old life. He misses Harry desperately, and he’s full of anger and frustration at the way that those around him – most notably his parents and others of their generation – seem to want to brush the war under the carpet and go on as though nothing has changed, and he can’t bear it.
“What was it for, if everything goes on the same?”
To make things worse, his parents make it clear that they expect him to get married and settle down as soon as possible and have perfect girl in mind, Miss Olive Allen, the daughter of friends. Ash likes Olive – she’s a straightforward, no-nonsense young woman who currently works as a VAD nurse and whose outlook is very much aligned with his – but his heart belongs to someone else and Ash has no intention of getting married to anyone.
Back in London after the Armistice, Harry, like all the other soldiers returning to England, finds himself out of step with the world he’s come home to – and also out of work. He’s living with his widowed sister and two young nieces and is very conscious that Kitty’s meagre resources are stretched thin – so when she suggests he apply to his former captain for work, Harry forces himself to swallow his pride and travels to Highcliffe House in Hampshire to see if there might be any work for him in the stables.
Ash is astonished and overjoyed to see Harry again, so much so that he greets him as the friend he is, much to his father’s outrage. There’s a social distance to be maintained between master and servant and Ash and Harry can never again be what they were to each other before. Ash isn’t in a position to openly defy his father’s edict that he keep away from Harry, but he’s determined to spend time with him, and thanks to Olive’s idea that Ash should take up riding again, they do manage a few afternoons together. During those stolen hours, three years of longing and wondering and a knowledge, now, of the transience of life, propel both men towards admitting the truth of their feelings for one another – but it’s bittersweet, the knowledge that they love and are loved in return overshadowed by the knowledge that this is likely all they’re ever going to be able to have.
Sally Malcolm is a master of the angsty romance, conveying heightened emotion in a way that feels right for the mood of the story and is never overdone. The feelings Ash and Harry have for each other are so strongly portrayed that they leap off the page; tenderness, longing, connection and most of all, their unspoken love, are palpable, all skilfully created within the first few pages of the novel and sustained throughout their forbidden love affair. A real sense of foreboding seeps through the second half of the book as disaster inevitably looms closer; and when it strikes it’s a punch to the gut.
The historical setting is very well realised. The author clearly has considerable knowledge of the period and the story is very firmly grounded in the attitudes and prejudices of the time. Those prejudices extend beyond sexuality and class, however, as illustrated through the character of Olive, a young woman who, Ash realises, was liberated by the war, freed from stifling social conventions in order to do something useful. She wants to train to be a doctor, but her parents won’t hear of it, and now the war is over, she’s expected to forget her taste of freedom and return to her pre-war self, a situation experienced by countless young women at the time.
The Last Kiss is an absorbing read that will transport readers to the horrors of the battlefield and the beauty of the idyllic English countryside. Those who like their historical romance to contain more than a nod towards actual history will enjoy the setting and appreciate the author’s keen eye for detail and social observation. This is a ‘quiet’ book and the overall tone is perhaps a little sombre, but the central love affair is compelling and heartfelt, and the HEA is well-deserved.
Sally Malcolm’s latest novel is something of a departure for anyone familiar with her excellent New Milton series. The Last Kiss is an historical romance set in England immediately after World War One, and it features two characters for whom the class divide is as insurmountable an obstacle to their love for each other as is their sexuality. Ms. Malcolm is one of my favourite writers; her ability to delve deep into the thoughts and emotions of her characters is something that always impresses me, and here, she combines that with a sharply observed, unvarnished look at the problems faced by the men who were lucky enough to return from a war that forever changed them – to a world in which they no longer fit.
Captain Ashleigh Dalton and his batman Private Harry West met in 1914, and became close friends in spite of their difference in rank and backgrounds. Ash is the son of a baronet and worked in a bank and Harry was an ostler in Bethnal Green, but war is a great leveller; they’ve lived side-by-side and have been through hell together, and as time has worn on, their friendship – and deep mutual affection – is just about the only thing that has made life bearable for both of them. The story begins in the early hours of a morning in October 1917 when Ash and his men are waiting for the final command to go over the top. Ms. Malcom brilliantly evokes the overall feelings of trepidation and despair felt in the trenches and also does a fantastic job of showing readers the strength of the bond that exists between Ash and Harry – not with words, because they can’t possibly say any of the things they feel, but rather through the actions that communicate their obvious care for one another. When Ash is severely wounded, Harry’s world almost comes to a stop, and fearing the man he loves is dead, his first thought is to invite a German bullet to end it all. But seeing the men look to him for guidance and reassurance, he can’t do it. Clinging to hope, Harry somehow finds the courage to carry on, and one month later, receives the news that Ash is alive, and is being sent home to England.
The fact that Ash lost part of one leg and is suffering from “nerve damage” (which we’d call PTSD today) are not the only things that have made it impossible for him to pick up the reins of his old life. He misses Harry desperately, and he’s full of anger and frustration at the way that those around him – most notably his parents and others of their generation – seem to want to brush the war under the carpet and go on as though nothing has changed, and he can’t bear it.
“What was it for, if everything goes on the same?”
To make things worse, his parents make it clear that they expect him to get married and settle down as soon as possible and have perfect girl in mind, Miss Olive Allen, the daughter of friends. Ash likes Olive – she’s a straightforward, no-nonsense young woman who currently works as a VAD nurse and whose outlook is very much aligned with his – but his heart belongs to someone else and Ash has no intention of getting married to anyone.
Back in London after the Armistice, Harry, like all the other soldiers returning to England, finds himself out of step with the world he’s come home to – and also out of work. He’s living with his widowed sister and two young nieces and is very conscious that Kitty’s meagre resources are stretched thin – so when she suggests he apply to his former captain for work, Harry forces himself to swallow his pride and travels to Highcliffe House in Hampshire to see if there might be any work for him in the stables.
Ash is astonished and overjoyed to see Harry again, so much so that he greets him as the friend he is, much to his father’s outrage. There’s a social distance to be maintained between master and servant and Ash and Harry can never again be what they were to each other before. Ash isn’t in a position to openly defy his father’s edict that he keep away from Harry, but he’s determined to spend time with him, and thanks to Olive’s idea that Ash should take up riding again, they do manage a few afternoons together. During those stolen hours, three years of longing and wondering and a knowledge, now, of the transience of life, propel both men towards admitting the truth of their feelings for one another – but it’s bittersweet, the knowledge that they love and are loved in return overshadowed by the knowledge that this is likely all they’re ever going to be able to have.
Sally Malcolm is a master of the angsty romance, conveying heightened emotion in a way that feels right for the mood of the story and is never overdone. The feelings Ash and Harry have for each other are so strongly portrayed that they leap off the page; tenderness, longing, connection and most of all, their unspoken love, are palpable, all skilfully created within the first few pages of the novel and sustained throughout their forbidden love affair. A real sense of foreboding seeps through the second half of the book as disaster inevitably looms closer; and when it strikes it’s a punch to the gut.
The historical setting is very well realised. The author clearly has considerable knowledge of the period and the story is very firmly grounded in the attitudes and prejudices of the time. Those prejudices extend beyond sexuality and class, however, as illustrated through the character of Olive, a young woman who, Ash realises, was liberated by the war, freed from stifling social conventions in order to do something useful. She wants to train to be a doctor, but her parents won’t hear of it, and now the war is over, she’s expected to forget her taste of freedom and return to her pre-war self, a situation experienced by countless young women at the time.
The Last Kiss is an absorbing read that will transport readers to the horrors of the battlefield and the beauty of the idyllic English countryside. Those who like their historical romance to contain more than a nod towards actual history will enjoy the setting and appreciate the author’s keen eye for detail and social observation. This is a ‘quiet’ book and the overall tone is perhaps a little sombre, but the central love affair is compelling and heartfelt, and the HEA is well-deserved.
November 24, 2023
5 - Stars - Only because there are no more stars to give.
An absolute MUST READ.
With The Last Kiss, Sally Malcolm has once again demonstrated her mastery of the historical M/M romance genre.
Captain Ashleigh Arthur Dalton (Ash) and Private Harry West, World War I fighters for England in the trenches of France, are the type of protagonists readers can only hope to find as they pick up a new novel.
From start to finish, The Last Kiss is a wonderful read.
An absolute MUST READ.
With The Last Kiss, Sally Malcolm has once again demonstrated her mastery of the historical M/M romance genre.
Captain Ashleigh Arthur Dalton (Ash) and Private Harry West, World War I fighters for England in the trenches of France, are the type of protagonists readers can only hope to find as they pick up a new novel.
From start to finish, The Last Kiss is a wonderful read.
April 14, 2020
Beautiful. Poignant. Heartfelt. Although it would be almost a hundred years before marriage equality was achieved and over forty before homosexuality was decriminalised in the U.K. Ash and Harry found a way to be together and to make a life. We human beings find a way to endure, to survive and to love... No matter what.
Recommended.
*4.5 Stars* rounded up
Recommended.
*4.5 Stars* rounded up
March 28, 2021
A tender and triumphant story of forbidden love in the aftermath of war
When Captain Ashleigh Arthur Dalton went to war in 1914, he never expected to fall in love. Yet over three long years at the front, his dashing batman, Private West, became his reason for fighting—and his reason for living.
But Ash’s war ends in catastrophe. Gravely wounded, he’s evacuated home to his family’s country house in Highcliffe. Bereft of West, angry and alone, Ash struggles to re-join the genteel world he no longer understands.
For Harry West, an ostler from London’s East End, it was love at first sight when he met kind and complex Captain Dalton. Harry doubts their friendship can survive in the class-bound world back home, but he knows he’ll never forget his captain.
When the guns finally fall silent, Harry finds himself adrift in London. Unemployed and desperate, he swallows his pride and travels to Highcliffe in search of work and the man he loves. Under the nose of Ash’s overbearing father, the men’s intense wartime friendship deepens into a passionate, forbidden love affair.
But breaching the barriers of class and sexuality is dangerous and enemies lurk in Highcliffe’s rose-scented shadows.
After giving their all for their country, Harry and Ash face a terrible choice—defy family, society and the law to love as their hearts demand, or say goodbye forever...
Review (draft):
I tend to enjoy romances starring veterans of the first world war . I enjoy the settings of 1920s and veterans finding happiness theme after a horrible war just appeals to me, so I was glad to find this book and overall it did not disappoint. The writing was lovely and both main characters very likable.
The source of tension in the story ( besides the obvious fact that two men could not live together in the open at that time) is Ash and Harry being from two different classes in British society. Wealthy and poor just should not be mixing together even as friends. However this generation went through horrors of war and they rebel, they do not want to live as their parents and grandparents did. Of course when I say they rebel, I do not mean that they rebel by disregarding each and every societal norm ( and that would have been hugely unrealistic to me), but they use the means available to them to carve the happier lives for themselves, by getting what they want out of life.
“Different lenses, West had called it, the way they’d seen mankind stripped bare, down to its bloody bones. Private or general, illiterate or scholar, honest British tommy or young Indian jawan—they’d all lived and died the same in the end, equally possessed of brutality and compassion, of love and hate. Of pity. Of blood. Just men clinging to their humanity and finding joy in each other, in scarlet bursts of friendship as bright and unexpected as the poppies that bloomed among the dead.
He had no way to explain any of this to his father. He was looking at Sir Arthur across time, across a chasm of experience, looking back into his own lost past. He might have thought as his father did, once. Thank God his eyes had been opened, their lids torn away so he had no choice but to see the truth.”
““We done our duty. God knows, we gave our all for King and Country—you certainly did. So I reckon we get this in return. They bloody owe us.” Ash tightened his fingers on the door, heart thrashing inside the cage of his ribs. “Yes. Yes, they b-bloody well do.””
On par with the actual development of the romantic relationship I would say that this was the main theme of the book - the desire of young men and women to live in the better world and trying their best to make it with the means available to them. Accidentally this was the main issue I had with the book as well - of course this made perfect sense. Of course I sympathized with Ashleigh and Harry and hoped they will get their happy ending .
I also liked Olive and wanted for her to get what she wanted from life. But to me this became repetitive. As I said before, I thought the writing was lovely, but by the end of the book I did kinda feel that author was beating me over the head with - old generation should not be holding us back from building the better world, they did not live through the horrors of the war, we did, we suffered and we should be able to have a better future for ourselves and everybody who wants it.
I really did like a romance. I thought Harry and Ashleigh were absolute sweethearts and had very nice chemistry together and two brothers in arms who supported each other during the war, their love felt only stronger to me during the peace time, and the fact that it was under threat the whole time, only made me sympathize more.
I thought the author found a nice solution for them to be together - a bit too convenient but believable nevertheless.
When Captain Ashleigh Arthur Dalton went to war in 1914, he never expected to fall in love. Yet over three long years at the front, his dashing batman, Private West, became his reason for fighting—and his reason for living.
But Ash’s war ends in catastrophe. Gravely wounded, he’s evacuated home to his family’s country house in Highcliffe. Bereft of West, angry and alone, Ash struggles to re-join the genteel world he no longer understands.
For Harry West, an ostler from London’s East End, it was love at first sight when he met kind and complex Captain Dalton. Harry doubts their friendship can survive in the class-bound world back home, but he knows he’ll never forget his captain.
When the guns finally fall silent, Harry finds himself adrift in London. Unemployed and desperate, he swallows his pride and travels to Highcliffe in search of work and the man he loves. Under the nose of Ash’s overbearing father, the men’s intense wartime friendship deepens into a passionate, forbidden love affair.
But breaching the barriers of class and sexuality is dangerous and enemies lurk in Highcliffe’s rose-scented shadows.
After giving their all for their country, Harry and Ash face a terrible choice—defy family, society and the law to love as their hearts demand, or say goodbye forever...
Review (draft):
I tend to enjoy romances starring veterans of the first world war . I enjoy the settings of 1920s and veterans finding happiness theme after a horrible war just appeals to me, so I was glad to find this book and overall it did not disappoint. The writing was lovely and both main characters very likable.
The source of tension in the story ( besides the obvious fact that two men could not live together in the open at that time) is Ash and Harry being from two different classes in British society. Wealthy and poor just should not be mixing together even as friends. However this generation went through horrors of war and they rebel, they do not want to live as their parents and grandparents did. Of course when I say they rebel, I do not mean that they rebel by disregarding each and every societal norm ( and that would have been hugely unrealistic to me), but they use the means available to them to carve the happier lives for themselves, by getting what they want out of life.
“Different lenses, West had called it, the way they’d seen mankind stripped bare, down to its bloody bones. Private or general, illiterate or scholar, honest British tommy or young Indian jawan—they’d all lived and died the same in the end, equally possessed of brutality and compassion, of love and hate. Of pity. Of blood. Just men clinging to their humanity and finding joy in each other, in scarlet bursts of friendship as bright and unexpected as the poppies that bloomed among the dead.
He had no way to explain any of this to his father. He was looking at Sir Arthur across time, across a chasm of experience, looking back into his own lost past. He might have thought as his father did, once. Thank God his eyes had been opened, their lids torn away so he had no choice but to see the truth.”
““We done our duty. God knows, we gave our all for King and Country—you certainly did. So I reckon we get this in return. They bloody owe us.” Ash tightened his fingers on the door, heart thrashing inside the cage of his ribs. “Yes. Yes, they b-bloody well do.””
On par with the actual development of the romantic relationship I would say that this was the main theme of the book - the desire of young men and women to live in the better world and trying their best to make it with the means available to them. Accidentally this was the main issue I had with the book as well - of course this made perfect sense. Of course I sympathized with Ashleigh and Harry and hoped they will get their happy ending .
I also liked Olive and wanted for her to get what she wanted from life. But to me this became repetitive. As I said before, I thought the writing was lovely, but by the end of the book I did kinda feel that author was beating me over the head with - old generation should not be holding us back from building the better world, they did not live through the horrors of the war, we did, we suffered and we should be able to have a better future for ourselves and everybody who wants it.
I really did like a romance. I thought Harry and Ashleigh were absolute sweethearts and had very nice chemistry together and two brothers in arms who supported each other during the war, their love felt only stronger to me during the peace time, and the fact that it was under threat the whole time, only made me sympathize more.
I thought the author found a nice solution for them to be together - a bit too convenient but believable nevertheless.
January 31, 2026
4.25**** stars
Annoyingly this book made me angry more than anything. It’s neither the book’s nor the author’s fault. It’s still a fact tho. I adored Harry West and Ash Dalton’s romance a lot and I loved the very convenient way the author set up this story so it could work out for everyone important in the end. They deserved it. ♡
“The men who run the world want to keep it for themselves, so the only way to get what we want is to take it. Bugger the rules and bugger the men who make them.”
Annoyingly this book made me angry more than anything. It’s neither the book’s nor the author’s fault. It’s still a fact tho. I adored Harry West and Ash Dalton’s romance a lot and I loved the very convenient way the author set up this story so it could work out for everyone important in the end. They deserved it. ♡
June 15, 2020
This was one emotional, tender, heartbreaking ride. What a beautiful, beautiful story this was!
Sally Malcolm has quickly become a favorite author; I read two of her New Milton books and with her writing style she manages to pull me in each time I open one of her books.
I had been looking forward to this book since I knew it was coming. From time to time I love reading something historical and as WWI intrigues me, I knew this was a book I had to read. And it just was exactly that kind of book. From page one I was hooked. The way Mrs. Malcolm describes the waiting, the fear, knowing what would come and the odds of surviving...those scenes were just beautifully written. I immediately felt the special bond between Ashleigh and Harry. It was heartbreaking to read about what happened there, on that battlefield, when Ashleigh was wounded and Harry saved him and had to tell him goodbye, not knowing whether Ashleigh was going to live or die.
The story continues with both their return to England. What struck me was when I read about the influenza, killing lots of people after the war, which was, in the current situation the world is in, kind of weird.
Of course they meet again and the feelings they had for each other are still there, but they both are fully aware of the danger that comes with it. The danger of discovery and the consequences when that would happen. Their stolen moments together were so sweet! The tenderness, the way Harry tried to take care of Ashleigh, who was still plagued with nightmares and who struggled with his changed view on the world after the war, a world that had to change, but where people like his father, wanted things to be like they always had been. His parents want him to marry, to go back to his job at the bank in London. They don't understand he still suffers, they just want him to continue his life the way he left it when he went to war. Which to Ashleigh is just sheer impossible.
I loved Olive! She was a modern girl, and like Ashleigh, stuck in an environment that didn't allow her to make her own choices. I loved the way she supported Ashleigh and Harry.
I think Sally Malcolm did a great job with all the characters involved; she creates real people, characters you can feel and come to life on the pages.
I also admire the way she manages to capture the time in which the story takes place. You can tell she put a lot of research into that. It all feels very real and you feel yourself drawn back to that time as if you were there yourself.
And the epilogue...that was just beautiful. The author left me all crying and feeling sad after Chapter 22, but maybe that's why their hard fought HEA feels even so much better. God knows they deserved it!!
This is one of those books that will stay with me for a long time after finishing. I wanted to crawl in and hug Harry and Ashleigh, I wanted to assure them things would be alright. They were just meant to be and you almost wish they could live in another time so their love wouldn't be something they would have to hide.
I highly, highly recommend this book! It's so worth of your time, you won't regret it!
Sally Malcolm has quickly become a favorite author; I read two of her New Milton books and with her writing style she manages to pull me in each time I open one of her books.
I had been looking forward to this book since I knew it was coming. From time to time I love reading something historical and as WWI intrigues me, I knew this was a book I had to read. And it just was exactly that kind of book. From page one I was hooked. The way Mrs. Malcolm describes the waiting, the fear, knowing what would come and the odds of surviving...those scenes were just beautifully written. I immediately felt the special bond between Ashleigh and Harry. It was heartbreaking to read about what happened there, on that battlefield, when Ashleigh was wounded and Harry saved him and had to tell him goodbye, not knowing whether Ashleigh was going to live or die.
The story continues with both their return to England. What struck me was when I read about the influenza, killing lots of people after the war, which was, in the current situation the world is in, kind of weird.
Of course they meet again and the feelings they had for each other are still there, but they both are fully aware of the danger that comes with it. The danger of discovery and the consequences when that would happen. Their stolen moments together were so sweet! The tenderness, the way Harry tried to take care of Ashleigh, who was still plagued with nightmares and who struggled with his changed view on the world after the war, a world that had to change, but where people like his father, wanted things to be like they always had been. His parents want him to marry, to go back to his job at the bank in London. They don't understand he still suffers, they just want him to continue his life the way he left it when he went to war. Which to Ashleigh is just sheer impossible.
I loved Olive! She was a modern girl, and like Ashleigh, stuck in an environment that didn't allow her to make her own choices. I loved the way she supported Ashleigh and Harry.
I think Sally Malcolm did a great job with all the characters involved; she creates real people, characters you can feel and come to life on the pages.
I also admire the way she manages to capture the time in which the story takes place. You can tell she put a lot of research into that. It all feels very real and you feel yourself drawn back to that time as if you were there yourself.
And the epilogue...that was just beautiful. The author left me all crying and feeling sad after Chapter 22, but maybe that's why their hard fought HEA feels even so much better. God knows they deserved it!!
This is one of those books that will stay with me for a long time after finishing. I wanted to crawl in and hug Harry and Ashleigh, I wanted to assure them things would be alright. They were just meant to be and you almost wish they could live in another time so their love wouldn't be something they would have to hide.
I highly, highly recommend this book! It's so worth of your time, you won't regret it!
April 1, 2020
I'm a WWI/WWII junkie, so I absolutely loved the time/place of this story - especially the opening sequences. The Last Kiss is a poignant and lovely story of two men fated to fall in love and live happily ever after. Unfortunately, class distinctions and their sexuality conspire to keep them apart...but this is a romance novel, and against the odds Malcolm makes it work.
Captain Ashleigh Arthur Dalton, a London banker before WWI, never expected or wanted to lead men into battle and near certain death. He struggles with every aspect of the war, especially the guilt and sense of hopeless despair every time he loses one of his men. His only solace is his batman, Private Harry West. Harry - who knows him so well; Harry - who's always there to support and help him; Harry - who he can't imagine living without.
Harry, formerly an ostler in London's East End, recognizes how deeply tortured Ashleigh is by the war and all of its horrors, and he does his best to bolster him. He's learned his captain - on the field, late at night reading together, during long hours in the trenches, on the battlefield - and deep in his heart. He knows he's falling in love with him, and that nothing can ever come of it.
Both men know they might never have met if not for the war, but fighting alongside each other - depending on each other - has leveled the differences between them. Despite the horror of everyday life at war, they carve out a bit of happiness by being together, and cherish the hours they spend in quiet, close companionship - and out with friends on leave.
The novel opens the night before a major battlefield push; Ash is trying to write a letter to a dead soldier's mother and he's struggling. Harry helps. They fall asleep, slumped against each other, reading a favorite book, and awaken shortly before Ashleigh must give the order to go over the top. When Ashleigh is nearly hit by a mortar round, he collapses to the ground. Harry, convinced his captain is dying, carries him through the carnage to a support hospital. Unbeknownst to a mourning Harry, Ashleigh survives and is sent home to convalesce. When he eventually learns Ashleigh is alive and recovering, Harry is ecstatic, but doesn't believe he'll ever see him again.
The war finally ends.
Ashleigh, suffering from undiagnosed PTSD and adjusting to life without part of his leg, is recuperating at his family home in Highcliffe. His overbearing father insists he needs to get back to work, his mother isn't sure how to help him - and doesn't understand what he's going through, and his only reprieve are visits from the neighboring Allen family. The reprieve is a bit of double-edged sword: both sets of parents hope to make a match between Ashleigh and Olive Allen, and although Ashleigh enjoys Olive's company, he has no intention of making her an offer- or resuming the life he lived before wartime. He longs for Harry, and can barely get through each day.
Meanwhile, Harry, returned from war to a country unable to support the influx of soldiers returning from the front, is living with his sister Kitty and two young nieces. Kitty can barely support her girls, let alone Harry, and jobs are in short/non-existent supply. A desperate Harry finally decides to seek out his captain and see if he has any work for him.
And so it begins. Ashleigh is THRILLED to see Harry; Harry is THRILLED to see Ash. And no one else is. For real. These two are deeply in love (and they know it, even if they haven't confessed it), but it seems nothing about the war changed anything that could alter their impossible dream of a future together.
From the opening on the battlefield, to the weeks Harry and Ash spend together at Highcliffe, The Last Kiss is suffused with an ominous sense of foreboding (something bad is definitely just around the corner), juxtaposed with intense longing. Oh, so much longing. I loved that Malcolm didn't dilly dally with these guys owning up to their feelings; almost from the moment they meet again at Highcliffe, it's clear how deeply connected they are & what a toll their separation has taken on both of them. And it's a nice little trick that Harry, Ash's subordinate on the battle field and at Highcliffe (where he works in the stable), is something of the leader in their relationship. Where he goes, Ash follows. Nothing is easy or simple, except for when they are alone together - and those moments are meant for savoring. They're so well done.
But as I said, everyone and everything, conspires against a relationship between Ash and Harry. Well, except the lovely and frustrated Olive. These challenges form the foundation of the novel, and although I could see where the author was eventually leading readers, the story never feels rushed. Ash's problems with PTSD and his injuries ARE HORRIFYING AND AWFUL and TERRIBLE; Harry's lack of choices and opportunities are an insult to his service and his abilities; and the deus ex machina that we all expect, doesn't quite turn out as expected. (that made better sense in my head). Nothing is without complications and obstacles.
Both principal characters are extremely well realized - who they are when they meet, who they are at Highcliffe, who they are post-Highcliffe - and I felt as if I knew these characters inside and out. I hurt for them, and hoped for them.
The author also does a similarly terrific job with secondary characters, and they inspired intense feelings of like and dislike, more so than in other books I've read recently, especially Olive. A woman who knows (and more importantly, trusts) her own mind and instincts, she suspects there is more to the relationship between Ash and Harry (although her naivete about their sexuality is unsurprising for the time period). She doesn't judge Ash for the friendship or question it, she simply accepts it -she wants the best for Ash, and that's Harry. I love her pragmatic, gentle and kind approach to friendship with Ashleigh - and by extension, Harry. Sensitive and strong, she is a lovely complement to the story and its many layers (opportunities for women outside of marriage are another big theme).
The Last Kiss is far from a thriller, but there is a suspenseful element that pervades the story from start to finish. Gentle and lovely, it's Malcolm at her best.
Captain Ashleigh Arthur Dalton, a London banker before WWI, never expected or wanted to lead men into battle and near certain death. He struggles with every aspect of the war, especially the guilt and sense of hopeless despair every time he loses one of his men. His only solace is his batman, Private Harry West. Harry - who knows him so well; Harry - who's always there to support and help him; Harry - who he can't imagine living without.
Harry, formerly an ostler in London's East End, recognizes how deeply tortured Ashleigh is by the war and all of its horrors, and he does his best to bolster him. He's learned his captain - on the field, late at night reading together, during long hours in the trenches, on the battlefield - and deep in his heart. He knows he's falling in love with him, and that nothing can ever come of it.
Both men know they might never have met if not for the war, but fighting alongside each other - depending on each other - has leveled the differences between them. Despite the horror of everyday life at war, they carve out a bit of happiness by being together, and cherish the hours they spend in quiet, close companionship - and out with friends on leave.
The novel opens the night before a major battlefield push; Ash is trying to write a letter to a dead soldier's mother and he's struggling. Harry helps. They fall asleep, slumped against each other, reading a favorite book, and awaken shortly before Ashleigh must give the order to go over the top. When Ashleigh is nearly hit by a mortar round, he collapses to the ground. Harry, convinced his captain is dying, carries him through the carnage to a support hospital. Unbeknownst to a mourning Harry, Ashleigh survives and is sent home to convalesce. When he eventually learns Ashleigh is alive and recovering, Harry is ecstatic, but doesn't believe he'll ever see him again.
The war finally ends.
Ashleigh, suffering from undiagnosed PTSD and adjusting to life without part of his leg, is recuperating at his family home in Highcliffe. His overbearing father insists he needs to get back to work, his mother isn't sure how to help him - and doesn't understand what he's going through, and his only reprieve are visits from the neighboring Allen family. The reprieve is a bit of double-edged sword: both sets of parents hope to make a match between Ashleigh and Olive Allen, and although Ashleigh enjoys Olive's company, he has no intention of making her an offer- or resuming the life he lived before wartime. He longs for Harry, and can barely get through each day.
Meanwhile, Harry, returned from war to a country unable to support the influx of soldiers returning from the front, is living with his sister Kitty and two young nieces. Kitty can barely support her girls, let alone Harry, and jobs are in short/non-existent supply. A desperate Harry finally decides to seek out his captain and see if he has any work for him.
And so it begins. Ashleigh is THRILLED to see Harry; Harry is THRILLED to see Ash. And no one else is. For real. These two are deeply in love (and they know it, even if they haven't confessed it), but it seems nothing about the war changed anything that could alter their impossible dream of a future together.
From the opening on the battlefield, to the weeks Harry and Ash spend together at Highcliffe, The Last Kiss is suffused with an ominous sense of foreboding (something bad is definitely just around the corner), juxtaposed with intense longing. Oh, so much longing. I loved that Malcolm didn't dilly dally with these guys owning up to their feelings; almost from the moment they meet again at Highcliffe, it's clear how deeply connected they are & what a toll their separation has taken on both of them. And it's a nice little trick that Harry, Ash's subordinate on the battle field and at Highcliffe (where he works in the stable), is something of the leader in their relationship. Where he goes, Ash follows. Nothing is easy or simple, except for when they are alone together - and those moments are meant for savoring. They're so well done.
But as I said, everyone and everything, conspires against a relationship between Ash and Harry. Well, except the lovely and frustrated Olive. These challenges form the foundation of the novel, and although I could see where the author was eventually leading readers, the story never feels rushed. Ash's problems with PTSD and his injuries ARE HORRIFYING AND AWFUL and TERRIBLE; Harry's lack of choices and opportunities are an insult to his service and his abilities; and the deus ex machina that we all expect, doesn't quite turn out as expected. (that made better sense in my head). Nothing is without complications and obstacles.
Both principal characters are extremely well realized - who they are when they meet, who they are at Highcliffe, who they are post-Highcliffe - and I felt as if I knew these characters inside and out. I hurt for them, and hoped for them.
The author also does a similarly terrific job with secondary characters, and they inspired intense feelings of like and dislike, more so than in other books I've read recently, especially Olive. A woman who knows (and more importantly, trusts) her own mind and instincts, she suspects there is more to the relationship between Ash and Harry (although her naivete about their sexuality is unsurprising for the time period). She doesn't judge Ash for the friendship or question it, she simply accepts it -she wants the best for Ash, and that's Harry. I love her pragmatic, gentle and kind approach to friendship with Ashleigh - and by extension, Harry. Sensitive and strong, she is a lovely complement to the story and its many layers (opportunities for women outside of marriage are another big theme).
The Last Kiss is far from a thriller, but there is a suspenseful element that pervades the story from start to finish. Gentle and lovely, it's Malcolm at her best.
July 31, 2023
I’m a little uncomfortable to give this book only 3 stars, while many of my GR friends love it. In fact I find it quite boring - not very interesting MCs, and a predictable plot. I struggled to finish it.
This may be a case of “it’s me, not the book”, as I’m drawn to books with wild plot twists, and unordinary characters. This book focuses more on the romance, and the depiction of social injustice at the time. If that’s your cup of tea, I think you’ll love it.
This may be a case of “it’s me, not the book”, as I’m drawn to books with wild plot twists, and unordinary characters. This book focuses more on the romance, and the depiction of social injustice at the time. If that’s your cup of tea, I think you’ll love it.
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