One Last Try by Jemma Croft

One Last Try

Author: Jemma Croft

Rating: B

Vibe: Cozy UK village rom-com with muddy boots, pub warmth, and a slow burn worth every minute

There's a particular kind of person you want around when things go sideways. Not the one who sends a thoughtful text or shows up with wine three days later, but the one who answers on the first ring, doesn't make it weird, and just handles it. Owen Bosley is that guy. Retired rugby legend, single dad, landlord of a cozy village pub called The Little Thatch — and, as it turns out, the kind of man who can fall completely, helplessly in love while still being the most level-headed person in every room. I adored him.

One Last Try is Jemma Croft's first entry in her Try for Love series, and the setup is deliciously messy in the best way: Owen's career-ending injury, caused years ago by a rookie mistake from rising star Mathias Jones, is old news until Mathias gets signed to Owen's former team and needs a place to stay. In a village. In Owen's cottage. With Owen directly upstairs. Forced proximity with a side of unresolved guilt — it's a lot, and Croft plays it beautifully.

What makes the slow burn work isn't manufactured drama or misunderstandings stretched past their breaking point. It's patience. The tension builds because these two men have actual history and actual stakes, and Croft lets that simmer without rushing toward the inevitable. And when the payoff comes — and it does, fully and satisfyingly — it feels earned. Nothing wildly unexpected happens. But for this kind of book, that's not a criticism. You know where you're going. The pleasure is in how well you're taken there.

Mathias is a strong foil to Owen's warmth — guarded, precise, still carrying the weight of what he did. His autism is woven into who he is rather than deployed as a shorthand, which meant I found myself understanding him rather than just noting it as a character detail. His arc — learning to settle, to belong somewhere — gives the romance genuine emotional architecture.

Then there's The Little Thatch. The pub, the village regulars, the community Owen has built around himself — it all functions as more than backdrop. It's the world Owen has made for himself after his career ended, and watching Mathias gradually find his place in it gives the story a warmth that goes beyond the central romance. You get what you sign up for with this book, and what you sign up for is done exceptionally well.

If I'm being precise about expectations: this is comfort reading, not literary fiction. Croft isn't trying to break you open or reframe the genre. She's trying to give you a warm, funny story about two men figuring out they're good for each other — and she succeeds with real skill and genuine heart.

Owen Bosley is the kind of fictional man who makes you feel vaguely emotional about a person who doesn't exist. That's the highest compliment I know how to give.