This short story captures attention with a slice of delicious, juicy watermelon on the cover. The annual Watermelon Festival is upon the folks of quiet Allenberg County, and they're determined to have a good time before summer ends. Amanda Wright is among them, with her small son and her grandmother, whose mind is slipping but whose body is spry. Amanda's husband was shot in Afghanistan so her son Ethan, almost five, has no man in his life.

LAST CHANCE SUMMER introduces Grant Trumbull, a professional radio broadcaster who has bought the local station and turned it around. Grant covers the festival himself and chuckles with the local matchmaker on air that he's available for dates. Amanda hasn't met the man, but she likes listening to his voice. Her late grandfather used to be a broadcaster, and she's well aware that often faces and voices don't match. Ethan keeps nagging her to go to the Lost and Found, where Grant will be later on, but equally he whines about the Ferris wheel, which makes Amanda giddy with fright. With her grandmother offering to crochet watermelon scarves and towing them around the fair, it's not very relaxing for Amanda. Then the stand where Granny was sitting loses her while Ethan and his mother are at the pet show, and an announcement is played for her. Ethan declares that they'll find her at the Lost and Found....

Hope Ramsay has written several books set in Last Chance and this short is a good introduction to her style and characters. She gets thoroughly into the mind and logic of the young boy and we see that Amanda has had so much to cope with that she has given little thought to her own happiness. The author writes very well and we also get an excerpt from one of her books. LAST CHANCE SUMMER is an enjoyable read which encourages us to hope that better days are just around the corner.