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Betta Ferrendelli is the author of the award-winning Samantha Church Mystery Series, featuring The Friday Edition, Revenge is Sweet, Dead Wrong, Cold Case No. 99-5219 and On the Border, which published in April 2020.
The Friday Edition was named one of the best Indie books of 2013 by Kirkus Reviews; won the Readers' Favorite 2014 Gold Medal Award in the Fiction, Mystery, Sleuth category and earned best mystery in the 9th annual National Indie Excellence Awards for 2015.
Cold Case No. 99-5219 won the 2018 Readers' Favorite Gold Medal in the Fiction, Mystery, Murder category, and was a finalist in the 13th annual National Indie Excellence Awards, mystery category.
She is also the author of two award-winning contemporary women's fiction novels: An Invincible Summer and Last Things.
Last Things was named a 2017 Readers' Favorite Finalist in the Fiction, Drama category and earned a 2018 Readers' Favorite Honorable Mention in the Fiction Audiobook category.
She has been an award-winning journalist since 1989, having worked at newspapers in Denver, Seattle and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Reviewed by Justine Reyes for Readers' Favorite
Last Things by Betta Ferrendelli is a story about two women who have walked a similar path. We begin with Bridgette, a successful journalist who is in a seemingly perfect relationship. Of course, we soon find out it isn’t so perfect. Elliot, Bridgette’s fiance, doesn’t like the idea that the child Bridgette is carrying has Down Syndrome. He reacts repulsively, wanting her to get an abortion. On top of that, she must make a professional decision that could potentially end someone’s life. Overwhelmed and wanting to end it all, she crashes her car, but miraculously she lives. Through this incident, she meets the other woman, Alexis. Alexis is living the life Bridgette wasn’t brave enough to live. A friendship soon blossoms between the two women, but of course, life isn’t fair, especially to the good ones.
Last Things touches upon the surfaces of several sensitive matters, and Ferrendelli does a wonderful job of executing this with care. Last Things is a cozy novel, one that embraces you and doesn’t let go even when the tears start rolling. The friendship between Alexis and Bridgette was built up excellently; they kept secrets from each other, but that’s what made the story so interesting. Last Things is a novel I recommend to anyone who has ever had a “what if” moment in their life. It is well-written, heart-warming, and full of hope. Gabra Zackman narrates Last Things. I’m not too familiar with her other work, but her performance lends a vividness to Ferrendelli’s already colorful cast of characters; it felt as though I was listening to an old radio drama.
