I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own. 

A woman must confront her past in author Claire Ross Dunn’s “At Last Count.”

The Synopsis

Finalist for the 2025 Kobo Emerging Writers Prize in Romance

A Globe and Mail Best Book of 2022

For readers who love Mark Haddon, Miriam Toews, and Sally Rooney

Paisley Ratchford is trying to keep it together, but in eight weeks, the Toronto apartment building she lives in will be demolished. A last-ditch effort to reclaim her abandoned childhood home on Amherst Island plunges Paisley into memories of growing up in the tight-knit community, and into the obsessive compulsive disorder that has only ever offered a semblance of control. Her compulsion to count in sets of eight had little effect on thwarting bullies, her father’s bad luck, and her mother’s mental illness—all of which return to haunt her.

When help arrives in the form of Paisley’s old classmate and tormentor Garnet Mulligan, her predicament only worsens. For a shot at a future, Paisley needs to stare down her past, including all the habits that have stopped her from thriving. At Last Count is a wise and often laugh-out-loud funny tale that proves we don’t always need to believe everything our brain tells us.

THE REVIEW

This was a smart and compassionate read. The author does a stellar job of crafting a narrative that felt emotionally driven and insightful from a character perspective. The setting the author establishes here is so unique that readers, both local to the Canadian region and abroad, will become fully immersed in this province and region as the imagery transports them there.

Yeah, it was the rich character development that really sold the story. A personal look at how the past reflects on our present and how we can confront it to overcome past trauma, the protagonist and her struggles with childhood trauma and OCD become relatable and inspiring as she moves to confront the things that plague her. Her bond with Garnet, and the narrative’s insight into their relationship as it explores both the past and the present in alternating chapters, will have readers fully enthralled by this personal and compelling story.

THE VERDICT

Heartfelt, engaging, and memorable, Claire Ross Dunn’s “At Last Count” is a remarkable and compelling story. The rich perspective readers gain through the alternating chapters into these characters’ lives, and the compassion they feel for their struggles, help highlight the overall theme of tracing one’s own past and confronting the things that continue to affect us in the present. If you haven’t yet, please grab your copy today!

Rating: 10/10

About the Author

Claire is a screenwriter, playwright and novelist. Her romance movies include Cupids on Beacon Street and Love at Look Lodge (aka Falling for Look Lodge), seen on Hallmark, Lifetime, Amazon Prime, and City-TV. For TV, Claire wrote and story edited on the hit sitcom Little Mosque on the Prairie and the teen drama Degrassi The Next Generation, and was Supervising Producer for the Nickelodeon/YTV comedy Make it Pop. Claire’s compelling, romantic debut novel, At Last Count, was a Globe and Mail Best Book, a Toronto Star summer pick, and a romance finalist for Rakuten Kobo’s 2025 Emerging Writer prize. Her next novel, a women’s lit/contemporary romance called Lost in France, comes out June 2026, and is currently available for pre-order.

https://www.clairerossdunn.com