Just when Lucy Jones thinks her marriage is about to screech to a halt over toothpaste, her husband, Leo, announces he wants to move to tumbledown (clapped-out) Rose Cottage, and Lucy knows she’ll be the one managing the renovations.

Then along comes gorgeous builder Will, ten years younger and the only person actually listening to Lucy. His twinkly eyes and blowtorch smile are causing Lucy to break out in a hot sweat – but is it love, lust or simply dodgy hormones that are causing her heart to flutter?

Lucy loves her husband, but everyone knows that little things build up. And then they explode. Can Lucy keep it together, or will there be one last straw she might not be able to get over?

This was really fun to read! Lucy was constantly making me laugh.

*Book received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

I have read and enjoyed Debbie Viggiano's previous novels so was looking forward to reading this one. I wasn't disappointed. I loved this - a witty, funny easy read. I engaged with Lucy and really enjoyed her story - we are of a similar age so I could empathise completely with her. I also loved the surrounding cast of characters. Well written, the story flowed and I found it difficult to put down.

A fantastic easy read which made me laugh out loud in places. Perfect holiday reading or for a Sunday afternoon on the sofa.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I'm always intrigued with author's who write romantic comedy because I find it's not really easy to do, so when I saw this book available to review I thought I'd give this "new-to-me" author a try. I was also interested in the content, as I don't see a whole lot of romance that deals with a long-time marriage situation.

Lucy's marriage has been a happy one for the most part, with the usual irritations like cleaning up his nasty toothpaste for the last number of years. When Leo starts bugging her to sell the house where they've lived and reared their children to move to a fixer-upper, she doesn't understand why, until he comes home having been downsized in his job. Moving to the ramshackle cottage just turned from an option to a necessity.

With the new cottage home comes an aggressive female neighbor who just happens to have eyes for Leo, and there's a younger contractor hired to fix up the cottage that sets Lucy's blood afire, waking up long-thought-dead hormones. I found this to really be a story about trust and temptation and love, and what happens in a long-term relationship. I really enjoyed this part of the story and found it captured many of the emotions in a seasoned marriage.

Things really heat up when Leo goes to the US for new job orientation, leaving Lucy home with the contractor and Leo with just as much temptation. The situation is perfectly setup for Lucy and Leo to look away from the irritating toothpaste around the sink (metaphorically speaking) and be tempted to try something new and exciting -- will they is the question? I don't want to spoil anything, but I'll just say the ending warmed my heart big-time.

Overall, I really liked this story. Told from Lucy's point of view, her little conversations with herself are some times funny, sometimes cute, sometimes cute and funny although not every one hits the mark. I liked it more when the characters in my head had a British accent which was a completely different reading experience for me.

I would definitely try out other titles from this author in the future.

An ARC was provided for review.

Lucy’s Last Straw is a book that had me laughing along all the way and knew from the first chapter I was going to love it.
Lucy and Leo Jones have been happily married for twenty five years, two grown up daughters and a son at uni, life should be getting better but Leo decides its time to downsize as he gets hit with redundancy and Lucy’s life seems to become absolutely packed, being dragged in different directions whilst coping with the menopause. Daughters move back home, Leo gets a new job and leaves the renovations of the new house to Lucy as he jets to America for a month, the new neighbour seems to have designs on her husband and Lucy gets the hots for the builder.
This is a laugh out loud book, I loved Lucy and thought she was a great lead character. This isn’t usually the type of book I read but it was nice to have a break from thrillers and would recommend this.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

This book was jam packed with wit and entertaining antics that had me giggling into the pages of my Kindle at regular intervals. The writing provided humour and comic relief at every turn of the page and I was in my element from start to finish.

Lucy is one character I'm not likely to forget in a hurry with her quick wit and entertaining outlook on life. She had me hooked from the very beginning and I enjoyed every minute of my time spent in her company.

The writing was quick witted, catchy and engaging with an addictive quality that had me turning the pages at lightening speed. The narrative was fast paced and exciting with love and laugher at the heart....it truly was a joy to behold. Lucy's Last Straw will delight and entertain and is one story not to be missed.

This tells the story of Lucy and Leo. They have been married for years and they might have lost a little bit of sparkle in their lives. Leo is made redundant and decides he wants to move into a cottage which needs major fixing up. Then all sorts of chaos ensues. I adored this book. It was a funny, touching and fabulous read. I actually didn't want it to end. I think its definitely worth a read and I highly recommend it.

Lovely feel good story. It was well written and flowed well. Easy to read and hard to put down. Perfect on these summer nights

Lucy’s Last Straw!
So I’ve recently had a month long hospital stay & part of my condition (FND) means my brain gets scrambled & I’m currently struggling to read. A personal challenge was to choose a book to take in with me & to do my best to read it. I knew I wanted something light hearted & funny & came across Lucy’s Last Straw by Debbie Viggiano, I told friends that I’d chosen a book but it wasn’t going to be published until the end of my hospital stay & so thy said, ‘well you’ll have to choose another one then lol’ now me being me when I get an idea in my head had to explore all options first because this was the book I wanted to help me read again. So I contacted Debbie & her publishers Bookouture who very kindly said that if I joined NetGalley then they’d be able to send me a digital copy of the book! Yayyyyy 📖 🎉 this totally made my day. My friends laughed & said ‘only you would think of doing that M! Most people would have chosen another book!’ 🤣 well not me & I’m so grateful to Debbie because this book was the first one of hers that I’ve read & it was a fab tonic!

So the story...
Lucy is just such a fab character & had me giggling from the start, the things she says & does are so relatable in parts; especially of her pet hate for toothpaste smeared around the sink! Who knew that the toothpaste scenario could become a lightbulb moment later on in the story too! (The thing about reading a laugh out loud book from your hospital bed is that you get a few funny looks from the other patients; 🤪 but I guess that was good advertising for Debbie because now they want to read this book too!) lol

Lucy’s husband Leo, kind of turns her world upside down by wanting them to move to what sounds like a very idyllic Rose Cottage, the reality is it’s a project though; a massive one & Lucy ends up managing all the renovations herself when Leo goes abroad with work. This is made easier by the ‘eye candy’ builder, Will, who seems to send Lucy & her body into a frenzy every time she sees him & it’s not just the menopausal hot flushes that are the reason! Lucy doesn’t feel invisible around Will, he listens & is full of charm & brawn. I love the twist that I didn’t see coming & neither did Lucy, it made for a fantastic ending!
This is the kind of book that I would in the past have read in a couple of days; in reality it took me six weeks because of how my brain is working, or not as the case may be! But I managed to finish reading this on Monday, Debbie’s Publication day & I feel lucky to have had a sneak peak! Thank you for being part of my journey Debbie! X

I will be uploading this review onto my mindfulmblogs later as well!

Lucy has been happily married for twenty-five years and the children have left the nest. When her husband Leo announces that he wants to move to a dilapidated cottage Lucy couldn’t be more against it. However, she finds herself agreeing to the idea but remains overwhelmed … that is until hunky builder Will appears on the scene.

As soon as Lucy moves into Rose Cottage she finds herself in the middle of a building site. With Leo on a business trip to America and grown-up children who suddenly need a place to stay, Lucy doesn’t know which way to turn. However, builder Will is there to keep everything calm and suddenly Lucy’s hot flushes have nothing to do with the menopause!

I found Lucy so relatable and funny, she really is the lady everyone needs for a friend. Talking of friends OMG I loved Patsy the nymphomaniac cougar with a heart of gold. She likes a bit of patio action and I don’t mean gardening! Then there is arch rival ‘Symphony Sally’ the musician and man-eater who has her sights on Leo.

Lucy’s Last Straw is a really enjoyable read that is sure to put a smile on your face. If you’ve ever scrubbed toothpaste from the sink, seven days in a row, and it is driving you round the bend….this is definitely for you!

Well, I’m much younger than the characters or couples in this book but I can easily see and understand what’s happening.
While I liked the writing style and the description of the country cottage, the characters left a bad taste in my mouth actually.
Firstly, the heroine is so stubborn to accept that she’s going through a phase in any woman’s life and she is definitely in need of help. Then she’s only complaining about having to do all the housework but she’s still not saying much to her husband. As a mother I understand that you’ll do anything for your children anytime but that doesn’t mean to let them get over you like you don’t even count.
The husband is a topical man with eyes for other women as well especially when your wife doesn’t pay that much attention to you anymore.
The ending was predictable for me and honestly I’m still a bit confused as to what I felt about the whole story.

Lucy Jones has been married to Leo for 25 years. When he comes home and announces that he is being made redundant and they should consider downsizing, Lucy begins to notice all the little niggling things about him that she’s never noticed before. He never takes her on a date, their sex-life is non-existent and he smears toothpaste around the sink! When hunky builder, Will Trent arrives on the scene, Lucy can’t quite work out whether it’s him that’s making her heart beat faster or her hormones! When Leo has to go away on training for his new job, can Lucy resist the temptation of the gorgeous builder…?

This book was so funny!! I really liked Lucy’s character and could feel so many connections to her! We’re more or less around the same age, both married and our hormones are creating havoc! I could fully empathise with her for letting all those little things get on top of her, and in my case it’s not just the husband doing them but the son as well!! I also loved her neighbour Patsy! Her sexual antics and advice were hilarious and I laughed out loud through her conversation about sex toys! At first I thought she’d be the kind of neighbour that you would hate to live next door to, but as it turned out she was a genuinely good friend who was always ready to lead an ear….!

Lucy’s infatuation came in the form of Will Trent, a builder 10 years her junior who they had hired to do work on the house. Now when we first meet Will it’s clear that he has been around the houses a few times with various women from the local area….but could we forgive him based on the fact that he’s charming, attentive and drop dead gorgeous?? Hell, yeah of course we could! I did honestly think that it wouldn’t take long for Lucy to have done the dirty deed with Will, effectively destroying her marriage, but the ‘will she, won’t she’ storyline is carried on a bit longer through the book, leaving more time for plenty of laughs in between.

The writing was wonderfully witty and the storyline grabbed me from the beginning. It took me through Lucy’s rocky relationship with her husband and children, a rollercoaster ride fuelled by 25 years of bad habits and hormonal changes! It also had a strong moral theme running through it that perhaps the grass isn’t always greener on the other side! A word of warning though, there are some references to sex, just in case you are offended by this. Would definitely recommend this book!!

Leo and Lucy Jones have been married for twenty-five years,and with their three grown children out of the house Leo is convinced the family home is to big for just the two of them. Leo begins to try to convince Lucy to sell the home and buy up rose cottage. Lucy is adamant that she's not selling their home and moving into a cottage that is in dire need of fixing up. Unfortunately for her ,circumstances arise that force her to reconsider. Leo finds himself made redundant after thirty years with the same company,and he is able to convince Lucy to give rose cottage a chance.
Once they have finally have moved into the cottage,instead of slowing down and retiring Leo, has decided to take a high level position with a new company. Lucy is shocked when he tells her he has to be in America for a month for training,and she is livid when she realizes she will have to be the one to handle the renovations.
One look at their new contractor Will Peter's she knows she's in trouble. A hot man hanging around doing repairs on her cottage is all she needs while starting hormone therapy.
And if she needs any more complications her youngest daughter is having her own personal crisis and needs to move back home. And the final straw for Lucy is when she learns that not only is Leo's personal assistant interested in her husband,but their new neighbor Sally is too.
This is such a fun read I finished it in one sitting. I wanted to see how Lucy would handle all the chaos going around her,and if she would be able to keep her menopausal mood swings in check while trying to get her home renovated. I really enjoyed all the characters in this book,Patsy Sally's old neighbor and Jessica her youngest daughter were two of my favorite characters. They added some pretty great laugh out loud moments while reading this book.
If you're looking for a fun summer read,I suggest picking this one up.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

🏡 So much change; have Lucy and Leo come to a tipping point?🤔
4-4.5🌟 stars
Lucy and Leo's story got better and more frenzied as their midlife crisis progressed. I found Lucy, a woman approaching 50 and having trouble accepting her body's changes, a bit too whiny and passive aggressive at first but then she grew on me. As she bears the brunt of her husband's plans for their empty nest future, she really gets bombarded with one hit after another from family and strangers. By the end, I was still concerned about the way people, particularly her husband and daughters,took advantage of her, but was encouraged by Lucy's moves to express her feelings and stand up for herself.

With a good complement of secondary characters, of both the two- and four-leg variety, and a unpredictable exploration of a long-term marriage that has lost its sparkle, Lucy's Last Straw gives a sometimes comical, exasperated take on the challenges of maintaining a relationship.

I read a complimentary advance copy of the book provided through NetGalley; this is my voluntary and honest review.

An enjoyable easy read but a bit predictable and sometimes a bit slow, likeable read however.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

This is a light hearted easy read.

Lucy is 49, at the beginning of the menopause, her children have moved out and her husband is still driving her crazy leaving toothpaste smears in the sink!!

Her husband Leo thinks they should move out of the family home and into a little cottage that needs loads of work. Lucy isn’t convinced until Leo is made redundant and it seems the best thing to do.

Her life then takes a turn.
Her husband finds a new job, her younger builder is extreme attractive and her daughters both suddenly need their Mom.
Will life ever be the same again?
Do her and Leo really have a great marriage or has it become stale? Is the grass greener on the other side?

The book is funny and made me cringe for some of the situations Lucy found herself in.

A great book to make you laugh. A fabulous holiday read.

Thank you Bookoulture and Netgalley for this ARC.

This was an enjoyable read for a wet weekend.
A married couple, wife approaching menopause, grown children. When her husband wants to move her boring, predictable life is thrown into question. An easy read, this romcom will appeal to many.

I loved this book! OMG I flew through this book in one day. I found it so entertaining and hilarious I just could not put it down. This is my second book by Debbie Viggiano and I must say I absolutely love her writing style.


365 days a year...for 25 years...that is 9,125 times of cleaning the damn toothpaste off the sides of the sink! Lucy was cracking me up as she came up with these perhaps "menopausal" thoughts as her life was quickly moving into another chapter. Her husband Leo of 25 years was constantly on her radar as every single thing he did pretty much irritated her. How much was actually Leo and how much was just Lucy's own issues as she realized she is fast approaching 50 and her children have left the nest?



As Leo pretty much forced Lucy into yet another adventure of renovating a new home called the Rose Cottage- aka the dumpy cottage he got for a steal, they hire a builder. This builder has more plans than just fixing up the cottage! Will Lucy be able to resist the attention of the younger hunky builder?


This book was simply adorable, funny, crazy and made me laugh. I literally found myself smiling and laughing at all the crazy situations. If you want a feel good read that you can't put down, grab yourself a copy! 5 fantastic stars!

There are a lot of books that can put a smile on my face, but it's not often that there is one that really can make me laugh out loud. 

Humour does not mean the same to everyone, but this one was seriously hilarious to me. It had me sniggering more than once and people in my neighbourhood were often rolling their eyes and I saw them thinking : There she goes again. :) :)

I would not mind having Lucy for a friend. She is really someone I could relate to.

This story is about people focussing on the wrong things and getting so stressed about them that everything else seems to disappear in thin air. It keeps on escalating until it's almost broken beyond repair and that's when you seem you wake up and see the light again.

I can honestly say this was the funniest book I have read up till now this year. 5 stars

Thank you, Debbie Viggiano, Bookouture and Netgalley.

After a number of very suspenseful reads this was a lighter read but the moral of the story was not light at all. It was couched in a very light hearted style in both language and setting but it undermined the very important part that marriage plays in society.

Lucy and Leo are married for 25 years. Three children who do not live at home and Lucy is now getting exasperated with Leo. His obsession with his pension, and then being made redundant overshadow their life and now he is insistent on moving to a derelict cottage giving up their big comfortable home because he feels that for just the two of them, the enormous house is too much.

When Leo unexpectedly lands a job which involves travel, a nymphomaniac of a neighbour who decides that Leo is her next target and when Lucy meets Will the builder who ignites all her senses in the most irrational way , you do know fireworks are in the offing. Whether Lucy and Leo will let rationale and common sense prevail or go with the flow is the story.

Add to this the travails of three children who feel they have a right to tell their adult parents what to do, how to do and when to do stuff, you end up with a thoroughly modern marriage which has to be navigated carefully.

What can I say, this is another case of the right book for the wrong reader. I requested it from NetGalley, as it’s about a woman about the same age as me, which is not so common, so I thought I might be able to relate. Sadly, no.
I’m sure there are plenty of people who will love this story about rediscovering passion after a long marriage, but it just reminded me why I don’t read romantic comedies. I was promised heart-warming hilarity but instead had to push myself to get to the end so I could write it up and move on.

Lucy Jones has lived the fairytale happy ever after, with her handsome husband, Leo, who goes to work while she has a nice hobby job, even though she’s dispatched her three grownup children. When Leo announces he wants to downsize and do up a ramshackle cottage in the countryside, she won’t have a bar of it, but his sudden redundancy convinces her they have no choice. With her menopause approaching, she feels old and unattractive, but the handsome builder who arrives to do their renovation soon has her all aflutter. Will Lucy blossom with a new man, or remember what she liked about the old one?

One of my particular bugbears in fiction is women who got everything they ever wanted, but do nothing but complain about how boring their life is.
Lucy has let her lazy husband and spoiled kids get away with doing nothing her whole marriage, but now complains about having to do all the housework, especially when this involves cleaning up toothpaste mess. (Top tip for a happy marriage - get a job that pays enough that you can get a cleaner. Failing that, train your family properly from the start.) Even when her selfish bratty daughters move back in, she lets them walk all over her.

This is all told from Lucy’s point of view, and unfortunately I had zero sympathy, especially given the hypocrisy of falling in lust with your builder then complaining that your husband is charmed by another woman. I also didn’t find any of the jokes or situations remotely funny. There are terrible puns and Dad (or should that be Mum?) jokes all the way through that just made me cringe.
The outcome is completely predictable and I was uncomfortable with the reasons behind Lucy’s ultimate choice, again maybe it was supposed to be funny, but imagine the roles being reversed (no spoilers so I can’t explain.)
I didn’t really like any of the characters apart from Pip and BC.

It is however well written, and I did enjoy the descriptions of the Kent countryside and cottage. It’s not too long and the dialogue was well done.
Please don’t let my antipathy for this genre put you off - I chose it because I was expecting something different, but it you enjoy this kind of frothy chook-lit then definitely give it a go. I’ll go back to my mystery thrillers and try to remember not to request anything with the word “romantic” in the blurb ever again.

Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ARC.
All opinions are my own.