At first infuriating, but ultimately uplifting, this story about Viv moving forward in the midst of menopause and marriage falling apart will be great for anyone looking for a change of pace from the typical young and looking-into-the-future romances.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for a gifted copy of this book.

Unfortunately, I DNF at 35%. This is very character driven and it's way too slow for me. It's like reading diary entries. I was hoping to push through but it just really isn't for me.

Firstly, I would like to thank Avon Books UK for the copy they sent through the post for my review and to be apart of the blog tour.
If you are looking for a lighthearted and funny read (which I am sure we can all do with at the moment) then look no further. I was chuckling from the first page.
Viv is one of those women that you could imagine yourself sitting with over a glass or two of wine having a good chat about the days events and trading gossip. Her life is not at all how she wants it to be and just as her marriage ends, is the same time she decides to give it another go herself. Aided by her good friend Penny, a very eccentric lady I might add, she knows she needs to create a new life for herself. Strong and determined Viv gets to it and is in for some laughs along the way. What I like about Fiona's characters are that they become friends, you can imagine them actually doing everything that is described.
When Life Gives You Lemons is just as good as Fiona's past books. Her writing style is so easy to read and hooks you in, having you laughing out loud, so beware where you read this.

To tell the truth, I was a little daunted when I discovered that the protagonist is a fifty-something woman in the throes of menopause. I mean, how could I relate to that? Answer: with difficulty. But that didn’t stop me from really enjoying this gem of a read from Gibson.

Oh, did Viv make me laugh. Gibson expertly creates a very entertaining monologue and hearing Viv’s inner thoughts on everything around her. Viv’s one-liners are hilarious and they had me chuckling. I actually wanted more comedy from this character but I could see why Gibson reined it in. This story was more about a woman’s growth and establishing her true identity after being stuck in a marriage that lost its spark a long time ago.

The supporting cast of characters are all very colourful. This helps lighten the atmosphere of what could potentially be seen as a rather bleak narrative: menopausal woman who is dissatisfied with her job, and her husband has had an affair. Instead, Viv’s friends provide a range of diversions and help bring out Viv’s true personality. Rose’s interpretation of providing Viv with a new title at work was comical and patronising at the same time; Penny is inspirational; and Nick seemed to be the fresh air that Viv needs. All in all, I think the story would have taken a very different turn if these supporting characters had not been so vivid.

This was a well-written story and I enjoyed how the narrative progressed to a natural finish. There was a key event, which I find typical in similar “growth” stories. It was pleasing to see this “deadline” drive the narrative forwards; as such, it did not make the story feel stagnant. Indeed, within chapters there are time periods and it helped to see the passage of time with regards to Viv’s reinvention.

Once again I have had the pleasure of discovering a new author. Consequence? The rest of Gibson’s back catalogue on my reading list! This was a lovely read and one that I completely enjoyed. I think Viv is a woman who many readers out there can relate to, whatever the age, given her humour and gradual approach to life. I loved the vivacity of the protagonist and it felt like I was watching a friend over the course of a year.

With thanks to Netgalley and Avon books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Despite being over 20 years younger than lead character Viv I absolutely loved this book.
I instantly felt a need to want to protect Viv who is suffering from menopause - hot flushes, night sweats etc to find that her husband Andy has been having an affair with fellow medical professional Dr Estelle Lang.
What ensues is Viv’s journey of single parenthood, rediscovering her own identity and a blossoming independence!

Fiona Gibson writes in such witty humour that you can’t help but laugh out loud, while also feeling the emotions of Viv. A special mention needs to go out to Penny who I would love to be friends with, a no nonsense attitude to life we should all adopt.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

When life gives you lemons by Fiona Gibson.

Viv is in her mid fifties and is extremely menopausal. Andy is her disagreeable grumpy husband, who is a doctor. Andy is also extremely disagreeable, uninterested and Discompassionate about Viv’s menopausal life. Furthermore Viv is quite unsettled in her life at present whilst she doesn’t really know which way is up,

The bones of the story are very good however the book is long winded before it gets to the point of the narrative. It all comes together in the last 2 chapters.
The middle portion of the book you kept expecting the story to go further but it didn’t and just fell flat. However it all drew together in the last few chapters which were amazingly well written. This is what you expected from the rest of the book but it wasn’t produced.

I really enjoyed this book. When Viv enters the menopause, the change of life couldn't be more appropriate. She finds out her husband is having an affair and her life literally changes.
She needs a change and unexpected meetings and circumstances lead to a new challenge which changes the focus of her life. We meet Viv's friends and neighbours and fall in love with all the twists and turns they bring.
A really enjoyable read for women of a certain age....whatever age that is!

Viv is a lovely realistic character, so easy to like. When she finds out her husband is having an affair, it forces her to look at her life. Heartbroken, struggling to cope with her understandable anger, her dissatisfaction with life, and the menopause, she turns to her friends. Gradually Viv finds the courage to rediscover, the woman she is, and the life she wants.

Full of authentic family life moments, humour, poignancy and an unexpected dash of romance, this book is an easy, engaging read that makes you alternatively, empathise, and laugh out loud. The characters are vibrant and realistic, and the situations relatable. The well-paced plot keeps you entertained and the ending is hopeful.

I received a copy of this book from Avon Books UK in return for an honest review.

Full disclosure, the title was what first caught my interest and made me want to read this book. I mean who doesn't love a gin and tonic, right? Once I was introduced to Viv and her sweet daughter Izzy I was hooked. Viv had me rooting for her from the beginning and wishing I could be one of her Mom friends. This book was laugh out loud funny - seriously I was LOLing on the couch while I read it. It was also very sweet, and memorable. One of my favorite things was Viv's sassy internal dialogue - you go girl!! What can I say, I loved this book. Get this book on your must-read list and you won't be disappointed. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I feel a little bit conflicted writing this review. I really like Fiona Gibson books and she has a very easy quality about her writing but in all honesty this wasn’t one of my favourites of hers.

Viv is our lead character and is of a ‘certain age’ shall we say. There were numerous mentions of menopausal symptoms which at times were funny but at others a little too much. Her husband is an absolute idiot and she ends up newly single while her husband moves in with his new girlfriend.

I didn’t particularly warm to any of the characters and although the storyline was perfectly readable it just all felt a little contrived. I finished the book and there were certainly moments I found the book amusing, but overall it just wasn’t memorable enough and I ended up feeling a little disappointed

I do love Fiona Gibson and her writing. I needed a book that would pick me up make me smile and give me all the feels and this book literally did that. It got me out of my reading funk. I loved the feel good factor about the book and it made me think that there are good people still in this world.

So the story, we follow Viv an older lady who has had her rolled knocked by her cheating husband leaving for another woman, having the start of menopause and well her job isn’t exactly doing it for her anymore.

Throw in some fabulous friends, a brilliant idea, a hunky male and maybe a gin or two and you literally have a book that makes you smile, laugh and want to shout at the male counterpart! The characters made the book enjoyable, I loved the side characters, Viv’s daughter Izzy and her cooking, which I found really cute!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as I said it had everything in it to get me out of a reading funk. I loved Viv as a character, she had a knock but she got back up stronger and ready to fight for what she wants and a side project as well that she gave everything to.

After Viv found an interest in her friends old work Girl Friday, a fashion brand she made it her mission to bring it back to life and have a fashion show. This book is definitely celebrating women and the friendships and love that we have for one another.

I liked how the characters came together, that it was a feel good book. That they supported one another and that it was relatable and definitely made me think about the support I have around me. The writing flowed and I was literally glued to this book from start to finish.

Took me ages to get into this and finish it. It was ok but it didn't grip me. I liked Viv the main character and her struggles .and triumphs...but instead of being compelled to read I found this novel a bit of a chore. Funny in places.

This is my first time reading a Fiona Gibson book and I am not sorry that I picked this up.

Viv is married, has a son in his 20's and a daughter that is 9. Take on a job that is sub-par and the fact that she is in the throws of menopause. She expects her husband, Andy, to be more understanding when he snipes at her for hormones that are out of her control. The icing on the cake is finding out that her husband is actually having an affair.

This story takes us through the trials and tribulations of divorce, trying to figure out who you really are, be a good mom, friend, and no longer settling. Throw in her friend Penny, and you have the makings of a wonderful story.

Definitely one-click this now to check it out.

I liked the sound of this book as this woman was a similar age to myself and I thought it would be relatable. It was, to a certain extent.

Viv is married to Andy, who decides that someone else's bed is more comfy than his own. This throws all sorts of spanners in the works of a life that is a fairly normal one when you have been married for 25 years. Through the processing of Andy's affair, Viv discovers that she has very good friends around her and there IS more to her, than dutiful wife and mother.

I like that Viv starts to explore what she wants a little more, she certainly has her eyes opened. I found some of the parts of the book dragged a bit for me - yes, what happened was awful but she went on and on about it a bit much. I appreciated that the author made this book about Viv, and didn't send her on a quest to find a new man in her life or something, as some of these books tend to do. The characters were well written, I even started to like Ludo a little bit by the end!

This book was an easy read.

4 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books.

This was an okay read. I liked it but I didn't find myself head over heels for Viv and I really struggled to relate to her character. But I think it was a decent quick read.

This book is a great for a super cute and light read with the added bonus of giving you a healthy dose of female empowerment.

🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 Thank you @netgalley for this copy.

I absoloutley loved this book it's about a woman called Viv who is in her early 50s with a husband son who now doesn't live at home in his early 20s and an 8 year old daughter called izzy.
She thinks her live is ok just rolling along until she discovers her husband has been cheating. On her he promises he is now longer seeing this woman then all of a sudden says he's leaving.

And her life seems stuck in a job she doesn't really like, going through the menopause. What else is she going to do.with her life.

But suddenly things get exciting after chatting to her friend penny and her son who has arrived from new Zealand.

Maybe life isn't so bad after all with lots of laughter along the way. A really enjoyable read

I absolutely adore Fiona's work and I have read every book that she has released to date. When I heard that Fiona was due to release another book called 'When Life Gives You Lemons', I read the synopsis and I just knew that I had to grab a copy of the book as soon as possible. It sounded just like the funny and light hearted read that I so desperately needed. I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'When Life Gives You Lemons' but more about that in a bit.
I took to the character of Viv from the first time I met her and by the time I got to the third of the way through the book I had begun to think of her as a friend. She's the sort of woman I could imagine having a good bitching session with over a few glasses of wine or a few glasses of gin. Viv is a lovely lady, who at the start of the book is married to a man called Andy and they have two children together. Their youngest child came as something of a surprise and Viv didn't expect to be the mother of a young child a the same time as going through the menopause. Viv is sent a curveball in the form of her husband admitting that he has been having an affair. Initially Viv becomes obsessed with the other woman but eventually Viv decides to make a go of their marriage. Andy has other ideas though. It was at this point that I wanted to jump inside the pages of the book to chase after Andy with a pair of blunt and rusty scissors to remove a certain part of his anatomy. After a little period of time, Viv realises that she needs to get out there and create a new life along the way, whilst having fun and lots of laughter. Viv is aided and abetted by her slightly eccentric but totally lovely friend Penny.
Oh my word, 'When Life Gives You Lemons' was just the tonic I needed, at a time when I was feeling a bit low and in need of a feel good and fun read. In all honesty I haven't laughed as much during a book as I laughed whilst reading this book. On several occasions, I found myself randomly chuckling at something I had read, which attracted some funny looks from the other passengers on the bus I was travelling on at the time. I found it nigh on impossible to put this book down. The book wasn't exactly glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it travelled everywhere with me. The book had developed a hold over me and it was a hold that I just wasn't willing to break. The pages of the book turned increasingly quickly as my desperation to find out whether or not Viv managed to create a new and better life for herself, steadily grew and grew. I had everything crossed that Viv would find the happiness that she so deserved.
'When Life Gives You Lemons' is superbly written but then I think that to be true of all of Fiona's books. Fiona has a writing style that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. The author certainly knows how to grab your attention from the start and draws you into the story. She creates kick ass, strong female lead characters and sends them on a journey of discovery. There's lots of drama, humour and lots of fun along the way. Reading 'When Life Gives You Lemons' felt more like a chat between friends rather than me reading a book. Fiona uses such vivid and realistic descriptions that I felt as though I was part of the story myself.
Reading 'When Life Gives You Lemons' was a pleasure and I enjoyed every single second of it. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to other readers. I will definitely be reading more of Fiona's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

I feel a bit meh about this book. For Viv being in her fifties, her voice sounded more like she was a petulant teenager. I just didn't understand some of her actions. I also don't know a lot about menopause personally but I have seen my mother go through it and her experience compared to Viv's was just so...different, and not in a good sense. I'm not saying that menopause isn't different for everyone but rather that I wish it would have been more...expanded on in a way?
The pacing in the beginning was also very slow and dragged a few times, but it thankfully picked up towards the latter half of the book.
I just think this story wasn't for me and that's okay.
I did enjoy the writing style overall though and wouldn't be opposed to reading another book by the author.

What a warm and wonderful book this was to really pull you into the heart of the story and entertain and delight. I felt that the writing welcomed me in like an old friend and allowed me to quietly sit on the sidelines and watch the characters reflect and grow.

Speaking of characters, this book provided so many fascinating creations I began to lose count. But Viv was the perfect leading lady to take centre stage in this story....from taking charge of one lonely pube on her bosses toilet seat halfway across the world to organising a triumphant fashion show in honour of her friend Penny, she showed that she could take on the world. A cheating husband and menopausal hit flushes were a mere side distraction for our super hero who took her life back and created her own unique lemonade.

This book truly has something for everyone. It's warm and witty with a colourful set of characters that will leave you wanting more. I thoroughly enjoyed this little gem of a read and I know you will too.