Lucy's Launderette

by Betsy Burke

Love. Betrayal. Forgiveness. Redemption. And Fabric Softener.

Lucy Madison's life is spinning out of control. After her grandfather crashes his motorcycle for the last time, this frustrated artist is left picking up the pieces (not to mention holding the ashes). But fulfilling his dying wish of befriending his pregnant girlfriend turns out to be even less fun than she expected. Add to that the return of her, uh, unstable brother, the tyranny of her nasty roommate, and the fact that boyfriend number…whatever, has turned out to be Mr. Not in This Lifetime, and Lucy knows it's time to switch cycles.

Good thing Grandpa left her his launderette. It's the perfect place to sort through her mess, focus on her art and start fresh. Isn't it?

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Womens Fiction

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2003

Reviews

[ShyAnn64 · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Lucy's Launderette" deals with Lucy, whose life was not going anywhere as her job at an Art Gallery was anything but inspiring, her love life was at a standstill and her beloved grandfather, Jeremy, recently died. Not to mention, she has a psychotic brother who is constantly terrorizing her. After Jeremy died, he left a note for Lucy to take care of his pregnant girlfriend, Connie. Both Lucy and Connie do not get along well but each needed the other to get through the tough times together. Soon, Lucy quits her job at the gallery and decided to run Jeremy's run down launderette and she has an idea to transform it.

[Shari · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not realistic

Being not realistic is only part of the problem. Nothing but unhealthy relationships throughout and this was a library book in a section for humorous novels, and there wasn't anything even mildly funny. What I disliked the most was how a paragraph would end seemingly in mid thought or mid sentence and then a new paragraph would begin in a totally different time and place. It was very disconcerting.

[Geri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lucy is an artist. It takes the death of her beloved grandfather to remind her. Begrudgingly befriending her grandfather's pregnant girlfriend gives her a fantastic idea to get her painting again.

One of my favorite scenes is when she breaks various digits off the chocolate statues in an act of vengeance, makes another round breaking off nibbles here and there eating as she roams then empties her desk and quits her job.

[Alexandra Woodward · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring

[Marj · Rating 1 out of 5]

NFM

[Marcie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought I'd take old book off of my tbr shelf that have been there for years and finally read some of them. I guess I'm not into chick-lit anymore, this is one of them. I couldn't get through it.

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I read the back, wasn't sure why I picked this one up.

[Karschtl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot to take for Lucy: the death of her beloved grandfather, whose young girlfriend is pregnant; dad's gone crazy and turned into a rocker, the brother was already crazy and is threatening her; her roommate is mean (and skinny!), her boss is even meaner and treats her like a slave. Her passion - painting - is almost forgotten.

On top of that sex with Mr. Wonderful isn't so wonderful at all (lasts only 3 seconds!!), and no love is involved there.

Rescue comes in form of the launderette from her grandpa: Lucy has a plan to freshen this place up, and a lot of people to help her too. But will this also help her to find the "true" love in the end?

I found it very amusing and entertaining.

[Jasmine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unclear if I'm going to finish this one. Lucy is getting on my nerves, most of the other characters are terrible, and I'm 1/3 of the way in and the damn launderette hasn't even come up yet.

Okay, I actually finished the book and it just made me mad. The launderette finally shows up at halfway through the book and it was good for about 50 pages, and then the crap with her bipolar brother and the annoying love interest starts up again and made finish the book with a lot of eye rolls. Yuck.

Also, there were a ton of unnecessary storylines there for God knows what reason, and I hated that the bitchy boss's eating disorder is played for laughs and for Lucy to win an argument with. And of course, Lucy magically loses weight once she figures out her life!

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first Canadian chick-lit I've read - it wasn't much different from the American genre, really, and for the most part it was an easy, enjoyable story.

At the beginning, I felt like I'd been thrown into a mess (who is Anna? Why does everyone have to have a nickname? What happened to Jeremy, Lucy's grandfather?), but things sorted themselves out, even though it took forever to get to the bit about the launderette. It seemed funny to me that such a cool idea for a coin wash could come from a rather dull character (honestly, I found Lucy's friends much more interesting).

I wish I had more to say, but there's really nothing ground-breaking here, just a typical chick-lit story.

[Rosie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read 50 pages of this and it was one of the stupidest things I have read in a long long time. Not going to finish it. I shouldnt have spent the time reading 50 pages.

Too busy and too stupid. Every paragraph has non stop stupid action going on, never taking a breath. It isnt even realistic.

thumbs down. Boo.

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Also in my big box of cheap books, this was a fun, fluffy read. There were plenty of flaws, but the main character was quite engaging, and I enjoyed her creative plan for making over her life. The love interest wasn't fleshed out much, but there were several secondary characters who were very well drawn. A fun way to spend a couple of hours.

[Bree · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were too many slow parts in this book. I skipped some paragraph feeling as if they were unnecessary. It took me longer to read the book then a Red Dress Ink normally takes me. I normally love the Red Dress Ink books but this one has been one of my least favorites.

[CharityJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read some of the other books in the Red Dress series and liked them but this one was awful. Poorly written, underdeveloped characters, jumps in the plot where it feels like parts of the story are missing and an ending that is too quickly and neatly wrapped up.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a buck, at a used book store it filled my brain while the kids watched cartoons at the Hotel, during our vacation! It takes place in Canada, a girl whose life hasn't started yet, gets some twists and turns that ends up a a launderette!

[Charity · Rating 2 out of 5]

Blah, compared with other Red Dress Ink books. Seemed like plot development took FOREVER.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute read. This is the first book I've read by this particular author and I have to say it certainly won't be the last.

[Heather Colacurcio · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I would refer to as a "fluff" book, but cute and entertaining none the less. Good as a summer read.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this chick lit. Good characters, nice story. It was a little slow moving, but it all came together in the end.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, you get to feel bored in the first chapters of the book but after a while you'll get hooked to it. All in all It's a feel good book.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and enjoyable read.

[Stephanie]

Enjoyable, quick beach read.

[Stefanie Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

""

[Ld Dupes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute fluffy read about family - complicated as they are! Lucy learns what is important to her and what isn’t as she deals with a death.