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HRT: Husband Replacement Therapy
Ruby has always been the generous mediator among her friends, family and colleagues, which is why they have all turned up to celebrate her 50th birthday. But after a few too many glasses of champers, Ruby’s speech doesn’t exactly go to plan. Instead of delivering the witty and warm words her guests are expecting, Ruby takes her moment in the spotlight to reveal what she really thinks of every one of them. She also accuses her husband, Harry, of having an affair.
Saving the best till last, Ruby lambasts her octogenarian mother for a lifetime of playing her three daughters against each other. It’s blisteringly brutal. As the stunned gathering gawks at Ruby, the birthday girl concludes her bravura monologue with the throwaway comment that she has terminal cancer. She has cashed in her life savings and plans on taking her two sisters cruising into the sunset for a dose of Husband Replacement Therapy. Courageous? Or ruthlessly selfish?
But, do they even want to go with her now that she's cast herself off into social Siberia?
Saving the best till last, Ruby lambasts her octogenarian mother for a lifetime of playing her three daughters against each other. It’s blisteringly brutal. As the stunned gathering gawks at Ruby, the birthday girl concludes her bravura monologue with the throwaway comment that she has terminal cancer. She has cashed in her life savings and plans on taking her two sisters cruising into the sunset for a dose of Husband Replacement Therapy. Courageous? Or ruthlessly selfish?
But, do they even want to go with her now that she's cast herself off into social Siberia?
292 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 28, 2020
146 people are currently reading
471 people want to read
About the author
Kathy Lette
62 books245 followersKathy Lette divides her time between being a full time writer,
demented mother (now there's a tautology) and trying to find a shopping trolley that doesn't have a clubbed wheel.
Kathy first achieved succés de scandale as a teenager with the novel Puberty Blues, now a major motion picture.
After several years as a singer with the Salami Sisters and a newspaper columnist in Sydney and New York (collected in the book "Hit and Ms") and as a television sitcom writer for Columbia Pictures in Los Angeles, her novels, "Puberty Blues" (1979) "Girls Night Out" (1988), "The Llama Parlour" (1991), "Foetal Attraction" (1993), "Mad Cows" (1996),"Altar Ego" (1998) "Nip'N'Tuck" (2001), "Dead Sexy" (2003) and "How To Kill Your Husband (and other handy household hints)" (2006) became international best-sellers. Kathy Lette's plays include "Grommits", "Wet Dreams", "Perfect Mismatch" and "I'm So Happy For You I Really Am".
She lives in London with her husband and two children and has just finished a stint as writer in Residence at London's Savoy Hotel.
Kathy says that the best thing about being a writer is that you get to work in your jammies all day, drink heavily on the job and have affairs and call it research! (Although her husband says he should have the affair as it would give her a better book!)
demented mother (now there's a tautology) and trying to find a shopping trolley that doesn't have a clubbed wheel.
Kathy first achieved succés de scandale as a teenager with the novel Puberty Blues, now a major motion picture.
After several years as a singer with the Salami Sisters and a newspaper columnist in Sydney and New York (collected in the book "Hit and Ms") and as a television sitcom writer for Columbia Pictures in Los Angeles, her novels, "Puberty Blues" (1979) "Girls Night Out" (1988), "The Llama Parlour" (1991), "Foetal Attraction" (1993), "Mad Cows" (1996),"Altar Ego" (1998) "Nip'N'Tuck" (2001), "Dead Sexy" (2003) and "How To Kill Your Husband (and other handy household hints)" (2006) became international best-sellers. Kathy Lette's plays include "Grommits", "Wet Dreams", "Perfect Mismatch" and "I'm So Happy For You I Really Am".
She lives in London with her husband and two children and has just finished a stint as writer in Residence at London's Savoy Hotel.
Kathy says that the best thing about being a writer is that you get to work in your jammies all day, drink heavily on the job and have affairs and call it research! (Although her husband says he should have the affair as it would give her a better book!)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 153 reviews
June 23, 2020
The best laugh-a-minute read (for the first few hours) I’ve had in a long time!
However, on the downside a book written entirely of cliches becomes a bit excessive by halfway.
If only I could remember one or two of the one-liners - they were truly excellent. Reading it between a few other serious books would be ideal.
However, on the downside a book written entirely of cliches becomes a bit excessive by halfway.
If only I could remember one or two of the one-liners - they were truly excellent. Reading it between a few other serious books would be ideal.
June 22, 2020
3.5
This was my first Katy Lette novel. I've seen her in many interviews over the years and admired her -she's a vivacious, loquacious, direct woman, who doesn't shy away from being direct while also being funny, self-deprecating, and cute(sy).
Most women of a certain age or close to a certain age will probably identify with any of the three sisters, now in their fifties. Midlife crisis is something that happens to women just as much as it happens to men, if not more.
When Ruby is diagnosed as terminally ill on her fiftieth birthday, she gets drunk and spills her guts to friends, her mother, work colleagues and boss, managing to alienate pretty much everyone in her life. On her birthday she also discovers that her husband was cheating on her. Life couldn't get any worse.
Which is why, under the influence of alcohol, she booked an all-expenses-paid cruise for her and her two older sisters.
Filled with quips, puns and wry observations, this novel was both amusing, and tiresome, at times.
Jennifer Vuletic, the narrator of this audiobook, did an excellent job.
This was my first Katy Lette novel. I've seen her in many interviews over the years and admired her -she's a vivacious, loquacious, direct woman, who doesn't shy away from being direct while also being funny, self-deprecating, and cute(sy).
Most women of a certain age or close to a certain age will probably identify with any of the three sisters, now in their fifties. Midlife crisis is something that happens to women just as much as it happens to men, if not more.
When Ruby is diagnosed as terminally ill on her fiftieth birthday, she gets drunk and spills her guts to friends, her mother, work colleagues and boss, managing to alienate pretty much everyone in her life. On her birthday she also discovers that her husband was cheating on her. Life couldn't get any worse.
Which is why, under the influence of alcohol, she booked an all-expenses-paid cruise for her and her two older sisters.
Filled with quips, puns and wry observations, this novel was both amusing, and tiresome, at times.
Jennifer Vuletic, the narrator of this audiobook, did an excellent job.
June 14, 2020
DNF. I usually love and enjoy Kathy Lette's writing, but this one was just too much for me. Exaggerated, over-the-top, improbable, and the worst - not very funny, which is practically the only reason to read Lette's novels. Instead of funny you get nasty. Instead of the sharp touches of bitterness here and there, you get hateful characters that you can't stand. I wonder what mother could read what the main character says to her kids and not flinch. There is a difference between tough love and cruelty, lack of empathy and emotional abandonment. As I said, it was all too much for me and I had to give up on the rest.
June 2, 2020
Reading this book was exhausting...the nonstop observational commentary only served to heighten the lack of emotional depth and detract from an interesting premise.
May 19, 2020
This book has good bones, the plot points are interesting and twisty enough to not be entirely predictable however it is overwritten (probably about 70 pages too long) and the writing style is a bit stale. It feels like a book that was written in the 90s, touting relationship and gender tropes from the era that just don't ring true anymore and instead of feeling nostalgic (which it might have if it was set in the 90s), it just feels a little trite. I am also not a fan of writers trying to be "current" by writing in current events or overusing colloquial language supposedly popular among the youth of today - millennials don't run around saying "woke" every 2 minutes or think pubic hair is a turn off.
The dialogue is not realistic and many jokes that would have been funny are over explained which seemingly defeats the purpose of the joke. The characters are stereotypes, two dimensional with little depth.
There was times when I did laugh out loud and there was the occasional chapter that made it seem like the tone of the book was changing and I got excited but that feeling was short lived.
I certainly didn't hate the book, but I also didn't necessarily enjoy it either - It felt like a bit of a chore to get to the end. Chapter 30 was especially tedious, repetitive and completely unrealistic.
Basically, if you want a bed time story for adult females that is uncomplicated then read this - if you want anything more choose a different book.
The dialogue is not realistic and many jokes that would have been funny are over explained which seemingly defeats the purpose of the joke. The characters are stereotypes, two dimensional with little depth.
There was times when I did laugh out loud and there was the occasional chapter that made it seem like the tone of the book was changing and I got excited but that feeling was short lived.
I certainly didn't hate the book, but I also didn't necessarily enjoy it either - It felt like a bit of a chore to get to the end. Chapter 30 was especially tedious, repetitive and completely unrealistic.
Basically, if you want a bed time story for adult females that is uncomplicated then read this - if you want anything more choose a different book.
June 10, 2020
HRT: Husband Replacement Therapy
by Kathy Lette
I'm not a fan of romances, but I do like reading Kathy Lette's books. Lette is master of the over stated, her characters takes no prisoners and always say what's on their mind no matter what the consequences. HRT is about Ruby who has just been told she has terminal cancer. Needless to say Ruby after a few too many glasses of champers, delivers a speech that isn't the witty and warm words her guests were expecting, Ruby takes her moment in the spotlight to reveal what she really thinks of every one of them. She also accuses her husband, Harry, of having an affair, and reads to the audience the evidence she found on his phone that very morning.
Saving the best till last, Ruby lambasts her calculating octogenarian mother for a lifetime of playing her three daughters against each other. It’s blisteringly brutal. As the stunned gathering gawks at Ruby, the birthday girl concludes her bravura monologue with the throwaway comment that she has terminal cancer. She has cashed in her life savings and plans on taking her two sisters cruising until she dies. Courageous? Or ruthlessly selfish?
This was hysterically funny and a great read, one fans of Marian Keyes will love. Think Bridget Jones during menopause.
by Kathy Lette
I'm not a fan of romances, but I do like reading Kathy Lette's books. Lette is master of the over stated, her characters takes no prisoners and always say what's on their mind no matter what the consequences. HRT is about Ruby who has just been told she has terminal cancer. Needless to say Ruby after a few too many glasses of champers, delivers a speech that isn't the witty and warm words her guests were expecting, Ruby takes her moment in the spotlight to reveal what she really thinks of every one of them. She also accuses her husband, Harry, of having an affair, and reads to the audience the evidence she found on his phone that very morning.
Saving the best till last, Ruby lambasts her calculating octogenarian mother for a lifetime of playing her three daughters against each other. It’s blisteringly brutal. As the stunned gathering gawks at Ruby, the birthday girl concludes her bravura monologue with the throwaway comment that she has terminal cancer. She has cashed in her life savings and plans on taking her two sisters cruising until she dies. Courageous? Or ruthlessly selfish?
This was hysterically funny and a great read, one fans of Marian Keyes will love. Think Bridget Jones during menopause.
May 23, 2020
Amusing in parts but overall I found the storyline and main characters annoying and ridiculous.
June 19, 2020
2.5 stars
I'm sorry to say I am a little disappointed in this book by Kathy Lette.
The story line was good but all the extra little quips came a bit too thick for my taste.
I'm sorry to say I am a little disappointed in this book by Kathy Lette.
The story line was good but all the extra little quips came a bit too thick for my taste.
December 10, 2020
Pretty light and fun but Lette’s writing style is just not for me. The constant metaphors, similes and wisecracks aren’t in any way believable as dialogue and push you right out of engaging with the story. If I was trying to have a conversation with someone and they kept punning and ad-libbing like Ruby does, I think I’d just have to walk away.
May 2, 2020
Loved it. An absolute hoot. Kathy never disappoints!
July 1, 2020
Great premise but fell over in the execution. Despite hating the early chapters and wishing it would be over soon the book did improve towards the end. I think this was because it took a long time to warm to the characters. Lots of off colour one liners. Definitely not my favourite Kathy Lettes.
May 28, 2023
Hillarious, laugh out loud audiobook!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it was a
laugh a minute, entertaining family drama and realistic banter between sisters.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it was a
laugh a minute, entertaining family drama and realistic banter between sisters.
December 20, 2021
A silly book for the silly season chosen by my book club. I must state at the outset that I am not a fan of Kathy Lette's writing, though I have only read her newspaper column, not one of her novels before. But this did nothing to dispel that notion. It is overwrought and implausible. Did we really need to know how many slang terms there are for a clitoris?
I have given it two stars instead of one because there is a kernel of truth in there about how women of a certain age are taken for granted.
I have given it two stars instead of one because there is a kernel of truth in there about how women of a certain age are taken for granted.
February 21, 2024
Classic Kathy Lette. Predictable and pun-filled. Easy holiday reading that just warrants 3 stars
September 9, 2020
Have you ever listened to an audiobook that made you laugh so much you are sure everyone who saw you thought you were some kind of crazy person? Well, let me tell you, this book will do that!
Ruby turns 50, gets drunk at her birthday bash and decides that it’s the perfect time to give the best birthday speech I’ve ever heard. Fuelled by the discovery on her husbands phone that morning of texts from some stiff nippled “bit on the side”, Ruby takes no prisoners in a speech that I listened to on repeat three times because it is that funny 😂 . She makes the most of the audience of friends and family to let them all know exactly what she thinks of them. What do they say ~ drunk words are sober thoughts.
To finish it off Ruby informs them of her cancer diagnosis and her now limited life expectancy. Rather than wallow in the aftermath of her speech and it’s impacts, Ruby takes her life savings and buys tickets for her and her two sisters to take a cruise. To spend precious time together and resolve any issues that have built up over many years of living with their difficult and derisive mother. The sisters don’t want to go but how could they deny their dying sister this trip?
What follows is an absolute laugh a minute, honest and sometimes brutal story about life, relationships, family and what happens to “women of a certain age” when they realise their life has not taken the path they thought it might. When their careers, sex life, body and relationships have all failed to deliver on the expectations that were set in their younger days.
This book is like a night out with your girlfriends. You will laugh, cry, get angry, ponder whether a hot young man can fix your troubles and maybe drink too much. You will hear things you didn’t want to hear but laugh so hard when you do hear them.
If you have an open mind, love a laugh at the mundane reality of most people’s everyday lives then you will love this book too.
Warning ⚠️ just don’t listen or read in a public place. You may get a few strange looks.
Ruby turns 50, gets drunk at her birthday bash and decides that it’s the perfect time to give the best birthday speech I’ve ever heard. Fuelled by the discovery on her husbands phone that morning of texts from some stiff nippled “bit on the side”, Ruby takes no prisoners in a speech that I listened to on repeat three times because it is that funny 😂 . She makes the most of the audience of friends and family to let them all know exactly what she thinks of them. What do they say ~ drunk words are sober thoughts.
To finish it off Ruby informs them of her cancer diagnosis and her now limited life expectancy. Rather than wallow in the aftermath of her speech and it’s impacts, Ruby takes her life savings and buys tickets for her and her two sisters to take a cruise. To spend precious time together and resolve any issues that have built up over many years of living with their difficult and derisive mother. The sisters don’t want to go but how could they deny their dying sister this trip?
What follows is an absolute laugh a minute, honest and sometimes brutal story about life, relationships, family and what happens to “women of a certain age” when they realise their life has not taken the path they thought it might. When their careers, sex life, body and relationships have all failed to deliver on the expectations that were set in their younger days.
This book is like a night out with your girlfriends. You will laugh, cry, get angry, ponder whether a hot young man can fix your troubles and maybe drink too much. You will hear things you didn’t want to hear but laugh so hard when you do hear them.
If you have an open mind, love a laugh at the mundane reality of most people’s everyday lives then you will love this book too.
Warning ⚠️ just don’t listen or read in a public place. You may get a few strange looks.
January 27, 2022
The book opens at Ruby's 50th birthday party, with drunk Ruby on stage telling all her family, friends and colleagues what she really thinks of them. It's not flattering. She's unspooling because she's just discovered her husband's infidelity and her terminal cancer diagnosis.
In her state, she books a suite on a cruiseship then guilts her sisters into going along, supposedly to fix their fractured relationships while she still can. However, she doesn't tell them that her diagnosis was a mistake, and all the bonding is built on a foundation of deceit.
Their time on the cruise ship is funny and ridiculous. The sisters realise some aspects of their lives need to change. Once they dock, will they actually change anything though? And that takes us into Act 3 of this novel, where family issues are faced and one nightmare Christmas brings everything to a head.
The book premise is a ridiculous concept but for the sake of an enjoyable read I decided to go with it. The story was funny at first, but IMO it then proceeded through cringeworthy and whiney, before being abruptly wound up. I didn't enjoy the characters, the story, or the writing style.
In her state, she books a suite on a cruiseship then guilts her sisters into going along, supposedly to fix their fractured relationships while she still can. However, she doesn't tell them that her diagnosis was a mistake, and all the bonding is built on a foundation of deceit.
Their time on the cruise ship is funny and ridiculous. The sisters realise some aspects of their lives need to change. Once they dock, will they actually change anything though? And that takes us into Act 3 of this novel, where family issues are faced and one nightmare Christmas brings everything to a head.
The book premise is a ridiculous concept but for the sake of an enjoyable read I decided to go with it. The story was funny at first, but IMO it then proceeded through cringeworthy and whiney, before being abruptly wound up. I didn't enjoy the characters, the story, or the writing style.
July 27, 2022
It started out as 4 stars and lost a few along the way. It was funny which is by far the best part of the book, I found the rest of the book was very shallow and dragged on and on quite a lot. Just baring that in mind it became a 3 star read but the ending… it annoyed me so much the book lost a whole extra star.
Why can women in books not just be fabulous and fancy free? It was shit the way she broke it off with her husband so publicly but I could get over that because she was embarking on a wild new journey, on her own, to do all the things she always wanted to do. To be free and unfettered in the wilderness but no. She ends up shackled to the guy who publicly humiliated her on a boat and didn’t care enough about her to see if he, a doctor, could help her at all when he thought she had cancer.
Apart from those disappointments it was funny and the person who narrates it did a good job.
Why can women in books not just be fabulous and fancy free? It was shit the way she broke it off with her husband so publicly but I could get over that because she was embarking on a wild new journey, on her own, to do all the things she always wanted to do. To be free and unfettered in the wilderness but no. She ends up shackled to the guy who publicly humiliated her on a boat and didn’t care enough about her to see if he, a doctor, could help her at all when he thought she had cancer.
Apart from those disappointments it was funny and the person who narrates it did a good job.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 28, 2020
I started out really enjoying this book - the opening scenes of Ruby's birthday party & her life imploding set up great promise for the book. It was funny & outrageous & set a good tone for the book to continue with. Unfortunately, for me it did not continue along this path. It became over the top, completely unbelievable & cliched. As the story progressed, I began to dislike all of the characters more & more & just wished the book would hurry up & end. The turns that the characters took made me hate them all. I wish that the story had of continued in the way that it started out.
May 27, 2020
Full of cliches, there were times where I laughed out loud and other times I cringed.
Basically it was one of those books I just went along for the ride and didn’t think much about it.
Basically it was one of those books I just went along for the ride and didn’t think much about it.
December 8, 2023
Do not recommend at all.
January 28, 2022
HRT: Husband Replacement Therapy by Kathy Lette
A slight but broadly funny book told in three distinct acts. I wish Lette had resisted the urge to throw in every joke, pun or double entendre and concentrate a little more on advancing the narrative. When coupled with the odd anachronism that betrayed the author’s expat-life, this tendency tended to draw me out of the story periodically.
Still, I enjoyed the ending and ultimately found HRT the kind of light summer read that delivers on its promise of a colourful and fun romantic romp. I won’t complain about an unapologetic book about the delights of women growing old disgracefully, and Lette eschews the usual cliched ending that one might have expected.
⭐ ⭐ ½
A slight but broadly funny book told in three distinct acts. I wish Lette had resisted the urge to throw in every joke, pun or double entendre and concentrate a little more on advancing the narrative. When coupled with the odd anachronism that betrayed the author’s expat-life, this tendency tended to draw me out of the story periodically.
Still, I enjoyed the ending and ultimately found HRT the kind of light summer read that delivers on its promise of a colourful and fun romantic romp. I won’t complain about an unapologetic book about the delights of women growing old disgracefully, and Lette eschews the usual cliched ending that one might have expected.
⭐ ⭐ ½
February 23, 2021
The opening chapters of this book are hilarious and this was a fun and entertaining read from start to finish. I have to admit to it getting a “little weird” and far-fetched in the middle but I think that just serves to highlight the complex nature of most people’s families overall, so with that in mind it was totally believable. Kathy Lette has a knack for reminding the reader that there is more than one way to look at a situation and it’s best not to take life too seriously all of the time.
October 10, 2024
I received an ALC copy of this book from the publisher.
This book made me LOL a lot. I love all the wit and current event jokes. Plus it was such an enjoyable story.
This book made me LOL a lot. I love all the wit and current event jokes. Plus it was such an enjoyable story.
September 23, 2024
Only got a few pages through, not enjoying, so shelving
July 14, 2025
What do you do when you’re dying, your husband's cheating, and your mum pits your sisters against you like it’s a blood sport?
HRT: Husband Replacement Therapy is what happens when dark comedy boards a cruise ship with three women on the verge of emotional arson.
Kathy Lette doesn't hold back: there's betrayal, a terminal diagnosis, lifelong resentment, and a matriarch so emotionally corrosive she makes Disney villains look like gentle parenting advocates.
This was one hell of a ride—equal parts hilarious and horrifying. The humour is razor-sharp, the dialogue unfiltered, and the characters? Messy, bitter, and brilliantly alive. You may not like them, but you won’t forget them.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 stars for the wicked wit and unflinching look at female rage, sisterhood, and what it really means to say “enough.”
HRT: Husband Replacement Therapy is what happens when dark comedy boards a cruise ship with three women on the verge of emotional arson.
Kathy Lette doesn't hold back: there's betrayal, a terminal diagnosis, lifelong resentment, and a matriarch so emotionally corrosive she makes Disney villains look like gentle parenting advocates.
This was one hell of a ride—equal parts hilarious and horrifying. The humour is razor-sharp, the dialogue unfiltered, and the characters? Messy, bitter, and brilliantly alive. You may not like them, but you won’t forget them.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 stars for the wicked wit and unflinching look at female rage, sisterhood, and what it really means to say “enough.”
May 24, 2020
Australian author Kathy Lette is back with her hilarious new novel, Husband Replacement Therapy. Her seventeenth novel is just as witty as her previous one’s, so I had a ball from the moment I opened the first page. Set in Lette’s home country and onboard a cruise ship, the heroine is fifty year old Ruby. While in the past I have shied away from stories featuring older protagonists, the current trend has me eagerly devouring these books. Women of a certain age are still discovering themselves, making mistakes along the way and having a laugh while living an ordinary life. Through Ruby, Lette explores growing old, terminal illness, mother-daughter relationships, sisters, marriage and taking chances with a large dose of humour.
I loved Ruby from the moment I met her at her ‘Fuck it I’m Fifty birthday bash. How could you not adore someone who calls their birthday that? Three sheets to the wind at the celebrations, Ruby showed her true colours. Telling family and friends exactly what she thinks of them, Ruby does not hold back in her accusations against anyone, including her husband Harry. I quickly excused Ruby when I learnt that before her milestone, Ruby had learnt that she had a terminal illness. Who knows how you would react with the same news? Things got more interesting for Ruby when she is told that the diagnosis is a mistake and that while in a drunken haze, she booked a cruise. A cruise for herself and two sisters, Amber and Emerald. Playing the terminal illness card to the hilt, Ruby’s siblings agree to go on the cruise despite her outburst. Frankly, I don’t know if I would, but these sisters had a bond that I admired. They were proof that blood is thicker than water.
While some readers may not agree with Ruby withholding the truth about her illness, I could understand why she did. Here was the opportunity for the three women to come together and forge a stronger bond. After decades of being daughters, wives and mothers, they could find themselves again and have fun at the same time. A chance to throw caution to the wind and do things they would not or could do not in their suburban lives was a time to embrace. Doing it all on a cougar cruise could not be more perfect! Just like real life though, things on the cruise ship often went awry, providing the sisters the opportunity to grow and learn. From sibling spats to medical emergencies to affairs, it will be a holiday to remember.
Will Ruby reveal the truth about her illness? More importantly, will Amber and Emerald forgive her?
Husband Replacement Therapy will leave you feeling good when your days are blue!
I loved Ruby from the moment I met her at her ‘Fuck it I’m Fifty birthday bash. How could you not adore someone who calls their birthday that? Three sheets to the wind at the celebrations, Ruby showed her true colours. Telling family and friends exactly what she thinks of them, Ruby does not hold back in her accusations against anyone, including her husband Harry. I quickly excused Ruby when I learnt that before her milestone, Ruby had learnt that she had a terminal illness. Who knows how you would react with the same news? Things got more interesting for Ruby when she is told that the diagnosis is a mistake and that while in a drunken haze, she booked a cruise. A cruise for herself and two sisters, Amber and Emerald. Playing the terminal illness card to the hilt, Ruby’s siblings agree to go on the cruise despite her outburst. Frankly, I don’t know if I would, but these sisters had a bond that I admired. They were proof that blood is thicker than water.
While some readers may not agree with Ruby withholding the truth about her illness, I could understand why she did. Here was the opportunity for the three women to come together and forge a stronger bond. After decades of being daughters, wives and mothers, they could find themselves again and have fun at the same time. A chance to throw caution to the wind and do things they would not or could do not in their suburban lives was a time to embrace. Doing it all on a cougar cruise could not be more perfect! Just like real life though, things on the cruise ship often went awry, providing the sisters the opportunity to grow and learn. From sibling spats to medical emergencies to affairs, it will be a holiday to remember.
Will Ruby reveal the truth about her illness? More importantly, will Amber and Emerald forgive her?
Husband Replacement Therapy will leave you feeling good when your days are blue!
October 19, 2023
Highly enjoyable story with clear language and some crazy similes etc.
"... a double negative is a complete no-no!"
"My shower's so small, I just soap the walls and spin around."
" ... the heart specialist's diet - if it tastes good, spit it out."
Rare or novel words: "kvetched", "designer-vajazzled", "steatopygous", "remora", "piñata", "vagetarian"
Not quite enough commas for full clarity, and too few "whom".
Other things to annoy a proofreader:
p 12 "the Peninsular" (or do Sydneysiders really call it that in fun?)
p 12 "staring" should be "starring"
p 17 "self-deprecating" probably wants another "i" near the middle
p 34 "millennia" should be "millennium"
p 67 "lay" should be "laid"
p 89 "miniscule"
p 150 incorrect insertion of "to" before "parachute"
p 221 "Pegging" is a misrelated participle
p 252 "nicknamed by we"
p 260 "lay" should be "lie" but that would spoil the pun
p 303 "unchartered seas"
p 316 "harkening back"
p 322 "... clouds ... was ..."
"... a double negative is a complete no-no!"
"My shower's so small, I just soap the walls and spin around."
" ... the heart specialist's diet - if it tastes good, spit it out."
Rare or novel words: "kvetched", "designer-vajazzled", "steatopygous", "remora", "piñata", "vagetarian"
Not quite enough commas for full clarity, and too few "whom".
Other things to annoy a proofreader:
p 12 "the Peninsular" (or do Sydneysiders really call it that in fun?)
p 12 "staring" should be "starring"
p 17 "self-deprecating" probably wants another "i" near the middle
p 34 "millennia" should be "millennium"
p 67 "lay" should be "laid"
p 89 "miniscule"
p 150 incorrect insertion of "to" before "parachute"
p 221 "Pegging" is a misrelated participle
p 252 "nicknamed by we"
p 260 "lay" should be "lie" but that would spoil the pun
p 303 "unchartered seas"
p 316 "harkening back"
p 322 "... clouds ... was ..."
August 3, 2020
As a Covid isolation read this was fine. It won't win a Booker. It was a bit exhausting reading all the similes and metaphors.....I could only read it in short bursts. Once I got over that it was fine. The characters are all a bit nasty, but hey, that didn't really annoy me....the writing style did!! It was partly longer than it needed to be. I haven't read any of Lette's books before this was my first. Anyway, a great distraction in 2020 crazy.
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