To Love, Honour and Betray: He made love, and now it's war!

by Kathy Lette

You can always trust a man - to do the dirty on you





When Lucy finds out her football coach hubby's been playing away from home, she's devastated. But when she discovers just who he's been scoring with, she wants to kick a few balls of her own.

So now that Lucy's learnt that her perfect marriage was like most of her orgasms (faked), the big question is are all men bastards, or will she find the one exception to the rule?

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Humor, Audiobook, Contemporary, Romance, Romantic Comedy

368 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Kathy 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!)

Reviews

[Darren Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being an, occasional, member of a book club/reading group the time came for me to choose a book. Not an easy choice as all the other member’s choices were earnest and when it came time to discuss the selected masterpieces, they always ended up droning on about political correctness, or lack of it, in the plot and character development. Usually missing the whole point about how novels should be enjoyed for the stories and what happens rather than being scrutinised for the race or gender of the hero. Coming to think of it why am I still a member of the group?
Anyway, I decided to surprise everyone by selecting this book. After all chic-lit is hardly part of my character. But having heard about the author and read the blurb I thought that it would make me laugh and I was correct, I think that I chose well and hopefully the others in the group might actually remove their heads from their rear ends and learn to laugh or, failing that, at least crack their dour faces with smiles.
I could tell you about the story, but I do not want to spoil it for you. As I read it I formulated a few predictable and cliched possible endings and I was totally thrown by the fun plot twist. Yes the main villain is more of a pantomime character than a real person and some of the others in the book could have used an extra dimension, but who cares? The story was good and the dialogue was hilarious – why analyse it any further? After all it wasn’t a dissertation on life in Australia.
If you like to read laugh out loud books with plenty of sarcastic and cutting dialogue, then I can’t recommend this too highly.

[Lyn Battersby · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Lucy's husband leaves her for her best friend, she does what any self respecting woman would do. She falls apart, hits the bottle, and lets her kids walk all over her. Then she meets a new friend and swaps the bottle for the beach and as her result gets on with living her life.

Treachery, deceit and horrible, horrible teenagers, this book has it all.

What it didn't have was a lot of comedy, which is what I was promised on the cover the 'quip a page' didn't quite gel as I found Lette to be rather heavy handed with the puns. The jokes felt more pathetic in delivery and made me feel sorry for Lucy, even in her few triumphs. I only laughed out loud once, thanks to the line where Lucy muses about reading "Puberty Blues."

And yet, despite that, I enjoyed the book very much and found it hard to put down. As a result I've started reading "Dead Sexy". I haven't laughed yet, but I've decided that I read Lette for the entertainment rather than the comedy.

[Nina Draganova · Rating 5 out of 5]

07.10.2016
Докато четеш книгите на Кати Лети, трябва да си мобилизираш мозъка на макс :)
Не можеш да смогнеш да осмислиш всички мъдрости :)

А бисерите й не могат да се изброят.

"Щастливите бракове са като оргазмите.Половината са фалшиви."
"Животът е нещо, което се налага да правиш, когато не можеш да отидеш на пазар за нови обувки."

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book was perhaps more annoying in the audiobook, than the physical book form. The main character is so annoying, the way she constantly makes pathetic attempts at humour, and uses overly dramatic words wherever she finds the opportunity.

Her continued insistence that she still feels love and lust for her snivelling, painfully irritating husband wears thin very quickly. After how he tossed her aside without even a blush of apology, why she feels as though he's still the man she loves, I have no idea. He comes across like a Prince Charles caricature.

The real hero of the book is somewhat interesting, but after the continual frustrations that the two find themselves in, I don't know why he would ever suddenly find himself bleating that she "completes" him. Especially after she was happily enjoying her new found freedom with someone else just moments earlier (perhaps not moments, but certainly not that long beforehand).

The Prince Charles and his Camilla (Renee) were just too stereotypical to ever sympathise with, or identify with in any way, making their own side story just an irritating page filler. The eventual unravelling of Renee was ludicrously complicated, and rather ridiculous.

I kept up with it because I like Kathy Lette. However, it felt much more like an example of a story written in haste with an overly ridiculous plot, in preparation for toning it down and bringing some realism into it. Except that the second edit never happened.

Better than two stars, but I don't think it deserved three.

[Isabel Galea · Rating 2 out of 5]

My oh my this has dated. It was when I heard someone called re*tard for the 3rd time that I checked the publishing date. when I saw mid nineties, it explained the fat shaming weight loss narrative for the protagonist and the racist complaints about threatening "lebo" boys that would not fly today. the main character was so pathetic that I had a lot of trouble empathising with her plight.

[Kim Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audio book. I've listened to this author before, Kathy has an amazing way with words. the story was about an English women transported to NSW Australia becoming a single mum with 2 daughters, throw in the local life surfing club and the magic happens.

[Rosemary Avery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved it.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to keep checking the publication date of this train wreck, as it would have been out of date twenty years earlier.

An English woman and her husband move to a beachside house in Cronulla where all Lette's novels are set. He soon leaves to move in with her best friend in an inner city penthouse apartment while he continues to pay rent on the Cronulla house (who is this guy – James Murdoch ?).

Slumming it in a house that would conservatively cost upwards of $50k a year to rent, the woman begins a relationship with a lawyer come lifesaver and an unlikely young man. There are also some contretemps with her daughter. The lawyer is a taciturn, weatherbeaten machismo man – you know like lawyers are !

Escaping the rat race of the big city, he retires to his modest $10 million hideaway on the absolute beachfont of the Sydney coast to “get real” and live the simple life. The novel dribbles to its ridiculous conclusion.

[Clover · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can’t even finish this book. It was funny at first but now I’ve notice a slightly not so funny side as she keeps making snide remarks about Lebanese people. The ‘lebbos’ in the car that watch women shower and call them Aussie ( S ) word is was the last straw and I put the book down to write this review. I’m Australian myself and have many friends of all cultures. I find this extremely distasteful. Oh and I won’t even go into detail about the stereotype of Australians. Flashing their dicks all the time in the same chapter possibly even same page as that other racist remark. Wow. I will not support this author. Disappointed and unimpressed.

[Gail Stubber · Rating 1 out of 5]

I expected better from Kathy Lette. she starts out funny and then sinks into old banal jokes, constantly referring to 'in australia' as though it is another planet. Her habit of listing thoughts, demands, teenage habits and worst of all, her husbands new lover - it 'to use the australian vernacular 'bloody annoying. avoid buying or reading unless you need to pull your hair out on a beach in Bali with Bogans watching on to rate your pain.

[Reene's Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

When you're not well, stuck at home with sinusitis what more of a better way than to read and recover.

My new read

" to love, honour and betray" By @kathy.lette
👰💍🤵‍♂️❤️💔 🔪

I found this book to be extremely funny. I laughed so many times I just couldn't put the book down that quickly. It was a great quick read for me.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

@reenes_library

#bookreader #bookworm🐛📖 #reading #bookinstagram #bookinsta #kathylettebook #books #booklover

[Jo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this would be funny but it was just a little depressing. I'm not of fan of writing that involves lots of conversation - it feels lazy to me.I think Ms Lette maybe thinks she's funnier than she is!

[AdiTurbo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A satisfying amuse-bouche in between more "serious" reading. Lette is as witty as ever in this book, but it drags on a bit here and there, and is a bit repetitive sometimes. Still, it's enjoyable, quick and fun.

[Gen Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars!

Personally I found the first half of this book too slow. However overall it was very enjoyable, and I loved the corny one liners.

If I was currently going through a bad breakup or divorce, it would have probably received a full 5 stars. The reasons are:
- light hearted and humour aplenty to take your mind off the worries of the world
- let’s the main character have her breakdown and mistakes (you can go along with self pity if you can relate, without having a total breakdown yourself)
- then shows the recovery and how whilst you might not get everything you wanted it can end up ok!

I will note that some of the references could be interpreted as racist - whilst I agree that most Aussies with non anglo ethnicity (or at least my friends) embrace and joke about themselves, there will definitely be some that are offended by it.

[Caroline Larner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great novel - engaging, emotional, dramatic and moreover incredibly funny. Lette is at her finest here with her hallmark Australian humour which pulls no punches and will have you howling with laughter.

My only criticism is that the main character is a bit wet through much of the novel, seemingly allowing people to walk all over her and it can be a little infuriating that she doesn't get angry or fight back until near enough the end of the novel.

Overall a great read and one of the best of Lette's novels to date. Well worth a read!

[Laureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I don’t like the unpositive reviews here. Anybody in a relationship should get something out of this novel. I didn’t read it. I listened to it in the car but I enjoyed the humour and the story about relationships and choosing partners that are suited to you. I have read one other Kathy Lette book and totally loved it. I think Kathy paints a pretty true impression of how dangerous lust can turn out. It is so important to know the person first.

[Marta Cavicchia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Avevo davvero poche aspettative per questo libro. Il libro consta di 260 pagine, ma ne sarebbero bastate 120. La storia non è orribile, però la scrittura non mi piace: troppo semplice, battute talvolta squallide e similitudini talvolta senza senso. Ci doni state delle parti che mi hanno fatto ridere e anche appassionato; però non è un libro che consiglierei.

[Cindy H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened on audio. Narrator was Nicky Talacko and I really enjoyed listening to it. it did have me laughing throughout, about Lucy and her relationship with her daughters, and their relationship with their father, who left Lucy for her friend.. a lot of one liners and a few corny jokes, but definitely worth the listen for me.

[Gillian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would not recommend this as a good example of Kathy Lette's writing. It seems like formulaic chick Lit - Aussie style. have read much better books by her. My favourite is "The Boy Who Fell From the Sky."

[Priyankareads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I surprisingly really liked it. It's unlike anything I have ever read and I had really low expectations for this book but I have to say, it surpassed all of them. Also I am very definitely the fmc's humor :p

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another from my travels. Kathy is always a very entertaining read - sprinkled with some rather good advice.

[Kate McCabe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great summer read I devoured this in a day! Slightly predictable but full of Lette's trademark wit and pithy one liners

[Shobana Krishnan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish....

[Amy Corrigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needed some light fluff. And this delivered. A nice and easy read. Entertaining.

[Minerva · Rating 3 out of 5]

One liners. Australia. British. Stereotypes. Cronulla. Family.

[Hayley Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read. Lighthearted and entertaining.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok - not what o expected. But perfect for me so I can move on to something that will make me think.

[Tanya Boulter · Rating 1 out of 5]

As funny as Kathy Lette is a book full of one liners is not. And factor in a separated mother who has no self worth and this book made it to my new un-finished shelf with force

[Hajnalka · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only book I’ve read 2x in my life so far. I was able to fully sympathize with Lucy about starting over.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very heavy on similes - story line was a romp with lovable imperfect characters.