The Woman who Upped and Left by Fiona Gibson

Today I am thrilled to be a part of the blog tour for The Woman who Upped and Left by Fiona Gibson who is one of my favourite Laugh out Loud authors.

Forget about having it all. Sometimes you just want to leave it all behind. 

 Audrey is often seized by the urge to walk out of her house without looking back – but she can’t possibly do that. She is a single parent. 

She is needed. 

She has a job, a home, responsibilities…and a slothful teenage son’s pants to pick up. 

 But no one likes being taken for granted – Audrey least of all – so the time has come for drastic action. 

And no one’s going to stand in her way…

From the opening chapter of The Woman Who Upped and Left there will be many mums with teenage boys who will be nodding their heads along with Audrey thinking they know exactly what she is going through! Personally I don’t have children but each of Fiona’s books still have me laughing away at the humour she creates from day to day relateable situations that families face and this book was no exception.

Audrey is a single parent and her son Morgan has reached the age of 18 and takes his mum for granted as he lazes around the house with his girlfriend being waited on hand and foot. Audrey is at her wits send with pants thrown around the house and no matter how much she has tried to encourage and help Morgan to get a job it falls on death ears. When an opportunity arises for Audrey to have a break in a swanky hotel and learn to cook French cuisine she decides it is about time she does something for herself but can Morgan cope with out his mum?

I have read every one of Fiona Gibson’s books and for anyone who loves Jane Costello you will love Fiona’s books too as they both have such a natural humour to their storylines. Morgan and his disastrous attempts at the laundry had me chuckling away! As much as I found myself laughing at Morgan I was also so infuriated by him and just wanted to grab him by the scruff of his neck and give him a good old shake because he was such a useless layabout and it is scary to think how many teenagers are like this now with no ambition or get up and go and although the author makes fun of this at first, she does also shed light on the effect it has on the family and that this is a problem that needs to be addressed.

The storyline has a rollercoaster romance too and all the way through I wasn’t quite sure who Audrey was going to end up with if anyone at all which really helped to keep my interest piqued all the way through. There are four male interests in the line-up but there was only one that I was routing for and he definitely wasn’t the disgraceful Stevie!

This was an enjoyable witty read that was uplifting and current. Mum on the Run still remains my favourite by this author but this was still a wonderful read that I would definitely recommend.

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As Good as it Gets? by Fiona Gibson

Charlotte Bristow is worried about her husband Will. With her 16-year-old daughter Rosie newly signed to a top modelling agency, and Will recently out of a job, things are changing in their household. As Will dusts down his old leather trousers and starts partying with their new, fun neighbours, Charlotte begins to wonder what on earth is going on. So when Fraser, Charlotte’s ex – and father of Rosie – suddenly arrives back on the scene, she starts to imagine what might have been…

The last few books I have read have been quite heavy and emotional so I really needed something uplifting to read and when I am looking for something witty I always turn to Jane Costello or the wonderfully talented Fiona Gibson.

The Bristow family are like your typical family next door with the usual day to day problems. Dad Will is out of work, mum Charlotte is trying to hold the family together as well as her job and daughter Rosie has decided she wants to do some modelling work but Charlotte is a little reluctant to let her go ahead with it. Thank god for little Ollie who is a little angel! Can the Bristow family stay united through the daily stress and strains?

I absolutely loved this book. I was chuckling away, right from the off I could feel Charlotte’s hurt and anger through her letters at the beginning of the book but I did have to laugh at the “ I wish I could be a pigeon for just long enough to shit on your head” comment, I have never read a book that gets off to a funny flying start like this and I am sure this will be a comment you will hear from me now in the future!

The storyline did hold some serious and tender issues which were delivered delicately and because of the authors’ talented writing style although there were these delicate issues she still managed to keep the book light and witty. I found myself laughing on numerous occasions especially regarding the blow up doll incident!

What I love about Fiona Gibson’s books, this one included, is they are so down to earth she could almost be talking about the family over the road. She manages to take problems that a lot of us can relate to such as redundancies and family matters and our hearts go out to the characters because they are so well developed they feel real but before we can get overly sentimental she then quickly lifts us back up with a great burst of unexpected humour.

There were a couple of twists and turns in this book so I wasn’t sure what the outcome was going to be so I was eagerly turning the pages to see what lay ahead.

This is yet another entertaining, witty read by Fiona Gibson and it is definitely up there with in my favourite 2 by this author.

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Take Mum Out by Fiona Gibson

Three blind dates
Two teenage boys messing up her plans
And one man who'll melt Alice's heart.

 'You need to get back in the saddle…' Alice despises that phrase. She's fine being single – with two slothful teenage boys and a meringue business to run, she has enough on her plate without negotiating the troublesome world of modern dating. However, Alice's three best friends have other ideas. Each one will present her with an utterly delicious, eligible man – all Alice has to do is pick her favourite.

I can’t tell you how happy I was when my copy of Take Mum Out by Fiona Gibson arrived through my door! I can always rely on this authors books to have me laughing out loud and having just finished this book I can say that this book is no exception.

Single Mum Alice has two teenage sons so trying to juggle looking after the boys, going to work and coming home to her own meringue business means there has been no time spare in her life for a man. Her friends are keen to see Alice with some romance in her life and so they each pick a man for Alice to go on a blind date with. Do her friends know her well enough to find the man of her dreams?

I loved each and every character in this book as they were all so realistic and entertaining. Alice is a strong independent caring character who is a little stuck in her ways so it was great to see her push the boundaries and try out the blind dating. Her love for both her sons was so genuine she really would do anything for them including ruining her favourite cardigan!

The humour continues in this book and it is the type of humour that does have you giggling out loud like a naughty school girl because it is day to day humour that could happen to any of us. My favourite has to be the translation problem as I could see this happening to me!

I managed to read this book in a day because I was hooked and couldn’t find a convenient place to stop other than the end. It is a fast paced read that keeps you entertained the whole way through. As well as being fun and entertaining it was also unpredictable which is something that I love in a book, I couldn’t tell if Alice was going to end up with anyone and if so who it would be my thoughts on this changed a number of times throughout the book and so this made me keep turning the pages.

Having read many highly emotional tear jerker books recently this book was like a breath of fresh air and really lifted my mood! This is quite possibly my favourite book by Fiona Gibson with Mum on the Run a close second, so don’t forget to grab your copy.

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The Great Escape by Fiona Gibson

I read my first book by Fiona Gibson only a couple of weeks ago and I loved it and couldn’t wait to read another book by this author, this time I have just finished her book The Great Escape and it doesn’t disappoint.

Hannah, Sadie and Lou have been great friends but their lives are pulling them in different directions. Sadie is now living in the country trying to look after her new baby twins and along the way seems to have lost herself among the breast milk and tantrums!

Lou is stuck in a dead-end job trying to make end meet while her lazy long term boyfriend is taking her for granted.

Hannah is counting down the days to her big day but problems with her step children are causing her to have serious doubts.

Will Hannah make it down the aisle?

I loved The Great Escape nearly as much as Mum on The Run. The author has such a great writing style which manages to draw you in right from the first page as she throws us straight into a great storyline.

The three main characters in this book all have their own individual personalities very different from each other and yet they are all loveable and down to earth characters who I think each reader will find they can relate to one of the characters, for me this was Lou I looked forward to her parts in the book hoping that things were finally improving for her.

There is a great mixture of content in this book from affairs to parenting struggles and each of the girls needing to find themselves, so there is something going on on every page so there were no low parts in this book.

This book wasn’t humorous or light hearted like the authors previous book it focused more serious problems which ordinary people face in day to day life but the friendship between the girls lighten the tone. I still found myself hooked and I cannot wait for another release from Fiona Gibson.

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Mum on the Run by Fiona Gibson

I remember walking into WHSmith and seeing a pack of two books by Fiona Gibson on the shelf. The covers of these books are exactly the brightly and alluring covers which seem to always catch my eye so I had to pick these ones up. Problem was I was very organised and put them in my drawer as I keep the books I buy separate from the books sent to review but I done a bad thing and forgot about them ( please form a line to smack my wrist!) I thought it was about time I read one of these books so I started with Mum on The Run.

Laura Swan is not happy with her weight but seems to just plod along without doing anything about it until the dreaded children’s sports day comes around and her daughter Grace is pleading with her to take part in the mum’s race. Finally giving in to her daughter she competes against the very athletic mums and in such a short time during this race her world comes crumbling down in more ways than one.

Laura decides to take drastic action and is going to shift the extra pounds but is this going to be enough to fix everything around her?

This is the first book I have read by Fiona Gibson and I can now say it definitely will not be my last. This book was pure entertainment right from the first chapter which had me laughing away. Laura is such a loveable character it doesn’t take long for us to warm to her and we find ourselves routing for her all the way through the book as she tackles situations many of us have found ourselves in.

The book flows at such a fast and easy pace that I finished it in an afternoon in the sun. I loved the way the author tied the ending up as I am sure you all know by now I do not like to be left on a cliff-hanger!

I did find the parts of the storyline very predictable but for me this didn’t effect my enjoyment of the book as it was great to see how everything unfolded and the day to day humour which is used in this book more than makes up for the lack of suspense. 

If any of you are like me and not read any of Fiona Gibson’s previous books then I would definitely pick one up especially thoughts of you who like the writing style of Jane Costello as this book had a similar feel to her books. I cannot wait to start another book by Fiona Gibson lucky for me I brought The Great Escape too so I am sure you know what I will be reading tonight!

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