The Last Goodbye by Fiona Lucas is the most beautiful contemporary novel about love and loss and life. Fiona Lucas words sunk deep into my heart and soul. I was enchanted by the whole book. It was serenely beautiful.
The book is about loss. “I’m not sure how I go on living and breathing without you.” This loss is painful. It hurts and it keeps on hurting. It is hard to see anything but searing pain ahead.
This tale is also about “wisps of hopes and dreams.” There is hope for the future but we need to start with baby steps.
When loss consumes we need to be able to talk to someone about it. If we bottle it up we merely push the pain down and it will manifest itself in other ways.
Grief takes time. There is no roadmap out of grief. It takes as long as it takes. It meanders where it will. One day the sun will rise again.
Fiona Lucas has created some wonderful characters who lodged in my heart and soul. The dialogue between the two leads was heartfelt, their pain and loss tangible, their bond was beautiful.
The Last Goodbye was serenely beautiful. It soothed my heart and soul. As I read, in spite of the loss, I felt very peaceful. Fiona Lucas has created a unique novel of great beauty. I cannot wait to read more by her.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

Poignant and heartbreaking in equal measure. I raced through this super quiick, the pages flying through my fingers at a rate of knots. A story to invest in.

A heartwarming, well-written story about grief, loss and love.

I enjoyed this book on the whole, however I did find it drawn out in places.

This was the first book I have read by Fiona Lucas and would definitely keep an eye out for future reads by this author.

Anna tragically lost her husband 3 years ago and she’s still trying to navigate her way through her grief and live without him. When she calls his mobile to hear his voice one last time, another guy Brady answers the phone.

The relationship between them develops and they form a bond over their grief. I can’t say that I connected with either of their characters and Brody felt really underdeveloped to me.

Brody is hiding his own secret and this is what kept me interested as I waited to find out if I had guessed it correctly. The first part was a bit drawn out before this. I just didn’t really see the chemistry between Anna & Brody.

I did enjoy the writing style so would be interested to try another book by Fiona Lucas this one wasn’t really for me.

Three years ago Anna’s husband Spencer was tragically killed.
Anna can’t seem to get on with her life
Her friend Gabi is there for her trying to get her out and about and maybe dating again.
Anna isn’t the only one missing Spence his mother seems to blame Anna for spencer dying
On New Years Eve Anna is invited to a party by Gabi.
Gabi tries to get Anna to date Jeremy but Anna can’t and she runs out of the party and home.
Once at home she dials the one number that she has held onto her husbands
Expecting to hear Spencer’s voice mail but Anna is horrified when the phone is answered she flung the phone and leaves it there.
Anna decides to phone the number again and it is answered by Brody he has been given the number as it has been inactive.
There conversations get longer and longer .
But Brody is hiding something.
Can Anna move on or will she be stuck in the past.
Thanks NetGalley

This romantic comedy had an unusual premise, but first attracted me because of the cover! I have a tattoo exactly the same on my lower back with a quote from Jane Eyre, so I was interested to know why the image represented the book.
Our female protagonist, Anna, is in the throes of grief after the death of her husband. The plot hinges on an interesting device - Anna calls her dead husband's phone number and weirdly, someone answers. A tentative friendship develops allowing her to explore the anger, numbness, false starts and maelstrom of emotions as she rebuilds her life after such a huge loss. The first call happens on a New Years Eve just over two years since Anna lost Spencer. She has been coerced by her friend Gaby to go to a party and is suffering just one of several attempts over the last few months to set her up with a nice man. Of course whenever Anna meets someone new, it’s like a klaxon goes off in her head screaming ‘not Spencer’ over and over again. On this night Anna flees the party and heads for the comfort of home and for emotional support she rings Spencer’s mobile number, thinking that hearing his voice on the answerphone will reassure her. However, instead of hearing Spencer’s voice, a strange man comes on the line saying ‘ I beg your pardon’.

As more weeks pass and Anna feels so scared of leaving Spencer behind and living in the moment, she continues to call the number and talk to the man at the end of the phone. A friendship starts to emerge between her and the man who has inherited Spencer’s old number. His name is Brody and Anna starts to realise she is not the only one who wants to live in the past. Brody gives Anna the space to grieve. He doesn’t know Spencer so he has no vested interest or conflicting opinion to intrude on Anna’s grief process. In this way he acts rather like a therapist with empathy, zero judgement and a hope Anna will get through this. Other people in her life either want Anna to move forward when she is not ready, or to wallow in grief. Her friends seem to think two years is enough time to start moving forward and although they are well-meaning their interventions annoy Anna and push her too far too soon. Spencer’s mother Gayle wants to envelop Anna in her grief process. She assumes that because they both loved Spencer, their grieving process is the same. Anna keeps up their tradition of Sunday lunch together, just like when Spencer was alive, but also pores over old photo albums and still wants them to mark anniversaries like his birthday together. In her presence Anna becomes suffocated by grief and guilt when she thinks about moving on with her life. Anyone new in Anna’s life would seem like an insult to Gayle. There is nowhere she can do this grieving thing her way, honestly and openly.

My counselling supervisor used to say that if you find yourself giving the same piece of advice to several clients, it may be something you should look at for your own life. This is definitely the case with Brody, as he gives Anna advice he could do with listening to. Brody is living an isolated existence on Dartmoor with his dog. He allows Anna’s emotions to take the lead in their phone calls, but doesn’t seem keen to divulge his own. I started to wonder why he is living the life of a hermit. What is he hiding away from? Between Brody and her best friend Gabi, Anna starts to feel she can gather all these broken fragments of herself together and start to rebuild. The author found a unique structure for the novel, that allowed Anna’s raw grief to find its voice in these late night phone calls. Brody becomes Anna’s closest friend and with Gabi’s help, she now has hope and a way forward that is so uplifting for the reader. Both the main characters have such moving stories they bring a lump to the throat and their journey through grief is brilliantly rendered by the author. She shows us that each person’s grief is individual, it has its own path with unique highs and lows. She also depicts something I often say to - you can’t get round or climb over grief, the only way out is through it. I could see Anna reaching for the other side of her pain and I found myself wishing for Brody to find his way out too.

What a beautifully written account of grief this is. I was moved and uplifted, and the experience of grief felt very authentic. So what about the cover image and that tattoo? My husband died in 2007 and I rushed my grief journey, only to end up in an abusive relationship that took three years to leave. So, on my fortieth birthday I had my birdcage tattoo and underneath the words from Jane Eyre ‘ I am no bird; and no net ensnares me’. It reminds me I can get through anything so it feels like a fitting image for Anna and Brady’s story.

Ahhh what a lovely novel. I knew from the beginning I might struggle with this type of book and grief is hard to read if not written well, but this was beautiful. It was about a woman who lost her husband and how she was trying to piece together her life again, about meeting people and opening up and honestly it just pulled so much at my heart strings and I will say anyone who doesn't almost or shed a tear then I am unsure what book you are reading...
I cant wait to read more from this author in the future

What a hopeful book this is.

This is a story about love, about grief and all the emotions in-between.

When Anna tragically loses her husband she struggles. Every day blending into the next, she never quite comes back to life again .

Until one night when yet again she finds herself dialling Spencer's number yet again (just to hear his voice) only this time someone answers.

That someone is Brody. He too is in the midst of grief, a man filled with sadness and guilt.

Fate or just pure luck?

Either way this seems to be the start of both of them finally moving forward, all it took was for someone to listen, to truly hear what they had to say rather than friends and family who think they know how they should be feeling and acting.

This story was both heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time.

Tragically beautiful.

Slow moving, each chapter producing just a little bit more emotion.

Refreshing to read as it didn't rely on drama to make me turn the pages, simply raw, human emotion.

I felt connected and invested in Anna and Brody, both as separate people and as a blossoming couple.

The Last Goodbye is a tale that tugs at the heart strings, quietly compassionate.

Offering so much more than a story of new beginnings, instead looking at how each moment in our lives can change us and shape our lives, and yes that doesn't always mean hearts and flowers, negativity is allowed to. It's how we grow from those sorts of events that really matter.

“I’d written myself into a corner, leaving her stuck in a dark and lonely place, but it suddenly became clear what the solution was - she needed someone else to help her climb out of it. I think we all could do with a little help like that from time to time.” A beautiful story about bereavement and learning to live and love again. A magical read, thank you @NetGalley, @FionaLucas and @HQ
Review posted on Goodreads and Amazon

This is the first book I have read by Fiona Lucas and I really enjoyed it.

It is a beautiful and well written story with a cast of lovely characters who I really cared about. It is a tale of love and loss, family, mental health, hope and second chances.

I totally recommend it and fans of Tammy Robinson, Jojo Moyes and John Green would probably enjoy it.

What a wonderful book. It takes some very difficult issues such as grief and mental health and looks at them in such a sympathetic way. I could not put this down. The characters deserved a happy ending and I cried on the final pages. Wonderful, thoroughly recommended.

This book has all the feels. I found it an easy to read book, but intriguing too, especially Brody!

I have to say I loved the characters, even Gayle! Yes she was a mother in law from hell at times, but she was on her own journey through grief.

The story wasn't rushed which added depth to the characters and to the building relationship between Anna and Brody.

Anna is scared to move on and feel again, maybe more scared to lose love again, but Brody is so easy to talk to. Brody is a bit of a mystery and the author keeps his story quiet, releasing bits slowly so you're pulled in and desperate to know why.

It's a journey of two people colliding over a phone call, then pulling each other out of the darkness. I loved it.

I just finished this book with tears in my eyes and saying "awww". What a wonderful read. I hope Fiona Lucas knows what a special book she has written. She wrote about grief, loss and mental health brilliantly. Anna's and Brody's stories touched my heart and I couldn't put this book down because of them. There was one point with Brody's story where i.really thought it was going to go a very different way, I was so glad I was wrong. A wonderful, heartfelt read.

Great novel with a fantastic storyline. To love and loss to love again ,but what hurdles these people had to climb.
Set in two very different places and yet they come together so well. A 5 star novel and I recommend this be read.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for the ARC

This was a beautiful book - so well written with great characters who really came to life. It was lovely to watch both the main characters heal throughout and a brilliant ending. Highly recommended.

This is a very emotive book, sometimes good but a lot, especially the first half of the book, is really heavy going. Several times I wanted to give up, as frankly I was getting depressed reading it, but thankfully the book changes track slightly to become more enjoyable and tolerable to read.

Wow! That's the first thing I can say about this book. I loved it from the first page.
I loved every character for their quirks and mannerisms.
This book ticked every box of the emotions list.
Happy, sad, anger, elation, anguish and more.
This isn't your run of the mill love story, it's not a romantic story but it is a story full of hope, friendship, and so much more. I highly recommend this book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers and the author for the privilege to read this book for my honest opinion

A story about loss and heartbreak which really pulls at your heartstrings, be warned tissues needed in places. It was a bit slow to start but worth it. Would make a really great film.

CONTENT WARNING: death of a loved one, death of a young person, grief, anxiety, agoraphobia, panic attacks, mental health.

I want to start by saying that if you do not feel as though you are in the right headspace for any of the above content warnings then please do not pick up this book. On the other hand, if you feel as though this book is something that you would be interested in (without causing any upset), I highly recommend this book. It portrays how grief is not a journey that's experienced the same by everyone, but it is an experience that is completely unique to the individual.

The two main characters in this book have won my whole heart from this book. Anna, who's husband, Spencer sadly died 3 years ago, is still deeply grieving. One New Years she calls her husbands phone to hear his voicemail but this time, someone answers it and her immediate response is 'I love you". Brody, the person on the other end of the phone, has been isolated since a heartbreaking incident that happened nearly 10 years ago that has left him experiencing his own personal struggles. Anna and Brody continue to call to support one another through the struggles of day to day life after the loss of a loved one.

This book was so beautifully written. It was written with such compassion, such empathy and such sensitivity. Everything about this book is authentic: the characters, the emotions, the experiences. I experienced every single emotion that both Anna and Brody felt throughout this book and that is such a unique skill that I feltl this author has demonstrated perfectly.

I cannot wait to read more of Fiona Lucas' work in the future. This book is something that I feel will stay with me for a very long time.

Thank you NetGalley, HQ and Fiona Lucas for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Areally well written, second-chance story of loss, love and friendship. It flowed so well that I was just swept along and became very engrossed in the story. It had a fresh feel about it, the storyline was interesting and individual, I haven’t read anything else like it and it was actually believable that it could happen in real life. What a wonderful film this would make !