Author: Matthew Norman
Series: None
Publication Date: March 17, 2020
Publisher: Ballatine Books
Pages: 288
Obtained: publisher via NetGalley
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4.5/5
Bottom Line: A funny and poignant look at modern marriage and parenthood
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab
Summary: The Core Four have been friends since college: four men, four women, four couples. They got married around the same time, had kids around the same time, and now, fifteen years later, they’ve started getting divorced around the same time, too. With three of the Core Four unions crumbling to dust around them, Jessica and Mitch Butler take a long, hard look at their own marriage. Can it be saved? Or is divorce, like some fortysomething zombie virus, simply inescapable? To maximize their chance at immunity, Jessica and Mitch try something radical. Their friends’ divorces mostly had to do with sex—having it, not having it, wanting to have it with other people—so they decide to relax a few things. Terms are discussed, conditions are made, and together the Butlers embark on the great experiment of taking their otherwise happy, functional marriage and breaking some very serious rules. Jessica and Mitch are convinced they’ve hit upon the next evolution of marriage. But as lines are crossed and hot bartenders pursued, they each start to wonder if they’ve made a huge mistake. What follows is sexy, fun, painful, messy, and completely surprising to them both. Because sometimes doing something bad is the only way to get to the heart of what’s really good. ~amazon.com
Review: I've read a few different novels that deal with "arrangements" to spice up a marriage. I know that it's a great book premise but honestly have people really tried this and thought there would be no fractures in their marriage?
Matthew Norman's books always make me laugh and Last Couple Standing is no different because he gets it. He gets the ups and downs of parenthood and of marriage. I loved the subplot of showing his young kids E.T. and how that decision came back to haunt him.
As Mitch and Jessica draw up the terms of their marriage evolution, they think this is what will help them revolutionize the way people think about revitalizing their marriages. Neither of them really think the other will go through with it. That is until they each find themselves attracted to someone else and wonder what it would be like to follow through on it.
I'm not quite sure I believe the ending of the novel but I definitely enjoyed the journey to get there. There are a couple other subplots that tie in nicely to the overall plot.
This is an enjoyable, quick read that will have you laughing and grateful for your own relationships.
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