Rating: 
Summary: FANTASTIC!
Review: A departure from the highly enjoyable, but small town, old-fashioned BEGINNER'S LUCK, Pedersen's last novel. However LAST CALL is every bit as funny and significantly more philosophical and heart-wrenching. I laughed out loud every few pages and I had two big cries. It's a highly original story and absolutely perfect for a movie. Pedersen creates the best characters to come along since Rick in Casablanca and Auntie Mame. They dance right off the page and into your heart, parts of everyone you know and sometimes a bit of yourself, and they live in your mind long after the story ends. A great book for book clubs (there's even one in the story!). Do NOT read the end first or skip ahead to peek at anytime, no matter how tempting!
Rating: 
Summary: An Average Read
Review: A funny and charming love story that manages to address the current renewed interest in religion. Though Pedersen is not out to convert but rather to ask, can't we respect each other despite differing beliefs? One of the main characters is an outrageous Scot and he has all the best lines. But the women hold up their end in the wisdom department. Though Hayden's daughter Diana worries about him the way my daughters are starting to have concerns about me living on my own and therefore many of her lines made me laugh out loud. When Hayden says what a nice morning it is, Diana responds that it's the kind of weather people get sick in, because they're in and out of air-conditioning all day. The story is at heart a wonderful romance, but to leave it as such would not nearly do justice to "Last Call." It contains comedy, philosophy, great characters, enchanting descriptions of Brooklyn and Manhattan, and plenty of good old-fashioned storytelling. Also an incredible ending, which I won't spoil. But DON'T read ahead!
Rating:
Summary: HIGHLY ENTERTAINING
Review: A funny and charming love story that manages to address the current renewed interest in religion. Though Pedersen is not out to convert but rather to ask, can't we respect each other despite differing beliefs? One of the main characters is an outrageous Scot and he has all the best lines. But the women hold up their end in the wisdom department. Though Hayden's daughter Diana worries about him the way my daughters are starting to have concerns about me living on my own and therefore many of her lines made me laugh out loud. When Hayden says what a nice morning it is, Diana responds that it's the kind of weather people get sick in, because they're in and out of air-conditioning all day. The story is at heart a wonderful romance, but to leave it as such would not nearly do justice to "Last Call." It contains comedy, philosophy, great characters, enchanting descriptions of Brooklyn and Manhattan, and plenty of good old-fashioned storytelling. Also an incredible ending, which I won't spoil. But DON'T read ahead!
Rating:
Summary: What A Way To Go!
Review: A novel about terminal illness that makes you laugh out loud? A screwball comedy of a romance that will leave you in tears? No way! Unless you've read Laura Pedersen's debut novel, BEGINNER'S LUCK. Once you have, you're aware that this incredibly engaging writer owns a world-class wit, a heart as big and deep as the Atlantic, and an astute appreciation of the foibles that comprise the human condition. If anyone's capable of transforming LOVE STORY into a rollicking celebration of life that's born to be a movie, it's Ms. Pedersen -- and she does it to a fair-thee-well in LAST CALL.
Since every plot twist is a total surprise, I don't want to give much of it away and spoil your fun. Let's just say the lovers "meet cute" (in a cancer ward), and it's all uphill from there. That's pure Pedersen. But LAST CALL represents a tremendous expansion of the writer's powers. Not only are the conflicting emotions of each one of the characters absolutely true to life, but also the issues around which the plot resolves are very serious indeed. LAST CALL is a major stride forward for a novelist I intend to read for years to come.
Rating:
Summary: Pedersen's Tale is Quite Simply a Charmer!
Review: Hayden MacBride has been diagnosed with "The Cancer." But this Scot --- the main character in Laura Pedersen's LAST CALL --- won't let dying get him down. He has always lived life to the fullest, with gusto and a sense of humor, and he is not about to change that now.Living in the family home in Brooklyn with his daughter Diana and eleven-year-old grandson Joey, Hayden makes light of his situation whenever he can. "Who's goin' to make sure I get cremated in me pajamas so that a good suit do'an' go to waste," he asks of his fretful and frustrated daughter. His sense of humor is both persistent and contagious. Leaving the house for a so-called baseball game, he summons Joey with, "C'mon now, we're off like a new bride's nightie." And Joey, devoted to his grandfather, is picking up some of the old man's habits. Joey bandies around barroom jokes like "How do you get all the Highlanders (Scots) up on the roof?" much to his mother's dismay. (The punch line: You tell 'em the drinks are on the house!) Hayden spends his days circling obituaries in the paper, and then traveling from one stranger's funeral to the next, "serious medical inquiry into the pros and cons of euthanasia," he calls it. He doesn't do it for the free "petit fours." If his daughter, who spends her free time searching out new treatments and cures for cancer, knew Hayden occupied his days with viewings, funerals and wakes --- and dragged her son along to boot --- she'd be mortified. Ah, "relations are a willful lot," Hayden tells his grandson. The other woman in Hayden's life is Rosamond, a nun on sabbatical from the convent, in search of her own answers. Hayden teaches Rosamond how to let loose and truly enjoy life outside the convent walls. They have a tender and bittersweet love for each other. Another romance blossoms, too: overprotective Diana falls in love also, with Hank, an architect toying with the idea of the priesthood. And Hayden's Scottish circle of friends --- his diehard drinking buddies --- add another layer of humor and reality to this touching story. Pedersen's LAST CALL is a funny tale about human foibles and faults, and a search for life, faith and love. It's a charmer, with characters as real as your own family. --- Reviewed by Roberta O'Hara
Rating:
Summary: SWEET & COMPELLING
Review: I forgot I was reading a story and didn't want this book to end. I suppose in actuality it would be hard to imagine all these things happening in real life but that's why I enjoy escaping into a good novel, especially one that's well written. The author is a very funny and convincing modern day magical realist - terrific at combining humor with great characters and thoughtfulness. She also brings into consideration a lot of challenges that face women these days, whether single and trying to earn a living, raising children without help, or caring for aging parents. The descriptions of Manhattan and Brooklyn brought back lots of wonderful memories.
Rating:
Summary: SWEET & COMPELLING
Review: I forgot I was reading a story and didn't want this book to end. I suppose in actuality it would be hard to imagine all these things happening in real life but that's why I enjoy escaping into a good novel, especially one that's well written. The author is a very funny and convincing modern day magical realist - terrific at combining humor with great characters and thoughtfulness. She also brings into consideration a lot of challenges that face women these days, whether single and trying to earn a living, raising children without help, or caring for aging parents. The descriptions of Manhattan and Brooklyn brought back lots of wonderful memories.
Rating:
Summary: Pure Pleasure
Review: I loved every minute of this book, especially the end. The characters are wonderful, even though they all have their faults, and the story is highly original. I can't decide whether it's a comedy or a tragedy. I guess both. However, it's a fantastic love story, one of the best ever. And the terrific depictions of NY and Brooklyn were enjoyable and made me want to visit the area and do a Hayden and Rosamond tour. Whoever plays Hayden on the big screen will own that part forever. My teenage daughters have now taken over the book and are enjoying it too.
Rating:
Summary: Brooklyn's Magical Realism
Review: I loved this book. You need some imagination but that's what makes it so enjoyable, just like "The Lovely Bones," "Chocolat," and so many other stories that inspire. And that's why I read fiction to begin with. Meantime, even though the subject of death is often discussed and finally dealt with in the end, the humor is refreshing. It's not one of these stories where someone is being emotionally or physically abused on every page. Hayden, the lovable rogue in this story, reminds me so much of my grandfather Jack. I tend to think we probably all know someone who exhibits more than their share of human nature and yet we still love them, and often take pleasure in their more colorful antics. And I think the nun's conflict about her religion should be viewed in the broader sense of what's going on in our world right now. Look at all the conflict the subject is causing and how do we resolve it without all converting to one belief? Pedersen is answering that question by saying we try first for understanding. The ending is terrific.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful winter read
Review: If you're going to read just one novel this winter, I recommend LAST CALL. It has something for almost everyone: hilarious, off-kilter characters (all of whom have recognizable traits--which seems to be Pedersen's trademark); heartfelt and powerful themes; an original, compelling love story; surprising plot twists that will catch you off guard; and an irresistible narrative voice. You will be laughing through your tears. LAST CALL celebrates the ties that bind people together, even in the most unlikely of circumstances. Two terminally ill people, who are presumably ill-suited for each other, fall in love. In Pedersen's accomplished hands, this bold and unlikely scenario soars and builds to a surprise ending. What's more, here is a book that captures all the charm and spirit of Brooklyn, NY. It's a welcome relief to read a story that unfolds outside of Manhattan. Her descriptions are atmospheric and colorful and right on the money. With all these cinematic elements, I can easily imagine LAST CALL on the big screen.
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