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Maddie doesn't believe in luck. She's all about hard work and planning ahead. But one night, on a whim, she buys a lottery ticket. And then, to her astonishment --
She wins!
In a flash, Maddie's life is unrecognizable. No more stressing about college scholarships. Suddenly, she's talking about renting a yacht. And being in the spotlight at school is fun... until rumors start flying, and random people ask her for loans. Now, Maddie isn't sure who she can trust.
Except for Seth Nguyen, her funny, charming coworker at the local zoo. Seth doesn't seem aware of Maddie's big news. And, for some reason, she doesn't want to tell him. But what will happen if he learns her secret?
With tons of humor and heart, Kasie West delivers a million-dollar tale of winning, losing, and falling in love.
(333 pages)
Wow. This book is just so darned cute! Why did no one tell me to read a Kasie West novel before now?! I'm so glad its cover and description caught my attention enough to make me send off a request for it to Scholastic, because Lucky in Love was exactly the fluffy and innocent, though still realistic and thought-provoking, book that I needed to read this summer.
Because seriously, how could I not pick up a book about a girl who wins the lottery and falls in love with the one guy who's oblivious to her windfall?! This book lives up to its promise, offering interesting and compatible main love interests and a lottery story that could honestly have filled a whole book by itself without the romance even showing up.
But who am I kidding? The romance is my favorite part! I love that Maddie and Seth are legitimate friends and coworkers long before they start to become anything else, and that their relationship develops very organically from that relationship. I couldn't care less about physical chemistry (i.e. lust between two characters), because that tells me nothing about their suitability for each other as life partners. But when they're bonding over their shared love for animals, then I definitely start shipping.
Lest you accuse me of giving a biased review, though, I should discuss the cons of the book. There are a few minor ones, but only one that truly bugged me: Maddie's academic life. As a recently-graduated senior who has just finished four extremely rigorous years of high school, including a year and a half of standardized testing/college applications, I could totally tell that West didn't do her homework on, well, anything when it came to Maddie's college application. Maddie and all of her friends take it as a given that of course she'll get into every good school in California (including Stanford and UCLA). Her best friend literally starts this big campaign to convince Maddie to come to Stanford with her in the fall . . . before either of them has gotten an admission letter. There's no one alive who can be that confident in their admission chances to Stanford unless Stanford is their last name or they literally cured cancer (preferably both). If Maddie were a real high school senior, she and her friends would know this. Also, if she were such a shoe-in for such high-ranking schools, she would totally have way more extracurriculars than just working at the zoo.
I'm sorry if it seems like I'm nitpicking, I just thought this was all kind of frustrating because I was in Maddie's shoes–and frankly, probably had an application stronger than hers would have been from what we read in the book–but I was far from a shoe-in at any of the schools she applied to. And also, no one–and I mean literally no one–cares if you get a B or two in the second semester of senior year. Once the decisions are out, they are out. Period. Unless you suddenly flunk out of high school or something equally dramatic. And throwing a wild party or two will not get you blacklisted by any university, either.
Okay, okay, now I'm done. The academic stuff bugs me more and more as I sit here thinking about it, but it's not really that big a deal in the context of the book. The focus is truly on Maddie's struggles to adjust to her fame/fortune and to tangle out her feelings toward Seth. It's such an adorable story, and I really loved it. If you're in the mood for a fun romance, then I definitely recommend it.
Also, I recently picked up another one of West's books, P.S. I Like You, practically by accident. I can't go into it much here, but needless to say that it was also adorable and I actually liked it even more than Lucky in Love!
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Wow. This book is just so darned cute! Why did no one tell me to read a Kasie West novel before now?! I'm so glad its cover and description caught my attention enough to make me send off a request for it to Scholastic, because Lucky in Love was exactly the fluffy and innocent, though still realistic and thought-provoking, book that I needed to read this summer.
Because seriously, how could I not pick up a book about a girl who wins the lottery and falls in love with the one guy who's oblivious to her windfall?! This book lives up to its promise, offering interesting and compatible main love interests and a lottery story that could honestly have filled a whole book by itself without the romance even showing up.
But who am I kidding? The romance is my favorite part! I love that Maddie and Seth are legitimate friends and coworkers long before they start to become anything else, and that their relationship develops very organically from that relationship. I couldn't care less about physical chemistry (i.e. lust between two characters), because that tells me nothing about their suitability for each other as life partners. But when they're bonding over their shared love for animals, then I definitely start shipping.
Lest you accuse me of giving a biased review, though, I should discuss the cons of the book. There are a few minor ones, but only one that truly bugged me: Maddie's academic life. As a recently-graduated senior who has just finished four extremely rigorous years of high school, including a year and a half of standardized testing/college applications, I could totally tell that West didn't do her homework on, well, anything when it came to Maddie's college application. Maddie and all of her friends take it as a given that of course she'll get into every good school in California (including Stanford and UCLA). Her best friend literally starts this big campaign to convince Maddie to come to Stanford with her in the fall . . . before either of them has gotten an admission letter. There's no one alive who can be that confident in their admission chances to Stanford unless Stanford is their last name or they literally cured cancer (preferably both). If Maddie were a real high school senior, she and her friends would know this. Also, if she were such a shoe-in for such high-ranking schools, she would totally have way more extracurriculars than just working at the zoo.
I'm sorry if it seems like I'm nitpicking, I just thought this was all kind of frustrating because I was in Maddie's shoes–and frankly, probably had an application stronger than hers would have been from what we read in the book–but I was far from a shoe-in at any of the schools she applied to. And also, no one–and I mean literally no one–cares if you get a B or two in the second semester of senior year. Once the decisions are out, they are out. Period. Unless you suddenly flunk out of high school or something equally dramatic. And throwing a wild party or two will not get you blacklisted by any university, either.
Okay, okay, now I'm done. The academic stuff bugs me more and more as I sit here thinking about it, but it's not really that big a deal in the context of the book. The focus is truly on Maddie's struggles to adjust to her fame/fortune and to tangle out her feelings toward Seth. It's such an adorable story, and I really loved it. If you're in the mood for a fun romance, then I definitely recommend it.
Also, I recently picked up another one of West's books, P.S. I Like You, practically by accident. I can't go into it much here, but needless to say that it was also adorable and I actually liked it even more than Lucky in Love!
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