Title: Luck Be A Lady
Author: Audra North
Series: Lucky in Love #2
Genre: Contemporary Romance - set in Ireland
Published: January 23rd, 2017
Source: E-galley through Netgalley from Barclay Publicity
My rating: 3.5 stars
I was first intrigued when I saw this on Netgalley because of the setting being Ireland. I am very attracted to Irish men and their accents, so a story that takes place there sounded right up my alley! Overall this was a very simple, but very sweet romance.
The two main characters, our couple, are Michael and Aoife (pronounced like Eva or Ava). They were best friends as children until the day that Aoife stumbled upon Michael talking to the most stuck-up/popular girl in school, and he was saying bad things about Aoife to her. The things he said hit on all of her insecurities and she stopped talking to him. Shortly after this, her father had to move the family due to his job, and so she left without a word to Michael, and he'd always wondered what had happened to her because he'd really liked her a lot. We get to hear the story from both of their viewpoints.
Michael is now a reality tv producer, although he has written a movie script that he is trying to get someone to pick up and produce. Aoife is the creator of a very large and famous make-up company, very successful now. Michael is living in Ireland again, having moved back after a few years in Spain with a girl he thought he was in love with, a girl who was only using him to get her acting career going, until someone came along that she thought could help her more. While Aoife is living in the US now, her company is wanting to put a factory in Europe, and they feel that Ireland would be the perfect place, especially based on the fact that she is from the country.
When Michael hears she is in town, his brother suggests he go see how she is, and maybe she will have some contacts that could help him get his movie made. But when he gets there, the first thing he finds is that Aoife has had other old friends only show up to ask her for something. In fact the last/only major relationship she had was based on a similar type of thing. So he decides that he doesn't want to ask her that. He is blown away by how beautiful she is now, and she is also extremely attracted to the grown-up version of her childhood best friend.
However, this new Aoife seems to be all about bragging about her life, and Michael soon feels that this is a totally different person than he once knew, and so he decides to move on. It is only at this point, when it seems as if he will walk away, that Aoife asks him why he said what he did, and the air can be cleared. The misunderstanding between the two is worked out, and while she is in town, they decide to get to know one another, to give in to their mutual attraction.
But the problem is if they can ever work out. Her life is not in Ireland anymore, although now that she has reconnected with Michael, her view/dislike of her homeland may be changing. And Michael doesn't know anything other than that he wants to have her as long as he can. The two of them will have to overcome all the things in their lives that could keep them apart, as well as residual trust issues based on their past with each other.
The story as I said, was quite simple, nothing out of the ordinary that was too surprising. But it was a very sweet romance. We meet Michael's brother and soon to be sister-in-law, who I assume are the couple from the first book in the series, which I now will have to go back and read, because I liked them and want to know their whole story. One thing that did stand out, is talk of an "Irish curse" for men. I hope it's not something that is actually true! That will totally mess with my lust for an Irish man.
So if you're looking for a cute, sweet romance, this is the book for you.
