Love & Luck

By: Jenna Evans Welch

Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan

Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

From the author of the New York Times best-selling Love & Gelato comes a heartwarming tale of a road trip through Ireland filled with love, adventure, and the true meaning behind the word family.

Addie is visiting Ireland for her aunt’s over-the-top destination wedding and hoping she can stop thinking about the one horrible thing she did that left her miserable and heartbroken - and threatens her future. But her brother, Ian, isn’t about to let her forget, and his constant needling leads to arguments and even a fistfight between the two once inseparable siblings. Miserable, Addie can’t wait to visit her friend in Italy and leave her brother - and her problems - behind.

So when Addie discovers an unusual guidebook, Ireland for the Heartbroken, hidden in the dusty shelves of the hotel library, she’s able to finally escape her anxious mind and Ian’s criticism.

And then their travel plans change. Suddenly Addie finds herself on a whirlwind tour of the Emerald Isle, trapped in the world’s smallest vehicle with Ian and his admittedly cute, Irish-accented friend Rowan. As the trio journeys over breathtaking green hills, past countless castles, and through a number of fairy-tale forests, Addie hopes her guidebook will heal not only her broken heart but also her shattered relationship with her brother.

That is if they don’t get completely lost along the way.

©2018 Jenna Evans Welch (P)2018 Simon & Schuster

Middle of the Road (Trip)

This was a cute book with a fun cast of characters, but I think it’s on the younger side of YA novels and it dragged a bit for me. I probably should have known better before using a credit, but I liked the sounds of a cute Irish romance.

The book was more centered around the siblings and their drama and secrets and friendship than about romance which is perfectly fine!! It just wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, and also the secret of “what REALLY happened over summer” dragged on for far too long.

Overall it’s a cute read, and I’m sure teenage me would’ve loved it! Current me though is just feeling very in the middle about it.

Light, Refreshing and Enjoyable

I absolutely loved this refreshing and light book based on overcoming fear, expectations and being your try self! I also loved the sibling connection. It was a great read that made me laugh and cry and laugh some more!!! I read this bc it’s March and I wanted something in Ireland! What a treat it was!

Beautiful!

I listened to this book and I sincerely love the story. For someone that has only brothers I was able to understand and relate a lot to the book. There are only two things I wish to have known about the story, With who did Rowan end up living with and what did the Bennett parents thought about Ian’s dreams/future plans?!

Fantastic!!!!

Jenna never fails to make me cry, laugh, and smile with the way she writes. The best thing I love about her stories is that they are real, even if the specific thing she writes about has never happened to you, it’s always easy to connect to her writing. Here is why, she touches on emotions that are so real it’s scary but not scary at the same time. You just feel like you are in the story!
Thank you Jenna! Cannot wait to see with what you come up with next!

Highly recommend for those who are trying to get back into reading

It’s such a wonderful book! I’m trying to read more and this book is such a delightful read, that it made my desire to read more not a chore but something I looked forward to!

Not bad

The mom was mean the first few chapters but the story was really good.😋😋😋nice

Love, laughter, tears, JOY

This book really moved me. I finished it after Love & Gelato. And while I LOVED Love & Gelato, this book…..was BEAUTIFUL. I cried. I laughed. I felt immense joy and also anxiousness and pain for Addie and Lena.

I am absolutely in love with their friendship and it’s such a blessing to read about. I am blessed enough to have similar friendships in my life and wow this book reminded me of how I grateful I am for the relationships in my life.

I also LOVE the narrator. I think my favorite of any audio book by far. Her voices for each character were distinct and specific. Great job!!!

Sending faith, hope, love, and LUCK to you all!

Another feel good, happy book

I came to this book after having read Love & Gelato and was pleasantly satisfied. It was a cute family bonding adventure after some personal life decisions and a fight at a wedding that caused a divide. With also a tiny touch of love, but the adventure and the healing was the main focus. I loved it.

Welch broke my listening rut

A few weeks ago I was in the midst of a listening rut when an advanced copy of Love & Luck by Jenna Evans Welch landed on my desk. It reminded me that her debut Love & Gelato had been lingering on my to-listen-to list, so I downloaded it on the spot…and finished it in a day. (I'll spare you the details about the intense wanderlust it sparked...). I then dove right into Love & Luck and devoured it with the same fervor. Welch establishes setting so well and made me want to hop on a plane to the Emerald Isle (the spot-on Irish accent from narrator Lisa Flanagan didn’t hurt either). What’s more, it was incredibly refreshing to have the central relationship in this YA tale be between siblings.

It’s Ok

I really tried to love this book based on reviews, but I couldn’t get into it. It dragged on and on and at 4 hrs into the book, if I had to hear Cubby’s name one more time and then the same argument rehashed and sentences not finished, I was going to scream. I love this author’s descriptions, but her constant interrupted dialogue and never getting to the point is terrible. I had the same issue with Love and Gelato, but the Italian scenery and story kept me going. I didn’t feel like I was immersed in Ireland like I had been in Italy in her previous book. Needless to say, I skipped ahead to 6.5 hrs into the book (!!) to FINALLY find out what happened and will not even finish the book and return because I just didn’t care about these characters at all.