by Jennifer Honeybourn
July 16, 2019
256 pages
Goodreads Summary:
Marty has terrible luck and she knows exactly why. While working as a housekeeper at the ritzy Grand Palms hotel in Maui, Marty made it a habit to steal small items from the guests. What better way to stick it to the rich snobs they have to clean up after? Marty knows how to turn her luck around -- she just has to return all of the items she stole.
When Marty meets Will, a new guest who is staying for the summer, she does the one thing she always promised herself she'd never do -- fall for an out-of-towner. But Will's special, different from the other guests at the hotel. Maybe Marty's luck is finally turning around.
After a string of misunderstandings and accidents threaten Will and Marty's relationship, Marty has to find a way to fix her luck for good -- or say goodbye to Will forever.
Marty has terrible luck and she knows exactly why. While working as a housekeeper at the ritzy Grand Palms hotel in Maui, Marty made it a habit to steal small items from the guests. What better way to stick it to the rich snobs they have to clean up after? Marty knows how to turn her luck around -- she just has to return all of the items she stole.
When Marty meets Will, a new guest who is staying for the summer, she does the one thing she always promised herself she'd never do -- fall for an out-of-towner. But Will's special, different from the other guests at the hotel. Maybe Marty's luck is finally turning around.
After a string of misunderstandings and accidents threaten Will and Marty's relationship, Marty has to find a way to fix her luck for good -- or say goodbye to Will forever.
Review
I originally didn't plan on picking up Just My Luck but it turned out to be a quick contemporary goody. The story delivered exactly what the synopsis promises.
For a short book I thought Marty was a well-developed character. She may be young but she recognized that every time she decided not to face her problems, she was running away from them. I was able to be more patient and tolerant with her because of her self-awareness. Like any other teenager she just lacked a little courage. In many ways though her hesitations worked to her advantage. They helped her realize and solve some of her biggest worries.
The romance wasn't what I was hoping for probably because I thought Will was kind of a meh love interest. He was a genuine and good person but nothing he did made me really care or swoon. I wish he was more outspoken. Also, his interactions with Marty felt very insta-love. They were cute at times but their relationship just didn't stand out.
The synopsis doesn't mention any family troubles but I found them to be a crucial part of the story. Due to a certain event Marty's relationship with both her parents was strained. A big part of Just My Luck was spent addressing her struggling feelings and how she eventually dealt with them. The representation was pretty solid. It made me happy to see she had great rapport with her brother despite their parental problems.
While Just My Luck wasn't 100% my cup of tea, it was a fun contemporary read. The story was quick but meaningful. It's the perfect summer beach read~
*I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not affected in any way. Any quotes included in my review were taken from the ARC I received.
I enjoyed this book. I thought Honeybourn did a wonderful job "taking" me to Hawaii. I felt like the purpose of the romance was to force Marty to open herself up again - to people and too possibilities. I agree that the family drama was an important part of her story, and I liked the way Honeybourn let it play out.
ReplyDeleteThe Hawaii experience definitely was there and that's a great take!
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