A New York Times bestseller

From the author of the New York Times bestselling 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.

To start, I am going to be entirely honest (and this was either a blonde moment or the book was just written THAT WELL) but I honestly did not realize that this was a companion novel to Love & Gelato until the characters crossed paths towards the end of the book. Obviously, I knew it was the same author, which is why I picked it up, but I did not see that they were connected… However, I say that that means good writing, because typically I HATE obvious companion novels that are different POVs, and this book did a good enough job at making the story different, that I didn’t even realize they were related! Anyways, just keep that brain fart in the back of your mind while I proceed.

I actually adored the motivation behind this novel’s plot. The character was dealing with a heartbreak, but that took a back burner to her processing the damage it had done between her and her brother. Although there was some very obvious romance in their novel, and the topic of it was a central plot device, the overarching theme was watching Addie process some emotional trauma she had gone through, as well as her getting to know her older brother in a new way.

That being said, I loved the character development we saw in this novel, especially from the brother Ian. Honestly, the guy was kind of a jerk to his sister, but in a pretty realistic way. He also showed really great depth and development as a character as his sister, Addie, slowly realized she had never “tried” to get to know him on a real level. The family love and connection that was shown and discussed through the characters was a really strong attribute to the story. Plus Rowan. I love myself some Rowan.

I also adored the guidebook part of the novel. The guidebook, which was a part of Addie’s trip across Ireland, gave the story a very immersive, real feeling. It felt less like a book where we watch a bunch of kids go on a grand coming of age adventure, and more like a novel where we get our hearts mended along with Addie. It was a really unique and interesting touch to the story.

So, overall, I found Love & Luck to be incredibly enjoyable! Some of the qualms I had with Welch’s style of storytelling and plot still stood in this novel, but definitely less so that in Love & Gelato. This was a very cute, and refreshing summer read.

4 out of 5.

Maddie