Happy Tuesday and a very happy book birthday to Luck & Last Resorts by Sarah Grunder Ruiz! This is a great secondary romance, and that cover is so gorgeous!!
About the Book:
Title: Luck and Last Resorts
Author: Sarah Grunder Ruiz
Page Length: 336
Publication Date: Aug. 9, 2022
Publisher: Berkley
Synopsis: They have a second chance at love, but there are some rough seas ahead in the new contemporary romance from the acclaimed author of Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships.
Commitment-phobe Nina Lejeune lives by two rules:
1. Always have fun.
2. Don’t rely on anyone but yourself.
The first rule is easy; the second, she’s only broken once.
Ten years after fleeing home, Nina is the chief stewardess on the super yacht Serendipity, single by choice, and perfectly content with how life has turned out.
But Nina’s ex-coworker and old flame, Irish chef Ollie Dunne, isn’t so happy with the status quo. One year after leaving yachting, he’s returned as the Serendipity’s chef with an ultimatum: if Nina continues to deny she’s in love with him by the end of this charter season, he’ll go back to Ireland for good.
Nina and Ollie’s shared secret from their past threatens to shipwreck not only their relationship, but the entire boat. But as their connection grows amidst chaotic guests and crew drama, could there be smooth sailing in their future?
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My Review:
After hearing such fabulous things about Love, Lists, & Fancy Ships, the first book in this series, I jumped at the chance to read Luck & Last Resorts. It’s the first book I’ve read by the author, and I’m glad to say I enjoyed it! It has several tropes I love, and the second-chance, friends-to-lovers romance is great.
Nina and Ollie have a unique relationship, and their second-chance romance is filled with angst, chemistry, and complicated feelings. Nina especially has to face her feelings and stop self-sabotaging before she can really embrace her future. She has spent most of her adult life working as a yacht stewardess and avoiding the problems that she initially ran from. She is not great with change and is still struggling with trust issues because of betrayals in the past. Her actions are frustrating at times, but her fears and reactions to certain situations are very realistic.
And I love Ollie! He is so patient and understanding, and his feelings for Nina run deep. Ollie learns a lot about himself over the course of the story, and I love how he begins to stand up for himself and his wants too. He is a layered character with an interesting back story, much like Nina. Tired of playing games with Nina, he gives her an ultimatum, and it’s interesting to see how they both deal with the realization that their ten year on again off again relationship might come to an end. I enjoyed their banter and their decade-long love story. Flashbacks of Ollie and Nina’s relationship reveal so much about them, from their first contentious meeting to their eventual friendship and then romance, their feelings for each other run deep.
I enjoyed this book, and though it is the second in the series, it can easily be read as a standalone. In fact, I hadn’t read the first book before I read this one, and I had no problem following the story or the characters. For those of you that have read the first book in the series, you’ll be happy to know that many of the characters have secondary roles in this book.
I think readers who enjoy contemporary romances with great characters, a summer setting, and a lovely second-chance romance will enjoy this story, and I’m thankful to Berkley Books for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.
Rating:
Favorite Parts:
- The romance.
- The setting.
- The secondary characters.
Recommendations:
I would recommend Luck and Last Resorts to readers who enjoy contemporary romance, friends-to-lovers romance, second-chance romance, or contemporary fiction.
I love the cover of this one! Adding to my tbr 🙂
It’s a good one!
I’m reading Love List and Fancy Ships that I already like and as soon as I finish I will start this one.
Nice! I hope you enjoy both! 🙂