Is there anything better than diving into a Jenn Bennett book for the first time? I’m not sure there is. Bennett’s books always feel like coming home after a long absence – both new and familiar at the same time.

In CHASING LUCKY this proves to be especially true. The last thing Josie expects when her wanderlust mother returns them to their hometown of Beauty, Rhode Island is to have a renewed connection with her long-lost, possibly bitter, and now extremely handsome former best friend Lucky. Sparks fly after Lucky unexpectedly takes the fall for a crime he didn’t commit.

Like always, the love story Bennett crafts is both dramatic and enthralling – but this time it takes a back seat to the compelling interpersonal relationships of the Saint-Martin women. Don’t get me wrong, Lucky is still the latest addition to my book boyfriend list – but I would have happily spent many more pages exploring the communication issues between Josie and her family. The Saint-Martin women are strong but flawed, loving but wary, fierce but fragile. I loved them all the more for their mistakes and how they are forced to pick up the pieces.

As an added bonus, I grew up in an East Coast seaside town, so the New England setting resonated with me in a special way. It was particularly enjoyable surprise in a book focused on homecomings.

Jenn Bennett has really solidified herself as an auto-buy author for me – don’t miss out on her latest.

Pairs well with:
- Cold brew coffee with lots of cream
- Bargain lobster rolls
- Strange food on sticks (cookie egg rolls, really?)
- Emotional vulnerability

Next on our romance reads is an upcoming Jenn Bennett release that I accidentally stumbled upon NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What got me interested in this book? Well, it's another story with bestfriend-to-enemies-to-lovers as the main trope and a cursed family as a sub-plot.

The story revolves on our MC Josie Saint-Martin, an aspiring photographer living with her mother by jumping places-to-places after a disagreement between her mom and grandma made them leave the town of Beauty, the home where the Saint-Martins were rumored to have a curse on lovelife, and Lucky Karras, her childhood bestfriend who grew to became famous in Beauty for his notoriety. Then the two meet again after five years of sudden separation and with both their tainted public image, will Josie make it out of Beauty alive without repeating the same mistake of leaving Lucky again?

This Jenn Bennett trope is the hill I'm willing to die on. I mean, who wouldn't get the swoon and kilig with all this "you're my enemy now but I know you 100% before" dialogues, the banters and the side comments? Ugh. This made me feel hopeful even though my lovelife is as cold as Elsa's ice palace.

Another plus for the story is the mystery incorporated in the storyline. The Saint-Martin curse, Lucky 2.0, the Saint-Martin fight, Drew the high school lover, and even Josie's picture-perfect father. Each sub-plot contributed to the moderate pacing of the book that made me want to flip another page again and again.

Lastly, Beauty as the setting of this love story was wonderfully woven. The landmark like Harborwalk, event like flotilla, and even the developing vibe of the place seems magical and feels such a nice place to be. Well, except from the rumors than can totally destroy a person in a tick. Did I enjoy the book? Yes. Am I going to buy a copy when it releases? Yes.

RATING: 4stars

3.5 STARS

A cute YA contemporary about falling in love, learning from our mistakes, and the importance of communicating with loved ones.

17 year old Josie Saint Martin is returning to her hometown of Beauty, after leaving town dramatically five years ago with her mother. Since then they have constantly been on the move, but now they are back to run her grandmother's bookstore whilst she is travelling. Josie has plans to go and live with her father on the west coast, to start her career as a photographer. What she doesn't plan for, is to fall for Lucky Karras, the town's bad boy and her former best friend.

I enjoyed this cute coming of age story, but I didn't love it as much as Alex, Approximately and Starry Eyes. It was a cute, quick read though, and I do love Jenn Bennett's writing. In fact I plan to catch up on some of her other books soon, since they are available as books on Scribd.

I loved the setting of this story, set in Beauty, a small town in Rhode Island. It was so well described, and I felt like I was there for the summer with the other tourists! I loved that Josie's family ran a small bookshop because, well books!!

I really liked both of the main characters, as they were written in a realistic way. Josie was very likeable, but I found her quite frustrating sometimes because she made some really bad decisions! Ultimately though, she was a teenager, who was still growing and learning from her mistakes. I really felt for her because no one wants to spend their teenage years moving from place to place, never putting down any roots! Her mum wasn't the best parent or role model, and Josie had to grow up too quickly, often having to be the responsible one, causing her to be envious of other people's family set up. So although Josie could be annoying at times, I did like her, and she had great character development in terms of her career goals, her relationship with her mother, her absent father, her grandmother and her cousin Evie.
Lucky was also a great character, also with flaws. He was a loner, considered a bad boy, and was still suffering from the after effects of a fire from when he was 12. He was also sweet, an animal lover and a bookworm 😍
These two cuties had great chemistry, and I loved their sarcastic banter! 👌 Friends to lovers doesn't always work for me, but this one was really cute!

The main theme in Chasing Lucky was about being honest, and communicating with loved ones, which I loved! It was also about finding yourself, accepting change, and it dealt with small town gossip and politics. It definitely pulled at my heart strings, and made me smile.

I really liked the descriptions of the signs, which Josie loved to photograph, at the start of each chapter! I wonder if there will be photographs to accompany these descriptions in the final copy?! It would be amazing if there were!

**SPOILER**
The reason for my 3.5 stars was because I felt that there were some missed opportunities. I wanted to know more about Josie's mum Winona's story. I wanted to see Lucky get some help to deal with his feelings of guilt and self hatred, which he has carried around since the fire five years ago. I also wanted to see something done about the harassment, stalking and manipulation of Josie's cousin Evie by her boyfriend, Adrian. I don't feel like that was dealt with very well!

Chasing Lucky is definitely perfect if you're after a quick, cute contemporary YA romance, and I definitely enjoyed it, just not as much as I would have liked.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for making this digital ARC available as a download. I am so glad that I got to download a copy before it was abruptly archived!

I’ve only read one of Jenn Bennett’s books before Chasing Lucky and honestly I don’t know why it took me so long to read my second book. Bennett has a way of writing that completely captivates you in the story and makes you feel like you’re living alongside these characters.

When I started this book I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy it. I’ve been having a lot of trouble recently YA contemporary stories and was honestly scared after I found myself struggling to get into the first few chapters. However, I had faith in Bennett’s work so powered through and thank god I did. I found myself absolutely loving this story and the characters.

The banter between the two main characters were spot on and found that they both had really good character development. At times Josie and Lucky frustrated me but their teenagers who are still learning who they are and what they want from life. They’re learning from their own mistakes and I found myself loving the growth of their relationship.

This is a book about family, friendship and learning to be honest with people. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick paced, romantic contemporary and any fans of Jenn Bennett’s other books!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Another fantastic entry from Bennett! Her characters felt realistic, yet still likeable. The protagonist came across at times as a frustrating teenager (to be fair, what teen isn't some the time?), but this helped her development from the start to the end. Lucky is my favorite of Bennett's male leads!

Jenn Bennett is one of my favorite young adult authors and Chasing Lucky might be my favorite book yet by her. This book takes place in Beauty, Rhode Island which is basically Newport. Jenn's description of the setting was on point and made me feel like I was just starting a summer in Newport. Josie has just returned to the hometown she left with her mother when she was 12. She has spent the last 5 years jumping from town to town never staying in one place long. When she walks into the bookshop her and her mom will be running for the year while her Grandmother is in Nepal she comes face to face with the best friend she had left behind, Lucky.
I loved the development of both of the main characters and loved the banter between them. They had great chemistry. This book is perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen who are yearning for a cute young adult romance in a small beach town complete with an adorable bookshop. I absolutely loved Lucky. Josie could annoy me at times and I didn't love that she let Lucky take the fall for her in the beginning of the book but she grew on me throughout it. Chasing Lucky was more than a young adult romance. It was about family and finding yourself and what you want while learning to be honest with one another. I devoured this book in 2 days and will definitely reread it in the future. Highly recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not sure why this was abruptly archived. I had to double check the dates. I did get a chance to download it and still plan to review it on other platforms around the release date. If it comes back to Netgalley, I will resubmit my updated review.

I love Jenn Bennett's books (Alex Approximately is one of my all time favorites). This book has what you expect from a Bennett novel - characters on the brink of growing up, life lessons and love. It was well written and you can't help but love her character. I didn't connect to the past of the main character as much as some of her other work, but I think that was just me. I would still recommend any of her books, including this one to any YA contemporary romance reader.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to review this book.

I haven't read opposite attracts romance in quiet a while and this book looked pretty good. From the amazing cover and the interesting blurb , I was excited to read this book. I am quiet happy to say I loved Josie and Lucky. They had a good chemistry and understood each other even they are totally different from one another. It was really good book with good plot line, funny dialogues, engaging characters and lots of romance and a second chance at love. I loved it.
Happy reading.

Chasing Lucky by Jenn Bennett is a wonderful, emotional, fun, and delightful young adult contemporary romance. Josie and Lucky rekindle their friendship, when Josie and her mom move back to town. They have always been best friends, until Josie and her mom left town in the middle of the night four years earlier. Can their relationship be repaired? I love this genre, even though I am far from a young adult. There is something so innocent about first loves. I love the complicated people and situations in this book, and watching the characters grow, both the teens and adults. I found this book to be a quick read, and highly recommend this book.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Was unable to download this title before archived and will not be writing a review on it,. Super disappointed since I really wanted to read it.

I was gifted an arc of this book by NetGalley and Simon Schuster/Simon Pulse for giving me this book.

So this book is about Josie who comes back to her hometown with her mom after being gone for a long time. Her mom knows that coming to town is not the best idea but its their only idea. Her plan save up and leave for Florida. That changes when she sees an old face that she hasn't seen since she was 12.

Lucky Karras her childhood best friend and the guy who now has scars and a bad reputation. They end up at a party one night and things don't go as planned putting them in a situation and he takes complete fall for what happened.

Can she fix all the problems that has gone wrong? What will she do with her feelings that she finds she has for her now hunky best friend.

So I fell in love with this book. It was everything I wanted and after reading the book I love the cover even more. It has that sweet friendship that turns into romance. That I love. It had family drama from past and present. I did get irritated at the mom and the cousin but it was just because I thought that they were blaming a silly "curse" for all their problems. Overall it will be instantly bought when I can get my hands on a copy.

I have loved reading Jenn Bennett's book for a while now and was surprised when I started Chasing Lucky to find it took place in Rhode Island and the main character worked in a bookstore. Are you stalking my life? Once I was able to get past the fact that fictional Beauty, RI is pretty much Newport and delve into the story, I couldn't put it down. Josie and Lucky's story had me hooked with the will they won't they back and forth. The complexity of Josie's relationship with her mother was heart wrenching and you couldn't help but root for everything to work out in the end.

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review

A sweet love story, nothing too heavy, about a misunderstood bad boy and his best friend who just happens to the daughter of the town wild child. This one tics a lot of dysfunctional boxes and just smacks a teensy bit of Gilmore Girls but the sweetness keeps it fresh. 3.5 rounded up

This was a cute book and a quick read. It was interesting to see the small-town dynamics play out. I did keep waiting for something big to happen, but for me the story seemed to carry on at an even pace. Still a nice book for a rainy afternoon.

Highly recommend this to anyone looking for a carefree contemporary read that’s also a little deeper. Jenn Bennett is one of my all time favorite authors and this book did not disappoint. Love everything about it from the characters to her writing style to the story itself. Definitely check this one out.

Such a cute novel. I quickly fell in love with Josie and her story. It was adorable and predictable but it was the perfect book for me to quickly read.

Saint Martin girls have been cursed for the love. They can never get the love of their life. And Beauty is a town where feminism and modern age is still just a word. Josie Saint Martin was twelve when she left the Beauty with her mom in the middle of the night after a big fight between her grandmother and her mother.. Since then they have changed many homes and many towns. But after five years Josie and her mom are back on Beauty and to the curse too. But Josie has a way out. She has a plan to exit all of this drama.

But what happens when an ex-friend now turned bad boy takes the blame of an accident which actually happened because of Josie. Will their friendship rekindle? Will the cliche come true a bad boy and a good girl love story? Or the escape plan is too important for Josie?

Review-

Frankly speaking I didn't had high hopes from this book. I thought it will be one of those high school drama, prank, bad boy loves good girl kind of story. But Boy Oh Boy!!!! I was so wrong. This book is nothing like it at all.

The emotions are so raw in this book. Mother daughter relationship, being an adult when you are still too young, being guilty of something which could have happened and a longing for a family, these are the situations which these book tackles beautifully. You connect with each and every emotion of Josie.

Plot and characters of the book are very realistic. These are the people whom you actually encounter in your daily life. This makes the book more connected and interesting.

I love the writing of the book. It just flows naturally. At no place it seems too much or too less. Author has maintained a perfect pace of the book. Even the ending was very heart touching and not cliche at all.

This book shows a beautiful bond of a mother and daughter. And sometimes you really have to put the wall down and be honest with your loved ones because even the most terrible situations can be solved by just communicating.

I recommend it to everyone who wants to read a good emotional book with a background of a gorgeous city of Beauty.

Disappeared before I could review it. I don't request books unless I have the time to review them, so it's disappointing that they changed the archive date by three months with no warning. I just checked today at lunch to make sure the archive date was in May, and blocked off time in my calendar to review before March.

I downloaded this yesterday and before I could read it, it was archived. So, I have no opinion, but I am very excited to eventually read this book.