**Review scheduled to post (on my blog, Instagram and Goodreads) April 29th. I will update the links here on that date!**

I’D CHASE LUCKY TOO.

This was a more mature YA book. That’s what I kept thinking every time I was reading this. The main character was a high school senior and I kept picturing her as a college girl home for the summer. Take that for what you will, I still enjoyed the book.

There’s a lot of depth to this novel. It isn’t a super fluffy YA rom-com. The further I read, the more of the inner story unfurled in front of me. And I really like what I got from it. That communication is critically important to maintaining the bonds we value.

And usually, I hate when communication is clearly an issue and a brief conversation would solve all the problems. Bennett does a great job of not making me feel this way. While yes, I got frustrated with them (mostly Josie’s mother), I also understood the pain and heartache that each of the Saint-Martin women were struggling with. Another highlight, the fact that this was also heavily about a group of women in a family learning how to be together and not let differences tear them down. I liked the way reveals and emotions came out towards the end as the real picture of everyone’s past came to light. Josie took in a lot of information in a small amount of time. Did she make some mistakes? YES. Did she also learn from them? YES. And that’s what really sold this book for me.

The trope of choice for Chasing Lucky was childhood friends. Lucky and Josie knew each other back when she still lived in town, but after moving away, lost touch. Enter Josie coming back, enter cute Lucky 2.0. I, for once, dare say, I liked the way this trope was written. There was good banter, a little bit of angst as they figured each other out again and I felt the connection between them. I WILL ALSO SAY, I have rolled my eyes at love scenes in Bennett’s previous books, this was not the case this time. Oh it was so much better, and so much more realistic. I definitely adored this story a lot more because of it.

I constantly found myself wanting to pick this book up to read it. It was a solid YA book and I love the journey this story took me on. I appreciate the sentiments that were expressed and thought the conclusion was everything it should be.

Overall audience notes:

YA Contemporary Romance
Language: some strong
Romance: kisses; one little detailed fade to black scene
Trigger warnings: someone being arrested for destruction of property; a secondary character posting and showing off a nude photo of Josie’s mother and using it for revenge; car wreck (no one is critically injured)

Jenn Bennett does it again. I am never let down by her books. I loved Lucky and the mysteriousness surrounding him. I loved Josie and her determination. One thing that is always consistent with Jenn Bennett is a strong family relationship in her books. I thought she was going to take a turn with this one and show more of a dysfunctional mother daughter relationship. While it did have its problems, we see the true relationship and sacrifices towards the end and I love that. I love the sex positively between Josie and Lucky, but at times it did feel like Josie was slut shaming her mother. But, because of the positions Josie was put in because of this, it was a totally understandable way to be feeling. As always with Jenn Bennett, I didn't want it to end or let go of these characters. This one will definitely be a go to recommendation for me.

Jenn Bennett being Jenn Bennett as only Jenn Bennett can. A complicated family full of complicated women, who may or may not be cursed when it comes to love. An aspiring photographer trying to break from that family and find something more stable, more normal. Her childhood best friend turned semi-enemy who got very hot while they spent five years apart. A quirky, class-divided New England town. Messy, affirming explorations of teen sexuality and first love.

What's not to like?

Just like every book by this author it is a good contemporary romance. Full of light moments but also growth for the characters.
I think this may have been my favorite read. Lucky was so well written. I cannot wait to see what will come next for this amazing author.

I desperately want to read this book but as it's only available in a pdf download from netgalley, I'm shelving it until I can purchase it and read a mobi file on my kindle!