4.5 stars

I read Love, Lists and Fancy Ships and loved it. The characters were easy to root for and love, they had depth and there was an authentic chemistry between all of them (friends and lovers). It felt more women's fiction and I wanted more romance but still it was a solid 4 star read.

Luck and Last Resorts gives the character depth and layers, the chemistry AND the romance. The banter between Nina and Ollie is some of the best I've read and I loved the transparency and honesty between them. Sometimes it can get frustrating when there is a lack of communication and there were few moments like that here but the pacing was spot on to alleviate it. Just a fantastic follow up and I liked it even better than the first.

Nina Lejune tries to live her life to the fullest. But she always insists on two rules - have fun and don't rely on anyone. Nina has had a hard time growing up and she hasn't always had the best relationship with her parents. So when she decides to be a yacht stewardess there's nothing stopping her and that's how she ends up on the super yacht Serendipity. Nina meets her best friend Jo and former yacht chef and on again/off again flame Ollie.

When Ollie returns for the yachting season, he gives Nina an ultimatum. Either she figure out if she wants him in her life for good or he sails to Ireland to help run his family's pub. Nina and Oliver have so much history together - they've known each other for years and they know each others deepest darkest secrets. But is Nina willing to let Ollie in all the way to make their relationship work or will she end up pushing him away for good?

Luck and Last Resorts started out so strong! I loved Ollie and Nina together and was rooting for them when I first met them in Love, Lists & Fancy Ships. And holy crap that plot twist in this story threw me (!!!!). I did not see that coming!

But while the first part of the book started strong, the middle dragged for me. I get where Nina's coming from and why her character had a lot of reservations, but she was often a hard character to like. Ollie was so sweet and precious and I loved how patient and understanding he was with Nina.

I had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook of Luck and Last Resorts and enjoyed it! The narration by Karissa Vacker was fantastic. I especially loved the Irish accent she gave to Ollie's character which made it really easy to differentiate when he was speaking. And while I really enjoyed the narration the dual timelines lost me at times.

Overall, while I didn't enjoy Luck and Last Resorts as much as Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships I would still recommend this book if you're looking for a second chance/angsty romance.

CW: gambling addiction (secondary character), identity theft, parental neglect/abuse

Well, I flew through this one! I first picked up Sarah Grunder Ruiz's work a few months ago after I had been on a Below Deck binge. I saw her rom-com, Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships took place in the world of luxury yachting and knew I wanted to read it!

I was excited to see that we were now getting more of Nina and Ollie's story. They were a highlight of the first book for me. Nina is such a vibrant character and I loved getting to know more about her through this story. And the sparks between her and Ollie were fun!

Overall, a really fun and heartfelt read with just the right amount of spice for me.

This is one of those books where you feel like you have SO much to say, but no matter how mushy-gushy you get, nothing you say will truly do the book justice.

Luck and Last Resorts is a dual POV, dual timeline (flashbacks), friends-to-lovers (and such a fun play on a favorite trope but NOT spoiling the fun for y’all by revealing… ), funny love story with lots of layers!

Nina and Ollie have been on-again, off-again for the better part of a decade. Nina’s been burned by people she’s loved and relied on before, so she’s happy never to do it again. Ollie has his own traumatic past, but he’s tired of the chaotic yacht chartering lifestyle. He’s ready for a new chapter, and he wants Nina to join him.

It’s an immediate no from Nina, but the forced proximity of having Ollie back on the Serendipity is breaking down her resolve to remain single and independent forever. Learning more about not only their pasts together, but also before they boarded the Serendipity for the first season was really satisfying.

I also loved:
-The unique setting
-Reuniting with character faves from Love, Lists and Fancy Ships
-The chemistry (pining, pizza rolls, and so much more…)

The book will break your heart in more than one way, but Sarah takes care to not only put it back together, but fill it with so much joy it will likely be bursting by the final pages. This is one of my absolute favorites of the year!

What a delight. I am a sucker for cute covers, and this checks all the boxes. A great second chance romance ON A YACHT?! Yes please!

Nina is a precious soul. She is not afraid to be her wild self, but she is afraid to give away her heart. I loved the alternating time lines as we discover her last with Ollie while she deals with what her future will look like as well. I love that Ollie had this fierce love for her even when she made it hard. I love that Nina slowly relIzed what she wanted, knew when she didn’t know, and opened up herself to Jo and Ollie to fix her past issues. This book was about deep healing for everyone and I loved it even more than book one! Also chapter 4. The last line. I never saw it coming!

While I my favorite is still Sarah's debut, I fell in love with this book! And the twist in chapter four. Oh my god, Was not prepared. Made me want to get a summer job on a yacht.

This book was so much fun and so much more than what I was expecting. I love Nina, who has learned long ago she could only count on herself. And here is Ollie, how is so in love with Nina, he’s been dipping in and out of her life for the last decade.
And so you might think it’s a typical romance, but it’s more. I love Nina and Ollie’s first meeting. The chapters go back and forth between their first meeting and first season together and then to the present where Ollie is offering Nina an ultimatum. I love the real issues Nina’s character has. She is very flawed and selfish, but not unlikeable. Ollie on the other hand is charming and devoted, but also has some serious baggage from his past. His motivation and character arc seemed very authentic to me. His character had to go in this direction and I like how patient and loving he is towards Nina but ultimately chooses himself first.
The story has a lot of surprises which was a lot of fun. Romance can be cookie cutter-ish, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But I really liked how this wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be and the small surprises that were thrown in really kept my attention and had me invested deeply in the characters. Especially the end! I love the end. I’m so glad there was real change and growth with Nina and she held herself accountable.
Luck and Last Resorts is such an enjoyable book. It’s romantic and clever and the writing is solid. It’s a great book to read on vacation or when you have a few hours to sit down and get lost. I’m going to go back and read the first book in the series, I liked it that much!

Thank you to @netgalley and @berkleypub for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to @prhaudio for a free download of the audiobook.

Luck and Last Resorts is Sarah Grunder Ruiz follow up to Love, Lists, & Fancy Ships. This book revolves around Nina and Ollie. These two have a past, and thing have happened that only the captain on the ship knows about. Ollie is the former chef who has returned and is forcing Nina to face these choices so he can move on.

I loved this book and the crazy connection between the two main characters. I could not put the book down until I finished. The flirtatious banter and sexual tension between Nina and Ollie is palpable. Nina can be frustrating in her stubbornness, but I can respect her need for independence.

4.5 stars – rounding to 5 for Goodreads

Not my cup,of tea. Very well written book, but I couldn’t connect with the heroine and her gruff attitude. Because the H/h have an on again off again relationship, I felt loads of connection to their HEA.

Luck and Last Resorts was the first book I read by Sarah Grunder Ruiz, but it will not be my last! I already have Love, Lists, & Fancy Ships coming in the mail. Luck and Last Resorts follows Nina and Ollie through their second chance closed-door romance. I fell hard for Ollie, who’s an Irish cinnamon roll character. Karissa Vacker did a fabulous job narrating both Nina and Ollie with his Irish accent. I would recommend the audiobook just for Ollie’s sexy voice. This book is one of my favorite romances of 2022.

Thank you, Penguin Random House Audio and Berkley, for my gifted copies.

A list of reasons why I loved Luck & Last Resorts:

✨Takes place on a yacht—so fun!

✨The male MC is Irish (love the accent) and a chef!

✨Marriage of convenience!!!

✨Friends to Married to Lovers to Friends with Benefits to Married but for real this time to Broken up to…? (You gotta read to find out the rest, but there is A LOT going on and it all plays out in a beautifully tortured but romantic way.)

I don’t know if any of that made sense, but I loved this book! It was equal parts escapist fantasy and heartbreakingly real. Thank you to the publisher for an early copy!

Nina is a 32 year old chief stewardess on a multimillion dollar superyatch. Nina got the gig nine years prior, after olympic-bound career as a gymnast came to an abrupt halt due to a knee injury and her father's gambling addiction plummeted Nina into debt - a career that came with secure housing and offered an escape from her life to traipse through the Caribbean seemed perfect for her. Also working on the yatch is Ollie Dunne, a dreamy but grumpy Irish chef. Shortly after meeting nine years prior, Nina and Ollie embarked on a tumultuous on-and-off sort-of-relationship which was just as simple as it sounds. In the present day, Nina and Ollie are setting off for another hectic charter season when Ollie gives Nina an ultimatum: they either get together for real, or he is going home to Ireland.

I looooved this book just as much (if not more) than the first book in this series, Love, Lists and Fancy Ships. I picked this book up and did not put it down until I was finished, the flirtatious banter and angst between Nina and Ollie was addictive. Nina could be frustrating as hell at times, but I always resonated with where she was coming from. I admire that this book didn't use romance as a solution to internal issues Nina and Ollie were both struggling with - but as a catalyst for them each to work on themselves to be a healthier version of themselves. This book put me through a whirlwind of emotions, and I highly recommend it!

Thank you Berkeley Publishing Group and #NetGalley for the arc!

Nina Lejuene is a former world class gymnast with an unsteady knee whose father has trashed her credit scores, so she ends up needing someone to believe in her and give her a chance at a job, even without experience. Enter the Serendipity Yacht, where she gets her chance, and meets Ollie, a spunky Irish chef.

Told in past v present timelines that work towards the present, we see bits and pieces of Nina and Ollie as he poses an ultimatum to Nina that she isn’t ready to deal with. As Nina, now chief stewardess, 10 years later confronts her past, and evaluates her own true feelings and goals in life. Ollie is there being the BEST Irish side character ever. I felt for Ollie and his life as a youth- I am glad that he comes multifaceted as a character.

Neither fits the typical physical mold of a rom-com, which I enjoyed. Nina was a little frustrating at times but she eventually came around, and I did feel like Ollie needed to learn a world other than “fecking” LOL that got a little old.

If you enjoy grumpy-grumpy, Florida sunshine, ridiculous rich people and two characters figuring out what means the most, go for this one.

I like this book a lot, it’s a perfect second chance/friends to lovers story. Perfect for fans of “Below Deck”, this tells the story of Nina, the chief stew on a yacht, and Ollie, the yacht chef. We met them in the first book, “Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships”. Nina and Ollie ha been friends, sometimes with benefits, for years.
Nina is a former world class gymnast with deep family issues, and Ollie is from Ireland where his family runs a pub. He’s ready for a commitment from Nina or he’ll go back to Ireland, where his family needs him. Nina’s motto is “always have fun “ and she’s afraid of commitment.
How do they work this out? What if Ollie actually leaves?
I was so excited to read this book and it didn’t disappoint, 5 stars.

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?

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/<id type="integer">4842788820</id>

This book was so much fun to read. It’s a second chance romance with some angst, great characters and chemistry and it’s emotional.
I loved Ollie and Nina’s story. A definite favorite of 2022. You will laugh, get frustrated, it will pul you in. I flew thru this book in one sitting. I loved getting the back story with the dual timelines, great writing and flow

I love character world series, and knew that I was looking forward to Nina & Ollie's story from the little teases we got in Love, Lists and Fancy Ships. Following the same engaging writing style, this was a second-chance romance that gave ALL the feels. Beautifully written, lots of emotions, a great summer romance.

his book had me laughing out a lot. I will say I don’t think this book is for everyone. You have to really be a hopeless romantic, like drama and alternating timelines. I usually don’t mind alternating timelines but I know some people do. However in this book it’s done very well.

Ollie loves Nina and he knows Nina loves him too. She’s just too afraid to admit it. After ten years of being best friends with occasional benefits Ollie wants more. So during a four month charter season Nina has to learn whether she’s willing to open up her heart or Ollie is going back to Ireland. Like I said there’s drama. If you like Below Deck on Bravo TV like I do I think this book is for you.

During the present we are well aware that these two characters know each other very well and it’s through the chapters looking into their past we see why. We see their past and how they know tiny details like what side of the bed Ollie likes to sleep on.

However if someone who doesn’t like when a character is struggling to admit their OBVIOUS feelings this might not be for you.

I was SO EXCITED to receive this eARC because I loved Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships so much. This companion novel did not disappoint!

I was ready to learn about Nina and Ollie’s story in this book. We get glimpses of them in LL&FS, and we know that there’s SOMETHING going on between them, but the details remained a mystery.

I couldn’t believe how much history exists between these two and what their relationship has gone through 😳 It genuinely took me by surprise.

Ollie loves Nina sooo much and I just melt for that Irishman.

If you love a good second-chance romance with lots of ANGST and the guy falls first, then pick up this book! I think you’ll enjoy Nina and Ollie’s story as much as I did!

Thank you, NetGalley and Berkley, for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This was a super solid "sequel" to LOVE, LISTS AND FANCY SHIPS which was definitely one of my favorite books of last year. I loved Nina in that book and was definitely intrigued by her ongoing will they-won't they with Ollie so I was excited to see where this book would go. Admittedly, I didn't love this one quite as much as Jo's story. Nina's indecision and overall malaise made for a slightly frustrating and at times repetetive reading experience. While I appreciate and relate to the feeling of being stuck and not knowing what to do next, Nina came across as a bit childish in her avoidance of making decisions (especially because she knows exactly what she wants and just doesn't make a move). I also felt like her backstory that is supposed to justify her inability to commit to romantic love didn't really make much sense. But I still had a lot of fun reading this one and I can't wait to read Grunder Ruiz's next book in this series which sounds like a very good time.