Review: Good Luck by Whitney Gaskell

Ever since I first read True Love (and Other Lies), I have loved the escape that can be found in Whitney Gaskell's novels. True Love (and Other Lies) was such an enjoyable read for me, that I've reached out to find her other novels, which led me to Good Luck.

I actually purchased Good Luck on its release date, but never had time to read it through. It wasn't until I was on my way to Hawaii for the summer that I finally picked it up. In fact, I was on a plane ride to my summer conference for my online job, when I sat to read it all the way through. Well, that ended disastrously! As I hit page 130, every other page was BLANK! Yes, BLANK! I was horrified. I was on a roll, I was enjoying the story, I was all into it and wanted to see what happened...and nothing.

To wrap up the story, I contacted the company and they sent me another book a couple of weeks later. By that point, I'd moved on to other books, and just didn't have time...again. However, during the readathon, I picked it up and finished it, much to my pleasure and enjoyment!

Synopsis: Lucy Parker is a prep school teacher, plagued by the normal woes of teaching. After giving a student a bad grade, he claims sexual harassment and gets her fired. In the end, how can she disprove him? Not only is she left without a job, but her car also breaks down, and she returns home to find her long-time boyfriend in bed with another woman. As far as bad times are concerned, this just might be the worst. In a fit of bad luck and hurt feelings and emotions, Lucy purchases and lottery ticket...and WINS.

With her millions, Lucy disappears, picking up in a new location with a close friend of hers until she can piece together her life again. In doing so, she begins to learn about her own weaknesses, the mean-spirited qualities that come out in others because of money, and about judging others based on shallow perceptions.

Review: Lucy reminded me so much of myself...minus the boyfriend I could walk in on...because she is a teacher fighting the fight. I was initially snagged by the claim of sexual harassment, and was horrified to consider how devastating such a claim might be to one's career! Not only is the burden of proof left on Lucy, but she also has to figure out a way to support herself in the meantime. Horrifying.

Through the simple portrayal of her misery, you really want to see how she pulls out of it all, and winning the lottery sure seems to be the ticket! It was fun to watch someone else try to think about what to do with so much money, and I enjoyed watching Lucy learn more about the people around her. Really, I hated seeing the selfish and greedy things that people who were supposed to "love" Lucy would do to get to her money. It almost made me glad that I wasn't in that position, to watch the people I love disappoint me.

I really enjoyed reading this novel. While there was romance involved, and read like a chick-lit novel, the interesting story and complex relationships made it interesting to read and consider. There are some scenes of sensuality in the story. Overall though, I thought the novel was a great escape read, with a plot I felt I hadn't 100% seen before. It was agonizing having so many interruptions while I read it, from the missing pages, but I was glad that I was finally able to get through it and enjoy!

Here's a question for you all though...after getting that first copy of the novel, with all of its missing pages, it took me way too long to actually get through the novel. Have you ever had to return or get a new copy of a book because there were pages missing or destroyed?

For more information on the novel, see: Good Luck.

***Book purchased by owner, for review.