Review: Lucky in Love by Kasie West

Can’t buy me love…

Maddie’s not impulsive. She’s all about hard work and planning ahead. But one night, on a whim, she buys a lottery ticket. And then, to her astonishment—

She wins!

In a flash, Maddie’s life is unrecognizable. No more stressing about college scholarships. Suddenly, she’s talking about renting a yacht. And being in the spotlight at school is fun…until rumors start flying, and random people ask her for loans. Now Maddie isn’t sure who she can trust.

Except for Seth Nguyen, her funny, charming coworker at the local zoo. Seth doesn’t seem aware of Maddie’s big news. And, for some reason, she doesn’t want to tell him. But what will happen if he learns her secret?

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2 Drink Me Potions

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I have to say, I was really disappointed to give any Kasie West contemporary novel less than 4 stars, but man, was this a hard one to continue with at times.

Lucky in Love mostly continues in the same writing fashion that I’ve come to love from Kasie West. But with a main character that I just couldn’t stand with on most decisions and a lackluster romance that didn’t really do much for me, I was left with only disappointment and resignation.

Maddie, full name Madeleine that’s pronounced the French way of “lynn” instead of “line”, was a studious girl who wanted nothing more than to win a scholarship to pay for university. Although she studied WAYYYY harder than I ever did (like, she and her friends “hang out” by having study dates at one of their homes), I initially felt some sort of kinship with her based on similar outward characteristics.

Then she won the lottery. Which of course we knew was coming.

What I didn’t expect was the amount of HORRIBLE DECISION MAKING that accompanies sudden fame, attention, and money. It’s like she wasn’t thinking! I will start by listing out some example things she thought was great and all.

1. She decides to get a new car which isn’t a bad thing if you can afford a new vehicle after 50 million dollars has just dropped into your lap. But even with good intentions of getting a practical vehicle, she easily gets sweet-talked into buying some VERY flashy sports car after getting the chance to “test drive” it for a moment. Just drops a ton of money there.

2. She tries FIXING things in her family way too much. She thought wiping away the family’s financial problems would 100% fix her parents’ inability to communicate without fighting. Of course, when she realized that didn’t necessary stop all the fighting, she goes and buys a $20K necklace for her dad to give to her mom to say that he bought for her. Like, what the heck? You’re ENABLING. And doing so in a very expensive and wasteful manner.

3. Attitude problems seem to come with becoming rich. She didn’t seem to be one of those girls that looked down on anyone who was less fortunate, yet her 2 best friends were shut down as merely being “jealous of her money” when they were worried about her spending and the new people she was associating with now that her status had changed. And boy does her status change! You should read what she decides to do for her birthday party. It’s a wonder these 2 friends even still saw the same old Maddie inside.
   

Maddie’s naivety with money and how that affects people just really got under my skin. She drops big, FLASHY purchases here and there and doesn’t think there’ll be ramifications with those actions. She wants people to treat her the same but she doesn’t really ACT the same now, does she? I couldn’t understand her sometimes. I just couldn’t feel for her when things got bad because hey, it was YOUR decision to spend like this and treat people like this.

And then there’s Zoo Seth, the love interest. I liked him. On his own as a character. He’s Asian, so yay, that’s an awesome diversity I don’t see too often. He’s funny and easygoing and a really good friend, even when Maddie’s all awkward and really not easy to be around. He could’ve had more character development as I felt he was really just summed down to one little secret he didn’t divulge until the end that wasn’t much of anything, really. But compared to Maddie, he’s like godlike. The chemistry was kinda present, yet with all my annoyances with Madeleine, it was kinda hard to root for their burgeoning romance. It wasn’t much of victory when they resolved their issues and got their happy-ever-after ending. Honestly, at that point, I couldn’t have cared less.

Just because this book still has “Kasie West” on it and there were some VERY MINOR redeemable moments, I didn’t have the heart to bring this down to a 1 star. But really, if I were you, I’d skip out on this one if you only want good memories of Kasie.

Overall Recommendation:
Lucky in Love was harder to get through than I expected as the protagonist made all the worst decisions for the dumbest reasons that just made me wanna scream sometimes. Maddie’s win from the lottery did help her grow (in the end), but there were too many stumbles along the way and very stupid purchases that honestly had me rolling my eyes. With that kinda struggle, it’s no surprise that the romance with Seth Nguyen didn’t hit me much so all that’s really left in this book is how Maddie even remotely “learned her lesson” about money and its consequences in relationships and life. Which was not what I signed up for no matter how good the moral. You’re better off with any other Kasie West book. Promise.