Love & Luck

by Jenna Evans Welch

Overview

A New York Times bestseller

From the author of the New York Times bestselling Love & Gelato comes a heartwarming tale of a road trip through Ireland filled with love, adventure, and the true meaning behind the word family.

Addie is visiting Ireland for her aunt’s over-the-top destination wedding and hoping she can stop thinking about the one thing she did that left her miserable and heartbroken—and threatens her future. But her brother, Ian, isn’t about to let her forget, and his constant needling leads to arguments and even a fistfight between the two once inseparable siblings. Miserable, Addie can’t wait to visit her friend in Italy and leave her brother—and her problems—behind.

So when Addie discovers an unusual guidebook, Ireland for the Heartbroken, hidden in the dusty shelves of the hotel library, she’s able to finally escape her anxious mind and Ian’s criticism.

And then their travel plans change. Suddenly Addie finds herself on a whirlwind tour of the Emerald Isle, trapped in the world’s smallest vehicle with Ian and his admittedly cute, Irish-accented friend Rowan. As the trio journeys over breathtaking green hills, past countless castles, and through a number of fairy-tale forests, Addie hopes her guidebook will heal not only her broken heart, but also her shattered relationship with her brother.

That is if they don’t get completely lost along the way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534401013
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	06/04/2019
Series:	Love & Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	17,445
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Jenna Evans Welch was the kind of insatiable child reader who had no choice but to grow up to become a writer. She is the New York Times bestselling author of Love & Gelato, Love & Luck, and Love & Olives. When she isn’t writing girl abroad stories, Jenna can be found chasing her children or making elaborate messes in the kitchen. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband and two young children. Visit her online at JennaEvansWelch.com.

Read an Excerpt

Love & Luck
Every time a traveler goes to Ireland and doesn’t stop at the Cliffs of Moher, a banshee loses her voice. That’s right, sweet pea, a banshee. We are in Ireland after all. Shrieky ghosts abound. And as your tour guide and now friend, I’m required to tell you that one simply does not go to Ireland and not see the cliffs. They’re nonnegotiable. Required reading. They are the entire point.

Here’s why. The cliffs are gorgeous. Breath-stealing, really. But not in the soft, endearing way of a sunset or a wobbly new lamb. They’re gorgeous like a storm is gorgeous—one of those raw, tempestuous ones that leave you feeling awed and scared at the same time. Ever been trapped in a car during a particularly brutal thunderstorm? The cliffs are that kind of beautiful. Think drama, rage, and peace all packed up into one stunning package.

I studied the cliffs for years before I figured out their secret—the thing that takes them from merely scenic to life-altering: they’re beautiful because they contradict themselves. Soft, mossy hills turn to petrifying cliffs. A roiling sea rages against a serene sky. Visitors stand around in a combined state of reverence and exuberance. Before the cliffs I knew that beauty could be delightful and inspiring. After the cliffs I knew that it could also be stark and miserable.

In fact, the cliffs are an awful lot like a certain heart I know. You know, the one that has managed to contain both splintering joy and shattering sorrow and still remain exquisitely beautiful?

Not that anyone asked me.

HEARTACHE HOMEWORK: Let’s unleash a little rage, shall we, pet? I want you to find something to throw. A rock? An annoying pigeon? Now name it. Give it the identity of the thing that is bothering you the most about this situation, and then let it fly. Sometimes a little rage is good for the system. After that, I want you to take a deep breath. And then another. Notice how the breaths just keep coming? Notice how they just take care of themselves?

—Excerpt from Ireland for the Heartbroken: An Unconventional Guide to the Emerald Isle, third edition

Editorial Reviews

A heartwarming contemporary companion novel to Welch’s Love & Gelato. Sixteen-year-old Addie Bennett takes a summer road trip through Ireland with her brother Ian and gains insight on how to heal the pieces of her shattered heart. Readers will cheer that Addie’s best friend, Lina from the previous book, makes an appearance, but this is Addie’s story. Their friendship is tested when a planned trip to visit Lina in Italy is sidetracked, thanks to her brother Ian and a dimpled-faced driver named Rowan. They take an unexpected road trip to the biggest music festival in the country. Through the winding roads and lush greenery of Dublin, Addie reminisces about her romance with Cubby, Ian’s football teammate, and although Ian disapproves of the relationship, he is the only one who knows what Addie is going through. While offering the advice of a travel guide, each chapter is like a reassuring hug in the icy climate. The teens travel through Ireland in a cramped car with a leaking roof, and the trio meets a selection of colorful characters that unknowingly help Addie get through a lost love and increase her respect for her brother—they learn about one another more than they could imagine. Fans of Love & Gelato will enjoy this as Welch takes on love, laughs, friendship, and the Electric Picnic Festival in a trip through the scenic green hills of Ireland. VERDICT Purchase for all teen romance shelves.–Annisha Jeffries, Cleveland Public Library

May 25, 2018 - SLJ Online

2018-04-03
When an ill-advised romance threatens Addie's friendship with her brother, Ian, it takes an Irish road trip to mend their relationship—along with Addie's broken heart.Out of her three older brothers, Addie has always been closest to Ian—until she dates Cubby, Ian's football teammate, despite Ian's warnings. When her family travels to Ireland for a wedding, Addie plans a side trip to Italy, intent on visiting her best friend (who moved to live with her father in Florence) and fixing her life. But a fistfight, an alternative music festival, and a guidebook for the brokenhearted derail Addie's Italian plans—and, ultimately, give her what she needs to get her life back on track. A quick-tempered athlete who is a whiz at fixing cars but struggles with school, Addie is a welcome departure from the bookish, quirky characters who are so often the heroines of teen romances. Furthermore, Welch (Love & Gelato, 2016) describes Cubby's violation of Addie's trust realistically and sympathetically, deftly addressing the very real issues surrounding love in the digital age. The only weakness of this fast-paced, witty read is its lack of diversity: The characters are uniformly white, straight, middle-class, and nondisabled.A skillfully rendered exploration of heartbreak, friendship, family, and destiny—and a quick and enjoyable read. (Romance. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews