Review: Lucky in Love - Kasie West

Lucky in Love
Kasie West
Series: n/a
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Scholastic
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

In this new contemporary from YA star Kasie West, a girl who wins the lottery learns that money can cause more problems than it solves, especially when love comes into the picture.

Maddie doesn't believe in luck. 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?

With tons of humor and heart, Kasie West delivers a million-dollar tale of winning, losing, and falling in love.

Disclosure: I am a Kasie West fangirl. I have read and loved all of her books. She just tends to write the type of sweet and adorable contemporary that I want to read, and I would say she did it once again with Lucky in Love.

Maddie is the girl I would be friends with. Nerdy and sort of awkward, but super dedicated to her friends and family. This girl had laser focus, and worked hard towards things that were important to her. I loved her quirks, and kept hoping for a world of great things for her.

Maddie actually reminded me of my younger self. She was making all these pre-lottery choices, which were not the best choices for her. She was constantly compromising her own needs for the needs of others. She was me back when I was a pleaser. Yes, I used to care more about making other people happy than making myself happy, and Maddie was also suffering from this affliction. Her condition only got worse when she won the lottery. She had some sort of winner's guilt, and thought that if she threw enough money at the problem, it would disappear. Eventually, she lived and learned, and came out better for it on the other side.

I really liked that West included the good and the bad parts of the lottery win, because it happens. We read about it all the time. Don't worry though, this is a West book, so it's not going to be a downer. West also allowed Maddie to enjoy her money in some really fun ways. And although Maddie was betrayed by some "friends", she had a few who stood by her with no monetary expectations.

One thing I wanted more of in this book was Zoo Seth. I loved this kid. He was the opposite of Maddie. Where she was all focus and control, he was loose and easy. I liked that they balanced each other out, and Seth was just such a sweetheart. He played it close to the vest for a good part of the book, but when he finally declared his intentions towards Maddie, well, it was a total aww-cute moment. He followed this up with some really sweet gestures, and then a reveal that was very telling.

What can I say? This was another solid read from Kasie West. She is an author I can always depend upon to make me smile and bring me happiness with her super-cute, heartfelt tales. And as I always say: if she writes it, I will read it.

**I would like to thank the publisher for the advanced copy of this book.

Maddie works at a zoo and her favorite animal is coincidently MY favorite animal! Yes, we love anteaters. 

Do you have a favorite zoo animal?

Let us know in the comments!