Can two people that use to be best friends let past misunderstandings slide and fall in love? That is what this story is about, Michael and Aoife were childhood friends - best of friends - until one day when Aoife overheard Michael saying things about her that she couldn't forgive or forget. It just so happens that her family was moving away at that time so she cut off all communication with Michael. Now Aoife is returning to Ireland from her current home in the United States, it brings a feeling a melancholy but she just wants to do what needs to be done and leave again, preferably without running into anyone from her past.

When Michael and Aoife reunite for the first time it's like a sucker punch to the gut for both of them. They had an attraction as teenagers but since they were best friends neither of them pushed for anything more but now here we are fifteen years later and the attraction is still there as is all of the hurt and anger on both sides.

Can Michael give Aoife the HEA she deserves or will he turn out to be just like everyone else that just uses her to get something that they need from her?

This book can be read as a standalone even though it is the second book in the series which is exactly what I did, but since I enjoyed it so much I plan on going back and reading the other two books in the series Pushing Her Luck book # 1, and A Stroke Of Luck Book #1.5

Audra North has written a few different series now that have been among my favorite reads, but the Irish setting is new and provides an interesting backdrop for Luck be A Lady, the second in the Lucky in Love series and a sweet and sexy second chance romance.

Michael Faraday and Aoife Fitzpatrick were close friends until Aoife overheard what she thought was Michael slandering her in front of one of the more attractive girls from their class. Heartbroken, she refused to speak with him again and as their family was moving a few weeks later to the United States, she left the country, and a hole in Michael's heart who never knew why she'd left without saying goodbye. Fast forward fifteen years, and Aoife has created a successful cosmetics company, looking to establish a European office. Dublin is one of the options, and she reluctantly goes back to Ireland, both dreading and hoping she might run into Michael again. As luck and fate would have it, they do meet up again. Michael is determined to find out why she abandoned him, and hopes to have a second chance to rekindle their friendship. Not only that, the connection they shared as teens has blossomed into an adult attraction that neither can resist for long. But Michael has no plans to leave Ireland, and Aoife's home is far away across the ocean. Will they be saying goodbye again, far too soon?

I quite enjoyed this story! The first thing I did was google how to pronounce 'Aoife' (it's ee-fa) as I knew it would bug me if I didn't know it. The misunderstanding of why their teenage friendship faltered is dealt with in the first third of the book, which I appreciated. Aoife realizes that she overreacted and should have trusted her friend, but Michael is forgiving and understands that teenagers don't always think things through. He feels equally culpable for not pushing to get answers from her then. Letting bygones be bygones they can concentrate on re-establishing their friendship and exploring the attraction between them.

Aoife is a workaholic and has spent so much time making her cosmetics company into a world class business that she's not had time for a personal life for quite a while. Michael is able to help her see what she's been missing in her life. Michael is a TV producer and while he's looking for connections to help with his latest project, a screenplay he wrote, he's stuck working on reality TV shows in the meantime. It would be easy take advantage of his friendship with Aoife for her film and TV contacts but he's a good guy at heart, and doesn't want her to think he's using her. He's a really nice guy hero, and a generous lover as evidenced by the sexy scenes they share. The conflict is predictable – Aoife's only there for a few weeks on business and has a full working life, and Michael has no plans to leave Ireland. A long distance relationship would require a lot of compromises on both sides. The setting is quite lovely, and feels authentic (as much as I can say, having never been to Ireland – definitely makes me want to visit!). It's an enjoyable romance with a lovely happy ending and I'm looking forward to reading more of this series.

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Luck Be a Lady is a sweet second chance romance. Aoife and Michael were best friends once upon a time until one day she stopped talking to him and shortly after, moved with her family to the US.

Now, 15 years later, she's back in Ireland and Michael is determined to see her. His reasons are two fold: to find out why she stopped talking to him so long ago, and to get his script to her in hopes she'll use her contacts in the entertainment business to distribute it. Only, he figures out quickly that using her for her contacts is pretty despicable, and something she's apparently used to now that she's made a success of herself. He also finds out that Aoife isn't the sweet, Irish culture loving girl she used to be, so he decides to cut their little reunion short. When Aoife breaks down, though, upon him mentioning that he's planning on leaving, it all comes out. She asks why he had pretended to be her friend, and he has no idea what she's talking about.

Their relationship quickly turns passionate and loving after everything is laid out in the open. What she had thought she heard was actually him protecting her, and she had never bothered to confront Michael over what she thought she heard. Instead, she'd cut him off, then used that hurt to shape her into the beautiful, successful woman she is now. Only, she's still got baggage and a pretty fragile self esteem and a bruised heart. I can't say that she is the most enjoyable or likable heroine ever, but she's fairly realistic, and that gives Luck Be a Lady a slight edge over more fantastical romance. Michael, too, is a realistic character. Not over the top alpha or controlling. But, he's sweet and loving, and very likable.

If second chance romances are your thing, Luck Be a Lady should be in your TBR list.

I was first intrigued when I saw this on Netgalley because of the setting being Ireland. I am very attracted to Irish men and their accents, so a story that takes place there sounded right up my alley! Overall this was a very simple, but very sweet romance.

The two main characters, our couple, are Michael and Aoife (pronounced like Eva or Ava). They were best friends as children until the day that Aoife stumbled upon Michael talking to the most stuck-up/popular girl in school, and he was saying bad things about Aoife to her. The things he said hit on all of her insecurities and she stopped talking to him. Shortly after this, her father had to move the family due to his job, and so she left without a word to Michael, and he'd always wondered what had happened to her because he'd really liked her a lot. We get to hear the story from both of their viewpoints.

Michael is now a reality tv producer, although he has written a movie script that he is trying to get someone to pick up and produce. Aoife is the creator of a very large and famous make-up company, very successful now. Michael is living in Ireland again, having moved back after a few years in Spain with a girl he thought he was in love with, a girl who was only using him to get her acting career going, until someone came along that she thought could help her more. While Aoife is living in the US now, her company is wanting to put a factory in Europe, and they feel that Ireland would be the perfect place, especially based on the fact that she is from the country.

When Michael hears she is in town, his brother suggests he go see how she is, and maybe she will have some contacts that could help him get his movie made. But when he gets there, the first thing he finds is that Aoife has had other old friends only show up to ask her for something. In fact the last/only major relationship she had was based on a similar type of thing. So he decides that he doesn't want to ask her that. He is blown away by how beautiful she is now, and she is also extremely attracted to the grown-up version of her childhood best friend.

However, this new Aoife seems to be all about bragging about her life, and Michael soon feels that this is a totally different person than he once knew, and so he decides to move on. It is only at this point, when it seems as if he will walk away, that Aoife asks him why he said what he did, and the air can be cleared. The misunderstanding between the two is worked out, and while she is in town, they decide to get to know one another, to give in to their mutual attraction.

But the problem is if they can ever work out. Her life is not in Ireland anymore, although now that she has reconnected with Michael, her view/dislike of her homeland may be changing. And Michael doesn't know anything other than that he wants to have her as long as he can. The two of them will have to overcome all the things in their lives that could keep them apart, as well as residual trust issues based on their past with each other.

The story as I said, was quite simple, nothing out of the ordinary that was too surprising. But it was a very sweet romance. We meet Michael's brother and soon to be sister-in-law, who I assume are the couple from the first book in the series, which I now will have to go back and read, because I liked them and want to know their whole story. One thing that did stand out, is talk of an "Irish curse" for men. I hope it's not something that is actually true! That will totally mess with my lust for an Irish man.

So if you're looking for a cute, sweet romance, this is the book for you.

Luck Be a Lady by Audra North
Lucky in Love #2

Michael Faraday and Aoife Fitzpatrick were childhood friends that loved one another until something happened to break them apart when they were fifteen. Given a second chance to meet and clear the air the two find they still have common ground as they get to know one another again. This is a sweet easily read somewhat predictable second chance at love story that provided a bit of the flavor of Ireland and provided a relaxing escape this afternoon.

Thank you to NetGalley and Barclay Publicity for the ARC. This is my honest review.

NOTE: The reason I requested this book was that I have read and enjoyed the author’s Hard Driving series and enjoyed it immensely. I think I was expecting something different based on what I have read before but I was pleasantly surprised to find that Ms North’s writing is diverse and smooth in both types of romance.

3 Stars

This is your love story of second chances. Michael has missed Aoife for about fifteen years, but when he first thought of her, his thoughts were of anger. Aoife has not returned to Ireland for fifteen years, when she left heartbroken, and she never wanted to come back, but she also missed Michael. They reconnect and ended up discussing what had happened, which turned out to be a misunderstand. They start spending time together and it was as if they had never been apart, their friendship is stronger, and they re-fall in love. But, there is a ticking clock, but she lives in New York, he lives in Ireland, what will they do? Who will give up there livelihood for the other? Or was it just a brief affair? Of course while they are wondering how to broach the subject, something occurs. But was a misunderstanding again? Or did Michael lie to her. Cute love story.

Childhood sweethearts getting a second chance is my favorite storyline. These two had a communication mishap in high school but fifteen years later all the answers come alive. They are too cute and true to their hearts. I truly enjoyed reading about Ireland, historical names and places are always fascinating to me. If you read Pushing Her Luck you should remember Michael's brother Riordan and his fiancee Sam. Michael had escaped his problems by taking time off in Spain, well we now get to know what really happened. North writes a fun series with lighthearted characters and rather different life paths. I received an advanced copy through Netgalley and my review was written voluntarily.

I have chosen not to finish this title. I enjoyed other books by this author, but this one is not engaging my interest. My apologies and I look forward to the next title.

Thanks,
Laura

This was a sweet romance about a friends who were separated by a small misunderstanding. The writing style was good and flowing and I really enjoyed 8 dual point of view style of writing. I had a problem with understanding the Irish language and lingo, so sometimes I wasn't able to catch onto the emotions because of it. The characters were well conceived and I enjoyed that they were able to communicate and sort their problems out once they had met again. I did feel Aoife's character annoying because she was self centred and superficial. The chemistry between Aoife and Micheal was amazing and I loved how they could just sit and talk for hours. A good book overall, but it didn't encourage me to read the rest of the series.

Plot

Michael Faraday, had his best friend walk out of him fifteen years ago without saying a word. Now so many years later she has returned to Ireland and all his feelings for her begins to resurface.

Aoife Fitzpatrick, is head of a cosmetic company and she has now returned to Dublin to set up a new headquarters for her company. When she meets Micheal again her childhood crush turns into adult attraction. Will their love be able to survive with them living in different countries?

Enjoyed reading Aoife and Michael's love story. A misunderstanding separated best friends for 15 years. Aoife is in town and Michael needs a favor and he still has feelings for Aoife. Aoife is still upset after 15 years. After meeting they decided to start all over and as their relationship evolve; Aoife's insecrurities placed a rift between the two. Aoife decides to face her insecurities and let Michael love support her and their love for each other. Recommended read. Good story about second chances and facing our insecurities.