cute contemp YA romance with a fun radio podcast spin. enjoyed the characters and dialogue a lot. would definitely recommend.
thanks to the publisher for an ARC, this is my honest review.

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<p><em>Lucky Caller</em> is a great contemporary book about friendship and opening yourself up to new people.</p>
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<p>Mills does a wonderful job allowing her characters to grow naturally. There were some genuinely funny moments between Nina's team. You could see their friendships developing and that was a lot of fun. I really also liked the complicated relationships between Nina and her father. It was very raw and sad, just like real life. </p>
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<p>That said, there was something missing in this one. I don't think Nina and Jamie had enough chemistry. It wasn't the center focus of the story, but it would have enhanced it. </p>
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<p>Overall though, another Emma Mills book and I'm one happy girl. She knows how to write realistic teens and takes her time with showing layered relationships grow over time.</p>
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This book was amazing -- I absolutely loved every single minutes -- had all the heart of every Emma Mills book, with a dynamic family life, a snappy witty narrator and the slow burn love story that I've come to expect. So incredible. Definitely recommend.

Nina, a senior in high school, takes a radio broadcasting class. The kids are told to team up in groups of four to produce a radio show each week. Nina ends up with Sasha, Joydeep, and Jamie, the latter a childhood friend who lives in her apartment building. Nina’s relationship with Jamie is awkward, although it is a while before we learn what is behind it.

The action is rather slow, and the concerns of the characters, such as homework, family changes, and interpersonal relationships and adjustments will probably appeal more to a much younger audience than it did to me. Not a lot goes on, and I didn’t find Joydeep’s weirdness as amusing as many younger readers did. Is any of this the author’s fault? No. I’m clearly the wrong audience for the book, and as I said above, I’ve seen much more positive reviews from younger readers.

Nina, a senior in high school, joins an unlikely group of people for a class elective hosting a radio show. She's expecting a fairly easy A, but finds a whole lot more than just a grade. This gang includes Josh, a longtime friend of the family, and a past rift in their friendship makes things a bit awkward. Emma Mills is one of the few authors I know whose books will NEVER fall short of perfect. Her understanding of the everyday teenager's humor, dialect, and friendships is outstanding. Lucky Caller is another gorgeous, funny, and sweet book under Mills's belt of riveting reads.

❤ Emma Mills! She has a way of writing about young love that keeps it innocent and sweet yet real. I have no problem recommending her books to those young middle school readers who want to read romance.

Emma Mills never disappoints me. A fluffy and hilarious romance, with serious undertones exploring complicated family situations and relatable, messy teen characters. This will definitely appeal to her existing fans, and fans of other YA contemporary. I was really happy to see families living in apartments, as I feel that's something weirdly rare in YA, especially outside of books set in NYC.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!
Nina has a lot going on, her mom got engaged, she's a senior in high school working on a radio show class and her friend Jamie has reentered her life. Her dad is a radio legend, but she doesn't think she can live up to that fame. So she keeps it to herself at the beginning of their radio class, but to get more listeners their group; Jamie, Nina, Sasha, and Joydeep thinking bringing in a mystery guest will help.
Some things were obvious that were going to take place. I knew her dad was going to bail on being the mystery guest, but I was surprised at who ended up showing up.
I could tell that Nina and Jamie had always had feelings for each other, one of them just had to be the first one to really make a move.
I enjoyed this book a lot. I liked the characters, its a very good read for high schoolers' who have things going on in their life that they feel like they can't get through. I felt that Nina and Jamie were very relatable and I liked the dynamics that they and Sasha and Joydeep had together.
A good read!

Nina kind of has a lot going on. Her mom is getting engaged, her big sister is struggling with college, and she is about to tackle her school's favorite radio broadcasting classwith the shadow of her famous radio DJ dad hanging over her head. Big changes are coming all over the place, and she is just not feeling any of it. Then, to add insult to injury, her radio class teacher puts her in a group with her former best guy friend who she hasn't really talked to in a few years since that awkward thing they both seem to want to forget. Also, somehow she ends up as the producer of their radio show with a DJ who seems to forget how to talk normally once they're on air, playing music none of them are familiar with, and promising famous mystery guests who may or may not ever actually show up. It's all a big disaster waiting to happen, and Nina isn't sure how to fix any of it. But maybe...just maybe....letting it all fall apart won't be as bad as she imagines, and it will end up coming back together in a way she never expected.

Emma Mills is one of my favorite YA authors. She tells such sweet stories that are fresh and charming and funny, and in such a compulsively readable way. There's not a lot of action or drama, maybe, but the connections between her characters, and especially their dialogue, just grabs you and doesn't let go. I really loved Nina and her sisters in this book, and their friendship with Jamie as they were all growing up had shades of Little Women about it. Their childhood game involving costumes and adventure absolutely made me think of the elaborate plays Jo and her sisters would put on with Laurie. The easy affection between them all was just so cute, and so of course, you're desperate to know what went wrong between Nina and Jamie that made it all come to an end.

I also love the lessons learned here. There's an ongoing theme of adapting to change and how hard that can be, but the radio crew also discusses different kinds of friendships and how though some might be shorter-lived or more localized around a particular experience than others, that doesn't make them any less valuable or important. Nina struggles with when to hold on and when to let go, and it was so moving seeing her learn from these new people who she didn't think would even get along who eventually became close friends...even knowing that friendship kind of had a limited life-expectancy based around their class. (And as a little aside, here, Joydeep, their group's DJ, cracked me up again and again with his ridiculous overconfidence but man, he could hit you with some deep stuff when he needed to. He was probably my favorite character in this book!)

This is a quiet story, for sure, but it was cute and fun, and I really enjoyed it. Emma Mills never disappoints.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for this wonderful ARC in exchange for my honest review!**

I just love Emma Mills so much, you guys. This was swoony and lovely and funny in all the right ways. I stayed up late to finish it and then re-read all of the kissy bits this morning. That's how you know it's good.

It's Nina's senior year and everything is about to change. Not only is she getting ready for college, but her mom is getting remarried and moving the family out of the apartment they have called home for so long.

Since it's a time of change, Nina decides to take a chance on the radio broadcasting class offered at her school. What she doesn't expect is her ex-friend and current neighbor sharing the class with her, being in her radio group, and still giving her those feelings she'd had years before.

She also didn't expect to suddenly have to come up with a celebrity guest for their radio show in time for the huge fundraiser that she and her radio crew accidentally fell into creating.

Final thoughts: This is cotton candy, but it's not really tasty. The characters are all pretty one-dimensional and the story is pretty predictable. There's a massive deus ex machina ending, which doesn't really fit the rest of the book; it feels like the author got herself in a bind and tried to have the cavalry come in at the last minute to rescue her protagonist. It was messy and not planned well. I didn't even remember Nina's name because it was mentioned just a couple of times, as if the characters themselves never said the names of the people around them. I don't understand the point of the sisters except to serve as contrasts to Nina and maybe give her some context, but it just felt forced. The romance was not very well done and there was just so much that could have been improved upon. Not a fan.

Rating: 2/5

Nina has just one semester left of high school. She’s enrolled in a radio broadcasting class, but much to her annoyance, she doesn’t have friends in this class. As she watches everyone else pair off into teams of four, she quickly pairs up with someone she remembers from an old class, and they join up with another pair. Unfortunately for her, this means that she’ll be working with Jamie who used to be a friend before she ruined everything.

As the group of four begin planning their broadcast and begin their show, they must learn how to deal with each other’s quirks, and Nina has to figure out how to face her past with Jamie.

When the show finds an accidental cult following of an old grunge band coupled with the team’s plan for a mysterious guest who is most definitely not one of the band members, chaos ensues.

Emma Mills’ books are always an utter delight to read, and this is no exception. With short, punchy chapters, this is a fast read, and it’s highly, highly enjoyable. And for readers who have read all of Emma Mills’ books, you will find some delightful Easter eggs in this!

While Lucky Caller doesn’t release until January, I highly, highly encourage you to pre-order now!!

This is going to be a great book for high schoolers. I think it was a bit juvenile for me but I still really enjoyed it.

I love Emma Mills. She is one of my “go to” authors for adorable relationship stories when recommending to students. This one, however, is not one of my favorites. The problem and resolution seemed too contrived and easily solved. Some of the characters were quite annoying to the point of having to take breaks from reading. Several developments seemed to fizzle or be inconsequential. I’ll still recommend “Lucky Caller” to students, but I don’t see it becoming a favorite unfortunately.

on goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2926578037?book_show_action=false

"I thought of what Sasha had said: 'It doesn't devalue what you had with them, the stuff you experienced, the time you spent together. That's still valid, even if it wasn't built to last.' "

I received an ARC from Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.

hi, yes, police? i'd like to report a theft. this book had the audacity to STEAL MY HEART??? HOW DARE???

gracious, where do i even begin with this beauty? first off, i've never read an emma mills book before, but after reading this i added every book she's written to my tbr. her writing style is so easygoing that i completely lost track of time and binged almost half of the book in one sitting. there's something about mills' writing that just draws you in and keeps you there, despite being simple. maybe it's the witty dialogue or the prose that flows like ocean waves caressing the shore, but either way i was hooked from page one.

also, can we talk about the characters??? seriously, the characters in this book were perfect and they were all so easy to relate to.

nina. she's the daughter of a radio legend but thinks she doesn't have his talent. just wants to escape high school unscathed. feels like she's living in the shadow of her sisters. an a+ cutie.

jamie. sweet cinnamon roll boy. was nina's best friend before things got weird between them in middle school. literally the nicest boy ever, would walk grandmas across the street, would've been my book boyfriend if i read this when i was a teenager.

sasha. takes no shit. wonder woman in the flesh. could literally bench press you, but still gets anxious about speaking in front of crowds. could punch me in the face and i’d say thank you.

joydeep. an absolute clown who doesn’t take anything seriously. literally a king of one-liners. the funniest character in the entire book. obnoxious but in like, a fun way.

nina’s sisters, rose and sydney were also absolute gems. sydney’s role as annoying but charming little sister was such a pleasure to read, and rose really gave off jane from ‘lizzie bennet diaries’ vibes.

and the awkward teenage romance between nina and jamie? yeah, absolutely adorable. reading their interactions felt so real which is a testament to mills’ understanding of high school kids and how they act. seriously, reading a y/a contemporary where the teens actually act their age? sounds fake but okay. but, the romance is also the one issue i had with the book. this is totally personal preference, but since nina and jamie aren’t even really friends at the beginning of this book, i would’ve preferred to see their friendship rekindle before they fell into a romance.

anyway, please read this when it releases! it’s an absolute delight and i’d recommend it to anyone who is a fan of character-driven stories, cute romance, and the beautiul and bizzare world of student radio.