My Rating of As Luck Would Have It:
Summary of Dragon Ridden Chronicles:
Amrit Kaur (The Sex Lives of College Girls) delivers a stellar performance in a brand-new enemies-to-lovers hockey romance by Sonya Lalli, the acclaimed author of The Matchmaker’s List and A Holly Jolly Diwali.
Hockey coach Ashley Jaswal doesn’t take nonsense from anyone … except her overbearing and superstitious family. They believe she’s a good luck charm for her brother Jas, the newest Vancouver Canucks draft pick, forcing Ash to attend all his games as he rises up the NHL ranks, sacrificing her personal life (not that she has one—who decided hockey season needed to be 10 months long anyway?).
Ash also clashes with Jas’s teammate, Canucks captain Devin Snyder. Devin is yet another arrogant hockey bro—and admitted total babe—who is fresh off a scandalous break-up with a global pop-star. But she soon finds the ice melts between them, and they share an unexpected chemistry. As Ash wrestles with her family’s demands, her brother’s career and her feelings for Devin, will she find a way to take a risk and make her own luck? Or will she puck this up?
This captivating Audible Original is an essential listen for fans of sports romance, strong heroines, sizzling chemistry and the diversity within the hockey community.
Please note: This project is a work of fiction. Names, characters, companies and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, companies or events is entirely coincidental.
Reading Speed:
9 hours and 37 minutes.
My Opinion of As Luck Would Have It:
This is an audible only book.
Also, this is my favorite romance so far, so definitely read on.
Female Main Character:
An emotionally intelligent, kind, and caring female character that learns how to take up space and exist in the world? YES PLEASE.
Look I have read a lot of books where the female lead’s strength was out of this world (sometimes literally). But most of those strengths were physical. I think this is the first time I read one about her emotional strength, and it was epic.
Our girl, despite being an ice hockey junkie and coach, a sport dominated by men, never compromised on her femininity. Often in the books her teaching methods, her classes, her way with her students and trainees was caring when needed, strict when necessary. In all that she does, she gave her all.
I loved her blindness towards her family. How she made excuses and put herself second. I love how slowly she was starting to realize how she was being treated. It’s one book and yet this woman grew confidence and strength throughout the entirety of it. It wasn’t one thing that happened, it was cumulative, it was slow, it was real.
Relationship:
I’m not a fan of the celebrity relationship trope. It’s overdone. They mention the name of the celebrity, for example the guy in this instance, like 500+ time as if to really drill the point in that she’s just a fangirl and he’s all that. It’s comes with the same insecurities in the fan, the same thoughts and doubts.
“He could be with anyone, why would he want to be with me?”
It defeats the purpose of finding a partner I think. We find someone that we love. When we meet someone, we don’t end up with them because they are 40% of what we want. We love them because they are 90% of what we need.
This makes it sound as if he could just pick a random person off the street and be with them. When in reality, he needed someone who loves hockey as much as him, but doesn’t make that one point their entire relationship. He needed someone that was exactly like Ashley Jaswal.
That being said, his romance couldn’t have gone any other way. Her whole thing problem was being put second, was not being chosen by her family. She needed someone with the ability to be with others, a lot of others, but choose her anyway. And yes, women shouldn’t get their confidence from their partners but who wouldn’t be a little bit more arrogant having landed someone famous?
Plot:
The plot was the character growth for me. There were a million other things happening, all important and valid things. But I was mainly watching my girl grow and the plot was just one small test after the other in her exam of life.
That sounds dumb, but you know what I mean.
Side characters:
A distant best friend with a cheating husband? A typical obedient mother with a successful business? A bundle of teenagers gossiping and having angsty problems? An ignoring and strict father? An annoying and emotionally stunted brother dealing with racism in a white-dominated field?
Yeah, I need a 15 book series in this universe, thank you.
Writing Style:
Look, these types of books, the cutesy romance type of books, I want to enjoy for one evening and never think about again. I want to not get bored by the middle of it, but not so enthralled that I read of go out with friends.
This book hit all the right spots. It was perfect for a cozy read.
My Recommendation for As Luck Would Have It:
The only reason you shouldn’t read this is if you hate women growing and being independent.