Get Lucky by Katherine Center

Get Lucky

by Katherine Center

How do you change your luck? A young woman chooses to look for happiness in this marvelously entertaining and poignant novel from the New York Times bestselling author of How to Walk Away and Things You Save in a Fire.
 
“A hilarious and touching take on what it means to be a grown-up.”—Julie Buxbaum, author of Admission and Tell Me Three Things
 
Sarah Harper isn’t sure if the stupid decisions she sometimes makes are good choices in disguise—or if they’re really just stupid. But either way, after forwarding an inappropriate email to her entire company, she suddenly finds herself out of a job. 

So she goes home to Houston—and her sister, Mackie—for Thanksgiving. But before Sarah can share her troubles with her sister, she learns that Mackie has some woes of her own: After years of trying, Mackie’s given up on having a baby—and plans to sell on eBay the entire nursery she’s set up. Which gives Sarah a brilliant idea—an idea that could fix everyone’s problems. An idea that gives Sarah the chance to take care of her big sister for once—instead of the other way around.

But nothing worthwhile is ever easy. After a decade away, Sarah is forced to confront one ghost from her past after another: the father she’s lost touch with, the memories of her mother, the sweet guy she dumped horribly in high school. Soon everything that matters is on the line—and Sarah can only hope that by changing her life she has changed her luck, too.

Reviewed by Sam@WLABB on

4 of 5 stars

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I want to preface this by stating, that women's fiction is hit or miss for me. There are several authors, who always work for me, and I think Katherine Center may be joining that list. My first Center book was her most recent, Things You Save in a Fire. I loved it so much, I went on to read How to Walk Away. Another hit for me! This prompted me to seek out her backlist, and I am glad I did, because Get Lucky was yet another delightful tale from Center.

Sarah sort of burned down her whole NY life with one email. It may have been, um, inappropriate, causing her to lose her job. In an effort to regroup, she returned "home" to her family in Texas. She was ecstatic to be back with her sister as she tried to figure out her next move, but when her sister confesses, that she is done trying to conceive, Sarah gets an idea of how to pump more meaning into her life. She offers to be the gestational carrier for her sister, but she could never have predicted all the emotions that would accompany the role.

The first thing that stuck out at me, as I read the book, was the style. This was written in a rather confessional nature. So, all my "showing, not telling" friends may not be huge fans of this, but I enjoyed Sarah's voice, and rather liked being in her head. She had a great sense of humor, and even when she was sort of spiraling out, she made me laugh.

One thing I have grown to appreciate about Center's books is all the attention she gives to family and relationships. Central to this story was the relationship between Sarah and her sister, Mackie. They were super close, and Sarah would probably describe Mackie as her "person", but by fulfilling her sister's desire to become a mother, Sarah put distance between them. In the meantime, being home also meant dealing with her emotions regarding her mother's untimely death. It may have been over a decade, but the pain was still quite present, especially now that Sarah had slowed down, and had time to reflect on her life.

Though this one didn't quite deliver the level of feels as How to Walk Away or Things You Save in a Fire, I still enjoyed it immensely. It was different from those two, but was still packed with charm and characters I grew to care for.

I know I will definitely be reading more from this author.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 21 December, 2019: Finished reading
  • 21 December, 2019: Reviewed