Luck and Last Resorts

By: Sarah Grunder Ruiz

Narrated by: Karissa Vacker

Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

One of PopSugar’s Best New Books of 2022!

They have a second chance at love, but there are some rough seas ahead in the new contemporary romance from the acclaimed author of Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships.

Commitment-phobe Nina Lejeune lives by two rules:

1. Always have fun.

2. Don’t rely on anyone but yourself.

The first rule is easy; the second, she's only broken once.

Ten years after fleeing home, Nina is the chief stewardess on the super yacht Serendipity, single by choice, and perfectly content with how life has turned out.

But Nina’s ex-coworker and old flame, Irish chef Ollie Dunne, isn’t so happy with the status quo. One year after leaving yachting, he's returned as the Serendipity’s chef with an ultimatum: if Nina continues to deny she's in love with him by the end of this charter season, he'll go back to Ireland for good.

Nina and Ollie's shared secret from their past threatens to shipwreck not only their relationship, but the entire boat. But as their connection grows amidst chaotic guests and crew drama, could there be smooth sailing in their future?

©2022 Sarah Grunder Ruiz (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Romantic, voicy, and full of heart and humor! Sarah Grunder Ruiz is a master at putting beautifully complex characters in beautifully compelling situations. If you want to fall in love with a book, look no further than this one.”—New York Times bestselling author Ali Hazelwood

“Gritty, complex, and real. I could not put this down!”—Abby Jimenez, New York Times bestselling author of Life's Too Short

“Luck and Last Resorts is my favorite sort of love story -- one where the feelings are as strong and complicated and euphoric and messy as they can be in real life, and one where the characters, in all their flawed and frustrating humanity, are given the space to experience them all. Sarah Grunder Ruiz's writing is absorbing and affecting, perfectly tuned to the voices that populate this story.”—Kate Clayborn, author of Love at First

Absolutely heart-wrenching and heartwarming!

Coming off of a long season without Nina and Ollie, listening to Luck & Last Resorts was like slipping back into your favorite pajamas. The small details made me smile— the earrings— the name changes— but it’s the real life ups and downs of relationship and second guessing of Nina that kept me listening and finishing the book in a day. She’s raw. She’s a real mess and honestly - she’s like a lot of 30 year old women with tons of baggage who lack wisdom in how to allow love in. Loved it! Fantastic narrator. Excellent writing.

Definitely would recommend!

I really liked this book! It was cool to have the main characters in a unique career: yacht charter crew. I do love a second chance romance trope, and this was so well done. It was fun to hear Ollie’s text in an Irish accent too. I would definitely recommend this book for a light, fun, summery read.

Really enjoyed it

I have a really hard time with FMC’s who have commitment issues especially when they have commitment issues and I don’t really think the reasoning is that good to even have those issues. This was that story. Nina was maddening to me 3/4 of the story. I even thought she was kind of a jerk in a lot of instances. BUT she did redeem herself in the end. Overall really enjoyed it and thought the banter between Nina and Ollie was really funny.

So come aboard …. the Serendipity is expecting you

Luck and Last Resort by Sarah Grunder Ruiz is the second book in the Love, List & Fancy Ship series. It is not often I have given a 5-star review to someone’s debut novel and then follow it up with another 5-star review for a second novel in a series.

This is Nina and Ollie’s love story. It is a story about two people that have a very passionate yet strange relationship; two people with a guarded and secretive past.

Ten years ago, Nina Lejeune Olympic career ended, she had no money, bad credit, needed a job and place to live. Becoming a junior yacht stewardess seemed to be the ideal job. The we have hot Irishman Ollie Dunn, he curses .. a lot .. he is chief extraordinaire on the luxury charter yacht, the Serendipity and when they meet there is an instant chemistry .. an unexplainable connection. Problem is Nina has commitment issue and has two rules she lives by: always have fun and don’t rely on anyone but yourself .. rule number two has been broken by someone she has trusted. Ollie has his own scars and returning to Ireland is something he can’t do but just might have to.

Nina is now the chief stewardess on the Serendipity, still single and happy with the path she has chosen. But is she? After a year away from the Serendipity Ollie returns as chief .. but he also there with a special agenda .. an ultimatum for Nina and she has until the end of charter season, 4 months, to decide. Can Nina continue to deny her love for Ollie? Will she finally face up to her past and come to terms with it? Is Nina ready to take a chance on life and love or will she allow the man she know she truly loves to walk out of her life forever. Ollie also needs to resolve his past issues, the past that is sitting in Ireland. So come aboard …. the Serendipity is expecting you. Will Nina and Ollie headed for smooth sailing or will their relationship sink.

I was very impressed with Sarah Grunder Ruiz debut novel and equally impressed with this novel. Sarah just doesn’t write rom-com novels it is a blend of contemporary romance and women’s fiction. While there were times, I got a little frustrated with Nina, come on Nina ten years .. I also understood her. While there were times, I want to smack Ollie for not just leaving, I understood the heart rules.

Luck and Last Resort is a story friendship, acknowledging your past, learning to forgive your family for their addiction and abuse allowing you to heal, grieve over your losses and rediscovery who you are .. and admit you can love, be loved, and make a commitment.

Luck and Last Resort was an audiobook narrated by the amazing Karissa Vacke.

Light Hearted

I loved this book. At first the story reminded me a little of the mega yacht cable shows I watch. I loved the following along with the characters and especially loved the relationship between Jo and Nina. The story kept my attention and I love listening to audible books as you are treated to the phenomenal narrator Karrisa Vacker. Karrisa's irish accent really made the character of Ollie come to life.
I don't want to give anything away no spoil alerts here.

Enjoyable

This was the second book in this set and considerably better than the first. Although it seemed a bit repetitious and it was frustrating hearing Nina’s same mistakes over and over, the story was tender and amusing. The characterization was in depth enough to create interest and hope. The performance was spot on. It brought the characters to life. I loved the Irish accent. After reading the first novel, I had to talk myself into this one, but I’m so glad I did.

This book was an unexpected struggle

Man, I am a bit bummed that I have to write this review. I was hoping that this book would be a 4 or 5-star read. Nina was my favorite character from the first book in this series: Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships. She had a great sense of humor. She was self-assured and an absolutely selfless friend. I was so excited that she was getting her own novel.

I enjoyed the first 1/3 of this book. We learn how Nina came to be Head Stewardess on the Serendipity, and we get to see her relationship develop with Ollie. Eventually we see her meet Josephine. While I was excited to see Nina and Ollie's relationship bloom, I was ultimately frustrated by most of the novel. Nina was immature, gratingly insecure. insensitive. and worst narcissistic. She strung Ollie along, and when he wanted to have a serous conversation, she shut him down. She refused to give him a resolution and made their relationship all about her needs. I began to hate her, and eventually I was rooting for Ollie to free himself from her and find happiness back home in Ireland.

The last three chapters redeem Nina a bit, but I had to suffer her narcissism throughout most of the novel. Also.it is not just the third act that dissolves into the dreaded miscommunication trope: that trope IS the novel. This is the reason I am hesitant to read romance. I HATE the miscommunication trope. I know some seasoned romance readers will defend the trope by saying it is realistic, but I would argue that the whole point of romance and rom-coms is that I am supposed to root for the couple. When I am yelling at one person in the equation to "Run!", so to speak, then an author has failed to write a successful romance.

Nevertheless, the last novel in the series is about Jack, Ollie's brother. Let's hope that neither him nor the FMC are flaky narcissists.