#Review - With Any Luck by Ashley Poston

With Any Luck by Ashley Poston (The Improbable Meet-Cute)

Ashley Poston
Amazon Original Stories, 23 January
Available as: audio, e   
Source: Purchased e-book
ASIN: B0CL7KDZJT

I love Poston's stories and am slightly bemused to find myself, having picked up her series set in and around SF cons (always with a romancey tinge) following on by reading her romances-with-a-hint of magic and now, With Any Luck which is I think pure romance. That just shows the joys of this adventure of reading, you never know what will come next.

I admit though that in reviewing this book I'm definitely straying out of my usual comfort zone, and may be missing context and be ignorant of conventions.

Anyway, With Any Luck focusses on the (tragically unlucky) Audrey Love, a woman who couldn't possibly be worse-named as she has a record of being the one who gets dumped when her partner finds their real, true love. Whether that is an actual family curse or confirmation bias is left hanging, but it has been her experience. So when Audrey arrives in a small town to act as best man to a friend (I loved the way that the wedding roles were basically thrown up in the air and left where they lay) and THEN the groom disappears on the morning of the wedding - well, understandably Audrey immediately assumes it's her fault, that she messed things up somehow (if only she could remember how, but she's got such a hangover).

What follows is part comedy, part detective story as Audrey attempts to work out what has happened and what it might mean. There's lots of humour here, and excellent observations of life, love and relationships. There may even be some true love - I will say no more because of spoilers - but it's very entertaining and there is a sharp counterpoint between Audrey's inner hurt (all those failed relationships), hopes and fears for the future, and a desperate desire not to have messed things up, here and now, for her friends.

Even within the confines of a shortish novel (read this at one sitting!) Poston delivers a satisfying story with sharp dialogue and lots of empathy. It would be great to hear more about Audrey - though as further stories would inevitably put her through the emotional mangle again, perhaps she deserves some peace. Either way, this book is strongly recommended.

For more information about With Any Luck, and to buy a copy, see the publisher's website here.