Love & Luck is supposedly about Addie visiting her best friend Lina in Italy but it basically turned into a road trip around Ireland for the brokenhearted. The first half is a constant altercation (both physical and verbal) between siblings, Addie and Ian. The reason for said altercation though is kept a mystery so even though I was starting to get annoyed, I was also curious about what exactly transpired between Cubby (also Ian’s football teammate) and Addie rendering the latter heartbroken. Thankfully, Rowan, Ian’s cute and Irish friend who also happens to be nursing a broken heart is along the trip to act as referee between the two.
What I really appreciate were the excerpts from “Ireland for the Heartbroken:An Unconventional Guide to the Emerald Isle, third edition.” It’s this book Addie found in the first hotel her family checked in tutoring her on how to go about trying to get over a broken heart while in Ireland. I think this is where Ms. Welch’s talent definitely shines brightest. Here’s an excerpt.
“If you want to get through heartache, you’re going to have to let your heart, you know, ache. And no matter how many distractions you pile on- cartons of ice cream, shopping binges, marathon naps- you can’t outsmart heartache. It has nowhere to be, nothing to do. It will just stand there, buffing its nails, waiting until you’re ready. It’s a persistent little devil. So let’s get to work, sugarplum. Let’s quit drowning our pain in music and credit card bills and cyberstalking. Let’s confront it. Let’s own it.”
I did’nt easily warm up to the characters. It actually took me almost the entire book to really appreciate them but what matters is that at the end of the story, I understood their motivations and eventually the story’s purpose. I like that they came to finally revealing their innermost desires and discovering who they really are in the process. I love the bond between the siblings and how they recognize the impossibility of living without each other. I’m definitely still looking forward to reading Love and Gelato. I hear only good things about it.
