Allegro Romani is a fairy. Literally. Disowned by his family because of his sexual orientation, he’s left the Fae realm for earth. He’s done all right for himself, establishing a small store in a paranormal-friendly town. He’s even made a few friends, despite his awkward social skills. But one day a week, everything goes to hell.
Alli is a Fayte, and they don’t tend to fare very well out of the magic-laden air of their home world. Once a week, their body rebels, and the result? A day full of the worst luck imaginable. For Alli, that day is always Friday. He’s come to dread them and would, in fact, spend every Friday tucked up in bed with the covers over his head if he could. But he’s found out from past experience that it doesn’t help, so now he just grits his teeth and tries to get through Friday without killing himself. Or someone else.
Then, one particular Friday, his bad luck results in something surprisingly good. He meets a gorgeous bear shifter named Michael. And despite seeing him at his worst, Michael isn’t running in the opposite direction. In fact, he’s chasing Alli down with resolve and determination.
Now Alli just has to find a way to keep his bear shifter, get rid of the trouble plaguing him, and figure out who wants him out of Putman County for good. It’s enough to make any sane fairy run for the hills. Fortunately, Alli has never been accused of being particularly sane. And with his new bear at his side? Alli is determined to hang onto his new life. Bad luck or no bad luck.
Good Luck is a funny and charming take on Shifters and Fae. The author did some quality world building blending fantasy into a contemporary setting with lots of humor and well placed conflict. Poor Alli was run out of his realm because of his sexuality and he’s made a life in the human world, but unfortunately his magic is a little wonky here and has a tendency to be destructive and for Alli that happens on Fridays. He’s learned to just deal with it and the rest of the town has as well, even though his issues don’t exactly make him popular with his neighbors. On top of that, he’s a bit socially awkward and a smidge grumpy so he spends a lot of time alone with his plants. He’s gotten used to that life and has resigned himself to being a solo and slightly sad Alli.
Obviously that makes him the perfect character to get in the sights of one perpetually happy and very determined bear shifter named Michael. Michael is attracted to Alli from the start and ends up being completely charmed by his quirks. While Alli uses his bad luck as a way to keep others at arms-length, Michael sees it as a perfect opportunity to get closer. That bit of conflict led to my favorite thing about this story, how the characters worked through their own issues and communication problems so they could be together for the long haul.
Alli and Michael live in Putman County which is very paranormal friendly, even though most of the citizens keep their paranormal-ness under wraps out in public. The towns’ deputy, Chris, is human, but he’s very in tune with the goings on in his territory. He’s fiercely protective of Alli and I really liked his character throughout the story. Anywho, as I said, Putman County is full of paranormals and there are mysterious shenanigans going on that seem to be threatening All’s well-being and are making Michael a grumbly overly protective bear. That conflict wasn’t what I got into, what I got into was how Alli and Michael dealt with it all. Honestly, you could have replaced the otherworldly threats with something else and the problems these guys had would have been the same. The fantasy aspect made it more fun for sure, but I appreciated how the author didn’t discount, or rush through the communication for the sake of some fantastical excitement.
Alli is prickly to protect himself and Michael is persistent. Alli’s biggest fear is getting attached to someone and then having the object of his attachment get tired of his bad luck and decide he’s not worth it. Michael is loyal to the core and does everything in his arsenal to prove that to Alli. Both of them had completely valid feelings throughout and their resolution wasn’t easily won, but that’s what made it more valuable and believable in the end.
The characters in Good Luck are the strength in the story. Michael, his family and Chris are funny and the kind of characters you want to meet in real life and hang out with. Alli was a little harder to warm up to and for good reason, the poor guy hasn’t had it easy and his tough shell is understandable. I liked reading his evolution into a more openly loving being as he slowly let Michael into his world. The two of them ended up being perfect together and their HEA was obvious and swoonworthy in the end.
For more information on Good Luck and Putman County, check it out on Goodreads.
**a copy of this book was provided for an honest review**
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