Marie Astor’s Lucky Charm is one of those books that once I started it, I just wanted to know what happend next. I really enjoyed Lucky Charm and it is this month’s selection for the ChickLitPlus reading challenge I’ve been doing this year.

Annabel Green catches her fiance cheating on her. In the wake of this betrayal, Annabel is lost, uncertain of how to move forward and reclaim her life. Her best friend, an up and coming designer called Lilly Collins, tries to help. She treats Annabel to a fabulous makeover and makes sure she meets new men. However, Annabel still uses any and every excuse to delay jumping back in the dating pool.  Worried about her friend, Lilly takes Annabel to visit a fortune teller, where Annabel acquires a special charm that is supposed to bring her luck in love…. but will it?  I don’t want to say a lot more about the summary because I want you to read it and discover it for yourself. You’ll see a few more tidbits below, but only because they pertain to things I really liked about the story.

The first thing that drew me into Lucky Charm was Annabel herself. She’s  not perfect, but she’s also not a simpering idiot. It always helps to have a heroine that you feel like you could be friends with.  Annabel’s reaction to Jeremy’s betrayal is authentic. It doesn’t feel contrived or desperate.  Nor do Lilly’s plans to get Annabel back in the dating game.  And if you like the idea of a lucky charm, then the fortune teller gifting Annabel with a talisman is endearing.  I think most of us, whether or not  we admit it out loud, would welcome any charm that would bring more love into our lives.

I also enjoyed Annabel’s foray into Paris.  I love reading about places I’ve visited and saying to myself “Yes, that’s spot on”. I did just that reading about Annabel’s dinner at Cafe Marly at The Louvre. The Cafe at night, and the surrounding area, is one of the most romantic places I’ve been- just something in the air.

When Annabel learns that Lilly’s been hiding a secret that could mean Annabel’s not been as lucky in love as she thought, I found myself rooting for Annabel, and for her friendship with Lilly. In fact, my only real criticism of the story is that I thought Annabel overreacted and immediately jumped to the worst possible conclusion when she learned Lilly’s secret. That may be me projecting my own practicality into Annabel’s character, but even though I felt like Annabel’s reaction wasn’t completely warranted, I still really wanted everything to work out in the end.

This was a quick read for me. It was easy for me to keep turning the pages to find out what happened next. If you’re a chick lit fan, I think you’ll enjoy  Lucky Charm and I for one am excited to read more from Marie Astor.  You can learn more about Marie here.

Note: In the interest of full disclosure, Marie did ask me to review Lucky Charm.  As I state in my review policy, a request for a review does not guarantee a positive review. I did genuinely enjoy this story and provided an honest review.