"Don't embarrass yourself and don't embarrass the boat."
Just utter perfection.
One of my favorite things about books is seeing the progression authors take from their debut novel to their second novel. While I loved Love, Lists, & Fancy Ships, I was blown away by Luck and Last Resorts. Sarah's writing has grown tremendously. The world building, the character development and the fresh take on common tropes immediately pulled me into this story and I read it in one sitting without any regrets.
In Luck and Last Resorts, we're taken back into the yachting world with Nina and Ollie reuniting after a year apart while Ollie opened a Miami restaurant. With Jo leaving yachting to open a restaurant with Alex, Nina is feeling left behind and refuses to admit that maybe yachting might not be for her anymore. When some shocking news from Ollie throws Nina's world into a tailspin, she only has one charter season to figure out what she wants out of life and with Ollie.
Despite being hopelessly in love with Ollie, Nina has some pretty serious commitment issues (and rightfully so). I loved how beautifully broken Nina was and enjoyed being able to get into her head after falling in love with her character in the first book. She's such a spitfire and I just adored her, even though I wanted to shake her at times.
Ollie is such a romantic soul and incredibly patient with Nina, despite her keeping him at arm's length. He understands her and wants to fight for their future, even if Nina won't admit what she wants. The banter between the two is pure fire and had me laughing in so many parts. Who doesn't love questioning cartwheels and dick hernias?
The book was layered, with incredibly complicated characters that emote loyalty and emotional depth. I loved the present tense/past tense switches that slowly revealed the complicated past between Ollie and Nina, so that the reader could understand why these two needed a second chance at love. I honestly wish I could read this book again for the first time. It broke my heart into a million pieces multiple times and then put it back together. I was emotionally invested from the beginning and loved every word on the page.
