Get Lucky: A Novel [Paperback]

Katherine Center (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 6, 2010

How do you change your luck? Katherine Center’s marvelously entertaining and poignant new novel is about choosing to look for happiness—and maybe getting lucky enough to find it.
 
Sarah Harper isn’t sure if the stupid decisions she sometimes makes are good choices in disguise—or if they’re really just stupid. But either way, after forwarding an inappropriate email to her entire company, she suddenly finds herself out of a job. 

          So she goes home to Houston—and her sister, Mackie—for Thanksgiving. But before Sarah can share her troubles with her sister, she learns that Mackie has some woes of her own: After years of trying, Mackie’s given up on having a baby—and plans to sell on eBay the entire nursery she’s set up. Which gives Sarah a brilliant idea—an idea that could fix everyone’s problems. An idea that gives Sarah the chance to take care of her big sister for once—instead of the other way around.

          But nothing worthwhile is ever easy. After a decade away, Sarah is forced to confront one ghost from her past after another: the father she’s lost touch with, the memories of her mother, the sweet guy she dumped horribly in high school. Soon everything that matters is on the line—and Sarah can only hope that by changing her life she has changed her luck, too.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In her light third novel, Center (Everyone Is Beautiful) tackles sisterhood, but falls just short of poignancy. Sarah Harper is on the New York fast track at a top advertising agency until she grows a conscience overnight and sends out a companywide e-mail debunking her popular bra campaign. Fired, she flies home to Houston, where she crashes with her older sister, Mackie, and Mackie's husband, Clive. Turns out Mackie has problems of her own: after years of trying to have a baby, she announces she's done. In an effort to do something good for a change, Sarah offers herself up as a surrogate. In the nine pregnant months that follow, Sarah juggles unexpected feelings for her brother-in-law and expected feelings for an ex-boyfriend, and instead of the pregnancy bringing her and Mackie closer, it drives them apart. Witty dialogue and likable characters keep the pages turning, but Center glosses over the depth of emotion inherent in carrying your sister's baby to the point that you forget at times that Sarah is pregnant. It's a fun, breezy book, but it doesn't try to get to the heart of the matter. (Apr.)
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From Booklist

Sometimes the worst thing to happen turns out to be the best and vice versa. Sarah Harper does the unthinkable and forwards an inappropriate e-mail to the entire company, losing her job in advertising. Luckily she planned to go home to Houston to spend time with her sister Mackie and her husband. Unfortunately, on the plane, she sits next to Everett, the high-school boyfriend she unceremoniously dumped. After Sarah realizes how gorgeous and successful he is, Everett ruins the moment by making a snarky comment. Capriciousness takes over Sarah’s life as she decides to help Mackie with her infertility problem by becoming a surrogate. Sarah perceives this as a bonding time for the sisters, but things do not work out as planned, and Sarah finally recognizes that the loss of her mother at a young age had major effects on her life, her attitude toward love, and maybe even her luck. Center delivers an original, engaging, and touching novel populated with quirky and lovable characters, and ripe for discovery by readers looking for a cheering read. --Patty Engelmann

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; Original edition (April 6, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345507916
• ISBN-13: 978-0345507914
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #810,316 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Katherine Center' s second novel, Everyone Is Beautiful, was featured in Redbook, People magazine and USA Today. Kirkus Reviews likens it to the 1950s motherhood classic Please Don't Eat the Daisies, and says, "Center 's breezy style invites the reader to commiserate, laughing all the way." Booklist calls it "a superbly written novel filled with unique and resonant characters."

Katherine's first novel, The Bright Side of Disaster, was featured in People, USA Today, Vanity Fair, the Houston Chronicle, and the Dallas Morning News, among others. BookPage named Katherine one of seven new writers to watch, and the paperback of Bright Side was a Breakout Title at Target. Bright Side was also optioned last fall by Varsity Pictures.

Katherine recently published an essay in Real Simple Family and has another in Because I Love Her: 34 Women Writers on the Mother-Daughter Bond. She has just turned in her third novel, Get Lucky, and is starting on a fourth. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and two young children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't wait to read more from Katherine Center, April 8, 2010

By 

Marcy (Fairfield, CT, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Get Lucky: A Novel (Paperback)

I received this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program. Get Lucky is the story of Sarah Harper, a young New York professional who accidentally gets herself fired from her job which happened to be her whole life. She then flees home to Texas to hide out with her sister, lick her wounds and figure out what's next. When she gets home she discovers that her sister has a problem of her own and she devises what seems like the perfect plan for them both. Of course we all know it can't work out that easily.

The plot rolls on from there and is a thoroughly enjoyable story that does not disappoint. I loved all the characters -- especially a few of the minor ones and all-in-all this book made for a well-told, colorful story. I couldn't put the book down and was sad when it was over. It is a perfect vacation book, airplane book, or really anytime book. I will definitely read more from Katherine Center.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars She Just Keeps Getting Better and Better, April 10, 2010

By 

Catherine E. Shearer (Ithaca, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Get Lucky: A Novel (Paperback)

Katherine Center just keeps getting better and better. I LOVED this book!!!!

If you've ever had a sister or even a best friend, you'll recognize these people and their relationships.

I love that Katherine writes such real characters. I feel like I know these people and can relate to their lives, even though they're nothing like mine.

This is definitely a book to read and share.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I was lucky to have read this!, April 18, 2010

By 

Julie Katepalli (Mechanicsville, VA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Get Lucky: A Novel (Paperback)

I absolutely love Katherine Center books and very much looked forward to Get Lucky. I hate to say this would be my favorite of her books as I love them all but it leaves you thinking on so many levels. What does judgement and anger really do for anyone of us unless we give ourselves a chance to change how we'd do something to make a situation better. I was glad that the focus was not on the fact that Sarah was carrying her sister's child and it really could have taken on an entirely different path if it wanted but Katherine stayed focus on Sarah's personal growth, the loss of her mother and the love of her sister and family.

Fast and meaningful read, my favorite!