Customer Reviews

The Night I Got Lucky (Red Dress Ink Novels)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ever wonder what your life would be like if you got everything you wanted? Jane, main heroine of this novel, sure does. With a currently passionless marriage, a catty coworker trying to edge her out of the picture, an unrequited crush on the handsome Evan, and a promotion that seems out of her grasp, Billy Rendell has plenty of things going wrong.

After a trip to her therapist Blinda, who gives her a ceramic frog that is supposed to make her dreams/wishes come true, Billy goes home, puts the frog on her nightstand, and promptly forgets about it.

That is, until her life changes overnight. Suddenly her husband is loving and passionate again, she has that promotion, and Evan can't seem to get enough of her. Billy is puzzled, but ecstatic. Things are finally going her way.

But Billy realizes too late that getting everything you want can also cause problems. Realizing she's in over her head, she tries to get rid of the magical frog. Problem is, she can't...

There is a reason Laura Caldwell is one of my favorite authors - her books have been a perfect 10 so far, and this one is no exception. With wonderful, real-life characters, and an original story line that somehow manages to be realistic despite its magical quality, The Night I Got Lucky was a fabulous read that I simply couldn't put down once I started. Characterization is one of Caldwell's greatest strength, and it shines in this novel.

I couldn't find anything in this book that I didn't like.

Overall, I highly recommend this novel to everyone, especially chick lit fans.

This story is about Billy who thinks her life isn't all that great. Her husband barely notices her, and she hates her job. She goes to a therapist, Blinda, who she vents to about all the unhappiness in her life and says her life would be perfect if certain things changed. Blinda gives her a green frog to take with her and tells her it will bring good fortune to anyone who has it.
Overnight things change for Billy. She gets the perfect life she's been wanting all along. After some time has passed she realizes that things really aren't so perfect after all. She decides she wants her old life back, but how can she do that? I wont tell you anymore becasue I dont want to ruin the book.

I read this fairly quickly and anyone who enjoys chick lit will enjoy this chick lit with a little bit of surealistic fantasy element. I did like it, however it didn't meet my expectations compared to a few of Laura Caldwells other books.

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

So what would happen if you woke up and suddenly everything you wished for was a reality? Sounds great, right? Your dream of that big promotion materializes and the next day you go to work and the Vice Presidents office has your nameplate on it. Your husband is suddenly much more attentive and romantic, surprising you with candlelight dinners and tender lovemaking. The guy at work you've had a crush on for years is making every excuse to get alone with you and flirts with you constantly.
That's just what happens to Billy Rendell. At first all that success and attention feels wonderful, but soon the repercussions of instant gratification change Billy's life in ways she never could have predicted. There are consequences that come with all your dreams coming true overnight. It takes her on a journey of self discovery that gives her much more than she even knew to dream of.

In a chick lit version of The Monkey's Paw, Laura Caldwell engages us with characters you can relate to. The saying "be careful what you wish for" has rarely been illustrated in a more modern-day example that hits close to home.

Billy has issues many women today struggle with. At first she may seem slightly shallow, but as she struggles to learn how to be happy, Billy becomes more substantial and sympathetic as a character. Billy is real.
A fable told in a light, first person style, THE NIGHT I GOT LUCKY is deeper than the typical chick lit novel.

My first read by Laura Caldwell, I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for more.

You know the old saying "be careful what you wish for"? Well, in Billy's case her wishes come true. Which should be all good, right? This is a book about getting everything you want in life, but soon realizing that what you want has been with you all the time. This is a fast read, although I didn't feel that I really knew the characters. This is my first chick lit book by this author. I will read more by her.

I got this book for Christmas and I read it in a weekend. From the very start of the book, I was hooked. The beginning of the book was very intriguing and I was curious to see how it all fit into the story. The character of Billy is very likable and I felt for her when she had problems with her husband that basically ignored her and her frustrations with her job that was going nowhere. I think every character in this book was made to be likeable, even the character of Alexa, who is made to be the enemy in the first part of the book. It was fun to see how Billy's life changed after the frog entered her life and to see what situations she got into. I couldn't wait to get to the end to see how the story ended and I think Laura Caldwell ended it very nicely. This is my first Laura Caldwell novel and I'll definitely be reading more of her books in the future. I recommend this book for anyone who likes chick-lit.

Laura Caldwell definitely has a certain style to her books. I like that her characters are always smart and not ditzy chick lit girls. When Billy gets everything she wants, life is supposed to be perfect, right? The only thing was, Billy's "problems" weren't really so big, and it was kind of hard to have sympathy for a woman who seemed to have it all and yet wanted even more. The changes that take place to make her life perfect aren't monumental, and her revelation after the fact wasn't huge. But I liked the "fantasy" element of this story and didn't find it all distracting, and Caldwell is a wonderful writer who knows how to paint a picture.

Laura Caldwell's "The Night I Got Lucky" centered around Billy who worked as an account executive in a PR firm in Chicago who felt that her life was not going well. She had been eyeing for the VP position for a long time and was not getting it, and her relationship with her husband Chris was becoming more of a "roommate" situation as he seemed to lost interest in her. In addition, Billy was not able to forget the fact that her father left her family when she was only seven. Overall, things were not going well according to Billy. One day, her New Age therapist gave her a frog and overnight, everything magically changes. Everything she had hoped for became a reality. However, Billy did not realize that getting all of what she hoped for may not be a good thing.

This was an okay for book for me as I did not feel very engaged. I was extremely disappointed as I have been an avid fan of Laura Caldwell and have read all her previous works. For one thing, the idea of a frog changing everything overnight was just inconceivable to me. In addition, the plot see was rather thin, focusing too much on just the main character with hardly any secondary characters development. There are definitely better books out there in this genre.

If you are in the mood for a light chick lit read - grab this one. It is cute and sweet and even has a message to take away. The main character Billy (yes, a female named Billy, she blames her father) is not so happily married and not so happily working as an account executive at a PR firm. She visits a therapist and then overnight her life changes and all the things she was complaining about in therapy have changed for the positive. But as she lives this new life she sees the negative amongst all the change.

I loved that she was living in her new life and it slowly unfolded that she wasn't enjoying each thing that she had wished for. As she finds out what made these changes occur, it is hilarious to watch her try to get her old life back.

A great girlie read that can be read almost in one sitting whether that be on a lounge chair by the pool or curled up by a fire in the winter. A Red Dress Ink oldie but a goodie!

I read Laura Caldwell's Red Hot trilogy which isn't really chick lit, but well written mystery though woman oriented. So out of curiosity, I've been reading her earlier novels. I would call this one chick lit, although her later novels seemed to rise above that genre. Be that as it may, it's a darn readable and enjoyable story even for open minded guys. This author successively avoids the extremes of the genre. BTW, it does start out like a charming fantasy, but there is depth to it. I would say that this will appeal to deeper women who don't read that much of the Harlequin stuff as well as those who are more open fans of the genre.

While talking with her therapist one day Billy Rendell confesses that she wants more from her life. Her husband has been more and more distracted by work lately, her chances of making VP at her PR firm are not looking good and she still agonizes over her father leaving her family when she was only a child.

Billy's therapist asks the question, "What if you had everything you wanted? Would you be really happy?" and without hesitation Billy says yes. Then overnight Billy has it all.

Her husband Chris is affectionate to the point that it's turning Billy off. She has her long sought after promotion but it turns out that it's not all she hoped it would be and suddenly the harmless crush she had on Evan at work turns into more when he can't seem to get enough of her either.

Now Billy's life goes from okay and mildly happy to miserable in just a few weeks and she has to figure out what she really wants from life before it's too late.

The Night I Got Lucky is typical chick-lit but the characters are so real and well done that I'm reminded why I love the genre so much. The book follows the premise of the grass is not always greener on the other side and be careful what you wish for. Billy has a rough time realizing what her priorities are but is able to turn things around quite well. Most of the time you know how a chick-lit story is going to end and this was no exception but it was still a sweet ending to a quick light read. Highly recommended for chick-lit readers.