Lucky Number

by Jo Cox

After months of illness, Abi’s desperate to get back to normal. The trouble is, normal doesn’t exist anymore—her clients have all deserted her, she’s back living with her parents, and someone’s even had the audacity to clean the football club toilets.

That’s why when The Blues’ star striker and resident business mogul offers to be her wingwoman, she tentatively agrees. Jenna is bubbly, successful, and irrepressible—exactly what Abi needs. But as the pair grow closer, will they be able to look past everything that has and could go wrong, and take a gamble on all that might go right?

This friends-to-lovers romance is book one in The Blues series.

Genres: Romance, Lesbian, Fiction, Contemporary, Sports, Queer, Adult

256 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 2, 2023

About the author

Jo Cox writes character-driven fiction about women navigating love, family, and identity. Her contemporary novels centre queer women’s lives and are known for their emotional realism, strong ensemble casts, and relationships that develop with warmth, humour, and depth.

Reviews

[Diane (IF U'RE PRIVATE, PLEASE SKIP ME!!!) Wallace]

**'Most writers throw out a bunch of cynical things as to why they tell stories -- but honestly, they all write for love..'

Delightful read!
A charming and nicely written book #1 in 'The Blues' chronicle. Entertaining couple (Abi & Jenna) with an array of secondary characters.
Highly recommended book!

[Iris]

The banter is good and vibes are lovely

[Alexa Steli]

3,5/5
My babies how do I get a relationship like this???

[Aaron]

Interestingly, this is the first book I’ve read that explicitly refers to Covid and the sequence of lockdowns and etc. due to Covid. It’s part of the backstory here, about people being sick and businesses going under. And, I guess it’s neither here nor there, but it did make me wonder why I haven’t seen more of that in contemporary fiction published in the last year or two. It’s certainly showed up in authors’ notes a lot.

All right, so, on to the story. I love me a good soccer (football) tale. For my part, it could have had way more action on the field! :) And I could wish Abi had as much success on the field (er, pitch) as Jenna. But I get that not everybody’s into that, so.

I’m coming to this from Feels Like Home and its sequel, and this is my favorite of the three. Those two were a bit too low-angst for me; fun stories but without very much on the line for the characters, mostly everything just worked. I appreciated that things here took longer to work out, there was more to overcome, more of an arc for the characters. Somehow it struck the right balance in that even though Jax saw where things were going fairly early, it didn’t seem like the characters in question were being stupidly oblivious about it; instead they had actual issues to work through. Overall I wouldn’t call it especially angsty or suspenseful, but it was just the right kind of light for me. The side characters also had some unexpected depth, which is always nice.

I guess if there was one thing I’d ask for, it would maybe be some adventures outside of daily life? Not that the fate of the garden gnomes wasn’t comical — it was — but I always enjoy getting out somewhere or doing something a little crazy.

Anyway, now on to Keeping Score :)

[Doug Elliott]

Luck Number is a friends to lovers tale set in a post-pandemic period. Along with the normal hesitation when a long-standing relationship moves to a deeper level there is also the anxiety accompanying a return to social interactions after a long period of lock-down. Abi and Jenna are a cute couple surrounded by a cast of supportive friends. This is a nice read with a satisfying conclusion.

[Kathy]

Good start to a new series!

Abigail and Jenna have been friends and footy teammates, but after a long illness post Covid, Abi doesn't believe she'll ever be strong enough or good enough to play again.

I enjoyed the characters, but felt the story was geared towards a younger audience. The supporting cast was also strong and I hope to read more about them in the next couple of books. I got a real kick out of Abi's parents!

[Carolyn G. Manuel]

Four The Win

Abi’s business and relationship had not survived the Covid lockdown and when she was sick with her asthma complications it wrecked her heart and head. Jenna’s relationship had failed to survive and now she was trying get her friendship with Abi Bach on track. As The Blues, their foot ball team rebuilds, a romance blooms. Great start for series.

[Deb]

super cute

Loved this. I don’t think I disliked a single character and everything flowed seamlessly. I’ve read a few footy books lately and this is definitely one id recommended. Looking at the title it seems to be a series and I cannot wait for future books.

[S.S]

This is a well written friends to lovers romance set in a local football club. Set just after the pandemic it deals with two people whose lives were upended by the lockdowns and the toll taken by the health crisis. The book has both funny and serious parts.

[Dave and Joan]

Look what's in front of you.
Just because you were sick and you business drieed up doesn't mean people don't like you.
Be positive for people and about yourself.
Nice slow romance that makes you smile and smile.

[Angela Rassette]

Good read

Good ‘ol “I like her but will she or won’t she like me”.
It is a pretty funny book and I love Abi’s parents. HEA
I can’t wait to learn Jax’s story

[wilson]

i wanted to be a gardener for a very short period of time when i was a small child

[Ngoni Brian]

A true friends to lovers romance

This was quite an interesting read, I really enjoyed every moment reading it. The book is full of scenes that will leave you smiling.

[Joann]

Great book

I enjoyed the book. I love sport stories. Jenna and Abi were made for each other. It just took a minute to get there. I cannot wait to read the next book.