The Last Days of Lilah Goodluck

November 20, 2023
Bestseller Scott (End of Story) delivers a sprightly speculative romance. After the aptly named heroine saves Good Witch Willow from being struck with a car, the psychic witch makes several predictions about Lilah’s life: she’ll find out her boyfriend is cheating on her, she’ll be passed over for a promotion at the library where she works, her soulmate will turn out to be a famous almost-royal Brit named Alistair George Arthur Lennox, she’ll win the lottery, and she will die next Sunday. After discounting the predictions as nonsense, Lilah is spooked when one by one, each prophecy becomes true—including meeting her supposed soulmate. Afraid she has only one week left to live, Lilah’s inspired to take time off from her job and pack in as much adventure as she can—with Alistair by her side. What follows is a vibrant and endearing story, helmed by a witty budding couple and bolstered by delightful supporting characters, especially Alistair’s eccentric mother, Lady Helena. This zippy, imaginative outing about seizing all that life and love have to offer inspires. Agent: Amy Tannenbaum, Jane Rotrosen Agency.

January 1, 2024
When a young woman saves a clairvoyant witch while crossing the street, the course of her life changes dramatically. Lilah Goodluck has lived a perfectly happy, if rather unremarkable and unadventurous, life as a librarian in Los Angeles, but all of that changes the evening she saves the life of a professional entertainer known as the Good Witch Willow. To show her thanks, Willow reveals five predictions about Lilah's imminent future, including the fact that her soulmate is Alistair George Arthur Lennox--which happens to be the name of the handsome and mysterious illegitimate son of the king of England--and that she will die in a week's time. Lilah, naturally, doesn't believe her. At least, that is, until some of the predictions quickly come true. Things take an even stranger turn when Lilah nearly runs Alistair off the road and totals her own car in a disastrous meet-cute. The two immediately hit it off, and when Lilah confides in Alistair about Willow's predictions, he takes it upon himself to help her check off a bucket list of activities (which range from driving in a convertible with the top down like a classic movie star to having really great sex), just in case she does meet an abrupt and untimely end. Because the story is set over the course of a week, it leaves very little time for the chemistry between Lilah and Alistair to develop, and the resulting relationship between them lacks both emotional depth and charm. The same, unfortunately, goes for the truly incredible cast of supporting characters. Both Lilah's best friend and Alistair's mother are delightful the moment they appear on the page, but so little time is spent with them that their personalities, like the rest of the story, feel underdeveloped. A rushed and underwhelming romance.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2024

Scott (End of Story) brings her flair for the drama and glamour of celebrity romance to a love story that might be destiny but is also doomed. When Lilah Goodluck goes to her best friend's birthday party, she misses having her fortune told by party entertainer Good Witch Willow--an oversight that's remedied when she saves the seer from a speeding car. To thank her, Willow gives Lilah five predictions about her future: she'll discover that her boyfriend is cheating, be passed over for promotion, win the lotto, find her soulmate (Willow even supplies the name of a specific prince), and die a week from Monday. It's easy enough to laugh it all off until, one by one, the predictions begin to come true. Lilah hopes if she can keep from falling in love she can stop the predictions before the last one comes true. The love story (and accompanying threat of the ultimate end) manages to create tension without diminishing any of its charm, and the characters are memorable and appealing, with bright and funny dialogue. VERDICT Scott's endearing page-turner, featuring royalty, fated mates, modern witches, and bucket lists, is a must-read.--Meagan Day

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2024
Librarian Lilah Goodluck likes facts and does not believe in fortune telling. When she pulls Good Witch Willow, the entertainment for her best friend's birthday party, to safety when a car blazes through the crosswalk, she is rewarded with five terse predictions. They seem ridiculous, even after she discovers her boyfriend is a cheat and her well-earned promotion is going to someone else, validating the first two. Things get scary when Lilah meets Alistair, the illegitimate son of the king of England, who is foretold to be her soul mate because that could mean that the prediction that she will die next Sunday may also be true. Gorgeous Alistair, with his bespoke suits and luxury cars, is surprisingly kind and caring. When Lilah works on her bucket list of skateboarding, a book tattoo, and a wild motorcycle ride, he comes up with a sexy "Pretty Woman shopping spree. Scott (End of the Story, 2023) creates charming characters and makes the unbelievable premise that brings them together believable in this enjoyable, light-hearted romp with just the right combination of glitz, glamour, and the ordinary.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.