Book Review | Unlucky for Some

Unlucky for Some by Carla Caruso

Publication Date: November 1, 2014

What’s the Story?

Sassy Italian-Australian newspaper reporter Raffy has been ultra-superstitious ever since her ex-fiance saw her in her bridal gown before they got hitched – and left her at the altar. But as luck would have it, one of her new assignments at Press Publishing is a feature series challenging some of the most common superstitions in the lead-up to Friday the thirteenth. It’s her worst nightmare – not helped by the grumpy, yet annoyingly handsome cameraman accompanying her to film the daily online videos for the newspaper’s site.

My Review

Unlucky for Some is a short novella about how some people succumb to the superstitions that drive their lives and the things that they do to attempt to stay out of trouble. Somehow the things you try to avoid often have a way of finding you and sometimes the only thing you can do is just laugh at it all. Often times things aren’t always how they seem and sometimes the things that you thought were a result of bad luck, turn out to be good luck in disguise.

Raffaella Fortuna was raised by her overbearing Italian mother to be an over-the-top superstitious woman. I thought it was ironic that this woman names her daughter Raffy. After a quick internet search you can relate Raffy to the word raff which means rubbish or refuse. Fortuna is known as the ancient Roman goddess of fortune and good luck. Together her name almost literally means to refuse good luck or rather in a way, to bring bad fortune upon oneself. It’s funny that a superstitious woman would name her child Raffy if she knew her last name was Fortuna, thus inevitably giving her child ‘rough luck’ for life.

Sorry to digress, back to the story. Raffy is given an assignment at work that absolutely terrifies her. With Friday the 13th coming up, her boss has requested that she purposely break the typical superstitions to prove they don’t bring bad luck to those that challenge the fates. On top of Raffy’s everyday bad luck, this assignment could possibly do her in and lead to some sticky situations. Although she’s frightened beyond belief, Raffy is a trooper and gives it a go.  Throw in a possible love interest on top of all the craziness and you’ve got yourself a fun and fast read that will keep you laughing from page one. While I recently read a few short stories that I loved, after reading this one by Caruso I have to say that I am definitely a fan of novellas!

My Rating: 5/5 Stars

ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Receiving the novel free of charge in no way reflects on my honest opinion and no monetary compensation was provided for my review. Writing a review is the best way to say thank you to an author. I encourage you to write reviews and let the world know what you think.

About the Author

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Carla Caruso was born in Adelaide, Australia, and only ‘escaped’ for three years to work as a magazine journalist and stylist in Sydney. Previously, she was a gossip columnist and fashion editor at Adelaide’s daily newspaper, The Advertiser. She has since freelanced for titles including Woman’s Dayand Shop Til You Drop. These days, she plays mum to twin lads Alessio and Sebastian with hubby James. A Pretty Mess is her fifth novel and the first in the Astonvale series.