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We make so much fun of people when they carry on about falling in love, about getting swept away, because they sound so ridiculous. Love is ridiculous, from the outside. But when you’re in it…oh God, when you’re in it�

Lucky Night is the kind of literary fiction I absolutely love to read. After six years engaged in an affair, Jenny and Nick are spending the night together for the first time in a brand new luxury hotel in Manhattan. But then the fire alarm goes off, and it becomes clear that their night of passion isn’t going to proceed the way they’d hoped.

The plot sounds straightforward on the surface, but the execution is anything but simple. Lucky Night is an emotionally resonant character study, set against a backdrop of mortal peril, and it’s astoundingly insightful. The narrative switches seamlessly between Nick’s and Jenny’s perspectives, so we get to read their thoughts about each other’s words and actions in real time. The dialogue is fantastic, and Nick and Jenny are so richly-realized � two imperfect people who are trying to connect and be present in their lives in whatever way they can, however self-destructive their choices may be. I grew to care so much for these two idiots, despite how aggravating they were, and I was so invested in their fate. Eliza Kennedy has so much love for these ridiculous, flawed humans, and she made me love them too.

All of this magnificent character work is happening within a tense, high-stakes narrative, as Nick and Jenny are forced to confront some hard truths about each other and themselves while their lives are quite literally in danger. Lucky Night reminded me of books like Nightwatching and Fierce Kingdom � both about mothers and children, so not exactly the same, but where deep musings about life and love are occurring at the same time the characters are facing unimaginable danger and their own mortality. This book actually made me feel physically stressed while I was reading it because the circumstances were so intense and claustrophobic.

I knew very early on that Lucky Night would be a five-star read for me, but then…that ending solidified it. It was perfection and actually brought me to tears. I just absolutely loved it. Thank you to Crown for the early reading opportunity.