Go Luck Yourself invites readers back into the holiday chaos, this time with a heartwarming story centered around familiar themes: the trouble with family, emotional healing, and the pursuit of joy —both in relationships with others and oneself. Much like its predecessor, The Nightmare Before Kissmas, this book delves into the importance of finding balance, facing personal struggles, and giving yourself the space and opportunity to heal, all set against the backdrop of holiday magic – with an Irish twist.
In this installment, we follow Kristopher Clause as he begins to rebuild his joy after the painful and chaotic fallout surrounding his father’s schemes. When holiday magic goes missing in the land of St. Patrick’s Day, Kris is drawn into a mystery that might just offer him the escape he desperately needs. Along the way, he encounters the St. Patrick’s Day prince, a figure who initially seems like an adversary (especially considering this isn’t the first time they met at odds) but ultimately becomes everything Kris could have hoped for in his quest for a happy ending.
If you haven’t yet read The Nightmare Before Kissmas, I’d highly recommend doing so before diving into this one. While Go Luck Yourself stands on its own, having the context of book one will enrich the experience and deepen your understanding of certain familial relationships. After what happened in the first book, Kris’s brother Coal is busy picking up the pieces left by their father, who, now living his best life in the Caribbean, hands over the holiday empire to his son in the midst of a midlife crisis. Meanwhile, Kris investigates the St. Patrick’s Day mystery, eager to distract himself from the emotional turmoil of a recent rejection from Iris – which we all were kind of rooting for in the first book, let’s be real. Disguised as an ambassador from Christmas, Kris now works to rebuild trust in the wake of his father’s actions.
One of the highlights of Go Luck Yourself is the enemies-to-lovers dynamic between Kris and the St. Patrick’s Day prince, Loch (though we will not speak about this name because it haunts me—Loch means hole in German, in case you were wondering. You can guess the kind of jokes I have become very familiar with from prepubescent boys from an early age on). Although the tension is resolved fairly quickly, it’s still an enjoyable ride watching these two attempt to one-up each other, with Kris’s magical abilities adding a nice layer of fun. While Loch, the prince, could have used more depth in terms of characterisation, his more understated presence worked well in the context of Kris’s family drama and the book’s overall focus on mental health. The exploration of self-imposed pressure and its consequences is particularly poignant and relatable.
Kris and Loch’s romance, though filled with ups and downs, ultimately shows how their bond helps each of them grow. Their support for one another is a key theme, offering space for personal growth throughout the story. Additionally, there are plenty of cameos from characters in the first book, sure to delight fans who couldn’t put it down.
That said, I did encounter some of the same issues I had with The Nightmare Before Kissmas. The fluctuating tone of the narrative was jarring at times, especially when combined with the characters’ shifting emotional states. While I understand that anxiety and emotional turmoil can cause such shifts, the tone didn’t always match the characters’ inner thoughts or were so interchangeable that it was hard to remember whose head we were stuck in, which made it harder to follow at certain points. There’s also a tendency to summarise scenes or reiterate information from the same point of view, which occasionally made the pacing drag. Moreover, some abrupt tonal shifts—particularly from light-hearted fun to heavy, almost war-like drama followed up by intimate scenes—felt out of place.
While the intimate scenes in the story may not be for everyone, and the dominant/submissive dynamics could be polarising depending on your preferences (especially if you’re only exposed to traditionally published romance), they add an element of tension to the romance that might appeal to some readers. For me, I couldn’t help but notice the influence of Raasch’s previous YA works blending with her attempt to create a more mature, adult-themed narrative.
Another point of critique is the characters’ lack of agency. While this isn’t as glaring as in Coal’s story, it’s still noticeable that these are grown adults who often take a passive approach to their own lives. This gives the story a certain YA feel, despite the more mature content.
However, if these issues didn’t bother you in the first book, they’re likely to be less of a concern here, as the subtlety of the second book’s execution makes them easier to overlook. Ultimately, Go Luck Yourself retains the fun, witty dialogue, holiday-themed antics, and irresistible chemistry between the protagonists that made the first book a hit.
Personally, I’m still hoping for a Netflix adaptation—or something similar—that can bring Raasch’s delightful world to life in a Hallmark-esque holiday movie.
So cuddle up, get yourself a nice hot ale (if you’re into that) and count your lucky stars while falling head over heels for this enemies-to-lovers holiday romcom!
Go Luck Yourself is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of March 11th 2025.
Will you be picking up Go Luck Yourself? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
It’s enemies to lovers in this sexy and delightful holiday mash up that pairs the spare prince of Christmas with the crown prince of St. Patrick’s Day!
Someone has been stealing Christmas’s joy, and there’s only one clue to the culprit―a single shamrock.
With Coal busy restructuring Christmas―and their dad now having a full midlife crisis in the Caribbean―Kris volunteers to investigate St. Patrick’s Day. His cover: an ambassador from Christmas to foster goodwill. What could go wrong?
Everything, it seems. Because Prince Lochlann Patrick, Crown Prince of St. Patrick’s Day, happens to be the mysterious student that Kris has been in a small war with at Cambridge. They attempt to play nice for the tabloids, but Kris can’t get through one conversation without wanting to smash Loch’s face in―he’s infuriating, stubborn, loud, obstinate, hot―
Wait―hot?
Kris might be in some trouble. Especially when it turns out that the mystery behind Christmas’s stolen magic isn’t as simple as an outright theft. But why would a Holiday that Christmas has never had contact with, one that’s always been the very basis of carefree, want to steal joy? Can a spare prince even hope to unravel all this, or will Kris lose something way more valuable than his Holiday’s resources―like his heart?
