With Any Luck by Ashley Poston Summary, Characters and Themes
“With Any Luck” by Ashley Poston is a lighthearted romance novella that’s part of The Improbable Meet-Cute series – 5th one to be specific. The story centers on Audrey Love, who believes she’s cursed to always be the “girl before” someone finds their true love—never the one they end up with.
But when her best friend, the groom, goes missing hours before his wedding, Audrey is thrown into a whirlwind of confusion and self-doubt. With the help of the best man, Rhett, she retraces her steps from the chaotic bachelor party to find the missing groom and, maybe, discover that love has been right under her nose all along.
Summary
Audrey Love has grown up believing she’s cursed in love: every person she kisses quickly finds their soulmate—but it’s never her.
This belief has haunted her since she was young, leaving her resigned to always being the “almost” in someone else’s love story. She avoids romantic attachments, instead focusing on friendships, including her best friend Rhett, who is about to marry the love of his life.
The story kicks off the day before the wedding with Audrey attending Rhett’s bachelor party.
After a night of heavy drinking and revelry, she wakes up the next morning with a pounding headache, a foggy memory, and a shocking realization—the groom, Rhett, is missing.
Panic-stricken and filled with guilt, Audrey fears she might have drunkenly kissed him at the party, potentially triggering her “curse” and making him bolt before his wedding.
Desperate to set things right, Audrey teams up with Rhett’s best man, Theo, who has a complicated past with her.
Theo and Audrey have always had an antagonistic dynamic, stemming from an unresolved romantic fling that left Audrey with lingering animosity. But with time ticking down to the ceremony, they have no choice but to work together to locate the missing groom.
As they retrace Audrey’s chaotic night, a series of misadventures ensue, filled with witty banter and comedic misunderstandings.
Flashbacks slowly reveal the previous night’s events, but Audrey remains convinced that her blackout-induced actions have driven Rhett away.
Meanwhile, Theo stays suspiciously tight-lipped about his own recollections of the evening, leading to tension between them. Despite their animosity, sparks fly, hinting at unresolved feelings.
As they piece together the night, Audrey’s fears appear to be unfounded. Gradually, it’s revealed that it wasn’t Rhett she kissed during the party but Theo. Theo, who has been harboring feelings for Audrey, stayed silent about their encounter to protect her from embarrassment.
This revelation shocks Audrey, who has been so caught up in her belief in the curse that she never considered Theo as a possibility.
The moment forces her to confront her fears of intimacy and the self-imposed belief that she’s doomed to never be anyone’s “forever.”
With Rhett eventually found safe and sound—he was merely hiding to process pre-wedding jitters—Audrey and Theo finally confront their own feelings.
Theo reveals his genuine affection for Audrey, challenging her belief that she’s unworthy of love. Audrey, realizing that her so-called curse was more a product of her own insecurities, decides to take a chance on Theo.
The story wraps up with a heartwarming scene at the wedding, where Audrey finds herself no longer an observer but an active participant in her own love story. For the first time, she’s willing to embrace the possibility of happiness with Theo, letting go of her past fears.
The novella leaves readers with a hopeful message about second chances, self-acceptance, and the magic of unexpected love.
Characters
Audrey Love
Audrey is the protagonist around whom the entire story revolves. Growing up surrounded by her sisters who ran a kissing booth, Audrey becomes convinced that she is cursed. Every person she kisses soon finds their true love—but it’s never her.
This peculiar belief becomes ingrained in her psyche, shaping her entire outlook on love and relationships. As an adult, Audrey internalizes this so-called curse, which leads her to avoid romantic entanglements and pushes her to keep men firmly in the “friend zone.”
Her belief that she is destined to be the “before” woman, rather than anyone’s final choice, creates a deep-seated insecurity that influences her interactions. Audrey’s loyalty and genuine affection for her friends, however, are evident throughout the story.
Despite her fears, she’s willing to go to great lengths to ensure her best friend’s happiness, even if it means confronting uncomfortable truths about herself. Her journey is both a literal quest to find the missing groom and an emotional journey to dismantle the self-constructed walls around her heart.
The story’s romantic resolution requires Audrey to let go of her fears and self-imposed limitations, allowing her to open up to the possibility of real love, especially with someone like Theo who challenges her assumptions.
Theo
Theo is Audrey’s unexpected romantic interest and, initially, something of an enigma. Serving as the maid of honor opposite Audrey’s role as best man, Theo finds himself thrown together with Audrey in a chaotic search for the missing groom.
He is a quiet, introspective character whose reserved demeanor contrasts with Audrey’s more open and animated personality. Theo’s character is developed gradually as the story progresses, revealing layers that Audrey had never noticed before.
His love for sculpting and art, a side of him that Audrey hadn’t previously known, hints at a more sensitive and thoughtful personality than she originally assumed. Theo also plays the role of the steady, reliable figure who balances Audrey’s more impulsive nature.
Their dynamic oscillates between banter and heartfelt conversations, gradually revealing the chemistry simmering beneath the surface. His willingness to help Audrey through the emotional maze she’s trapped in, while also respecting her boundaries, positions Theo as the romantic counterpart who sees beyond her insecurities.
Ultimately, Theo represents the possibility that Audrey’s so-called curse is just a myth she uses to protect herself, and his presence challenges her to face her fears of intimacy.
Rhett
Rhett is Audrey’s best friend and the missing groom, around whom the central mystery of the novella revolves. Rhett and Audrey share a close, sibling-like bond, and he’s one of the few men in her life whom she trusts implicitly.
Despite their platonic relationship, Audrey’s anxiety over having potentially kissed Rhett in her drunken state highlights her deep-seated guilt and fear of ruining the lives of those she cares about. Rhett’s disappearance before his wedding isn’t a result of any action on Audrey’s part but rather his own cold feet and pre-wedding jitters.
He embodies the archetype of a friend who seems to have everything figured out on the surface, but who, in reality, is grappling with his own doubts and insecurities. His relationship with Audrey is one of mutual trust, but the narrative explores how even the closest friendships can be fraught with misunderstandings.
In the end, Rhett’s brief disappearance and eventual return serve as a catalyst for Audrey to reflect on her own fears, prompting her to reconsider the barriers she’s put up in her love life.
Carmilla
Carmilla is the bride and Theo’s best friend, though her role is more peripheral in the story. As the woman at the center of the wedding chaos, Carmilla represents the ideal of love and commitment that Audrey believes she’s incapable of achieving for herself.
Carmilla’s trust in Audrey, despite the latter’s fear that she may have accidentally sabotaged the wedding, demonstrates a deeper theme of loyalty and friendship.
Carmilla is portrayed as the grounding force among the more chaotic elements of the story, serving as a reminder that love isn’t just about romantic entanglements but also about the deep bonds of trust and friendship that sustain relationships.
Themes
The Burden of Self-Fulfilling Prophecies and the Cycle of Romantic Self-Sabotage
Audrey’s belief in her supposed “curse” is a central thread in the novella, reflecting the intricate psychological theme of self-fulfilling prophecies. Audrey has convinced herself that every kiss she shares with someone inevitably leads that person to find their true love—with someone else.
This belief has seeped into her psyche so deeply that it affects her ability to connect with others. The story delves into how this conviction isn’t just a quirky character trait but a defense mechanism rooted in her fear of rejection.
Audrey’s insistence on maintaining her distance from romantic entanglements is an attempt to protect herself from inevitable heartbreak, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of isolation. The narrative suggests that sometimes, it is our deepest fears and insecurities that prevent us from experiencing real happiness, rather than any external “curse.”
Navigating Consent, Memory, and Accountability in Romantic Dynamics
One of the more unexpected and nuanced elements of the story is its treatment of consent within the context of a drunken night out. Audrey’s blackout from the previous evening introduces a moral gray area, especially when it’s revealed that she and Theo shared an intimate moment during that time.
This theme addresses the complexities of consent when one or both parties are not fully aware of their actions. Audrey’s struggle with piecing together the events of the night and the guilt she feels highlights the blurred lines between consent, memory, and emotional accountability.
It complicates the narrative by introducing questions about whether a romantic connection can truly develop in the aftermath of a night clouded by intoxication. The novella tactfully approaches the subject without becoming overly preachy, exploring how miscommunication and assumptions can create lingering doubts in relationships.
The Perils of Unspoken Assumptions and the Fragility of Human Connection
The relationship between Audrey and Rhett, and later between Audrey and Theo, hinges on misunderstandings and unspoken assumptions. Audrey’s belief that she has ruined her best friend’s wedding by kissing the groom is a reflection of how her own fears and anxieties cloud her perception of reality.
The novella delves into how assumptions, when left unchecked, can create barriers between people who care about one another. Audrey’s past with Theo is colored by unresolved grievances, yet neither of them fully articulates their feelings or clears the air.
The story highlights the fragility of human connections when left to the mercy of assumptions and half-truths. The tension between Audrey and Theo underscores a larger theme of how our preconceived notions can become the very obstacles that prevent us from finding genuine intimacy.
Reconciling Romantic Fantasies with the Messiness of Real-Life Love
At its heart, With Any Luck is a playful exploration of the clash between idealized notions of romance and the messiness of real-life love. Audrey’s perception of herself as the perennial “before” woman aligns with a fairytale-like belief that soulmates are predestined, and that she is merely a stepping stone in others’ romantic journeys.
The novella cleverly plays with this trope, gradually revealing that love is not as clear-cut or magical as Audrey imagines. Through her chaotic journey with Theo to find the missing groom, the story challenges the simplistic notion of perfect matches and instead highlights the unpredictable, imperfect, and often confusing nature of genuine relationships.
The resolution between Audrey and Theo underscores that real love is not about curses or cosmic alignments but about taking risks and embracing vulnerability despite the potential for pain. This theme suggests that letting go of romantic fantasies can be the first step toward discovering a more meaningful and authentic connection.
Confronting the Fear of Vulnerability and the Liberation of Emotional Intimacy
Audrey’s journey throughout the novella is not merely about finding the missing groom or discovering a romantic partner in Theo. It’s fundamentally about confronting her own fear of vulnerability.
Audrey has built emotional walls around herself due to her belief in her curse, and these walls have kept her safe but also isolated. Her reluctance to open herself up to love stems from a deep-seated fear of being hurt and discarded.
The story explores the tension between the desire for intimacy and the instinct for self-preservation. As Audrey retraces her steps with Theo, she slowly begins to confront these fears, realizing that her belief in the curse was simply a convenient excuse to avoid the emotional risk of real relationships.
The novella suggests that true liberation comes not from avoiding pain but from facing it head-on. It acknowledges that vulnerability is not a weakness but a necessary component of deep, lasting love.
The Paradox of Luck, Destiny, and Agency in the Search for Love
Finally, the theme of luck versus agency is woven throughout the narrative, particularly in how Audrey perceives her romantic life. The title, With Any Luck, is both ironic and reflective of the story’s central question: Is love a matter of fate, luck, or personal choice?
Audrey initially believes that luck (or rather, bad luck) governs her romantic outcomes, as evidenced by her belief in the curse. However, as the story progresses, it becomes clear that her perceived misfortune is more a result of her own choices and fears than any supernatural influence.
The novella challenges the idea that love is purely a matter of chance by showing that Audrey’s happiness is within her own control if she’s willing to take risks. The theme ultimately underscores the paradox that while we may not control everything in life, we do have the power to choose how we respond to the situations we face.
Audrey’s decision to finally embrace her feelings for Theo represents her reclaiming agency over her love life, rather than leaving it to the whims of luck or destiny.