Getting Lucky Number Seven
Taking Shots • Book 1
by Cindi Madsen
Why You'll Love This
A nerdy good girl's college bucket list turns her best friend — the one who was supposed to help — into the problem.
- Great if you want: friends-to-lovers tension with a nerdy heroine breaking out
- The experience: breezy and fast-paced with slow-burn heat building underneath
- The writing: Madsen keeps dual-perspective chemistry light but emotionally earned
- Skip if: the 'man-whore best friend' trope genuinely bothers you
About This Book
What happens when a self-described chemistry nerd decides she's spent enough Friday nights studying with her cat? Lyla Wilder drafts a college bucket list, and item number seven — one night of uninhibited, no-strings fun — requires enlisting her best friend, hockey player Beck Davenport, as her unofficial guide to letting loose. What starts as a practical arrangement between two people who know each other better than anyone quickly becomes something neither of them planned for. The tension between friendship and something deeper gives this story its real emotional weight — that particular ache of wondering whether the person already in your life might be exactly who you've been looking for.
Cindi Madsen writes with a warmth and comedic timing that keeps pages turning without sacrificing genuine feeling. The friends-to-lovers dynamic is handled with enough self-awareness to feel fresh rather than formulaic, and the dual perspective lets readers stay close to both characters' escalating panic and longing in equal measure. Lyla's voice in particular — sharp, funny, endearingly earnest — makes her transformation feel earned rather than convenient. It's the kind of romance that rewards readers who enjoy watching two stubborn people slowly run out of reasons to stay in the friend zone.
