Review: The Trouble with Destiny by Lauren Morrill

Title: The Trouble with Destiny
Author: Lauren Morrill
Publisher: Delacorte
Age Group: Young Adult
Category: Contemporary
Release date: December 8th, 2015
Pages: 272 (eGalley)
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads | Amazon | Author

With her trusty baton and six insanely organized clipboards, drum major Liza Sanders is about to take Destiny by storm—the boat, that is. When Liza discovered that her beloved band was losing funding, she found Destiny, a luxury cruise ship complete with pools, midnight chocolate buffets, and a $25,000 spring break talent show prize. 

Liza can’t imagine senior year without the band, and nothing will distract her from achieving victory. She’s therefore not interested when her old camp crush, Lenny, shows up on board, looking shockingly hipster-hot. And she’s especially not interested in Russ, the probably-as-dumb-as-he-is-cute prankster jock whose ex, Demi, happens be Liza’s ex–best friend and leader of the Athenas, a show choir that’s the band’s greatest competition. 

But it’s not going to be smooth sailing. After the Destiny breaks down, all of Liza’s best-laid plans start to go awry. Liza likes to think of herself as an expert at almost everything, but when it comes to love, she’s about to find herself lost at sea.

It's clear that Liza's love for her high school band runs deep, as she's prepared to do anything in order to save them when funding threatens to take away all of their hard work.  They board the Destiny, and while some think it's just a mini vacation from their everyday lives, Liza's the only one who knows the truth, and she's determined to push her friends to play the best they can so they win the grand prize of $25,000.  As the week progresses, everything seems to go awry.  Liza, who is so used to being in control, realizes that she's in over her head.

Throughout the book, readers will see how determined Liza is, and while I understood and enjoyed her character myself, she was a little too forceful at times.  In her mind, any little mistake would certainly cost them the competition, and she was so tightly wound that it put everyone else on edge.  It doesn't help that her focus is split between the band and her old crush, who she just reunited with the moment she boarded the ship.   At first she was sure that she wouldn't let anyone or anything get in the way of their victory, but as her feelings grow for Lenny, and her ex best-friend, Demi, competes against her, her confidence wavers.

The romance was the most predictable part of the story, but that didn't make it any less enjoyable.  It did take a while for anything to begin happening between Liza and the love interest, but there's enough going on in the book to keep the reader entertained in the meantime.  As Liza's feelings begin to take over, she decides that winning the competition wouldn't be enough.  She wants to win the guy, too.  Getting so caught up in this, her dramatic side comes out and that may ultimately cost friendships and the money they need to save the music program.

Like Lauren Morrill's other books, The Trouble with Destiny is a cute, fluffy contemporary that you'll be able to devour in one sitting.  It's a sweet story and I think that younger readers will definitely be able to relate to the characters.