Luck Be a Lady

Luck Be a Lady is the 22nd book of the Charmed novels.

This book takes place between Season 4 Episode 22 "Witch Way Now?" and Season 5 Episode 12 "Centennial Charmed".

Summary
"A desperate gamble An ancient curse Will it be good or evil That triumphs first?"

Phoebe Halliwell may be ready to turn over a new leaf as a single gal, but her newly redemonized ex-husband, Cole, isn't ready to let her go. Aware of a supernatural plot against the Charmed Ones, Cole keeps watch over Phoebe, and intercedes at the moment of battle, only to accidentally create a rip in time. Cole disappears to WW II-era Hollywood—and brings the sisters with him!

While the Charmed Ones are no strangers to extreme circumstances, what they didn't anticipate was a demonic stronghold shaking down local businesses. To infiltrate the evil underground, Paige poses as a young starlet, working an entirely different kind of magic before the camera. Meanwhile, Piper is tempted to seek out Leo—in this world, he's still human—and Phoebe is at her wits' end contending with Cole. But a demon henchman is working the black magic mojo on Paige, and if the sisters don't focus, before long they'll find themselves completely out of luck!

Major

 * Piper Halliwell: The eldest sister with the powers of Molecular Immobilization and Molecular Combustion.
 * Phoebe Halliwell: The middle sister with the powers of Premonition and Levitation.
 * Paige Matthews: The youngest half-sister with the powers of Telekinetic Orbing and Orbing.
 * Leo Wyatt: The Charmed Ones' Whitelighter and Piper's husband. He has the powers of Orbing and Healing.
 * Cole Turner: Phoebe's ex-husband. He was vanquished as The Source of All Evil and then came back to life as something entirely different.

Support

 * Mr. Sigh and Mr. Tremble: Two demon brothers who could influence luck. Not their real names. They made Phoebe have a vision of George in trouble with the Lords of the Outer Dark in order to send her and her sisters to their enemies. The unexpected arrival of Cole complicated their plan.
 * Ned Hawkins: Shady businessman, with sandy hair and gray-blue eyes. He is a demon who can predict patterns, influence events, and cast spells.
 * Banzaf: Used the name Barrish as a disguise. Ned's mentor. Fell under Phoebe's spell during a confrontration, and then got vanquished by Cole's electrically charged sais. His powers included Luck Granting and Super Strength.
 * Theda McFey: An actress and a witch sent by Chloe to help. Her powers involved Sensing, Intangibility, Energy Blast, and Hypnosis. Gives the Charmed Ones a spell.
 * God of Luck
 * Private Michael J.O. O'Malley: Soldier who meets Piper at the Hollywood Canteen.
 * Chloe: Lady at the café who found Phoebe a job with her at the film studio. She wears a Wiccan pendant and is from Oregon.

Minor

 * Ben Kwatsai: Paige's classmate and romantic interest. Asian-American with model features. Phys ed instructor.
 * Louis Lascher: Paige's genealogy teacher at the community college.
 * Lords of the Outer Dark: Have curved horns, scaly faces, diamond-sharp teeth, and glowing crimson eyes. Dominated Sigh and Tremble's clan. The brothers sent the Charmed Ones to them to make them fight and destroy each other.
 * George Phinnagee: A crime reporter at the Bay Mirror. He was seen in Phoebe's vision.
 * Tom: Propmaster.
 * Oscar Lyons: Owner of Oscar Studios. Producer and director. Innocent. Said to be small but sweet-looking with a walrus mustache.
 * Penny Day Matthews: Hollywood star in the 1940s. Ancestor of the Matthews family and a spitting image of Paige. Worked at Osiris.
 * Dinah Shore
 * Red Skelton
 * Eddie Cantor
 * James Cagney: Actor of Yankee Doodle Dandy on a radio talk show. Called Jimmy by the host.
 * Bertha: Waitress at the Schwab's. Worked with Piper.
 * Freddy Booth: The leading actor at Osiris. Good looking, but complains about everything.
 * Roger: The publicist.
 * Lucy: Script supervisor.
 * Michael Romanoff: Owner of Romanoff's. Nicknamed Prince Mike. Eats with his dogs.
 * Groucho Marx: Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian, writer, stage, film, radio, and television star. He ate at Romanoff's with Louis B. Mayer.
 * Louis B. Mayer: The American film producer who co-founded Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios in 1924. He ate at Romanoff's with Groucho Marx.
 * Billy Wilder: Samuel "Billy" Wilder. Famous filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist. He ate at Romanoff's with Alfred Hitchcock.
 * Alfred Hitchcock: Famous English film director. He ate at Romanoff's with Billy Wilder.
 * Mr. Peters: Assistant manager of the hotel the sisters and Cole are staying in.
 * Petey: One of Ned's drivers.

Mentioned

 * Elise Rothman: Editor-in-chief of The Bay Mirror.
 * Bugsy Siegel: Kicked out of the Sunset Towers for placing bets at the hotel.
 * President Roosevelt: President of the United States of America in 1942.
 * The Source of All Evil: The ruler of the Underworld, who once inhabited Cole's body.
 * Penny Halliwell: The Charmed Ones' deceased grandmother with the power of Telekinesis.
 * P. Baxter: Penny's mother and Piper's past life incarnation, who had the power of Molecular Deceleration.
 * Lizzie: Chloe's aunt. A creative costume maker with two daughters.
 * Mr. and Mrs. Matthews: Paige's adoptive parents who died in a car accident.
 * Angel of Death: The neutral being who brings souls to the Beyond.
 * Humphrey Bogart: Also known as Bogie. Regular customer at Romanoff's.
 * John Garfield: Founded the Hollywood Canteen.
 * Bette Davis: Founded the Hollywood Canteen.
 * Jules Stein: Investor of the Hollywood Canteen.

To Vanquish the Lords of Outer Dark

 * Power of Three spell


 * Demons in darkness cloaked,
 * By the Power of Three we'll see you croaked.

To Return Things to How They Were

 * Return, return, the form that was,
 * Reshape, retake, we ask because,
 * Much good will come, much evil flee,
 * Return, return 'twas meant to be.

To Vanquish Sigh and Tremble

 * In darkness and in light,
 * You evil we will fight.
 * As you have doomed so many souls,
 * This spell will blow you full of holes.


 * Theda provided the Charmed Ones a few spells, among which were "The Binding of Names", "The Cloak of Desire, and "The Forgotten Fear".

Powers

 * Chronokinesis: Used by Cole.
 * Fading: Used by Cole and Mr. Tremble.
 * Fireballs: Used by Cole.
 * Shadow Blasts: Used by Cole.
 * Vortex Creation: Used by Cole.
 * Premonition: Used by Phoebe.
 * Levitation: Used by Phoebe.
 * Orbing: Used by Leo.
 * Luck Granting: Used by Mr. Sigh and Mr. Tremble.
 * Molecular Immobilization: Used by Piper.
 * Molecular Combustion: Used by Piper.
 * Telekinetic Orbing: Used by Paige.
 * Projection: Used by Mr. Sigh.
 * Apportation: Used by Mr. Sigh.
 * Reconstitution: Used by the Lords of the Outer Dark.
 * Channeling: Used by the Lords of the Outer Dark.
 * Super Strength: Used by Ned's demon minions.

Artifacts

 * Darklighter Crossbow: Used by Mr. Sigh to fight Leo.
 * Darklighter Arrows: Used by Mr. Sigh to fight Leo.
 * Theda McFey's Scrolls: Theda delivered her spell scrolls to help the sisters.
 * Protection Amulet: Wards off witchcraft and physical attacks, but not Whitelighter powers.
 * Sais: Cole's weapons imbued with electric magic.

Notes and Trivia

 * In either a rare genetic fluke or an oversight by the author, Paige's adoptive great aunt looks exactly like her; and is named Penny.
 * The title is a reference to the song of the same name, featured in the musical Guys and Dolls.
 * This is the last book to feature Cole Turner.

Differences from the Show

 * Piper is not pregnant.
 * Piper, Phoebe and Paige's powers remained intact after they traveled back to 1942. This was usually not the case on the show, because they didn't exist yet in this timeline.
 * It was mentioned that Paige only found out her parents died in the accident when she woke in the hospital the next day. On the show, she witnessed it with her own eyes.

Continuity Errors

 * Phoebe mentioned they were in 2004. Cole would have been vanquished by early 2003, and Wyatt and Chris would have come into existence.
 * Phoebe would have also gained the power of Empathy by this time.

Covers

 * Russian: Udača—kapriznaja ǉedi (Chance to be 'Lady')
 * French: une chance d'enfer (A Luck From Hell)
 * Spanish (Spain): suerte, portate bien (Luck, Behave Well)
 * Dutch: Magisch Hollywood (Magical Hollywood)