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: Enemy.
 * Banzaf: Used the name Barrish as a disguise.
 * Theda McFey: Sent by Chloe to help. Gives the Charmed Ones a spell.
 * God of Luck
 * Private Michael J.O. O'Malley
 * Tom: Propmaster.

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.
 * Chloe: Lady at the café who found Phoebe a job with her at the film studio.
 * Oscar
 * Penny Day Matthews: Hollywood star in the 1940s, and ancestor of the Matthews family with a spitting image of Paige.
 * Dinah Shore
 * Red Skelton
 * Eddie Cantor
 * James Cagney: Actor of Yankee Doodle Dandy on a radio talk show. Called Jimmy by the host.

Mentioned

 * 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.

To Vanquish the Lords of Outer Dark

 * 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.

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.
 * 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.

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, while Cole was powerless because the Cole in 1942 was powerless at the time. This was usually not the case when time traveling on the show, because they didn't exist yet in 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)