Some people are lucky once. Scott Moretti seemed to make a habit of it. Growing up in California’s Central Valley, he was an adopted kid with a bottomless appetite, too much energy, a gift for finding trouble, and an even stranger gift for walking away from it.

Funny, restless, and often painfully honest, Learning the Hard Way follows a boy who keeps testing the limits of luck, loyalty, and consequence—and the family, friendships, losses, and hard-earned lessons that begin to shape the man he will become.

Next in the Lucky to a Fault Trilogy

The story continues.

Leaving behind the world of Learning the Hard Way, Scott Moretti enters the United States Coast Guard and discovers that growing up does not happen simply because you don a uniform.

The Value in Scars follows the next chapter of Moretti’s life through boot camp, new friendships, hard choices, unexpected responsibility, mistakes, consequences, and the experiences that begin to turn a reckless young man into someone capable of becoming more.

Every scar tells a story. I have the marks to prove it.

Volume II is currently in progress and scheduled for release in Summer 2027.

Release schedule

Available Editions

November 1, 2026

Paperback

Kindle

Hardcover

October 1, 2026

November 1, 2026

I had gotten lucky again. I always did. I was the Lucky One. Bad things didn’t happen to me. And if they did—it was usually because I had made them happen.

Advance review copies will be considered for qualified media, reviewers, booksellers, and librarians ahead of publication.

Go on… press your luck!