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desiree930 's review for:
Beginner's Luck
by Kate Clayborn
So, this book was cute, if not a little forgettable. I realize that I wrote the same thing about the other book I've read by her, Love Lettering, but it's just as true with this book as it was with that one. Not that it was bad. I had a decent time reading it, and I actually thought the the couple was cute, but it wasn't one that I will revisit in the future.
Also, the hook of this book (and it's companion books) is that these three friends bought a lotto ticket and won, which I thought was going to be really interesting. I had hoped it would delve a little deeper into how something like that changes your life in bad ways as well as good. However, for a good chunk of the book, it isn't even mentioned. The author tries to bring it into the story when the inevitable conflict between the protagonists happens before the ultimate HEA, but it felt a little flimsy.
This book did that thing that a lot of romances do where one character lives in a different city than the love interest, and as such there is this imposed expiration date to any potential hook-up/relationship. As the reader, we know that they are probably going to overcome it somehow, but as a tried and true story beat, there has to be some sort of conflict that breaks the characters up about 3/4 of the way through the book. Another common conflict is the misunderstanding that could be solved if the characters would just use their words trope. Lucky (unlucky?) us, this book has not one, but BOTH of these devices, and it didn't need to be there.
Again, I did enjoy the time the protagonists spent together getting to know each other. I liked their banter and the premise of him helping her fix up her new-to-her home. That was all cute. I could've honestly done without the entire plot of him trying to recruit her to work for his company and move to Texas. They could've just left it saying that he was taking care of his father but had a life back in Texas that he'd eventually have to get back to. The recruitment arc bored me.
I'm not sure if I'll continue with the companion novels about her friends. There really wasn't much about either of them that I found compelling, but we'll see.
Also, the hook of this book (and it's companion books) is that these three friends bought a lotto ticket and won, which I thought was going to be really interesting. I had hoped it would delve a little deeper into how something like that changes your life in bad ways as well as good. However, for a good chunk of the book, it isn't even mentioned. The author tries to bring it into the story when the inevitable conflict between the protagonists happens before the ultimate HEA, but it felt a little flimsy.
This book did that thing that a lot of romances do where one character lives in a different city than the love interest, and as such there is this imposed expiration date to any potential hook-up/relationship. As the reader, we know that they are probably going to overcome it somehow, but as a tried and true story beat, there has to be some sort of conflict that breaks the characters up about 3/4 of the way through the book. Another common conflict is the misunderstanding that could be solved if the characters would just use their words trope. Lucky (unlucky?) us, this book has not one, but BOTH of these devices, and it didn't need to be there.
Again, I did enjoy the time the protagonists spent together getting to know each other. I liked their banter and the premise of him helping her fix up her new-to-her home. That was all cute. I could've honestly done without the entire plot of him trying to recruit her to work for his company and move to Texas. They could've just left it saying that he was taking care of his father but had a life back in Texas that he'd eventually have to get back to. The recruitment arc bored me.
I'm not sure if I'll continue with the companion novels about her friends. There really wasn't much about either of them that I found compelling, but we'll see.