Maria Rose's Reviews > Beginner's Luck

The idea behind the Chance of a Lifetime series by Kate Clayborn caught my attention. It’s about three female friends who win the lottery and decide what’s best for them in how to deal with the money. I took a chance on this new to me author and got lucky indeed with the first novel in the series, Beginner’s Luck, as it turns out that this one is definitely going on my top ten books for this year!

Kit Averin is a materials scientist, with the money in her pocket to fund any number of new adventures. But what she really wants is stability, including maintaining her lab tech position even though she’s overqualified. When Ben Tucker, a recruiter for Beaumont Materials comes knocking, she turns him down flat. She has no interest in leaving her job and her friends to move away to Texas to work in the industry. Plus, she’s just bought a fixer-upper home that she’s excited to start renovating.

Ben knows he made a mistake with his approach to Kit, including assuming she’d be a man (ouch). But he’s got time to soften her up because he’s not going anywhere. His dad had an accident, and Ben is staying with him for the foreseeable future, helping him get better and working at their family’s salvage business – a place that just so happens to have some of the antique fixtures Kit is looking for to renovate her new house. Getting to know ‘jeans and Henley’ Ben is a lot different than ‘suit and tie’ Ben, and Kit finds herself reciprocating his honest friendship and eventually giving in to the attraction between them. But Ben’s home is back in Texas, and his future will be impacted by whether or not Kit takes the job. Will they find a compromise that will let them get the happy ending they both want?

There are so many things to like about this story that I found myself slowing down as I was reading it because I didn’t want it to end! Family, friends, co-workers – all the major relationships in one’s life play a part in this story. Both Ben and Kit have some positive and negative family relationships. Kit grew up with a gambling-addicted father and a brother who was her main caregiver. After spending years hopping from place to place, she’s determined to stay put in a home of her choice. For Ben, a divorce between his parents ended with him staying with his dad, and though he has contact with his mother and her new husband periodically, he doesn’t have a strong bond with her. But he does have a very strong relationship with his dad and didn’t hesitate to come home to help him with his shop and be his caregiver while he recuperates. Seeing Ben with his dad is a whole different side of him than he presents to Kit at the beginning, and as the story progresses the strong, confident, businessman shows both his flaws and his sweet side to Kit (and the reader).

Kit’s two best friends with whom she won the lottery, Zoe and Greer, play a significant role in this story. They are her sounding board for any and all things that she needs to talk to someone about, including Ben and his job offer. I loved the conversations that they have, how Zoe and Greer interact with Ben when they meet him, and the strong affection they have for each other. They’ve gone different routes with their money (and I am excited to read Zoe and Greer’s stories too!) but it hasn’t changed their friendship.

This is a slow burn romance since Ben and Kit get off on the wrong foot and work their way towards friendship before getting in any deeper. But their first kiss (swoon-worthy!) leads to an understanding that they’ll keep business out of the mix as they explore a more physical relationship. There are some sexy scenes between them and soon it’s clear that they’re going to want to find a way to make things work for them in the long term, but not without some ups and downs and soul searching first. The end result is a lovely happy ending for them and a delightful epilogue to tie things together. On another positive note, Kit’s enthusiasm for her scientific field is delightful to see. The scenes involving her job, and the scientific discussions that ensue are interesting and believable. As much as I didn’t want this story to end, I’m excited to see where the series will go next! Beginner’s Luck is a rare gem, a debut novel that will have the reader impatiently waiting for more.

This review also appears at: https://straightshootinbookreviews.co...

A copy of this story was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for review.