Customer Reviews

Luck Be a Lady (Zebra Encore)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you have read Midnight Magic, this is the same exact book just a different title. I still recommend it because it is a great book. But just don't make a mistake of buying both.

Charity Standing had always been a jinx and everyone knew it, that is except Charity herself. Everywhere Charity went, disaster followed, from buttons popping to injured animals. Her grandmother, Lady Margaret Villiers, did her best to ward off the bad luck by placing "good luck charms" all over the house she resided in. Her grandmother had lived with gypsies for three years and still followed many of their practices, reading the moon to predict the future of her granddaughter. After the death of her father, Charity was heart-broken, fleeing into the dark woods, causing the carriage of Rane Austen to wreck...thus begins their long journey toward happiness and fulfillment.

This book captivated me from start to finish. I will admit that the time Rane spends with Charity while he is healing from a major injury runs slowly, but it was still interesting enough to keep me reading more. Charity's beloved dog, Wolfram, constantly kept Rane and Charity apart, which does get grating, but that is the only flaw I find with the book. The story was original and fresh, the characters were flawed, but charming, and the secondary characters added to the story, but never took away from it. Even though Wolfram got on my nerves from time to time, I found him to be a delightful addition to the story. I even found it amusing that he had his own thoughts woven into the story. The bickering grandmothers and disasters that occur are very amusing and kept me laughing.

The romance between Rane and Charity is achingly sweet, but passionate all at once. It was nice to see a hero who actually fought to win the love and admiration of the heroine, not the other way around. Charity's jinx always worried me, I wondered if she would ever be able to break the jinx that surrounded her. Rane was convinced that the jinx was not real, but Charity and her grandmother were sure it was. Rane was not an overbearing hero and Charity was not a simpering heroine. They both grew and changed throughout the novel, learning to accept one another for who they were. Rane had his own demons to deal with, but they weren't as tragic or painful as the ones Charity held in her heart. These two were a perfect match in my opinion, it has been a long time since I've read about two characters who seemed so "right" for one another.

Is she really jinxed or is it all in her head? Will love triumph in the end or will tragedy strike? Is there such a thing as luck? Can a person really be a jinx or does it depend on how you look at things? Do you believe in luck or logic? It has been a long time since a romance novel has made me think so much. I have come to my own conclusions, but it is up to you to decide whether or not Charity was really and truly a jinx. I highly recommend this book for all romance lovers, you will enjoy the wit and humor laced throughout the novel, and the characters will keep you smiling long after you finish the book.

This is the first time I have written a review, but I was so aggravated I thought I should let others know.
When I purchased this book it was with the new releases and I assumed it was a new novel by the author. When I started to read the book, immediately it seemed so familar. I knew I had read this story before but, I didn't recognize the title or the cover. When I looked through the first couple of pages, there is a note that this was re-released and now has a different title!! I was angry that I wasted my money on a book I had already read! I know books are re-released and some changes are made but, can they not put this information on the back cover and let us decide if we would like to reread it? I read so much that the books are all starting to look familar. I wait patiently for new releases so I don't have to remember if I already read the book. Now they release them as new books with only a little note you have to search for. I feel this is very deceiving. After I got over being duped, I remembered this was one of the first books I had read of hers' and I had loved it. It is fast paced and hilarious. I am rereading it (why not, I already own it) and I am enjoying it a second time. In the future I will be looking through the first few pages before I purchase the book.

What a stupid excuse for a book! The only redeeming feature was the hero--hot, sexy & darkly tortured in the appropriate way for a good romance read. Unfortunately the rest of the book sucked sewage. The heroine is so abyssmally stupid that she should be spayed so her DNA doesn't contaminate the next generation, the two grandmothers come off as loony fruitcakes (probably added to provide the obligatory eccentric secondary characters for humor), the heroine's dog should be shot, and the whole story is absolutely ridiculous--she won't marry him because she overhears some of her father's friends talking about the fact that she's a jinx (yeah, I base all my major life decisions on gossip I overhear from my local uneducated criminal class). This book stinks! With some major editing, at least my suffering would have ended sooner, but at 447 pages, the boredom just goes on & on & one & on. Save yourself!

When I read the back cover I thought that the premise of the story would lend itself to an amusing read. I was prepared for the plot to be a bit on the lighterside with clever and witty dialogue. Unfortunately, light does not begin to describe the silly and at times mind numbing stupidity of both the characters and the plot. Witty was nowhere to be found. The book did have some scenes that were intended to be sensual, but even they were rendered ridiculous by the authors unceasing use of cutesy euphemisms. Before long I found myself skimming and skipping through the sillier passages, and then skimming and skipping through entire pages. The author's halfhearted attempt at intrigue was a classic case of way too little, way too late. All things considered, Luck may have been a Lady, but she was also a complete waste of my time.

First, I am absolutely crazy for Betina Kranhn's books; except this one.

They generally capture you from the beginning and make it hard for you to stop reading. Not this one, I read and read and read. By page 117 I gave in to boredom and put it down. Really didn't care what happened to ANYBODY in the story. Was extremely disappointed that it was so different from her usual.

With that said, I can't wait to get hold of the next one she writes.