Luck, Love & Lemon Pie

I absolutely loved this novel -- it had everything -- laughs, a few tears, a little romance, jealousy, friendship and love. What more could you want to spend a few hours to take you away from your own problems? MJ and Chris have been married for 20 years and have two teenage kids. Chris has been spending more time at the casino playing poker than he has been spending with MJ so she decides that she needs to start playing poker, too, so that they can spend some quality time together. Boy does her plan backfire! Because of her history (which I won't go into because of possible spoilers), she is a fantastic poker player and soon becomes hooked on the game and HER time at the casino. Read the book to find out if Love or Poker wins the game show more of life for MJ and Chris. Its a great read! (I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review) show less

After reading The Coincidence of Coconut Cake, I immediately went onto Amazon and ordered this book and The Simplicity of Cider.
So, I bought this entirely because of how much I liked her first book rather than the storyline itself.

MJ and her husband Chris just celebrated their 20th anniversary. If you can call it celebrating. The big occasion was marked by a dinner out, a dinner that Chris missed because he was playing poker and lost track of time. MJ drank too much, ate their entire anniversary pie herself and made a plan to win back her husband's attention.

She decides to learn poker too. She is planning it to be a bonding experience and think it will lead to fun date nights.
Basically what it leads to is MJ becoming very good at poker show more very quickly and it actually seems to push her husband further away because he's not playing poker with her and now she wants to play poker anyway.

It doesn't matter if you don't know anything about poker. In the beginning of the book I thought I might get lost, but soon the poker talk makes sense and the emphasis is definitely more on MJ's relationships.

I didn't like Chris at all. I'm sorry, I just didn't. And sometimes I didn't like MJ much either.

If you read this book and don't totally love it, don't give up on the author. I felt The Coincidence of Coconut Cake was a ton of fun and I am definitely looking forward to seeing what The Simplicity of Cider has to offer :) show less

Marriage is like a roller coaster. It has its ups and downs, surprises, thrills, and if you are not careful, you may end up "upchucking" when you least expect it. This is where MJ and Chris have found themselves, at an unexpected dip in the ride. MJ and Chris have been married for 20 years and have been busy raising two teenagers. Every anniversary MJ and Chris would celebrate sharing a lemon pie. On this particular anniversary, Chris is playing poker at the casino leaving MJ celebrating herself. MJ attempts to rekindle their marriage, by taking up poker. MJ finds herself spending more time at the gambling tables and less with her family. She notices Chris is spending more time with an old nemesis. However, she fails to notice her own show more daughters actions at high school.

Was MJ the only party in the marriage taking any action in the marriage? I would have liked to had more time devoted to Chris's character and his uptake of the marriage. I found I also had many problems with MJ’s actions. If she was such a devoted mother, as the reader is to believe in the beginning, how did she not catch the fact her daughter was not completing college applications?
MJ, wins a poker tournment and travels to Las Vegas to play for higher stakes. She finds herself kissing a highly successful poker player, with many sexy arm charms. Is this even plausible? I guess there maybe some truth to what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

I liked the idea of the lemon pie and the YIPPIE ending.

I won this book in a Gallery Book give away for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity. show less

Love, Luck And Lemon Pie
By
Amy E. Reichart

What it's all about and my thoughts about this book...

MJ feels as though her marriage is winding down...she wants to find a common bond that will bring her marriage back to what it was...so...she chooses poker and gambling at a casino.

I loved the first book that this author wrote and I thought I would enjoy this one. However...this book was only ok for me. I wasn’t interested in the poker aspect and that was most of the book. I loved the first book so much that this one just fell short of my high expectations.

I received an advance reader’s copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss and Amazon. It was my choice to read it and review it.

Sweet story of finding your way back home (with a big ol' detour through Las Vegas.)

Fun read. Like stories about food. I also enjoyed the poker games.