Review: 3  stars.  Wonderful relationship development and interaction, but some things could be improved.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 08 21, 2012
LADY LUCK by Kristen Ashley.STORY BRIEF:Ty is half black, half white.  He has a talent for poker.  The police framed Ty for murder.  He went to prison for five years.  Shift owed Ty money.  When Ty was released he asked Shift to send the money plus a woman to drive him where he wanted to go.  Shift sent Lexie.  This is where the story begins.  When Ty learns she is not a prostitute or drug user, he offers her a deal.  Marry him for a while - length to be determined.  He will pay her $50,000 and provide divorce papers at the end.  She agrees.  Some cops are still trying to make trouble for Ty.  He wants revenge for being framed.  Lexie is against revenge.REVIEWER'S OPINION:Most of the book is a wonderful loving giving relationship between Ty and Lexie.  It's a great way for a couple to act and be together.  I think that is what most readers will enjoy.  We also see Ty's many genuine wonderful friends and how supportive they are.Ty makes a good living as an auto mechanic.  He's a man of few words.  At times it was humorous the way he didn't use verbs.  At a restaurant he said to the waitress "Two"  "Booth"  "Back."  The waitress just stared until Lexie said "Can we have a booth at the back of the restaurant?"  When seated Ty said "Coffee now.  Bacon, crispy, double order.  Sausage links, double order..."Lexie was orphaned at an early age.  She was in love with Ronnie, a black basketball player who was murdered.  Lexie is white.  Ronnie's mother and sisters became Lexie's family.  There's a lot of love there.I'm ok with strong language, but the frequency was too much.  It seemed every other sentence had the words f*** and s***.  And the guys called their women pu*** and bi***.  Bikers and ex cons may talk like that, and the author was being genuine. But what may be common in everyday usage can be overwhelming when written.  That's how I felt - a bit too much.Sometimes, I had a hard time understanding the "guy speak."  For example: he played her, make it right, live raw.  It took me a moment to interpret the following "She was bringing up what bought her his anger, breaking her and nearly destroying them.  Do not hesitate with that s*** mama. he told her."  (He meant do not keep secrets from him.)  Other vague dialogue was similar to "I'm working it."  Yes this is biker speak, but sometimes I wanted to know exactly what he was doing.The first part of the book was enjoyable, but I became impatient during the last part.  A lot of romances don't have enough relationship development - watching how the couple interacts.  This book excels at that, but I wanted more attention to the plot, for example, Chase Keaton's father (his connections, actions, and motives) and what forced Misty to lie about Ty's alibi (who paid her or blackmailed her or what).  I wanted more information about the cabin's past.  I wanted more details about what was on a video tape.  The author "tells" that it was disgusting and horrible, but nothing more than that.  I wanted to know who the killer was, how he did it, and his motives, instead of having an unsolved murder.The narrative mode was mixed: 1st person Lexie, 3rd person Ty and others.  It worked well.  I liked being in others' heads.  Although my first choice would be 3rd person Lexie as well.  The book is longer than normal.DATA:Kindle count story length: 10,638 (1,324 KB).  Swearing language: strong, including religious swear words, extremely frequent use.  Sexual language: strong.  Number of sex scenes: 16.  Setting: current day mostly Carnal, Colorado, but also California, Nevada, Texas, and Florida.  Copyright: 2011.  Genre: contemporary romance with some suspense, interracial.