Luck, Love & Lemon Pie Paperback – July 12, 2016

I enjoyed this book very much and I am looking forward to reading more books by this author.

M.J. Boudreaux is in a marriage that has become stale. After her husband misses their twenty year anniversary lunch because of a poker tournament, she decides that something needed to be done. She asks Chris, her husband, to help her brush up on her poker skills so that she can accompany him to the casino to play with him. Her reasoning is that it is a common interest that they can turn into date nights to help reconnect their marriage.However, she and Chris play at different level tables. When she runs into her nemesis from college, Tammy Shezwyski at the poker table and Chris's name is mentioned, M.J. Darts to suspect something besides poker is the reason she and her husband are drifting apart. However, rather than confront Chris she starts to escape into her poker playing. M.J. enters a competition with a grand prize of a trip to Vegas to play in a high risk poker tournament and a poker lesson from Doyle Kane. M.J. wins and excitedly starts planning for the trip in April as one for her and Chris to go on together.However by the time the trip rolls around their relationship has become more strained. M.J. goes to Vegas with her best friend. She manages some fantastic wins and attracts the attention of the handsome poker champion Doyle. M.J. Is flattered by the attention. The phrase "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" ends up not being true and when a photo makes its way to Chris of her and Doyle, she is forced to confront her feelings, her failing marriage, and what she really wants in her life.I fell in love with Amy Reichert's writing last summer with her first book The Coincidence of Coconut Cake. I pre-ordered this book last spring when I saw it had been announced. This book was very different from the first book. Where that book focused on friendship and finding love unexpectedly. This book looks at what happens when a loving relationship becomes stale and love becomes strained between a couple. This storyline takes readers through a strained year in M.J and Chris's marriage and how they start to drift apart and eventually repair their marriage.It was very different from the author's first book. While I am not necessarily the target audience for this book I did enjoy it quite a bit. I really enjoyed how the book delved into high stakes poker playing and the tournament environment.Like the previous book there is a scrumptious looking recipe at the end for the anniversary lemon pie. I'm looking forwards to trying it out as lemon pie is a household favorite here.

I found it really hard to like any characters in this book. I feel the main character develops a gambling addiction and neglects her family while being paranoid about a former rival. If she would have been home with her family a lot of misunderstanding could have been avoided (via communication with family members). Not into poker and casinos, but previously enjoyed the author, so gave this one a try.

Another wonderful story from Amy! The characters are believable and you can relate to what they are thinking and feeling. And who doesn't love a lemon pie recipe! Thank you Amy for writing another lovely story - this one about the reality of being married and how easy it is to take each other for granted. 💛

Such a cute quick read :) something fun to lighten the mood. Love the Milwaukee connection and learned about poker.

A story about a strong woman finding her authentic self through tough times.

MJ is ready to reignite her marriage. But instead of reconnecting with her husband, she finds herself a new hobby in poker that she quickly becomes addicted to.I would give this a 2.5 star rating. There was a lot of warmth in the characters which I enjoyed, but overall I found the story to be a bit flat. I always expect a fairly basic story from books like this, but I really didn't enjoy the crisis moment in this story. It was annoying to me that the tone made it feel that a mom can't take time alone for herself. The fact that it felt the family fell apart because she went to Vegas for a few days just didn't sit well with me.

I don't understand how she felt she could just go off and play poker when she didn't even have a job outside of the home. That was her job and it sounded like she was t very good at it. She should have been thanking her lucky stars for what she had from the beginning. It didn't seem realistic that she felt she could just go off and do that since she wasn't barely contributing at home.