JUST MY LUCK BY ADELE PARKS

Rating: 3.5 stars

Goodreads Description:

It's the stuff dreams are made of – a lottery win so big, it changes everything.

For fifteen years, Lexi and Jake have played the same six numbers with their friends, the Pearsons and the Heathcotes. Over dinner parties, fish & chip suppers and summer barbecues, they've discussed the important stuff – the kids, marriages, jobs and houses – and they've laughed off their disappointment when they failed to win anything more than a tenner.

But then, one Saturday night, the unthinkable happens. There's a rift in the group. Someone doesn't tell the truth. And soon after, six numbers come up which change everything forever.

Lexi and Jake have a ticket worth £18 million. And their friends are determined to claim a share of it.

Review:

Two beautiful children. Wonderful well-loved jobs. A weekly lottery syndicate with their closest friends. Life couldn't get much better for Lexi and Jake.

Every week for the past fifteen years, they get together with their friends to put in for the same numbers in the lottery in the hopes of one day winning big. However, one night their friends conclude that they're ready to call it quits and drop out of the syndicate. Much to Lexi's confusion and concern that the decade-long friendships they've cultivated are also coming to a close.

Yet she continues to buy a ticket the next week for old time's sake - lo and behold, her numbers come up!

Lexi and Jake are millionaires! Their family is swimming in gold, their children dressed to the nines in Prada, Tom Ford and Balenciaga whilst Jake motors around in a flashy Ferrari. Life could not be better!

Little did they know that the people they considered their friends would be the ones not to celebrate with them over their win but instead try to claim the winnings as their own.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

Just My Luck seems like an easy-going, fun read about the life of lottery winners to begin with, but antics shortly ensue leading to something far worse than Lexi and Jake could ever imagine.

Their little girl is kidnapped.

What follows is a rapid adrenaline-filled chase to find out who kidnapped Emily and make payment of £10 million for her safety.

As bad as it sounds, I thoroughly enjoyed this particular debacle of the story and how it was told from both Lexi and Emily's perspectives; one of a worrying mother who is ready to stop at nothing to get her baby girl back home, the other of a young girl having to fend for not only her own life but that of her newly-discovered baby of whom she is pregnant with during all this.

It's chaotic, gripping, emotionally tormenting and will have you on the edge of your seat much like Lexi as you pray Emily and her baby to survive.

Now, I've heard so many wonderful things previously about Adele Parks' writing, and I must say she lives up to the expectations set. But my, oh my does she know how to write a character that you just want to...URGH.

I'm just going to say it...

Jake. By VERY far is the most disreputable, wicked, lying, disgusting, downright dirtbag I've ever come across in books! At first, he seems so good for Lexi and the kids, happy to live an easy family life but OOOH the dirty bastard he is! 

It just riles me up thinking about him!

Trust me, once you read Just My Luck you'll feel the same.

Lexi. What a woman. Strong and courageous in the face of animosity, a woman who holds her ground, would never let a bad thing happen to her family and holds pride in what she believes to be right. She deserved so much better than Jake.

Emily and Logan are honestly the sweetest children, both happy as can be in their everyday lives and are the two to react in the way of what would be expected if your parents won big in the lottery. Emily shops til she drops, Logan makes new friends - though that's mostly the money doing the talking - and they live life like never before!

Though for Emily it takes a rather twisted turn prior to her kidnapping - yes, this book did her dirty but made up for it by making it such an intense plot point.

Carla and Patrick & Jennifer and Fred, the dynamics in this friendship are put to the test as the couple win big and undoubtedly it brings out the worst in those closest to them.

As the news come to light, the secrets and betrayals come out in this group and this causes greed, jealousy and plenty of back-stabbing to come into play.

I mean c'mon...if you won the lottery, wouldn't you want your friends to be supportive and happy for you?

In terms of the pacing, I won't lie, it was rather slow for the first hundred or so pages. I found it rather difficult to get into.

Don't get me wrong though there were a few moments in the first section that definitely captured my attention but realistically I fell more into the story further in.

As we hit the 180 page mark, the pace really did pick up and I for sure found myself gearing up for pure chaos and an adrenaline rush worth of a page turner! It did not disappoint.

And even through to the climax of the main conflict - with it's respective sub-stories - I was flying through each page right to the end. So overall, a bit of a slow start easing into the story, but the pacing was relatively well done but maybe just not my cup of tea.

A tale of secrets and betrayal, greed and jealousy with families and friendships ripped apart. Adele Parks' Just My Luck brings to life a heightened reality to how money can ruin everything and how one big win can cause a whole world of loss.

A big thank you to Harlequin Australia for sending me an arc of this new release.

If you are interested in picking up this new release by Adele Parks, be sure to check out Just My Luck

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Think lovely thoughts xo