When Lady Luck deals her a roadside diner in small-town
Texas, a professional poker player discovers home may be the best win of all.
Professional poker player Carla Wilson's luck runs dry in
Tucson, leaving her with nothing but an SUV running on fumes and a deed to the
Tumbleweed Bus Stop and Diner in small-town Texas. Her plan to sell the café
and move on seems simple enough—until she meets the motherly cook who rules the
kitchen with an iron skillet and the sunny waitress who treats her like a
sister.
Then there's Jackson Armstrong. The ex-military heir of a
wealthy oil family has green eyes that make Carla forget her cards and a smile
that suggests he's playing for keeps. With a pair of matchmaking senior
citizens and the café's morning regulars cheering from the sidelines, Carla's
wandering soul begins to feel at home.
Now she's discovering everything she never knew she
needed—true friendship, a place to belong, and a love worth going all in for.
Maybe Lady Luck knew exactly what she was doing from the start.
Fun book. Carla is a professional woman gambler. After her
mom's death when she was eight, Carla traveled the country with her gambler
father. By fourteen, she was playing in games herself, and on her own by the
time she was sixteen. As the story opens, Carla has lost everything except her
SUV, some change, and the deed to a diner in a small Texas town. She plans to
sell the diner for what she can get and use the proceeds to continue her chosen
profession. The last thing she expects is an instant connection with Rosie the
cook and Scarlett, the waitress, and a feeling of belonging she's never had
before.
I enjoyed seeing Carla settle into life as a diner owner.
As a gambler, she developed excellent instincts about people, and I loved watching
her interactions with Rosie and Scarlett. The closer she grows to them, the
less appealing her former life becomes. The growing trust among them leads to
sharing their stories and realizing what they have in common. It isn't all
rainbows and unicorn farts, to quote Carla, as there are occasional stresses
and dustups, but the undercurrent of support is always there.
Jackson was a complication that took Carla by surprise.
Handsome, wealthy, and former military, Jackson is in the area for a long-term
drilling job. He's immediately taken with Carla. Carla has never had a
relationship longer than forty-eight hours, so Jackson's attentions are a whole
new experience for her. He has the patience to hang in there while Carla gets
used to the idea. There are a few minor road bumps when Carla's independence clashes
with Jackson's wishes, but both have the maturity to talk it out. There's a
great scene where Carla meets Jackson's parents that initially rouses her
fears, but she comes back from it stronger.
I liked the underlying themes of women helping each other
through situations such as gambling and abuse, grief and loss, and believing in
oneself. The romance was good, but the heart of the story lay in the
multi-generational friendship among the women characters. The epilogue was a
lovely wrap-up to the story.
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