Greetings Bookworms,
Dessert is one of my favorite things on planet earth. I’m pretty equal opportunity when it comes to sweets- there isn’t much I don’t like. So when you hand me a book with a dessert in the title, I’m probably going to be pretty excited about it. Of course, the dessert in Luck, Love & Lemon Pie
MJ Bordreaux is a Milwaukee area wife and mother whose husband of 20 years has been showing more interest in playing poker than in spending time with his wife. After a disastrous anniversary celebration, MJ decides to take up poker in an attempt to spend more time with her husband and demonstrate a shared interest. As it turns out, poker playing is not a substitute for marriage counselling, but MJ is kind of awesome at it.
The hours she spends in the casino preparing, however, haven’t done her marriage any favors. After a series of impressive tournament wins, MJ finds herself on a trip to Vegas to play poker with the big dogs. And one of those big dogs has his eye on MJ. Insert appropriate gambling metaphor here.
This novel breaks away from much of the foodie fiction that I was so charmed by in The Coincidence of Coconut Cake. Not that I can cook, mind. In fact, I was rather amused by the fact that MJ could only cook scrambled eggs and her husband did the heavy culinary lifting. As a gal who isn’t much of a cook, I SO related to MJ’s plight. Although my husband’s specialty is frozen pizza. Whatever he’s super good at cleaning and there’s always takeout. I digress.
I’m not really into poker, so the whole poker story line was a little confusing to me. Like….Why would anyone do this when there are books and jigsaw puzzles? I know, I know, there are tons of people who are super super into poker but I’m about as interested in poker as I am in sports. Which is to say, not at all. (Unless someone is doing a backflip on purpose because that is just awesome.) Gosh, I feel like this post is taking such a grumpy turn. I really enjoy Reichert’s writing, but I think what fell a little flat for me personally was simply the subject matter of the novel.
Let’s be real for a second. The hard work of marriage and daily life is a lot less sparkly and fun than tales of falling in love. I’m not at all opposed to reading books about the realness of marriage, and I’ve railed on more than one occasion about the extreme unreality of certain romantic tropes. It’s just that I went in expecting a sweet romantic romp with a side of dessert and I got… Meatloaf. It’s good and all, just not what I was expecting. So. Yeah. I will still 1000% read Amy Reichert’s next book, I just hope it’s a little more sweet than savory.
Talk to me Bookworms! Do y’all play poker? Am I missing out on a whole lot of awesome?
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Amy @ Read a Latte
I finished this book over the weekend and I’m with you on be poker! I was expecting something a little more food-based, even if it was the husband. I did like the tiny shout out to Lou and her restaurant though!
Words For Worms
I’m such a dolt, I didn’t realize it was Lou’s restaurant until you mentioned it just now!
Megan M.
I don’t get poker, either. Unless someone has purposely made it exciting for a movie (like in “Maverick”) I’m just not interested. I hate when a book isn’t what you were expecting. And books that deal with marriage problems are tricky. My enjoyment of the story would depend on whether the person/spouse I decided was “right” got what they needed. That’s why I’m avoiding reading Rainbow Rowell’s “Landline” because the reviews are very mixed and it seems to be because of whichever spouse the reviewer decided was “right” and whether that character “won” in the end.
Words For Worms
I really liked Landline, for what it’s worth. Then again, it worked out the way I thought it ought to, so.
Jenny @ Reading the End
Sounds fun! I am not a big poker player myself, but I can see the fun in it. I can imagine that if I knew a bit more about it, I’d find it funner and funner, as long as I wasn’t, like, risking actual money on it. Do you like other card games? Blackjack?
Words For Worms
I like card games just fine. My Dad taught me how to play Blackjack to help sharpen my math skills as a wee one. He’s a good egg, my Dad. Yeah I’d play cards just to play them, I just find the whole betting portion of poker moves suuuuuuuuper slowly. I’m sure if I fully understood all the intricacies and reading people’s tells and all that I might be more interested, I would just rather be doing something else. Like playing Uno. Uno is a good time. Hmmm… Now I’m wondering which of my nieces and nephews are old enough to play Uno with me…
lostinliterature108
I just love this review! I’ve seen this one and thought about it for a minute but the summary just didn’t grab me. But that cover though. Love it. And I made my first lemon pie a few weeks ago. I’m gonna blog about it. Eventually.
Words For Worms
She includes the recipe for the lemon pie in the book. It looked a bit complicated for my personal skill set, but I bet it’s delicious.
Unruly Reader
Poker… this stuff’s a mystery to me, too. But man, I love the books about cooking, even though (especially because?) I don’t really so much cook. (Currently plotting to prepare something for my book club that will make them think I did more than 5 minutes’ work on it. I love those ladies, but cooking just doesn’t happen around here.)
Megan @ Reading Books Like a Boss
I’m surprised that the novel was more focused on poker, considering the title and previous novel’s emphasis on food. I guess she didn’t want to do a repeat. I wasn’t a huge fan of her first novel, so I’m not sure if I’ll pick this one up. Great review!