Unlucky

I am lucky to have purchased this book. It is great. Humor, romance and suspense.

Mallory "Mal" Devereaux is well liked in Royal Flush, Louisiana. She is very pretty and friendly, but that does not mean she gets many dates. Everyone may like Mallory, but everyone also knows that she is a walking disaster. Just a touch from Mallory will give a person bad luck. Nothing will go right for the person. Those who touch Mal for longer than an instant, such as a hug on one of the few dates she has ever had, end up in the hospital. After growing up unlucky, Mallory has learned to deal with it. She has a masters degree in civil engineering. But insurance companies refuse to underwrite any site Mallory is an employee of. So Mal works in destruction. She is the foreman at Royal Demolition. The owner, Harry, is not only her boss, but a close friend. When Mal learns that Harry owes the IRS a lot of money, she knew that she was in trouble. Walter Royal has been buying up property and businesses in the area and then giving his relatives the better positions. Unless Mal came up with the money to buy the IRS our of Harry's tax dept, she jobless. Then her uncle, Reginald St.Claire, hires Mal to "cool" cards on his casino boat. Reginald is having a special poker tournament. He has assembled a group of heavy hitters - mafia, drug dealers, politicians, crooked law enforcement. So Mal is taking advantage of her chronic bad luck to get the needed money quickly. FBI agent Jake McMillan/Randoll has been after Silas Hebert for money laundering and counterfeiting for quite some time now. Jake gets the position of the dealer at Hebert's table, right next to the most enchanting lady he has ever met. Jake does not believe in bad luck, much less Mal's bad mojo. But it does not take long for Jake to become a believer! Problem is that dating Mal is risky to his continued good health. ***** A sassy and hilarious walk down the swampy bayou side. This story gives readers plenty of romance and high drama. Touching Mal is very bad lucky with horrible consequences, so I could not help but wonder how the author, Jana DeLeon, could possibly pull off a romance between this main couple. I am happy to say that DeLeon did a FAN-DANG-TASTIC job of accomplishing it! ENCORE! ***** Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Her gambler Uncle Reginald St. Claire needs his niece Mallory Devereaux to hang around for lady luck; that is good for him and bad for others, as he hosts a poker tournament and she is his ace card cooler. Mallory is jinxed as a walking disaster who somehow causes calamities. Uncle has the uncanny ability to insure people lose at cards so she is a fixture at her uncle's casino boat docked in Royal Flush, Louisiana. Currently, Mal is insuring poker playing thugs lose their money; he promises her a cut of whatever they make from dealing an ice cold deck. Undercover agent Jake Randoll obtains a job as the lead torunament dealer. His assignment is to bluff money laundering player Silas Hebert into revealing information on the sleuth's missing partner Mark. However, he cannot concentrate on the cards or his mission whenever Mal is nearby; she cannot think about jinxing the players with poor hands when Jake deals. As they fall in love, he believes lady luck is definitely on his side. With a terrific eccentric support cast especially those involved in the deep look at casino boat poker and a strong lead couple, fans will feel lucky to read Jana DeLeon's royal flush romance. The story line deals readers a straight hand except for a bluff of the whimsical paranormal and a full house of intrigue. Readers will enjoy this humorous romantic caper starring a pair of winners. Harriet Klausner

Mallory Devereaux is the town of Royal Flush's bad luck charm. It's not so bad when she's trying to help her friends win at pool by jinxing their opponents, but when she really likes a guy and he breaks up with her because he ends up in the hospital, it's not a good thing. Mallory has to make a lot of money fast to help her surrogate father Harry Breaux out of trouble so she agrees to cool cards at her uncle's poker tournament to get a share of the winnings. Jake Randoll is a dealer at the tournament. He's keeping a close eye on one of the players, Silas Hebert. He's got them on Mallory too though. When Jake explains what he's up to and asks for Mallory's help, she reluctantly agrees. They have a common goal-getting Silas out of the game. Mallory goes from sexy card cooler to Sherlock Holmes in the blink of an eye. The stakes are heating up in the game and for Jake and Mallory too, but the danger is growing as well. A priest who gets drunk and spout people's confessions, a postal worker who reads everyone's mail, beautiful, havoc- reeking Mallory and sexy FBI guy Jake are just a few of the colorful and outrageous characters in Unlucky. I loved this story; it's a blast. It's sexy, and it has a few exciting twists at the end too! Nannette Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed