I don’t read a lot of romance, I seem to enjoy a twisted mind more than a loving heart, but whenever I pick up a Kate Clayborn novel, I know I’m in for a treat, and Beginner’s Luck did not disappoint.

Beginner’s Luck is book one in the Chance of a Lifetime Trilogy, with each book focusing on one of the three best friends. In this one, we have Kit, who is a scientist and not a gambler, having a night on the town with her two besties, Greer and Zoe, and while buying a bunch of snacks to go with all the drinking, one of them decides to buy a lottery ticket, although Kit can’t remember who.

They end up winning a large jackpot and Kit is the only one who decides to keep working at her job, but she does buy a large fixer-upper Queen Anne with her winners, since as a child she never had a stable home.

Then comes Ben, who happens to be in town because his father had a bad fall, and tries to recruit Kit to a big company without doing his homework on her first. And he fails big time, but doesn’t quit trying because there was an instant attraction.

Kit and Ben’s chemistry is wonderful, and over time they realize that each has what the other has been lacking in their lives. Ben shows his interest (love) to Kit by doing acts of service at her new home, since his dad owns the local junk and salvage yard… and that is my love language, so who could I not like Ben’s character!

A sweet and funny (mainly with Ben’s father and their new hire) romance with just the right amount of steamy adult moments to make me want to read the next two books in the series, Luck of the Draw and Best of Luck. ( )

I read this after seeing Kate Clayborn speak about romance. One thing the moderator said she really liked about this series was the main character's friends. I was a bit disappointed in this area. I've read many romances with much stronger and more present friendships.

That being said this book was still enjoyable and an easy read. ( )

Really loved the solid friendships, the growth of our couple, the place where they live, even the things they wrestled with. Can't wait to read the next one! ( )

I really liked this one. It took a little while. I get the feeling that first chapter should've gone through another edit pass. It felt...distant. But these characters affected me. I got mad at him. I got mad at her. The solutions are messy and a little scary, making the epilogue well worth its word count.

There are some filler words, some telling when showing was already happening, and the author really should've eliminated half of the "anyways" used. For me it was just annoying enough to drop a star. But I liked the core observation of the plot. Pain in our childhoods does damage. Good in our childhoods helps - but hurt makes deeper impacts than good does in our minds. We mean to surmount these bad things, but they are part of us, and crop up at terrible times. Luckily, the good is there, too. ( )

Beginner's Luck is the first in a trilogy about 3 friends, Kit, Zoe, and Greer, who win the Virginia state lottery. Kit is a lab tech / research assistant who gets recruited by Ben Tucker, who works for Beaumont Materials in Texas. Kit is not interested in the offer, but she is interested in Ben. When she believes that Ben betrayed her, her world is turned upside down.
This was a romance, but I wasn't as invested in Kit and Ben as I was in the 2nd installment, with Zoe and Aiden (yes, I read them out of order). I did like the ending, especially as I was surprised by the wedding. ( )