Lady Luck's Map of Vegas

by Barbara Samuel

A successful Web designer, forty-year-old India has a fabulously hip life in Denver and a sexy Irish lover in New York who jets out to see her on bi-weekly visits. The long-distance romance suits India just Though Jack is the only man who has ever made India feel truly alive, she doesn’t want things to get too serious. But then her father passes away, and India must honor the promise she made to to look after her mother when he’s gone.

Suddenly India finds herself back in Colorado Springs with the woman who both intrigues and infuriates her. Eldora is sixty something and exquisitely gorgeous, but her larger-than-life personality can suck the air out of a room. True to form, Eldora throws India a curveball, insisting that they hit the road to look for India’s twin, Gypsy, a brilliant artist who lives a vagabond’s existence in the remote mountain towns of New Mexico. It looks like India can’t avoid her mother’s intensity any longer, especially after she discovers stunning secrets from Eldora’s past.

Thirty years ago, Eldora regaled her twin girls with glamorous stories about her days as a Las Vegas showgirl– stories of martinis and music at the Sahara, back when Frank and Sammy ruled the town. But the story of how she really ended up in Sin City, and the unsavory life she’d run from with her daughters in tow, is full of details she’s never seen fit to share–until now.

As mother and daughter sail down Route 66, the very road Eldora drove those many years ago, looking for Gypsy, while passing motels, diners, and souvenir shops, Eldora must relive a lifetime of memories that have tormented her before she can put them to rest once and for all. . . .

Award-winning author Barbara Samuel brings us a heartfelt story of second chances and unexpected detours. As two women come to terms with themselves and each other, the past unravels and the future spreads out before them like the open road.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Chick Lit, Womens Fiction, Audiobook, Contemporary, Family

285 pages, Hardcover

First published June 6, 2004

About the author

Barbara Samuel is a multiple RITA award-winning author with more than 38 books to her credit in a variety of genres. She has written historical and contemporary romances, a number of fantasy novellas with the likes of Susan Wiggs, Jo Beverley and Mary Jo Putney. She now writes women’s fiction about families, dogs, and food as Barbara O’Neal.

Her work has captured a plethora of awards, including six RITAs; the Colorado Center for the Book Award (twice); Favorite Book of the Year from Romance Writers of America, and the Library Journal’s list of Best Genre Fiction of the year, among many others.You can find a full list of all titles here.

Now living back in her hometown of Colorado Springs, Barbara writes in a study overlooking Pikes Peak, a pin that draws her home from her travels. She shares her home with Christopher Robin, a British endurance athlete, a gorgeous and lovable chow mix named Jack; a very, very old Siamese named Esmerelda; a rescued street cat who has become the fattest silver tabby on the planet, and the wonder twins, two tuxedo kittens from a local shelter, whose names have changed several times. Yes, a lot of animals.

An avid photographer, cook, and traveler, Barbara keeps a log of travels, recipes, and photos at her blog, A Writer Afoot, where she also sometimes posts writing advice. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook, but she doesn’t promise to be particularly interesting there.

Reviews

[Jeanne Adamek · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Lynne Spreen · Rating 5 out of 5]

India is a twin. Her sister, Gypsy, is a renowned artist who has schizophrenia. It's heartbreaking, a whole story on its own, but there's more. India's mother, Eldora, has a secret past. When Gypsy goes off her meds and disappears, the two women set off on a roadtrip to try to find her. While on that roadtrip (in Eldora's classic Eldorado), Eldora begins to tell the truth about her childhood, her early adulthood, and a surprising revelation that threatens everything. India has her own secret: she's pregnant, after vowing never to become so, because fear the child could carry the schizophrenia gene. India has to decide whether to keep the child, not really a choice because the father, the love of her life, is a devout Catholic. But actually, India's decision about her pregnancy is a metaphor for whether she'll decide, at forty, to live a full life. Thus far, she's been constrained, trying to control the risk. Trying to avoid heartache. Gypsy was enough pain for any one person, thank you. But now India's pregnant and in passionate love with a good man, which was 100% not her plan. So she's in complete turmoil.

What really stood out for me in this novel was Eldora's story, which is so dazzling it's in complete contrast to India's safe, vanilla existence. What an amazing woman (both good and bad)! Barbara Samuel takes us into the Las Vegas of the Rat Pack era, with all the glamour of the time. Strong women making powerful choices. A fine story and a good romance.

[Marysue Gulick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lady Luck’s Map of Vegas by Barbara O’Neal is a road-trip inter-generational story. Eldora is 63 and “should” have been a movie star. Her life was adventurous, and when she finally settled down, she tweaked the story of her what her life was like before family. Now her husband is gone and Gypsy, one of her twins, has run away. Eldora demands that she and India, the other twin, must repeat the road trip down Route 66 they took when the girls were 11 to find Gypsy, who is schizophrenic. Eldora has decided that on the road trip, she will tell India the true story of her life before children. Well, most of the truth. Of course, India has a secret of her own. This book caught my eye because as an older reader, I always appreciate when one of the main characters is at least in her 60’s (Eldora), and because I love stories containing twins (Gypsy and India, Eldora’s 40-something daughters). In my opinion, the ending wasn’t quite what I wanted. It wasn’t tied up in a neat bow, especially India’s story. I did take a star off for that. But overall, the characters are likable and real, the story and setting are engaging, and that kept me reading to the end.

[Christina Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy every book I have read by Barbara O'Neal. She also writes under the name of Barbara Samuel. Actually, I've read almost every one. I love her style of writing. She can describe something exactly the way I see it through my eyes. I feel like I'm part of her stories. There is always a love so strong that it cannot be broken.

[Corlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This is a good ‘beach read’ book - enjoyable and not heady. Quick read and an interesting examination of what constitutes family and the power of forgiveness.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like India. I hate her too. I think she has her act together. I think she's selfish and self-centered. And then we meet Eldora, her mother. And we learn about Gypsie, her twin. Her father, who recently passed away. Poor Jack, he should have left her long ago. But, I actually think this book, and the story of India, Eldora, and in a sense, Jack, Dad, and Gypsie, should be a 4.5 rating.

The lesson I learned: We are influenced by the past, even the past of others, even if we don't like it or them. We have to deal with the follies and frankness of our families, even if we don't like them. (And we all have family members, even close ones, whom we don't like.) But our decisions are our own.

[Mallory Moureau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Barbara O’Neal for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

India is in her 40s and finds herself temporarily relocated to care for her mother, Eldora, after her father passes. They have a complicated relationship and India is shocked when she agrees to go on a roadtrip to Las Vegas.

The story focuses on Eldora sharing the true story of her life with her daughter as they search for India’s twin who suffers from schizophrenia. At the same time, India is trying to determine if she will allow herself to welcome love into her life and future or keep herself closed off.

This is a re-release and took place in flash backs from the 1950-1960s and then “current day” in maybe early 2000.

[Ashley Manley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first book by this author and I really like the way she writes. She paints a descriptive scene in so few words that were so interesting to read.

This was an easy story with a feel good ending. Some parts felt a bit slow (redundant maybe is a better word?) but it was a quick read that didn’t stress me out.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was good, but nothing spectacular. I waffled between three and four stars for this one because it's not that it was bad or that I disliked the story because that is definitely not the case. It just lacked a certain... hook. It was missing something that would have made me love it.

[Virginia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Any story that can make me miss and love and appreciate my baby boy and husband even more than I already do must touch upon some deep truths and true notes. I enjoyed the stories and characters reasonably well. It's not a masterpiece and I'm not in love with the tale, but it was a good read.

[Stephanie Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute. Reminds you that parents are people too and are not as perfect as you expect them to be and that’s ok. Doesn’t make them any less your parent or mean they love you any less.

[Marleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've enjoyed Barbara O'Neal's / Barbara Samuel's books with varying success, but this one was certainly captivated and moved me. I thought it was tender and heartwarming. I loved Eldora, the sixty-three year old, recently widowed 'femme fatale'. Eldora's spunky, endearing, oozing sex-appeal, even at her age, but she's also a loving mother and was a doting wife. Eldora has a lot of secrets from her past and decides to come clean during a trip to Las Vegas, with her forty year old daughter, India, a grounded, a bit aloof, independent web-designer who has a sort of hate-love relationship with her mother. The other reason for the trip is to find India's schizophrenic twin-sister, Gipsy, who paints beautiful pictures of roadside crosses and drifts among homeless shelters in New Mexico.
That road trip was intriguing, geographically and emotionally, and very bumpy at times, as Eldora and India finally make a true connection. Also, the various hotels, sometimes off the beaten path, India and Eldora stop at along this trip all have some historical value and sentimental meaning, and I thought that was extremely interesting. What I most loved were the images of the 50ies era evoked by Eldora's retelling of her 'misspent' youth in Vegas.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

When your life is turned upside down, why not take a self-discovery road trip to Las Vegas - with your mom? This is a novel about forgiveness and family, overcoming fears and exploring outside your comfort zone.

I am a big fan of Barbara O'Neal's women's fiction. (She also writes in a variety of genes under the name Barbara Samuel and Lark O'Neal.) This is an earlier novel written in 2004 and I had a rather hard time getting my hands on it. I ended up acquiring it through my library's Interlibrary Loan System under her Barbara Samuel name - I believe she just re-released it under the O'Neal umbrella. Not sure entirely as it's all a bit confusing. I have read almost all of her women's lit and have been working my way thru each of her novels as I can find them and am always excited to see new releases.

I liked this story okay, but I was a little disappointed the authors trademark "foodie element" was completely missing here. (One of my favorite parts about her books.) Additionally, I was really hoping to connect with the main character, India, since she's a graphic/web designer as am I. There wasn't a whole lot about her job in here at all.

The story flips back and forth between India and her mother as they travel the southern route thru New Mexico to Las Vegas from Colorado on a road trip looking for India's missing twin sister. Both have demons to battle and their stories emerge as the trip winds on. It concludes very quickly with all the ends wrapped up, though not entirely believably. Such a fast conclusion. Especially the mother's side of things.

This isn't my favorite novel by this author, but they can't all be a home run, can they? I believe a writer hones their style as they write more and this was somewhat early on and I have truly enjoyed all of her latest works.

[barbara a. woodruff · Rating 5 out of 5]

India Redding is juggling a web design career, a long-distance romance, and an exasperating promise she made to keep an eye on her vivacious mother, Eldora. A former Las Vegas showgirl, the flamboyant sixty something bombshell never lacks for curveballs. Her latest idea is that she and India hightail it out of Colorado Springs and hit the road for Sin City in her turquoise ’57 Thunderbird. Eldora can revisit the neon strips of her youth, and together they can track down India’s twin sister, Gypsy, a haunted vagabond artist prone to disappearing. As mother and daughter sail down Route 66—the Mother Road of souvenir shops, outlying motels, and roadside diners—a flood of memories returns for Eldora. So do the secrets of her past that she could never bring herself to share. India has her own secrets to share. Mother and daughter begin the drive and Mom begins to share the secrets she kept hidden. Interesting discussion with Eldora remembering events happening that happened in the different towns they visited. Eldora finally tells India the truth of what she experienced in her life and it is not what India realized happened.
Very interesting to read Eldora's early decisions and compare those events with India's memories of the same times. Recommend book

[Lel132 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Barbara O'Neal's works both as herself as Samuel. I love how she paints such vivid, colourful, sensuous pictures and usually has someone who is an artist as a character. I also adore how she describes food and clothes as well as the places. Nothing gets me inside someone's world quicker. In this book we are in SouthWestern USA in the 60s and 90s early 2000s.

This book is about twins India and Gypsy and their glam mum Eldora. It tells the story of Eldora as confessions to her daughter India while they are on a road trip following Route 66. They are searching for Gypsy who is in the middle of a psychotic (schizophrenic) break and lost.

This journey is repeating one they took when the twins were 11 and Eldora. It's a tale of the tight, passionate, sometimes desperate love of family and definitely will resonate if you don't have a straightforward relationship with family members.

I love the rhythm of O'Neal's writing and sat and read the book while it poured with rain outside loving and hating the characters but not wanting it to end!

[Regina Mastrogiacomo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another heart felt and intense novel about learning that there are no perfect lives and that we all make mistakes. I loved Eldora and all that she did to change her circumstances and yet didn't become bitter or self righteous. I also like that Eldora finally told India about her life, it explains her persona around others and her own heart ache she endured. I loved seeing how India becomes more open to others flays and that the love of Jack conquered her fear about having a child. I also like that the story talks about mental illness and how the women both took care of Gypsy not by putting her away but by understanding her and her condition and helping her, it was very loving.

I always loved road trips and I was actually at the hotel in Gallup that the book talks about it was really cool and eerie at the same time and the hotel had the best Huevos Rancheros I've ever had. I also liked that the book talks about the old Las Vegas Hotels and the strip that was very small but very cool, and it felt like the Wild West. I actually stayed at the Dunes and played at the kids section of the Circus Circus, those were the days.

Finally, I love Barbara O'neals writing style, the story is so intense that it immerses you into someone else's life until you feel like you know the characters personally and the plot is so descriptive that you can hear and see everything.

I want to Thank Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for an advance copy of this novel from Barbara O'neals earlier works.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot. I was first happy to find that its settings were places I had visited and loved, particularly a cemetery in Truchas, New Mexico, which I thought no one but I had discovered. I love Barbara Samuel's / Barbara O'Neal's books (and wish she would settle on one name to make them easier to recognize......) because her characters are flawed. By that I mean they were not sterling members of society, or they have character traits or pasts that are real. They don't live in million dollar homes and go on a trip with their sorority sisters............they struggle, and they are REAL. This was a good story about real people in real places, doing real things, and making real life choices.

[Taica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love O'neil's writing. It is lush and beautiful. The story lines are mainly creative and there is depth in a healing journey. It's emotionally rich writing.

There is also a predictability to the ones I have read so far, which I wish was more varied.

Early in the story a woman on a healing journey meets a large, dark, very good man with great hands who loves to kiss and to hold. They are immediately and intensely attracted to each other and she often has a reason not to let her self fall, which she eventually works through along her healing journey, and they end up together facing happily ever after.

Like I said though, she is such a brilliant writer that I keep reading them even though this one aspect lacks novelty for me. I plan to read everything she has written!

[jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

another great Barbara O’Neal story

This was the last book of Barbara O’Neals I hadn’t read. I just finished it and as expected….it was so well written. The way Ms. O’Neal uses words, and phrases….never ceases to amaze.
The kind of book that make you go back and read each paragraph over again, the kind that makes you marvel at her use of words. It’s the kind of book you can’t put down, but also you don’t want to rush through either.
I could tell you of the story, but I won’t. It’s really what I have said, another great story…by Barbara O’Neal. Im sad that it’s over and hope it’s not too long before another novel is released.

[Linda C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six months after the death of her husband, 63 year-old Eldora decides she needs to take a road trip to Vegas with her daughter. She is planning to follow the route of a trip she did in 1973 with her twin daughters. Both Vegas and the earlier trip were defining times in her life, and she decides to tell her daughter the true story of her life on the trip. India is the twin she is planning to get to do the driving, and Gypsy is the schizophrenic twin she hopes to find and bring home as part of the trip. This is a story of secrets and is parsed out by Eldora, alternating chapters with India who has her own secret and some major decisions to make. Good story

[Kodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

wonderful story

Barbara O’Neal is one the of those writers that you can depend on to guide you through a well written good story.

This book, takes you through wonderful tales spinning stories of intersection between a mother and her children that shows depths of sacrifice on a mother’s path and a child’s struggle to live life. Add it the twist of the impact of severe mental illness of a loved one and you have a sometimes heartbreaking though thought provoking story of the many facets of love in all of its messy glory.

[Ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barbara O'Neal is a master of her craft: writing complex and captivating female characters. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the two women in this book, and while I might not always like the people she writes, I am always fascinated by the characters and their relationships with each other.

This misses the 5 star mark because I felt like the end revelations are a bit rushed and I wanted a little more. I also think this cover art is all wrong for this book. Makes it look like a romance or romcom.

[Gregandemy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I have really enjoyed a lot of Barbara O'Neal's books so was very pleased to be given the opportunity to read this title now rereleased under her name. I usually find myself quickly lost in her stories and this book was the same. It wasn't my favorite, but I did enjoy the characters and their story. I liked the grown India experiences on a road trip with her mother, learning secrets about her past.

[Marilyn B.]

No idea what to expect!

I found that I started out with some reservations, but Barbara O'Neal didn't disappoint! I got my traveling companions, Jack, from Ireland...Eldora from everywhere and her twin daughters, Gypsy and India and all their childhood memories! Searching for one twin, the other and Eldora head for La s Vegas and relive Eldora's lifetime memories before her life with twin girls! Its somewhat of a roller coaster ride, but I did enjoy it!

[Merry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Warning, spoilers included: Of all the Barbara O'Neal books I've read, this was my least favorite. While some aspects of the characters' personalities were realistic, others were not. For example, Eldora's overall demeanor was so over the top, how did India seemingly overlook everything except "taking away her father"? The Epilogue is what ended up making me assign such a meh rating. The scene with Eldora in the graveyard was just too much and unrealistic given the history. Sigh.

[cheryl slaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review

The thing I most wanted was to leave Oklahoma and the first man who offered I left and moved to Hollywood. Beautiful women were a dime a dozen and the first time I visited Las Vegas I was home. I loved the slots, cards and men so many.
When I met the love of my life he was married and was a “made “ man in the mafia and his wife was the boss’s daughter and crazy so we snuck around.
Enjoy

[Onilee Hembree · Rating 3 out of 5]

I relate to India. Taking care of her eccentric mother, driving her all around. That is my life 🤣
I love how the little bits of Eldora's story unfold as the road trip to Vegas to find Gypsy goes on. The back and forth point of views from Eldora and India as they navigate past memories and current life is really well written. Eldora had quite the life! And India, at 40, is just figuring her life out.

[Catherine Sheehan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a beautiful read!

Like the other Barbara O’Neal novels I have read, this one features a journey; this time, a road trip across New Mexico. Eldora and her daughter, India, search for India’s twin, Egypt, who is schizophrenic and homeless. Traveling in a shiny, restores 1957 Thunderbird, Eldora shares her life story—full of regret and drama—with India, who struggles with her own life choices. I completely recommend this book.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

When you love an author, you read their back catalog and I've been steadily working my way through Barbara O'Neal's. I loved this one! Mothers, daughters, the dark side of a romanticized time and place, and the how mental illness affects the whole family. Beautifully written with complex characters on an interesting path.

[Angie Greene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Angie Greene and I are going

No problem with the hubby and the kids that are going to be 50 in the pool with the jjnhjj in a few weeks to make sure they are kkjkkkk6k6k and not the most likely to do it right soon enough in the next few months to make 6N a little more difficult to make sure you get a job in a good day if I get to see