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Cajun #5

Pink Jinx

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From the award-winning, bestselling author of "The Red-Hot Cajun" comes this new spicy and sexy romance about a woman, her former husband, a search for pink diamonds, and an elderly Cajun matchmaker.

BAITED+

Straitlaced Boston lawyer Veronica "Ronnie" Jinkowsky knows something's fishy when her estranged grandfather lures her to his New Jersey treasure-hunting business with woeful tales of old age and bankruptcy. But she never expected the salty old dog to shanghai her into a hunt for pink diamonds with her poker-playing, four-time ex-husband Jake Jensen in tow.

HOOKED...

Betting her heart on Jake was always a losing proposition, yet just the sight of his come-hither blue eyes is still enough to melt her steely resolve. Now Ronnie's on a high seas adventure that throws together lost gems, a lost ship, and lost love - not to mention a Mafia widow, her two goons, and an elderly Cajun matchmaker.

AND GOING DOWN FOR THE LAST TIME!

Trapped with the man she could never learn to live with - and was never happy without - is Ronnie fated to be forever jinxed in matters of the heart? Original.

401 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2006

35 people are currently reading
679 people want to read

About the author

Sandra Hill

92 books1,314 followers
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Sandra Hill is a graduate of Penn State and worked for more than 10 years as a features writer and education editor for publications in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Writing about serious issues taught her the merits of seeking the lighter side of even the darkest stories. She is the wife of a stockbroker and the mother of four sons.

This biography was provided by the author or their representative.

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5 stars
393 (37%)
4 stars
347 (33%)
3 stars
224 (21%)
2 stars
51 (4%)
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23 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
Profile Image for Anita.
2,660 reviews223 followers
February 10, 2020
I have loved reading this series. The other books have been set in Cajun Country, Louisiana and have such a real flavor that I was shocked to learn that Sandra Hill wasn't Cajun born and bred. This one is set in New Jersey and is fun too. We get a dose of Tante Lulu and Tee-John LeDeux is a member of the dive team. I can't wait for his book.

When Veronica "Ronnie" Jinkowsky is summoned by her estranged grandfather, the story he tells her just didn't ring true. But, she felt that she owed him a chance after spending her life listening to her bitter grandmother. Ronnie soon finds herself up to her neck with her ex-husband, Jake, and out to sea searching for a treasure of mafia pink diamonds.
Profile Image for Katherine 黄爱芬.
2,425 reviews292 followers
June 17, 2018
Veronica Jinkowsky aka Ronnie memiliki masalah dgn suaminya yg sudah dinikah-cerai sebanyak 4 kali. Mereka tidak menginginkan yg kelima kalinya, tetapi bagaimana mencegah chemistry mereka yg sulit dipadamkan? Atau menghalau ikut campur orang-orang di sekitar mereka yg menginginkan pasangan ini rujuk kembali.

Ini pertama kalinya saya membaca karya author utk genre contemporary romance. Sekali lagi saya terpukau oleh selera humor author yg selalu sukses bikin saya ngakak. Seharusnya saya sebel dgn hubungan gak jelas Ronnie dan Jake, apaan tuh kawin-cerai empat kali dan menuju pernikahan kelima kalinya? Apa mau mengalahkan rekor celeb Hollywood? Seharusnya saya juga KZL dgn dukungan berlebihan para fans pasangan ini yg menginginkan mereka rujuk. Apa-apaan sih? Mereka kan bukan anak kecil lagi yg mesti didorong-dorong utk berbaikan. Tetapi apa daya, saya lepas kontrol utk tidak senyum-senyum menghadapi kegilaan orang-orang di novel ini.

Sebut saja, Frank Jinkowsky yg sudah berusia 75 tahun tetapi memiliki libido super sehat utk orang tua seusianya. Frank ini manipulator yg cara dan upayanya nyeleneh utk ukuran orang normal. Dia adalah pendukung nomor satu Ronnie (cucunya) dan Jake hrs rujuk kembali (motifnya, tentu saja memiliki cicit) dan menggunakan cara dari mengompori Jake hingga membohongi Ronnie utk ikut ekspedisinya mencari harta karun.

Atau si Tante Lulu yang super cablak yg gak henti-hentinya baik perkataan maupun ulahnya yg sukses membuat saya ngakak. Inilah yg membuat saya suka novel-novel buatan author. Karakter-karakternya terbentuk dgn baik sehingga sulit terlupakan.

Sayangnya, chemistry dahsyat Ronnie dan Jake masih belum mengeksplorasi kedalaman cinta mereka baik komitmen maupun kepercayaan. Tampaknya author mau cepat-cepat menyudahi amarah dan hasrat membara yg selalu bergelimang saat mereka bertemu. Tapi saya suka scene saat Jake muncul di atas boat-nya yg seolah-olah kalau pd zaman Historical Romance, sang Ksatria muncul diatas kuda gagahnya utk menemui sang putri di kastilnya, hohohoho....
Profile Image for TJ.
3,293 reviews282 followers
November 23, 2010
Light, romantic comedy with a good dose of snark! Love, love, loved Jake's character - not so much Veronica's. With the storyline showing us why and how they got married (4 times!) but never allowing us to understand why they broke up that many times, Veronica's character comes across as harsh and petty. Jake is willing to do whatever it takes to make it work and she is just nasty too him. Still, the humor is great fun to read as is the book as a whole.
Profile Image for Anette - Knitting & Audiobooks.
36 reviews1 follower
January 9, 2022
This was my very first book by Sandra Hill.
And it was my first meeting with Aunt Lulu.

And boy, did it blow my mind! Even though this review is written several years after I read this book, I am still half smiling due to the wonderful vibe of cray-cray that permanates Sandra Hill's cajun stories. It's easy to fall in love with the gumbo loving, scheming old lady living in the swamp in Louisiana Bay, New Orleans...
For me, it was the book that made me fall in love with Sandra Hill's wonderful humor and sass that is present every time I read a book of hers.

The hero and heroine is divorced, but must now meet again to look for some forgotten or stolen diamonds. The hero is a professional poker player and the heroine a prim and proper lady who was once madly in love with his maverick ways, but - post honeymoon - was hurt by his callous and thrill-seeking lifestyle.

This is a novel about second chances, second love and a whole lot of other stuff I will let you experience for yourself. It was sweet, romantic, fun, full of twists and Aunt Lulu .... If you don't know Aunt Lulu, I think you should get yourself a copy of this book and start reading. If you love a crazy hunt-romance romp-bad-guy-hunt-second-love-sassy-wit-and-ping-pong-dialouge story in the bayous of New Orleans, you might end up loving this series.

The worst part?
Aunt Lulu's humour is mightily addictive!
520 reviews84 followers
November 2, 2020
I have to admit that if I hear the word treasure I will perk up like nobody’s business. And my latest book huntings have made me want to find some treasure hunting romances and the sound of this one definitely fit the bill!

Our lawyer heroine is roped into helping her uncle in his treasure hunting business against her better judgement to find some pink diamonds in a sunken vessel.... and of course the mob is involved. Turns out her ex-husband is also involved and their seems to be a plot to get them back together again.

Now this book is also something I’ve never come across before..... it’s a fifth time romance. Yes. FIFTH. Both the hero and heroine have been married 4 times previously and they are still only in their 30s. I have to admit their bond and attraction was totally believable and I even believed their 4 divorces. However what let me down was the fact that the hero wasn’t in the book for mostly the first half and their chemistry was so good that when I came across to the sexy times I unfortunately discovered this was a clean romance. Now nothing against clean romances but their chemistry was so good I was expecting more! Nonetheless this was light hearted and the secondary characters were an absolute hoot!
Author 2 books16 followers
September 29, 2023
Este livro é muito engraçado, posso dizer que dei umas boas gargalhadas graças a ele. Encontrei-o numa livraria de livros usados e como estava a um ótimo preço e eu gostei da capa e da sinopse, comprei. É um livro antigo de 2006 e confesso que não sei se foi publicada uma tradução para português. No entanto, se o apanharem nalguma loja de livros usados, agarrem-no.



É um romance sobre um casal que já se divorciou quatro vezes, é engraçado como eles gostam de um do outro, mas não conseguem viver muito tempo juntos porque são bastante diferentes um do outro. No entanto, o avô da noiva, com uma relação muito deteriorada devido ao divórcio com a sua avó, inventa uma história para se aproximar da neta e para voltar a juntar o belo casal de divorciados. Será que conseguirão mudar para ficarem finalmente juntos para sempre?



As personagens, a história e sem dúvida a narração torna toda a história muito engraçada. Sem dúvida bom para quem precisa de umas boas gargalhadas para se animar. Para mim a personagem de Tante Lulu é a melhor e mais cómica de todas. Recomendo.
Profile Image for Lessoire.
97 reviews
May 27, 2019
Really liked Ronnie's and Jake's story. Looking forward to reading more of Sandra Hills books.
Author 8 books18 followers
July 4, 2019
Pink Jinx is a sweet, sexy rom-com about a couple who can't stop marrying each other. The story is about the journey of rediscovery and treasure. 3.5/5 stars
Profile Image for JoAnne Myers.
10 reviews
August 26, 2019
This is the first book we’re they get stuck going looking for pink diamonds. It is and at Adventure from the being. Lulu never fails to cause problems. She is knee deep here
Profile Image for Jean.
122 reviews
April 4, 2020
I actually really like some of the characters here and will look for more books by this author.
Author 3 books3 followers
November 7, 2023
The story was involved and suspenseful. I didn't understand why a couple would marry and divorce four times to the same couple. It didn't make sense.
2,816 reviews13 followers
July 22, 2024
Reread. Again I found a good read. I would not mind to read more of this author.
277 reviews4 followers
May 5, 2013
I checked this book out from the library. In the "Dear Reader" part of the book, Hill explains that this book is loosely based on her previous Cajun series, but one didn't have to read them in order, and that there would be recurring characters with this new series, but again, they didn't have to be read in order. I believe this to be true, however, this book was populated with way too many people and story lines. While hilarious, fun, and sexy, keeping track of people was a major pain for me. I couldn't figure out why one character's elderly aunt kept making appearances, other than she was a beloved character from past novels. She kept getting involved in the lives of people that weren't related to her. While comic relief, the novel could have stood alone without her.

There were almost dual story lines and romances in this book. The heroine suddenly had offers from two other men that weren't the hero. While this added some tension, the reader knew the whole time that it wasn't going to happen. The hero also moved on from the heroine as well. I'm not sure that I fully understood what their trouble was and what the roadblocks to their relationship entailed. Then there was the whole treasure hunting business with the nearly-estranged and rough grandpa. While the HEA's wrapped up nicely, and the writing was excellent, I'm not sure that I walked away with good answers to all the questions. I'm not sure that I "bought" the catalyst for the heroine's transformation, or why the hero was motivated to change as well.

But, this story delivers some great one-liners, humorous situations, and entertainment. While I was rough on the story line, I really liked the people in the book and then went immediately to the library's on-line page to get the next in the series. While this wasn't a "dashing good time" kind of book, it did provide entertainment.
Profile Image for Jess.
1,542 reviews100 followers
April 16, 2009
I loved this book, another great one by Sandra Hill! I originally thought that this was an extension of her Cajun series but it's not really. The characters of Tee John and Tante Lulu are in it, but they are just background characters. It also doesn't take place in the bayou. But I still loved it. This book had the same trademark quirkiness and humor as Hill's other books so I was not disappointed.

In this book, Ronnie is a high powered lawyer from Boston who has been tricked by her eccentric grandfather into taking over his treasure hunting company. In the process of trying to sort it out, she runs into her 4 time ex-husband Jake who she finds out has invested 100 grand in the grandfathers company. They both decide to get together and try to help out her grandfather's failing business, but of course it's not because they still love each other. Obviously having been married and divorced to the same person means they have no attraction. Ha. Tante Lulu is along for the ride to stir things up because she swears that the thunderbolt has hit Jake and Ronnie.

I loved how the characters related to one another, and the attraction between Jake and Ronnie was indisputable. I thought the story line was interesting, and entertaining. This is definitely a book that flies along and by the time I realized it, it was over and I can't wait to read the next one: Pearl Jinx.
Profile Image for Vicky.
Author 26 books69 followers
May 24, 2011

Sandra Hill is one of my favorite authors, and this book shows why. She never fails to entertain, never fails to amuse, and never fails to give exactly the right ending to her stories.

In Pink Jinx, we are introduced to Veronica “Ronnie” Jinkowsky, a straitlaced, hard as nails Boston lawyer, and Jake Jensen, a poker-playing adventurer who just happened to marry and divorce her – four times. With the help of a cast of characters ranging from Ronnie’s estranged and wild treasure hunting grandfather, his stock market genius floozie girlfriend, a Mafia widow, her goon sons, a ragin’ Cajun and his octogenarian matchmaking aunt, Ronnie and Jake don’t stand a chance.

The book takes place on the high seas as they search for treasure – both real, and emotional. While you’re pretty sure you know the ending – after all, this is a romance – the happily ever after is never quite certain until the last pages.

The story will keep you turning the pages. The humor will keep you smiling. The adventure will keep you excited. And the romance – well, break out your fan because it’s hot and steamy on the high seas.

This is a definite buy and read me now book.
Profile Image for Michelle.
2,065 reviews
August 6, 2016
I haven’t read them all but I’ve definitely enjoyed the books in the Cajun series by Sandra Hill that I have caught up on. Pink Jinx is another fun example of the humor, love, and fun that each book provides. Ronnie has tried to live up to her Grandmother’s expectations as a lawyer in the Boston area but when her Grandfather asks for help in his “failing” treasure hunting business, she can’t give up the chance to try something new and possibly find some happiness in her life. Little does she know, her Grandfather is actually playing matchmaker with Ronnie’s ex-husband, Jake. Even though they’ve been married and divorced a few times now, Jake and Ronnie just can’t fight their attraction. So as they travel the rough ocean waters in New Jersey, they try to fight their true feelings, and a few mobsters along the way, but you can’t run from true love. Lots of laughs, lots of fun, and a really entertaining read.
Profile Image for Shannon C..
828 reviews
July 5, 2010
Light romantic comedy. I liked the main characters but some of the supporting cast were a bit silly/overdone. Sometimes the humor seemed like the author was trying too hard.

If you are looking for humorous romance, here are some that I liked better:
Something About You, Practice Makes Perfect, and Just the Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James (contemp romance w/humor)
Pride Stories series by Shelly Laurenston (paranormal romance w/humor)
Mr Perfect by Linda Howard (suspense/mystery/romance w/humor)
Steele Street series by Tara Janzen (suspense/thriller/romance w/humor)
Anything by Lynsay Sands (paranormal romance and historical romance w/humor)
Welcome to Temptation, Faking It, Bet Me by Jennifer Cruise (romantic comedy)
MacGregor Brides & MacGregor Grooms by Nora Roberts (contemp romance w/humor)
Profile Image for Krystal.
217 reviews
September 12, 2007
I was desperate for a book to read, read the back and the story sounded okay, and the reviews hailed it as laugh at loud funny, with sharp dialogue, so it clinched it for me, and I bought the darn thing. First couple of pages into, I reread the reviews to see if maybe I had read them correctly, and I had. They are just wrong. The dialogue is awkward, the thought processes of the characters juvenile, and I don't believe I'll be able to finish this one. I thought this book was one of those funny, suspense type books that I get a kick out of, but like the rave reviews, I was wrong.
finished, it sucked, the end
Profile Image for Courtney.
479 reviews7 followers
January 30, 2008
This book was alright. One thing that I liked about it, that made it unique from other romance novels, was that the hero and heroine had already been married and divorced. Four times in fact. They named all their marriages - The Sappy Wedding, The Tequila Marriage, The Cowboy Marriage and The Insanity Marriage. I kept finding myself rolling my eyes at the idea of a fifth marriage though- haven't this couple learned their lesson? Fortunately, and I give a spoiler here, they don't marry again. At least not by the end of the book. Thank god for small miracles and for saving the book from being a total flop.
Profile Image for Carol.
960 reviews40 followers
January 7, 2009
I really enjoyed this book for several reasons. The NJ locations mentioned are very close the where I used to live, so it was like going home. I was delighted to find some of the characters from the Cajun series in the bool. Tante Lulu is like a Cajun version of one of my favorite characters, Grandma Mazur from Janet Evenovich's Stephanie Plum series.
You can tell from the beginning of the book that four time divorced main characters are going to get back together. As Tante Lulu would say "You can't fight thunderbolt of love and Saint Jude.
Profile Image for Amy Denim.
Author 5 books67 followers
May 1, 2011
I love Sandra Hill, but I didn't think this was one of her best books. I like the two main characters, but the secondary characters, which you can usually count on for a good laugh, weren't as interesting this time. Tante Lulu seems overdone this time. I just didn't buy into the fact that she was going to St. Jude somebody she didn't even really know. I've heard the books in this series get better, and of course I'm going to keep reading. I am excited that the next book is about Caleb. Who wouldn't want to fall in love with an Ex Amish Navy Seal turned treasure hunter.
Profile Image for Jelantik.
47 reviews3 followers
March 13, 2008
I love this book. It is a so funny story about treasure hunting. But the main story is about relationship between a woman and a man who keep remarried and redevorcing for 4 times!! who ever can think of such a funny situation.

You will find your self smiling when you're reading this book. There are so many characters that are very interesting without distrubing the main story of this roman.

You got to read this!
Profile Image for Amber.
55 reviews10 followers
August 31, 2010
of course sandra hill keeps me going with this series.i love how ronnie and jake kept going back together it showed that once u find your soulmate you will always have that person by your side.And of course u cant forget that tanta lulu had her hand in it.!!i also loved how ronnie made mends with her grandpa.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Laurie.
293 reviews
December 28, 2013
Heavily romantic comedy about a woman and her 4 time ex husband.They are thron together on a treasure hunt by her grandfather.The characters were very stereotypical.The story was cute but could have been a lot funnier.
Profile Image for Lisa.
243 reviews1 follower
March 19, 2014
I don't remember reading anything by this author before this book. I actually picked it up on a whim at a used book sale. I'm really glad I did. Ronnie and Jake were fun. Tante Lulu was a hoot; reminded me a bit of my Gram.
Profile Image for Linda.
1,638 reviews
March 3, 2015
This is a 3.5 book. I enjoyed reading it and it was fun but not much substance. The characters are interesting with Ronnie Jinkowsky and Jake Jensen having been married and divorce to each other four times. This makes the story cute.
Profile Image for Brandifer.
44 reviews
May 16, 2009
I liked the two main characters, but it seemed like the author couldn't decide if she was writing romance, comedy, or suspense and wasn't good at any of them. UGH.
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