What do you think?
Rate this book
Beginner's Luck
Falling in love should never be this easy.
Mat Taylor is untouchable. An Australian country girl, she doesn’t date, she doesn’t fall in love and, oh yeah... she doesn’t dance after the love of her life left her standing alone on the dance floor at their Pro-Am Dance Championship debut.
Now in her last year of pre-med, Mat can’t seem to hold her life together. Her professor is on her back about her grades, her best friend can’t shake off his one night stand, and at the Cloudland ballroom, where Mat waits tables, a mysterious taxi dancer keeps ignoring her no matter how much she stalks him around the dance floor.
Her world may be falling apart, but Mat has a plan. It might be risky, crazy, and a little cheeky, but that has never stopped her before. She’s got the spunk to pull it off, if only she can let go of the one who has her heart.
*This is part one of the Roulette Romance novella series.
About the Series
When all the romances of your life happen at once...
Trained to fall in love with everyone she dances with, Mat Taylor works in a world of fantasy where the nights are always young and the foolish always play.
Roulette Romance is about an unconventional girl hiding from love in all the wrong places. Provocative and playful, this epic ensemble story, presented as a novella series, unravels a labyrinth of secret romances as the lives of studio dancers entwine. Set during the unapologetic 80’s, when political incorrectness was at its peak and transparency described see-through clothing, the retro Australiana backdrop portrays the colourful language, character, culture and landscape of the land Down Under.
Mat Taylor is untouchable. An Australian country girl, she doesn’t date, she doesn’t fall in love and, oh yeah... she doesn’t dance after the love of her life left her standing alone on the dance floor at their Pro-Am Dance Championship debut.
Now in her last year of pre-med, Mat can’t seem to hold her life together. Her professor is on her back about her grades, her best friend can’t shake off his one night stand, and at the Cloudland ballroom, where Mat waits tables, a mysterious taxi dancer keeps ignoring her no matter how much she stalks him around the dance floor.
Her world may be falling apart, but Mat has a plan. It might be risky, crazy, and a little cheeky, but that has never stopped her before. She’s got the spunk to pull it off, if only she can let go of the one who has her heart.
*This is part one of the Roulette Romance novella series.
About the Series
When all the romances of your life happen at once...
Trained to fall in love with everyone she dances with, Mat Taylor works in a world of fantasy where the nights are always young and the foolish always play.
Roulette Romance is about an unconventional girl hiding from love in all the wrong places. Provocative and playful, this epic ensemble story, presented as a novella series, unravels a labyrinth of secret romances as the lives of studio dancers entwine. Set during the unapologetic 80’s, when political incorrectness was at its peak and transparency described see-through clothing, the retro Australiana backdrop portrays the colourful language, character, culture and landscape of the land Down Under.
88 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 3, 2015
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 15, 2015
For a novella, Beginner's Luck really does pack a punch. It drops you into the middle of a situation and you're left wondering where all those hours of the day went. It's been a long time since a book held my interest for so long and I'm so glad I came across Anna Lunde's books and decided to give them a chance.
Beginner's Luck tangles you up in Matilda (Mat) Taylor's messy life. Mat is a tomboy to a fault. In fact I would say she's a step beyond being a tomboy and she's got so much to prove to everyone that she can come across as pretty abrasive. Lunde doesn't really delve into Mat's past with any great details so you're left trying to piece together the events that led Mat to be the person she is with the convictions that she has. There are hints of a betrayal that ended her love affair with dance but no big backstory, possibly due to the intended length of the novella. It's quite obvious that Lunde has a background in dance because the intricate descriptions of the dance moves and the emotions entangled in Mat's love/hate relationship with her former passion is quite visceral.
As a substitute for her lost passion, Mat now attends a pre-med university course, battles a growing crush on her room-mate Bradley and tries her hardest to overcome what she feels are the drawbacks of being a girl. She no longer wears make-up, dresses or heels. She covers her hair with hats and tries to blend into the crowd as much as possible. This is made harder because for all intents and purposes, Mat is conventionally gorgeous and to all the other characters, her attempts somehow make her all the more desirable.
Normally, I would be tearing my hair out at such Mary-Sue behaviour but I was able to keep reading because of Lunde's snappy writing style. There are no long lengthy descriptions of mundane objects in Beginner's Luck. The dialogue and prose is short and sharp and it moves with rapid speed. There's a lot of Australian jargon in this one so be warned because even as an Aussie I had a bit of a hard time keeping up!
The secondary characters were well fleshed out despite the length of the novella, though it helped that part of the story was told in separate POVs. There are four in total and they are all quite distinct which is no mean feat, though there was a point when I kind of felt as though the other POVs were there to reinforce how amazing and irresistible Mat was. I enjoyed reading from the perspective of the secondary characters and getting a look into their motivations. At first I wasn't a big fan of Bradley as he was being described from Mat's POV and I couldn't understand the "heat" between then because Brad seemed like your typical meat head. But when I read his perspective he really grew on me and it became a lot clearer why he behaved the way he did. I also enjoyed Fiona's POV because as the "other woman" the reader is pretty much conditioned to dislike her from the outset but it turns out I liked her more than a little. I actually kind of liked her more than Mat.
This brings me to the only part of the novella that I found that I was unable to connect with and this was Mat herself. The fact that I kept reading regardless is a testament to Lunde's fantastic writing. I'm a self professed lover of snarky, sarcastic, kick-butt heroines but for some reason Mat rubbed me up the wrong way. I think it was the fact that she was beautiful, she knew she was beautiful and despite all her protests that she didn't want to be treated as merely a girl, in my opinion she had an air of arrogance about her that made it hard for me to connect and feel much sympathy for her. For example, there is a moment where she is deliberately being obstructive and makes other people move around her and then she thinks it's funny. She displays all the syndromes of a "don't want him but don't want anyone else to have him" sickness when it comes to Brad and pretty much strings him along and then wonders why her love life is so complicated. The worst part for me is her treatment of Fiona. I don't enjoy girl on girl hate over a man in any situation so it was hard for me to be empathetic towards Mat when Fiona came into the picture. I just couldn't understand how Mat could have issues with being treated differently because she was a girl and then turn around and call Fiona some of the names that she did and make some of the assumptions that she did. As this is the first in the series, I'm hoping that Mat's character growth is evolving and that she'll mature as the series goes on. I didn't hate her or anything, it was just frustrating to read, but again the quality of the writing more than made up for it.
Overall I really enjoyed reading Beginner's Luck. It's an unconventional romance with a very distinct voice that will surprise you with it's depth. I urge you to give it a go. You won't be sorry.
Beginner's Luck tangles you up in Matilda (Mat) Taylor's messy life. Mat is a tomboy to a fault. In fact I would say she's a step beyond being a tomboy and she's got so much to prove to everyone that she can come across as pretty abrasive. Lunde doesn't really delve into Mat's past with any great details so you're left trying to piece together the events that led Mat to be the person she is with the convictions that she has. There are hints of a betrayal that ended her love affair with dance but no big backstory, possibly due to the intended length of the novella. It's quite obvious that Lunde has a background in dance because the intricate descriptions of the dance moves and the emotions entangled in Mat's love/hate relationship with her former passion is quite visceral.
As a substitute for her lost passion, Mat now attends a pre-med university course, battles a growing crush on her room-mate Bradley and tries her hardest to overcome what she feels are the drawbacks of being a girl. She no longer wears make-up, dresses or heels. She covers her hair with hats and tries to blend into the crowd as much as possible. This is made harder because for all intents and purposes, Mat is conventionally gorgeous and to all the other characters, her attempts somehow make her all the more desirable.
Normally, I would be tearing my hair out at such Mary-Sue behaviour but I was able to keep reading because of Lunde's snappy writing style. There are no long lengthy descriptions of mundane objects in Beginner's Luck. The dialogue and prose is short and sharp and it moves with rapid speed. There's a lot of Australian jargon in this one so be warned because even as an Aussie I had a bit of a hard time keeping up!
The secondary characters were well fleshed out despite the length of the novella, though it helped that part of the story was told in separate POVs. There are four in total and they are all quite distinct which is no mean feat, though there was a point when I kind of felt as though the other POVs were there to reinforce how amazing and irresistible Mat was. I enjoyed reading from the perspective of the secondary characters and getting a look into their motivations. At first I wasn't a big fan of Bradley as he was being described from Mat's POV and I couldn't understand the "heat" between then because Brad seemed like your typical meat head. But when I read his perspective he really grew on me and it became a lot clearer why he behaved the way he did. I also enjoyed Fiona's POV because as the "other woman" the reader is pretty much conditioned to dislike her from the outset but it turns out I liked her more than a little. I actually kind of liked her more than Mat.
This brings me to the only part of the novella that I found that I was unable to connect with and this was Mat herself. The fact that I kept reading regardless is a testament to Lunde's fantastic writing. I'm a self professed lover of snarky, sarcastic, kick-butt heroines but for some reason Mat rubbed me up the wrong way. I think it was the fact that she was beautiful, she knew she was beautiful and despite all her protests that she didn't want to be treated as merely a girl, in my opinion she had an air of arrogance about her that made it hard for me to connect and feel much sympathy for her. For example, there is a moment where she is deliberately being obstructive and makes other people move around her and then she thinks it's funny. She displays all the syndromes of a "don't want him but don't want anyone else to have him" sickness when it comes to Brad and pretty much strings him along and then wonders why her love life is so complicated. The worst part for me is her treatment of Fiona. I don't enjoy girl on girl hate over a man in any situation so it was hard for me to be empathetic towards Mat when Fiona came into the picture. I just couldn't understand how Mat could have issues with being treated differently because she was a girl and then turn around and call Fiona some of the names that she did and make some of the assumptions that she did. As this is the first in the series, I'm hoping that Mat's character growth is evolving and that she'll mature as the series goes on. I didn't hate her or anything, it was just frustrating to read, but again the quality of the writing more than made up for it.
Overall I really enjoyed reading Beginner's Luck. It's an unconventional romance with a very distinct voice that will surprise you with it's depth. I urge you to give it a go. You won't be sorry.
September 16, 2015
Rating: 3.5 stars
Synopsis: The book is set in 1980s Australia and stars Mat (Matilda) Taylor, a university student and tomboy. She plays bushball with the guys, dresses like a guy, and wants to be treated like a guy. She has even put romance and dance aside to go to the university. But life starts falling apart. Her grades are lacking and her flatmate, Bradley, is still with his 'one-night stand'. Oh, what to do? She makes a decision that causes her to lose her job, but sets her up for a different job that uses her skills as a dancer. We don't get to see much of this new job since that is the end of Book 1.
Cover Art: For me, there is nothing extraordinary about the cover. I still haven't decided if I like the color scheme or not. I like covers that have colors, but this one, lacking colors, does catch your eye. But in a good way or bad way?
My Thoughts: The book is written in first-person with Mat, Bradley (her flatmate), Fiona (her flatmate's girlfriend), and Casanova (the taxi dancer) all taking turns. Thankfully, you know who is talking at the beginning of each chapter and there isn't any switching within a chapter.
Considering the book is 87 pages, I felt the author did a good job of engaging the reader. I enjoyed the characters, even though there were moments that seemed cliche, and the characters were pretty developed for a book of this length. There were also a variety of settings (ballroom, bar, 'uni'...) that helped make the book seem longer than it really was. All-in-all, I found the book quite enjoyable.
Notes: U.S. readers, this novella is not written by a U.S. author so phrases will be a little different as well as spellings for some words. I don't know about you, but I get a kick out of phrases used in other countries and British spellings.
disclaimer: I received this book in exchange for an honest review
Synopsis: The book is set in 1980s Australia and stars Mat (Matilda) Taylor, a university student and tomboy. She plays bushball with the guys, dresses like a guy, and wants to be treated like a guy. She has even put romance and dance aside to go to the university. But life starts falling apart. Her grades are lacking and her flatmate, Bradley, is still with his 'one-night stand'. Oh, what to do? She makes a decision that causes her to lose her job, but sets her up for a different job that uses her skills as a dancer. We don't get to see much of this new job since that is the end of Book 1.
Cover Art: For me, there is nothing extraordinary about the cover. I still haven't decided if I like the color scheme or not. I like covers that have colors, but this one, lacking colors, does catch your eye. But in a good way or bad way?
My Thoughts: The book is written in first-person with Mat, Bradley (her flatmate), Fiona (her flatmate's girlfriend), and Casanova (the taxi dancer) all taking turns. Thankfully, you know who is talking at the beginning of each chapter and there isn't any switching within a chapter.
Considering the book is 87 pages, I felt the author did a good job of engaging the reader. I enjoyed the characters, even though there were moments that seemed cliche, and the characters were pretty developed for a book of this length. There were also a variety of settings (ballroom, bar, 'uni'...) that helped make the book seem longer than it really was. All-in-all, I found the book quite enjoyable.
Notes: U.S. readers, this novella is not written by a U.S. author so phrases will be a little different as well as spellings for some words. I don't know about you, but I get a kick out of phrases used in other countries and British spellings.
disclaimer: I received this book in exchange for an honest review
October 10, 2015
Roulette Romance – Beginner’s Luck is the first of a three part series, this also means that this first part is not a complete story. Instead, it is a build up for what is to come.
The writing is good and the book is easy to read and the characters are well developed. The main character, Matilda, is somewhat of a tomboy, and her personality makes for a very interesting read. When it comes to the female lead in romance novels, Matilda feels different in a good way, and it makes for an interesting read and I want to know where this story takes her.
The story had a nice pace and I never felt bored or tempted to put the book down. There was always something happening that made it interesting and I’m drawn into the plot.
This story is told through multiple first-person POVs, and first I thought I might find this distracting, but it ended up being the opposite. It was so much fun to see the events from the other character’s perspective too, and it also gave me a better understanding of who Matilda is. I also think that the author managed to give each of the characters a unique voice.
It’s written in a light and simple tone which makes for an easy read. There were times when I struggled a bit due to a few very long paragraphs, but other than that, editing was mostly done well too.
This is a book I can recommend to everyone who likes to read romance, and since this feels like this could be a good light romance, it could also be of interest for those who usually don’t reach for romance novels.
The writing is good and the book is easy to read and the characters are well developed. The main character, Matilda, is somewhat of a tomboy, and her personality makes for a very interesting read. When it comes to the female lead in romance novels, Matilda feels different in a good way, and it makes for an interesting read and I want to know where this story takes her.
The story had a nice pace and I never felt bored or tempted to put the book down. There was always something happening that made it interesting and I’m drawn into the plot.
This story is told through multiple first-person POVs, and first I thought I might find this distracting, but it ended up being the opposite. It was so much fun to see the events from the other character’s perspective too, and it also gave me a better understanding of who Matilda is. I also think that the author managed to give each of the characters a unique voice.
It’s written in a light and simple tone which makes for an easy read. There were times when I struggled a bit due to a few very long paragraphs, but other than that, editing was mostly done well too.
This is a book I can recommend to everyone who likes to read romance, and since this feels like this could be a good light romance, it could also be of interest for those who usually don’t reach for romance novels.
October 20, 2015
This is the first part in a novella series. Mat is ferociously strong and independent, all to cover up and deal with some past hurt that we haven't really discovered yet, though I think the synopsis alludes to in part at least. On the surface she's all dude, just one of the guys. But underneath all of that she's a dance loving romantic. I really enjoyed watching her relationships and interactions with others. She's a very no-nonsense type of gal who likes to keep everyone at arm's length.
I am really enjoying Anna's writing style and the different first-person perspectives she uses. Though, I think we're up to four different viewpoints right now. That's a little much for a story this short. Hopefully that levels out in the others. It worked here, but four or more perspectives could easily become too much. We'll have to see what happens there.
There's a lot of allusion to what's to come, so I'm excited to see that. I was completely engaged and kept wanting to flip the pages. Her writing style is smooth and flows well. I was very impressed with it thus far.
However, I felt that her hatred and love of dance needed to be explored a little more. It was a little confusing in how quickly she went from hating dance to letting it back into her life completely. I would have liked to see more hesitation and debating over it.
So far I'm really enjoying this series and am looking forward to the rest, hopefully more will be exposed in the coming novellas.
*I received a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.
**Reviewed by Amanda for My Own Little Corner
I am really enjoying Anna's writing style and the different first-person perspectives she uses. Though, I think we're up to four different viewpoints right now. That's a little much for a story this short. Hopefully that levels out in the others. It worked here, but four or more perspectives could easily become too much. We'll have to see what happens there.
There's a lot of allusion to what's to come, so I'm excited to see that. I was completely engaged and kept wanting to flip the pages. Her writing style is smooth and flows well. I was very impressed with it thus far.
However, I felt that her hatred and love of dance needed to be explored a little more. It was a little confusing in how quickly she went from hating dance to letting it back into her life completely. I would have liked to see more hesitation and debating over it.
So far I'm really enjoying this series and am looking forward to the rest, hopefully more will be exposed in the coming novellas.
*I received a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.
**Reviewed by Amanda for My Own Little Corner
December 4, 2015
I loved the beginning of this book. I feel we get to see Mat as she truly is. A tomboy who is trying a little too hard to be a tomboy. She is one of the guys on her team but has female insecurities and refuses to acknowledge her feelings for anything girlish - from her feelings for Brad all the way down to her thoughts about wearing dresses and dancing.
Everything seems to be going fine for Mat until a meeting with her professor takes her life in a different direction than she had originally planned.
I struggled with a few parts of the book because I felt like I was missing parts of the story with the rotating of 4 different POV's and different locations/scenes/days from one person to the next. So some of it didn't have a great flow to me. I do however love the story line, I just felt it could have been executed a little bit differently. I'm hoping with the next books in the series and with the character introductions out of the way things roll along a little more smoothly.
The blurb for this book and the series really interested me and is what drew me into reading it. I'm looking forward to reading the next books in the series and discovering all of the twists and turns that is hinted at in the blurbs.
I received a complimentary copy of this title for review purposes.
Everything seems to be going fine for Mat until a meeting with her professor takes her life in a different direction than she had originally planned.
I struggled with a few parts of the book because I felt like I was missing parts of the story with the rotating of 4 different POV's and different locations/scenes/days from one person to the next. So some of it didn't have a great flow to me. I do however love the story line, I just felt it could have been executed a little bit differently. I'm hoping with the next books in the series and with the character introductions out of the way things roll along a little more smoothly.
The blurb for this book and the series really interested me and is what drew me into reading it. I'm looking forward to reading the next books in the series and discovering all of the twists and turns that is hinted at in the blurbs.
I received a complimentary copy of this title for review purposes.
July 16, 2016
http://fallenoverbookreviews.blogspot...
I received this book to give an honest review.
So first let me start off with I am not finding this book on Amazon at all, not sure why but it is not there.
I really liked this book even though it is short for me it pulled me in. We are introduced to Mat (Matilda) and her friend Bradley. Mat is a tomboy through and through, and Bradley is the rich boy next door so to speak. These two are best friends and have feelings for each other but never act on them. When Mat meets with her professor about her grades she realizes that pre-med was never for her and she will now end up going into another direction. Though the question will remain once Mat hears the news from Bradley's girlfriend what will happen between Mat and Bradley? I can honestly say I enjoyed the story and where this book left off I wonder what will happen in Mat's life now. The book is pretty simple and the characters were pretty well developed and likable. Hopefully I can find the other books in this novella series as I want to see where it is all going to go.
I received this book to give an honest review.
So first let me start off with I am not finding this book on Amazon at all, not sure why but it is not there.
I really liked this book even though it is short for me it pulled me in. We are introduced to Mat (Matilda) and her friend Bradley. Mat is a tomboy through and through, and Bradley is the rich boy next door so to speak. These two are best friends and have feelings for each other but never act on them. When Mat meets with her professor about her grades she realizes that pre-med was never for her and she will now end up going into another direction. Though the question will remain once Mat hears the news from Bradley's girlfriend what will happen between Mat and Bradley? I can honestly say I enjoyed the story and where this book left off I wonder what will happen in Mat's life now. The book is pretty simple and the characters were pretty well developed and likable. Hopefully I can find the other books in this novella series as I want to see where it is all going to go.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews