Luck Be a Lady

West Investigations #2

by Cathie Linz

A shocking announcement at her cousin's Vegas wedding sends retro- loving librarian Megan West on a whirlwind tour across Nevada with brash cop Logan Doyle. It's the gamble-and perhaps love affair-of a lifetime...

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Fiction, Chick Lit, Adult, Adult Fiction

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 11, 2010

About the author

Cathie Linz Baumgardner was an American librarian and a prolific romance novelist, publishing over 50 novels under the names Cathie Linz and Cat Devon. Her books, known for their humor and witty dialogue, have been translated into nearly 20 languages worldwide. She contributed to the acclaimed anthology Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women: Romance Writers on the Appeal of the Romance and received multiple honors, including the Romantic Times Career Achievement Storyteller of the Year, Reviewers' Choice Award, eHarlequin Readers' Choice Award, and Write Touch Award. An avid traveler, she lived in the Chicago area with her family and her cat.

Reviews

[Splage · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very below average book and a waste of my time. This is the second book I have read by this author and probably my last, the titles and covers are what drew me in and we all know the saying, "Don't judge a book ...". The book was a mess, it had so much filler and side stories that weren't interesting and didn't go anywhere. The author tried too hard to be funny, quirky, romantic and didn't succeed in any department. The main characters could have been engaging, but the story line fell way short.

[Saly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Luck be Lady was pretty enjoyable. This is the story of Megan who is the cousin of Faith(from Mad, Bad and Blonde). Faith is getting married to Caine when in walks Logan, Buddy's grandson(Buddy is dating Megan's gram's). Logan thinks that his grandfather is about to get married and comes to stop him since it turns out Buddy's second marriage was not annulled.

Megan was raised by her father and is a librarian and she over-hears a conversation between her father and Faith's father that her mother is not dead as she was told. Megan is shattered since her life seems a lie, she is distraught and runs into Logan and they begin a search for her mother since Megan wants answers and doubts she will get them from her family.

Logan is a divorced cop, still dealing with the death of his partner on his job and on top of that seeing his father's track record with women and his own failed marriage he is not interested in a relationship. Also Megan does not like cops much(her friend's abusive ex was one).

So, these two begin a crazy search that takes them to a brothel, a crazy town etc and then they return back to Chicago.

Whenever they are about to get together either the job interrupts or family. Megan is helped by her cousin Faith in tracking down her mother. Megan was just hurt by the lie she had lived her whole life and only wanted answers and I kind of understood that though in the beginning I felt why was she behaving like that. I liked seeing Megan doing her job as well.

It was a good read.

[☆☆Hannah☆☆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good read. Megan is at her cousin's wedding when she meets Logan. This is also where she learns that her mother isn't actually dead. This causes her to run off and try to find her mother. Along for the ride is Logan and along the way they fell in love.

[Katie(babs) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Librarian Megan West, who loves wearing vintage dresses, has come to Las Vegas to celebrate her best friend Faith's wedding. Megan's plan is to make sure Faith's wedding goes off without a hitch. The ceremony starts out well until someone rushes in calling a halt to the proceedings. Police Officer, Logan Doyle thinks his grandfather Buddy is about to get married, which he does plan to do with Megan's grandmother. But there's one big problem, seeing as Buddy is still married to his second wife and never signed the annulment papers.

Although Faith is safely married, Megan worries for her grandmother. And then she overhears her father and uncle talking about her mother, who she thought was dead all these years, but really wasn't. Megan's mother left when she was two-years-old and never looked back. Now Megan wants to locate her. Logan wants to make sure Megan stays out of trouble because he finds her too bossy for her own good. He'll travel with her as she investigates her mystery mother, which includes a trip to a brothel and a small ghost like town where the residents expect Megan and Logan to get married or else.

Logan can barely keep his head on straight where Megan is concerned, and soon these two can't keep their hands off of one another. Can this former Marine and retro loving librarian make things work out even if and when Megan meets her missing mother it may be a disastrous turn of events?

Luck Be a Lady is a light contemporary romance where the two least likely people fall in love. Those who also enjoy an, on the road tale where the two main characters constantly snipe at one another, will want to read this latest by Cathie Linz. This is definitely a type of romance that would appeal to those who don't want to read about too much drama, but more of a simple journey for two people who seem adrift in life.

Megan is very upbeat, while Logan is more down to Earth, and because of that they bring out the best in one another. Logan can't help but want to be protective of Megan and that's where he really grows as a character. He may come across as tough as nails, but where Megan's concerned, he's a big puppy dog who needs love. And Megan is the perfect woman to give that to him.

Luck Be a Lady has a few humorous moments, especially when Megan and Logan meets some eccentric characters. Cathie Linz is a pro at writing sweet romances, and this is yet another one where her fans will gobble up and want more.

[C.C Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have come to accept that I am a sucker for romance, and rather easily tempted by a lovely and sometimes steamy love scene. What I find most annoying about romance novels are the horrible embarrassing covers, it makes it impossible to even pick up, much less buy, check out and read. Luck be a lady has a lovely cover, and it may sound horrible but it's what made me buy it...and I am glad I did. The title, looking back at it, however doesn't seem well suited for this novel. Luck doesn't really play a theme here....perhaps "love be a lady" or something else? Anyways I digress....

The main characters of this book are wonderful, well thought out and likable. The book, for me at least, starts off a bit slow but by the second, maybe third chapter it picks up. A few things in the novel became rather old and annoying very quickly. For example the constant mention of Megan being the optimist. I got tired of the phrase "I am the optimist of the family" very quickly. I also got tired of west saying "am a librarian".....and the costant mention of Logan and megans "chemistry" by other characters... Talk about over kill. I get it, they have chemistry...... A few other things of that nature got boring. I feel that logans background story is a bit of a let down, the way it was being set up made it seemed that something bigger was going to came up. Regardless I liked him as the lead huck. My favorite character had to be buddy and I love and share megans love for the retro.

What makes a romance novel, for me, is the steamy passion and (as Linz overstated) the chemistry, the male leads flirting abilities and of course the happy ending. This novel has it all...in terms of my list....The happy ending made it for me because usually the couple kisses, starts dating and viola, you are left to wonder and imagine what happens next and are left to assume they continue to be happy for eternity. That's nice but I don't like that, here linz did the right thing and married them. Me gusta, me gusta mucho.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh those West girls!...cousins and fellow librarians Megan and Faith sure do get into a lot of 'big, hunky, men' trouble. When Logan Doyle bursts into Faith's wedding in Las Vegas with devastating news, Megan gets her dander up. But, not only is the news that Logan's gramps is still married (and inconveniently about to be married to Megan's grandmother), bad enough...Megan finds out that her supposedly dead mother is actually alive and well. Her father has lied to her all these years and kept her apart from her mother, or was it all his doing? Megan takes off with hunky Logan, a Chicago police detective, and they try to piece together the facts about her mom. It is evident she doesn't want to be found.

When the whole family gets back to Chicago, Logan and Megan have a on-again, off-again relationship that is full of sexual tension, heat, and creativity (if you get my drift). But Megan, although she thinks she is falling in love, is leery of Logan's standoffishness. His nightmares and lack of attentiveness at times is infuriating. Finally, Megan finds out the truth about her mom, Logan deals with his feelings of guilt, and the two find a way to help each other...and a can of whipped cream and strawberries makes everything seem better! I know I'll never look at whipped cream again without the images of Logan and Megan and their escapades coming through! This is one fun, romantic story about a sexy Chicago librarian.

[Bookaholics · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luck be a Lady by Cathie Linz
Contemporary Romance – Oct 5th, 2010
4 Stars

This story is about Megan West's as she helps her grandmother get married. Fortunately for her, she also finds the grandson of the groom incredibly attractive. On paper, Megan and Logan are nothing alike, but tough Logan (an avid Bears fan and rugged cop) finds the librarian Megan to be incredibly attractive. And the sparks fly as their interests’ heat up! Together they go on an adventure through Las Vegas as Megan utilizes her lucky with Logan to search for her mother. The romance builds throughout the story as the couple goes through family secrets, holidays, and facing troubled pasts.

This book has amazing secondary characters such as Megan's cousin Faith and Logan's brother Connor. I liked how they add a lot of humor to the story. Luck be a Lady is not just a romance, but a great modern day contemporary fictional story. It is very realistic and the setting and dialog between the characters are snappy and smart. I would definitely recommend this book.

Reviewed by Sophia from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club

[Marci Hopkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the characters, but I felt the back jacket did a poor job with setup. Logan Doyle didn't "ruin everything," with the wedding. He really had not much at all to do with the actual wedding. He was disrupting a wedding that hadn't happened. And the revelation Megan has has nothing to do with either the wedding or why Logan was there. I know the author isn't responsible for back copy, but this one was really bad.

None of the incidents really connected very well to each other. The novel really lacked a sense of flow. While it had a sense of fun and playfulness which is what I liked, any element could have dropped out without impacting the story. The whole interlude in Last Resort was utterly pointless from a plot driving perspective. It introduced fun characters and provided character development for our hero and heroine, but so could any number of other things that would have advanced the plot.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the follow-up to "Mad, Bad and Blonde". In this installment, we meet librarian Megan West as her cousin Faith is about to get married. Not afraid to disrupt a wedding-in-progress, Logan Doyle pops in just in time to say the wedding can't continue. Oh, he doesn't know who's getting married, but he does know that his Grandfather isn't divorced yet, so he can't get re-married. Logan and Megan have words and the rest, as they say, is history.

This was a fun little book and I think Linz did a great job of tying in all her books, to date, into this story. She clearly loves librarians (who doesn't, right?), because at least 3 of her protagonists have been librarians of varying degrees. This book isn't anything that will require brain power, but it's a funny and light romantic comedy with some steam to it. If you need a book to help you kick back, give this one a try.

[Jessi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another librarian book (which you would think I would like, but it doesn't play much into this story except to show that "preconceptions" are wrong, but it's pretty much the same conversations from "Mad, Bad and Blonde").
Fun story about cop Logan Doyle coming to Las Vegas to stop his grandfather's wedding to Megan West's grandmother. Instead, he almost breaks up her cousin's wedding. So he and Megan don't get o to a good start. But later that night she finds out that her dead mother is really alive so he helps her track down a nearby brothel owner who knew her mother. They get stopped overnight in a small town but are able to resist their attraction to one another. Then more stuff happens and... there is just too much going on in this book. The author tried to pack in a lot of situations and meetings but it just felt jumbled and overwhelming.

[Char (1RadReader59) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok I don't know what the otherwise people were reading but this was a very good book. There were some very funny moments but there were some very touching if not sad moments in the book. The earth shattering news Megan finds out after her cousin wedding by accident while her dad & uncle talked is more then she can take. So, lucky for her the grandson of her grandma's fiancee was there to stop the wedding which was a big mistake. So, she was so upset he takes her out to talk about what happened & wow the rollercoaster ride begins. But the bumps are fun & heartbreaking at the same time. All the characters seem to become a part of your family as if you know them. This is a very good read a great follow up book.

[May · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to love this author. I like her heroines, she has interesting ideas for stories and lots of good stuff... But she disappoints 2x in a row for me and I don't know if I will try her again.

The problem with this book is that a lot was happening but it was like the author would put it out there and "yada yada... Resolved". No real emotion, no gripping scenes. Any conflict is resolved without thought. It just IS FIXED. Drove me nuts.

Just a very superficial (barely scratch surface) and ultimately unsatisfying read.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the first book, but I wasn't really impressed with this one. It seemed really random: random happenstances, random paragraphs stuck in the middle of the narrative, random dialogue. This just didn't have the charm that the first one had. Also, her descriptions of the library world kind of annoyed me - it felt like she was trying to hard to cater to librarians. Disappointing. I hope she puts more effort into the next one.

[Diah Didi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Direkomendasi ama Veeta karna dia tau aku suka yg tokohnya librarian.
Yah ceritanya standard and agak membosankan. Bagian yg lumayan menghibur pas mereka nginep bareng di motel. But then again, I didn't even remember the first time they did it since it's not that memorable for me. Too many interuptions when they're making out. But I thought it's more Cathie Liz style cause it happened also in her other novels. :p

[Kevin Connery · Rating 1 out of 5]

An utter lack of understanding of geography where it matters (Reno is ~8 hours from Las Vegas in a car, not less than 1), and some very poor editing, combined with an only OK storyline (a mystery that isn’t mysterious and isn’t solved in any meaningful way) and so-so characters makes for a poor book. It had a 5 star rating on Amazon, but 1.5 seems more generous than it deserved.

[JoAn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book from beginning to end. The hero was a tough cop with a past that he needed to face; but he was there for the heroine when she needed him to help her begin a journey of discovery. I laughed throughout the book because the dialogue was written so well. The heroine had some growing up to do but he let her develop at her own pace. The ending was just perfect for this couple.

[S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although there are parts of this story that I absolutely loved (instead of a secret baby story, it's the reverse!), the wacky secondary characters quotient was rather high for me. At least they weren't relatives, just the residents of Last Resort.

[Shannon Adamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it when you can't predict a book, just like this one! And it looks like there is a 2nd book out in regards to a character from this 1st book! Which means only one thing.... I guess I need to read it..... She has other books she has written, I'll have to look them up.

[Lyndsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars (C+ or B-)Cute story. Sub plots were a little distracting and strung out a little long. Too much time spent on unneccary elements that did not aid the primary story line or increase the tension between the protagonists. But for a fluffy story it was good.

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'll be honest, I didn't finish this book, It was so poorly written, I put it down after one hundered ish pages in. I picked this up because I did liked Mad Bad Blonde, I won't continue with this series.

[Jenny Gargarello · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised when my husband brought this book home to me. He found it at a little free library and thought that I would enjoy it because the main character is a librarian. So sweet. It isn't the kind of book I normally read but I liked it anyway.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good. I or one liked the book. It was really good and sweet.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story

[Evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Librarian Megan West, in Las Vegas for her cousin's wedding, meets up with Chicago cop Logan Doyle when he tries to stop the wedding. Second in the West Investigations series.

[Rebecca Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gosh I love Vegas and that is all.

[Anne Marsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was super cute, with some lovely dialogue. I absolutely adore the covers for Cathie Linz's books.

[ツ Renée · Rating 4 out of 5]

A feisty heroine in Megan, accompanied by the hunky cop Logan, some adventure, suspense, and a lot of laughs, and I got another enjoyable read. I’m looking forward to Connor’s story.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little book, and a fairly realistic picture of what a librarian actually does with her day.

[Leigh Ann DePope · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found this author's other books to be entertaining but this one seemed formulaic. I skimed right through it. It had some of the fun aspects of the others but not enough to get me to read every word.