Lady Luck by Kristen Ashley 

Narrated by Emma Taylor

Kristen Ashley delivers another romantic, suspenseful, and funny story in Lady Luck. I may have come late to the Kristen Ashley fan club, but I have quickly learned that if you are looking for an incredibly well developed, highly original, and deeply entertaining romance, then you can always count on Ms. Ashley. Lady Luck is no exception. In fact, I’d say, at well over twenty-two hours of audio, if anything, it’s a super buy for just one listening credit. In that regard, I counted at least two places where this book could have easily been split into a multi-volume story, but rather than making you pay extra, you get it all in one book. As if that weren’t enough, the narration by Emma Taylor is fantastic!

Is it possible to be born Lady Luck impaired? Lexie Berry certainly believes so. The loss of her parents at a young age, and the murder of a boyfriend who had a promising athletic career only to end up mired in crime, are just a couple of the areas in which Lady Luck has been less then generous. As if that wasn’t bad enough, she can’t seem to get out from under the thumb of her boyfriend’s questionable friend who seems to also be involved in things that are less than on the up and up. His latest request has her picking up convict Ty Walker from jail.

As a high stakes gambler who has won hundreds of thousands of dollars at a table, Ty usually benefits from Lady Luck. Recently though, Lady Luck abandoned Ty when he was forced to spend the last five years of his life in jail for a crime he didn’t commit. He survived only by concentrating on his plan of revenge for the people who set him up. Now that he is finally out, he’s a man with a one-track mind on his mission.

As soon as he meets Lexie, Ty quickly realizes that there is at least one other thing he’d like to do. Soon Lexie and Ty strike a bargain – Ty will provide her the opportunity to escape her past in return for helping him make good on his plans for the future. As they get to know one another, however, their charade eventually becomes a reality as they realize just how right they are for one another. But as Lady Luck has never been on Lexie’s side, do Lexie and Ty have any real chance at a HEA together? Moreover, as the powerful forces underlying Ty’s setup start to be unveiled and begin renewing their efforts to destroy Ty once and for all, it soon becomes clear that no one associated with Ty is safe.

Wow, Emma Taylor’s performance absolutely floored me! Having never listened to her before, and making my decision to listen to this book solely on my prior success with Kristen Ashley, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. So imagine my surprise when what I found was a narration that was off the charts and excelled in each one of the several factors that I look for in a good narration.

First off, Ms. Taylor did an amazing job at creating both believable females and males. I know one of the observations that we have seen here at AudioGals is that the males in Kristen Ashley’s Dream Man series, narrated by Kate Russell, do not quite sound true to character. Ms. Taylor’s depiction of Ty, in turn, was spot on. Creating the perfectly deep and gruff sounding voice for Ty, I had no trouble envisioning this 6’ 6” half African American, tough guy, alpha hero from her performance. Her depiction of the sweet, loyal, and somewhat goofey Lexie, in turn, is equally well matched to her scripted role.

Additionally, each and every one of the long list of cast members had his or her own unique sound. From Ty’s and Lexie’s friends to the panoply of law enforcement officers and bad boys, every single one was completely distinguishable. As if that wasn’t difficult enough, Ms. Taylor also pulls off creating characters that are true to his or her age and geographical location. In fact, I’d have to say that my second most favorite character in this book, after Ty of course, is Angel Pena, a Mexican American officer from Texas. Ms. Taylor adeptly pulls off a heavy Mexican-American accent, and manages to deliver Pena’s numerous comical lines with impeccable timing.

Last, but definitely not least, Ms. Taylor does a great job at timing her delivery to give maximum effect to the mood of the scene and the emotions being conveyed. I found this especially helpful in giving added effect to the suspenseful scenes which are plentiful in this story.

All in all, Lady Luck was a lucky find for me! Not only did I love the story, but I now have a new go to narrator to boot!

BJ

Narration:  A+

Book Content:  A-

Steam Factor:  For your burning ears only

Violence:  Fighting

Genre:  Contemporary Romance

Publisher:  Hachette Audio

Lady Luck was provided to AudioGals by Hachette Audio for review.