I'm no stranger to Opal Carew's works, however I haven't been reading any of her recent books. I was taken aback by the style, I remember how much I enjoyed reading her past books unfortunately I cannot say the same to Stroke of Luck. I had to read the cover again to make sure that I was given a book written by Opal Carew. I do understand that authors' style changed over the course of time but reading this book I thought it was written by a novice author. It had a solid story outline but the execution was somewhat lacking. I couldn't feel any sympathy for Riana (the heroine) nor do I have high opinion of Quinn (the ex boyfriend, hero #1). The only character that I quite like is Austin (Quinn's business partner, hero #2). I almost wish he has his own book and a new heroine because Riana certainly doesn't deserved him. Although this book is not for me, I'm sure there will be readers who enjoyed reading it.

Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this book. It was written well. The plot was alright. I just couldn’t stand the way the sexual scenes were played out. Juvenile and immature are the best words that come to mind when referencing the intimate encounters between the three MC’s. The female MC was just so plain and vanilla and the men were boring. The sex was even more so. And that might very well be someone else’s cup of tea, it’s just definitely not mine.

ARC received for review

A much improved book by Ms. Carew. The last couple serials I read by her were just bad. I decided to give this one a shot, when I saw it was just one book.

Rianna runs into her first love when her fiancee dumps her on the wedding day. Quinn was burned by her before and wants to make her pay. His business partner steps in and help them back on the path to true love.

The only part I didn't like was the resolution with her ex. It seemed glossed over for all the drama and pain he caused.

This book is HOT! After discovering her fiance cheating the night before her wedding, April wakes up the next morning being booted out of the penthouse suite at a Las Vegas resort and having to foot the bill that her fiance left her with. Along comes her ex-college sweetheart ,Quinn, to the rescue. Quinn and April has many unresolved issues that Quinn's business partner, Austin, helps the two reconcile after both men come to April's rescue. The connection between the three is steaming as Quinn uses April's dire situation as a method to finally get her into his...and Austin's bed.

While this one is considered an erotic story, I thought this one had a nice storyline.
April has just caught her fiancé cheating in her. Then she wakes up to knocks on the door kicking her out of her unpaid hotel room and telling her she owes $100,000 (something like that) for her cancelled wedding. Enter Quinn - her ex boyfriend who is now seeing her at her lowest. He’ll help her though. She can stay with him in his room. Did he mention his best friend is here as well???

I recommend this one.

Well this was my first Opal Carew book and I will definitely be reading some more from her!

This book shows the relationship that get reincarnated between college sweethearts when they run into each other in a hotel in Las Vegas. I love how Carew not only wrote such great sex scenes between the characters in this book but she also created a believable story line. While their relationship begins to grow you learn more about why the couple broke up in college and what their fears and baggage are.

One thing that is important for you all to know is that this is a Male-Female-Male romance. If that is something you are not interested in then definitely do not try to read this book! Regardless, I really enjoyed the romance though I must say I did not expect the ending. There are twist and turns that I was not expecting throughout this book and overall it was just written beautifully. I would definitely recommend this book to anybody who is interested!

This book was amazing. Though I got confused about who was talking. The dynamic between Quinn, April and Austin was so hot.... Even when I wanted to smack Quinn at times lol... I love how April's courage to walk away from someone who could give her what she craved all her life.... Even when she chose to walk away from Quinn and put him first and foremost so he could achieve his dream....

Phew! This was a romance I did not see coming. The cover for Stroke of Luck caught my eye as I scrolled through NetGalley recently, and the story summary sounded intriguing. Not an author I recognized and not my usual preference for romance novel tropes, but intriguing. So I was happy to see yesterday that St Martin’s Press approved my request. Per my usual routine, I downloaded all the titles for which I’d been approved last night, and glanced through them, opening them up to their first page.

That is, until I opened up Stroke of Luck. I read the first sentence, and then the first paragraph, and then the first chapter, and then 2 hours later, at 1:30am, I finally made myself go to sleep. And yes, this was yesterday. I finished the book today. It turns out this is the perfect pandemic isolation read, keeping me glued to the pages until the end of the book. I never expected I’d have this reaction to a M/M/F erotic romance (and even this story still has not sold me on that lifestyle). But wow, I did not want to put this story down.

What you need to know is that Stroke of Luck is mainly composed of two things–sex and feelings. The book is at least half, if not more, steamy, explicit, sensual, non-traditional sex scenes. In between the sex, the three protagonists, April (not Rian, as the Goodreads blurb says), Quinn, and Austin get to know each other. April and Quinn have a back story and personal baggage that makes their developing relationship more complicated, while Austin is just a sweet and sunny golden boy, bursting with muscles and brilliant insights into the people around him. The only possible complaint about Austin is that he is too perfect–generous, patient, optimistic, and tender. Quinn’s got baggage that he allows to make himself a bit of jerk from time to time. And April is sweet, gorgeous and horny as anything, but she’s also shy and deeply insecure. She has her reasons for those qualities in the personal history she slowly reveals, but the resulting caution and reserve she exhibits complicate the development of their burgeoning relationship.

Because it is definitely THEIR relationship. April is equally with Austin as she is with Quinn, although it seems Quinn is the leader of most of their joint endeavors. Most of the sex scenes are joint, as is the emotional side of their relationships. For all that this is a silly, over-the-top story about obscenely wealthy people having endless sex in a fancy hotel, it is also a deeply felt emotional story, with three likable if somewhat flawed characters. It made me believe that a relationship like this could work romantically as well as sexually.

The writing isn’t perfect. There’s a lot of awkward transitions in narration from scene to scene and among the rotating perspectives of the three main characters that can cause some confusion and require brief rereading. The three main characters, and all the secondary characters in the book, are also resoundingly white, which is not something I appreciate. There was no diversity in this book; the best representation offered was of a person who’d grown up poor in the foster care system, and of the characters’ non-traditional romantic relationship. And nothing is realistic about their obscenely wealthy life, stunningly gorgeous bodies, and unstoppable sex drive, if such lack of realism is something that distracts you.

But in the dumpster fire world of 2020, as I’m sitting at home trying to avoid death by pandemic, this sweet and steamy, filthy dirty erotic romance was just the candy I needed to pass a happy day safely inside my home. For a few blissful hours, I forgot about constant news cycles and rising death tolls and just enjoyed myself. If what I described above isn’t to your taste, don’t bother reading this, as it is exactly what it claims to be. But, if you would like a book that revels in being exactly what it is–a book about beautiful rich people having all the sex in all the different ways, with plenty of feels to go with it, then this could also be the book for you. Highly recommended escapist fare.

Thank you so much to #NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for letting me read a free advanced copy of #StrokeofLuck. This is my honest opinion.