As a Wisconsin resident, I was excited to read a book that takes place in my area. That’s one of the few things I liked about this book unfortunately. I couldn’t get myself to like the main character. I wish Tommy and Lisa were in this book more as they seemed to be the only two that were decent characters.

I thought this was very different than the author's first book but I enjoyed it all the same. I think her writing style is warm and relatable and I think a lot of women can relate to a relationship becoming old and stale, and trying to get through issues in middle-age. The gambling plot wasn't really my favorite but I do like the author's writing a lot.

Three stars: A book that explores that struggles of a long time marriage.

MJ is a little irritated when Chris fails to show up to the special lunch she arranged for their twentieth wedding anniversary. She ends up drinking too much and consuming a whole lemon pie by herself. She still loves her husband, right? MJ decides that she wants to find a way to rekindle her marriage. She suggests a casino outing to play poker with Chris. What she doesn’t expect it is to find herself quickly immersed into the poker world. Soon MJ is neglecting her responsibilities and family to play poker. MJ wants to win a poker tournament so she can take Chris to Vegas, but her plan backfires when her family starts to fall apart in her absence. Can MJ save her marriage with a little love and luck?
What I Liked:
*I was excited to read this book after enjoying Reichert’s debut novel: The Coincidence of Coconut Cake. This book is a little different, though it lacked the feel good warmth that I craved, I did like that it realistically explored the struggle of a long time marriage.
*This book is all about a long term marriage going through a low spot. MJ and Chris are still in love, but they somehow have lost the spark. They find themselves going through the motions, with little time to connect. MJ wants to fix it, but she doesn’t exactly go about it the right way. I liked that the author kept it real, as she exposed the problems that couples go through as they continue to make a marriage work. I may not have liked MJ’s decisions, but I understood her.
*I was surprised to find that I was fascinated by all the poker talk. I have played poker, so I know a little about it, but this book takes it to a whole new level. I liked the mind games, and the tells. MJ becomes a master at reading people, and I thought this part of the book was entertaining and interesting.
*I enjoyed many of the secondary characters from MJ’s mother, to her two best friends. I was most surprised to find that I ended up liking Doyle, the world famous poker player. I thought for sure he was going to be a jerk, but he wasn’t. I liked being surprised.
*I didn’t like the way MJ handled the situation with Tammy until the end. Thank goodness that she figured it out and got it right.
*After plenty of bumps in the road, the book ends in a good place. I was encouraged by the ending.
*The book ends with a delicious lemon pie recipe that I am dying to try. Yum!
*I listened to the audio version narrated by Susan Ericksen. Ms. Ericksen is a veteran narrator and I always enjoy her work. I thought she did a great job capturing the characters. He male voices were well done!
And The Not So Much:
*I am not going to lie, MJ is a complex character, which makes her hard to like sometimes. I appreciated that the author gave plenty of information from the past and present so the reader could understand her, but she is tough to like a lot of the time. I didn’t like her immaturity when Tammy came to town, she immediately jumped to conclusions. I also didn’t like the way she abandoned her family all the time to play poker, but again, I understood why. She may have gone about fixing her marriage in a not so smart way, but she eventually gets it right, so I liked her in the end.
*I felt no connection to Chris. I wish that there was more detail and development of his character. What was he thinking?
*The whole mean girl theme with Tammy got annoying, especially when MJ continues it at fifty years old. I had to resist from rolling my eyes at those scenes.
*This one lacked the warmth and light heartedness that I was craving. It wasn’t exactly a feel good read, in fact, sometimes it is down right depressing. Yes, it finally turns around at the end, but it wasn’t enough to save the read for me. I went into this one looking for a pick me up, feel good read, and it definitely wasn’t that.
*The author incorporates flashback scenes to help the reader understand MJ and her relationship with Chris. I don’t know if it was because I listened to the audio or not, but I found some of the flashbacks confusing, I wasn’t sure if I was in the past or present sometimes. They were not incorporated well.

Luck, Love and Lemon Pie was a book I picked up hoping for a happy, feel good read. Unfortunately this book wasn’t what I was expecting. Instead I got a realistic view of a long time marriage working through a stumbling block. Even though it lacked the warmth I wanted, I did enjoy seeing the characters work through the rough spots, and I enjoyed all the poker talk. Even though this was a bit of a let down, it still ended up being a good read.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for this review.
Posted@Rainy Day Ramblings.

Thank you for the chance to review this book, however, unfortunately, I was unable to download this title before it was archived

I liked this book because it felt authentic, and I could easily relate to MJ and the struggles she’s going through. Keeping a marriage going for decades is work, and it is easy to drift apart. If is wasn’t difficult, then there wouldn’t be such a high divorce rate. My main complaint is that I feel like the book is a bit sexist, in that it kind of seems like one of the conclusions is that it isn't okay for MJ to have interests outside of her home or away from her family. I know that isn't the main take away, but it's kind of implicit. Maybe that's just me.

I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. This book tells the story of MJ and her struggles with her self and her marriage to husband Chris. When we first meet her, she's been waiting over three hours for her husband to show up for their anniversary lunch. When he finally does show up (4 hours late) he runs right back to playing poker at the casino. Deciding it may be her only chance to spend time with her husband, MJ asks him to teach her how to play. And while she does find that she's actually pretty good at this poker thing and even manages to win a local tournament, she doesn't find that its bringing her any closer in her marriage. In fact just the opposite, Chris and her drift even further apart while she's off practicing her poker hand. 

Overall I very much did not care for this book. I found the plot to be frustrating and even quite angering. Chris takes on absolutely no responsibility for their failing relationship and actually flat out rejects MJ's repeated attempts to talk to him about it. And then he actually goes and tries to end a twenty year marriage without even having a discussion with her about it first. If it were me I would've signed the papers and said see ya round jackass. MJ was a half hour late to dinner and Chris decides that is a good reason to just not come home that night? Where did he go?! But when he is FOUR HOURS late to an anniversary lunch every thing's perfectly fine!!?? Freaking kidding me. I'm getting mad again thinking about it like a week after reading it. Anyways, as you can tell by my venting this plot had a lot of points I just couldn't understand or agree with. If you can see past those points I guess give it a try. I like other books by this author, and it isn't like the writing was bad I just couldn't identify with the plot.

Who doesn't like a book with food on the cover??? When MJ takes up gambling to win back her husband what can go wrong? What a fun read!

DNF. This was a miserable bore full of characters I loathed. I made it through half of it and gave up.

I so badly wanted to read this because I loved THE COINCIDENCE OF COCONUT CAKE, but I was let down that this release didn't feature food as prominently as the author's previous release.

Amy E. Reichert is one of my favorite Women's Fiction writers. I love the eloquence of her writing and the characters she portrays. "Luck, Love & Lemon Pie" is one of those charming, heartfelt reads that just makes a reader like me happy.

Did not love it as much as her debut novel but it was still a pleasant read.