Her name was Carly Watson. The final hours of her life were brutal.

“So. Are you going to see him again?"
"Technically, I haven't seen him at all . . ."

Tory had almost reached her destination when a machine gun blasted crazily from the farmhouse ahead.

Most criminal acts could be carried out in silence. Playing a thirty-six rank, three-manual pipe organ on a quiet Sunday afternoon wasn't one of them.

Pittacus Lore
ISBN #:  978-0-06-196955-3
Publisher Name:  HarperCollins/ HarperCollins Teen
Date Released:  August 2010
Genre:  YA/Paranormal
Book Format:  Print.

BACK COVER BLURB:









I am next.

COVER SNARK:
Boring, but sci-fi.

The door starts shaking.













Borrowed from my local library.

M.J. Putney
ISBN #: 978-0-312-62284-8
Publisher Name: St. Martin’s Press/Griffin
Date Released: March 2011
Genre: Historical YA Romance
Book Format: Print


BACK COVER BLURB:

As the youngest daughter of the Earl of Countess of Fairmount, Lady Victoria “Tory” Mansfield is destined for a charmed like of status and wealth. The envy of many young girls, Tory knows she is lucky which is why she goes to great lengths to hide her special talent . . . magic. If her powers were exposed, it could strip her of her position and disgrace her family forever. Which is exactly what happens when a shocking accident forces Tory to reveal her magic, and she is immediately exiled to Lackland Abbey, a reformed school for other young men and women in her unique position.

What lies ahead is a strange and wonderful world where Tory will learn that it is not her social standing or her family’s wealth, but destiny and magic, true love and friendship, and courage and strength that determine her real worth as a young woman.

COVER SNARK:
The mirror image was a little weird to me. I get the theme but I wish the mirror image was something different.

FIRST LINES:

“Be damned to all mages!” the earl snarled as he stromed into the coffeehouse.

As someone who’s been reading romance from a ridiculously young age, I remember going to the bookstores and picking up every Mary Jo Putney historical novel the minute it became released. Loved her stuff. Then like most authors of that era they started getting a little stale to me and I stopped buying.

When DARK MIRROR came to me, I was interested in seeing where she was going, but I didn’t have the desire to read it. I was a fool. I wish I read it the moment it came in the mail instead of waiting almost two months.

If anyone is familiar with Ms. Putney’s historical novels they are seeped in detail, DARK MIRROR is no exception but I love how it’s tailored for a YA Audience, yet doesn’t dumb down the details. I also loved her world building. If there is anything bad that I can say is that it did seem bogged down at times and I wanted more of Tory and her love interest, but based on the time and circumstances, it was realistic that more focus wasn't placed on Tory and her romantic interest. It just wouldn't have been believeable historically. And if anything Mary Jo Putney is great with historical details.

I guess you’d like me to tell you something about the book . . .

Magic is in the world. But the aristocracy hates magic and feel that it is only something commoners should possess. Any high-born person who shows a trace of magic is cast off from society. Tory has magic and when she uses it to save a life, she is disowned from her family and sent to a school where they purge the magic from them. All Tory wants is to get back to the family that she loves and all she knows. Yet, she has a hard time getting rid of a big part of herself, which is her magic.

At her school Tory stumbles upon a secret society where instead of trying to get rid of their magic, they are learning to use and harness it. They are doing this for a good cause. Napoleon is close to invading England and they feel that they could use their powers to help save England. During one such training session they are raided and why trying to lead the raiders away from others in the group, she stumbles across a mirror. She runs towards it and finds herself waking up in 1940's England facing the invasion of Germany.

Yada, yada, yada. It’s good, buy it. I loved the historical details and the intricant plot. The charecters were realistic to their time and place. I do with the love story was more, but because of what the charecters were dealing with it didn't bother me.

That is all. Go forth and buy.

WHERE PURCHASED:
Won from Goodreads giveaway.

RATING:

Elizabeth Eulberg
ISBN #: 978-0-545-24077-2
Publisher Name: Scholastic Inc./Scholastic Point
Date Released: January 2011
Genre: Young Adult Romance
Book Format: Print.

BACK COVER BLURB:
After winter break, the girls at the very prestigious Longbourn Academy become obsessed with the prom. Lizzie Bennet, who attends Longbourn on a scholarship, isn’t interested in designer dresses and expensive shoes, but her best friend, Jane, might be – especially now that Charles Bingley is back from a semester in London.

Lizzie is happy about her friend’s burgeoning romance but less than impressed by Charles’s friend, Will Darcy who’s snobby and pretentious. Darcy doesn’t seem to like Lizzie either, but she assumes it’s because her family doesn’t have money. Clearly, Will Darcy is a pompous jerk – so why does Lizzie find herself drawn to him anyway?

Will Lizzie’s pride and Will’s prejudice keep them apart? Or are they a prom couple in the making?

COVER SNARK:
Totally cute.

FIRST LINES:

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single girl of high standing at Longbourn Academy must be in want of a prom date.”

Anyhoo, PROM AND PREJUDICE was the cutest story ever. I loved it and read it in a couple hours. This version has got to be one of my favorite Pride and Prejudice adaptations. Elizabeth and Darcy were styled into two great YA characters while staying realistic to the heart of the Lizzie and Darcy I loved. I also loved how the author updated the situation to modern times, while still retaining the solid core of the charecters we know and love. You have to get and read PROM AND PREJUDICE. Seriously, it’s the cutest thing ever.

I suppose you are looking for a little more from me, huh. . . . Darn it.

Elizabeth Bennet’s life is a living hell as a scholarship student at Longbourne Academy. Her fellow students (such as Caroline Bingley and Cat De Bough) look town her and haze/bully her constantly. The only thing that makes going to Longbourne bearable is her roommate Jane Netherfield, the other scholarship student Charlotte Lucas, and renowned music teacher Mrs. Gardiner. If Elizabeth can manage to keep her grades up and make it through the awful bullying, she’ll have the chance to really make her musical career.

Prom’s at Longbourne Academy are media events and it could ruin someone’s future and social standings if they don’t go. Elizabeth knows that she’s not going to go, especially with the way everyone looks down on her especially Will Darcy from the neighboring Pemberly Academy. She gets some relief from George Wickham, a former student from Pemberly Academy who seems to understand what she’s going through and befriends her. When she hears how horribly he’s was treated by Darcy, that only solidifies her low opinion of Will.

Lizzie does have a bad opinion of Will, but it seems like Will Darcy has an equally bad opinion of her. Why else would he keep showing up at the coffee shop where she works, despite her telling him the days she works so he could avoid being there at the same time? But she has more things to worry about. The annoying Colin Williams keeps dodging her heels and her beloved friend Jane hasn’t been asked to the prom yet by Charles Bingley. People have been treating Jane differently ever since her father lost his job when his company got sold and since Jane’s brash little sister Lydia arrived at school making a fool out of herself. Why hasn’t Charles asked Jane to the prom? Is it because of his twin sister Caroline Bingley or was it because of Will Darcy?

Then Lizzie gets the greatest shock of all . . . Will Darcy, the boy she always thought hated her asks her to the prom.

Okay, I hope that was enough. Was it? Get PROM AND PREJUDICE. Seriously, guys, it’s the cutest thing ever. I loved PROM AND PREJUDICE.

And one day, I’ll promise to have more articulate reviews.

WHERE PURCHASED:
Borrowed from my local library.


RATING:

Linda Lael Miller
ISBN #: 0-671-73166-1
Publisher Name: Pocket Books
Date Released: September 1992
Page Count: 377
Genre: Historical Romance
Book Format: Print

BACK COVER BLURB:
Jolie McKibben figured that when a woman has to choose between death and marriage to a total stranger, she must be in a desperate predicament. And Jolie, standing under the hot sun with a noose around her neck, surely was. But something – the defiant lift of her chin or her frightened blue-green eyes – had caught the attention of Daniel Beckham. He stopped the hanging by invoking the town's wedding ordinance and married the pretty "outlaw" on the spot.

So Jolie's hide was saved . . . only her pride was more wounded! Daniel didn't believe she was innocent, and he barely spoke on the drive out to his farm. Worse still, two desperados were on her trail, and she didn't dare confide her troubles to her new husband. Yet under the star-splased Western sky, Jolie trembled whenever this rugged giant of a man came near. Now she hungered for his kisses, dreamed of his touch, and knew she would do anything a woman could to win his love – to be, with her body and soul, truly Daniel's Bride.

COVER SNARK:
I always loved his cover. I love how strong and rugged looks, how sexy Jolie looks and the fact that they look ready to tear each other's clothes off, even if I don't think what Jolie's wearing is realistic for a farmer's wife.

FIRST LINES:

The noose lay heavy around Jolie McKibben's neck, smelling of sweat and horseflesh and hemp. Frantic protests of innocence had long since rendered her throat too raw to speak, and she felt nothing except a certain defiant numbness as she stared back at those who had gathered to see her hanged. Her blue-green eyes were dry and hot, but a tiny stream of perspiration trickled between her breasts, like a tear gone astray.

FAVORITE LINES:

It was then that a big man came out of the mercantile, a flour sack over one thick shoulder, his face hidden by the brim of a large, stained hat. He wore plain brown trousers, a rough-spun shirt the color of buttery cream, and an old buckskin vest. He silenced the yammering spectators just by sweeping them up in a single scathing glance, then set the bag on the wooden sidewalk with an unhurried motion and came down the steps. He crossed a street paved in mud, manure, and sawdust and stood at the rear of the wagon.

By that point, Daniel's concentration was so strained that the ax head bounced off a knot in a piece of wood and came within an inch of opening a crevice in his shin. With a mighty swing, he set the blade deep into the chopping black and then swept off his hat.

"Guess you could go watch her wash if you wanted to," Deuter commented from the doorway of the woodshed. "She's your wife now.'

"Are we just going to pretend that you didn't make love to me last night?" she demanded.

His neck glowed a dull red. "That's no subject for the kitchen, woman," he said sternly. "It's talk for the bedroom."

Jolie was so amazed that she forgot to pour coffee for herself, even though she was yearning for a cup. "I know I owe you my life," she marveled, setting the pot back on the stove and resting her hands on her hips, "and you're my legal husband, which gives you certain rights. But I'll be damned, Dan Beckham, damned, if I'll let you decide what I can say and where I can say it!"

Daniel's gaze did not waver, nor did the arrogance in his manner. "The bacon's burning," he said.

Jolie swallowed hard. "He wasn't pleased with me," she confided miserably. "He said I – I carried on."

Verena's eyes were still twinkling. "I imagine he was a mite surprised at that. Give him time, Jolie – he'll come to like having that kind of response."

The two woman washed the dishes together, and Verena smiled as she saw Daniel approaching the house from the barn. "He'll be wanted to go straight home now, I reckon," she said with a note of mischievous mystery in her voice.

Finally he managed to break the spell that had possessed him and began removing his tie. After that, he took off his coat and vest, and he was unclasping his cuff links when Jolie went to sit on the side of the bed, her hands calmly folded in her lap.

"I suppose I'll probably carry on again," she said ruefully and again that blinding grin broke out over Daniel's face. He pulled her back to her feet and took her into his arms, and when he touched his lips to hers, Jolie felt as though she'd just tossed back a quart of whiskey.

Okay, I could go on and on and my fingers are getting tired. This book is awesome trust me!



LYNETTE'S TWO CENTS:

DANIEL'S BRIDE has traveled the world with me. I bought DANIEL'S BRIDE when it was first released and it's gone with me to every military base I've was stationed at in the Army and everywhere I've lived since I left the military. Of course, my original copy is a tattered mess, but I've picked up several replacements along the way. I think I'm on my third copy of DANIEL'S BRIDE and I'm grateful that I keep finding ones with the original cover.

DANIEL'S BRIDE is one of the few books where I can sprout the opening dialogue out at a moment's notice. Seriously, come up to me on the street and ask me to recite the books opening page to you. I can. I've read DANIEL'S BRIDE that many times. Reading the pages, I've learned the definition of words such as corpulent, penury, tamarack tree, etc.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS BOOK. Even all these years later, I get joy from reading it.

DANIEL'S BRIDE was written before Ellora's Cave and erotic romance had made their big boom. DANIEL'S BRIDE was written when the only people really writing erotic romance and getting away with it was Beatrice Small. DANIEL'S BRIDE is the reason why I find it literally impossible to read erotic romance if I cannot buy into the deep emotional bonds between the hero and heroine. DANIEL'S BRIDE is the reason why I roll my eyes when I hear people talking about book boyfriends, or this guy in a book is hot when there wasn't an ounce of emotional connection between the hero and heroine. Of course, today, DANIEL'S BRIDE would not be an erotic romance, would not be anywhere near erotic romance, but back in the day, it had some of the hottest sex scenes around.

God, it is so hard to talk about this book without saying how awesome it is.

Daniel's Bride opens with Jolie about to be hanged. Daniel steps in and saves her, but in order to do so they are forced into a marriage. Daniel is still grieving the loss of his wife and children so he's having a hard time adjusting to the strong feelings that Jolie evokes in him, especially as she is so different from his late wife. Jolie you totally rock, girl! Love you!

Daniel is like one of the original romance Alpha males. Though he sometimes acts like an ass and you want to stab him in the eye with a pitchfork. As an example, right after he and Jolie give into some intense "passion" and have some awesome, awe worthy sex, he tells her that that it didn't change their relationship. That he still can't love her. Yeah. If it was any other book I would have threw it across the floor. But Ms. Miller crafts Daniel's character so perfectly that the reader and Jolie know that it's because he's such a repressed being and was so utterly destroyed by losing everyone he loved. Having said that DANIEL'S BRIDE is not a depressing book and I think it's because of Jolie. She's just as strong if not stronger in some ways than Daniel. Jolie has no problem fighting for her life and her happiness. Jolie fights from the first page from the first line of DANIEL'S BRIDE. Jolie fights when the town is trying to kill her, she fights when Daniel is trying to make her as the 'little woman' and a replica of his late wife, she fights to protect the orphans she takes in, she fights against the outlaws trying to destroy the life she's building for herself, and she fights for her friend who is in an impossible situation. What makes Jolie so awesome is that she does all this fighting while still being a realistic nineteenth century wife, and mother, and farmer.

I don't know what else to say to make you buy this book and read it immediately, only that you're a damn fool if you don't.

That is all! You can thank me later and remember . . . I AM ALWAYS RIGHT, TRUST ME ON THIS ONE!

WHERE PURCHASED:
Bought with my own money over again and again and again!

RATING:











OL' SKOOL ROMANCE CHALLENGE:




Do you want to win a book of your choice (up to $10.00)? Participate in my OL' SKOOL ROMANCE CHALLENGE by reading a romance novel published before 1996. Then post a review of that book on a blog, goodreads, amazon, etc. making sure you leave a link to my blog in your review. Also, make sure you leave a comment to this post letting me know that you posted a review. If you use my challenge button you'll get an extra point. Do all this by January 31st, for a chance to win! Yes, this is open internationally, well anywhere that the Book Depository ships too!

Good luck!

Stephanie Perkins
ISBN #: 978-0525423270
Publisher Name: Dutton Juvenile
Date Released: December 2010
Page Count: 384 pages
Retail Price: $16.99
Genre: Young Adult
Book Format: Print

BACK COVER BLURB:

Anna was looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she's less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all . . . including a serious girlfriend.

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss? Stephanie Perkins keeps the romantic tension crackling and the attraction high in a debut guaranteed to make toes tingle and hearts melt.

COVER SNARK:

This cover is very cute. I like it a lot. Part of me wishes they'd show St. Clair, but even then I'm iffy, because I don't think a picture of St. Clair would live up to the image of that I have of him in my head.


FIRST LINES:

Here is everything I know about France: Madeline and Amelie and Moulin Rouge. The Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, although I have no idea what the function of either actually is. Napoleon, Marie Antoinette, and a lot of kings named Louis. I'm not sure what they did either, but I think it has something to do with the French Revolution, which has something to do with Bastille Day.

FAVORITE LINES:

I mean, really. Who sends their kid to boarding school? It's so Hogwarts. Only mine doesn't have cute boy wizards or magic candy or flying lessons.

"How'd you get this number?"

"Well, you see, there's this book. It has white pages. And it has all these phone numbers listed inside it. It's also online."

This warmth over the telephone. Is it possible for home to be a person and not a place? Bridgette used to be home to me. Maybe St. Clair is my new home.

I mull this over as our voices grow tired and we stop talking. We just keep each other company. My breath. His breath. My breath. His breath.

I could never tell him, but it's true.

This is home. The two of us.

LYNETTE'S TWO CENTS:

I downloaded this book when the publisher was offering it free on Amazon. I download a lot of books that way. I have over 400 books on ShaNayNay (aka Kindle), and I rarely read the free downloads I receive, but I still collect them because you never know when a nuclear bomb or something might explode and all the libraries, bookstores, personal libraries, get destroyed and I can't get any books. How would I live? How can I survive like that? I need to make sure that I have access to something to read. Though if a nuclear bomb exploded the electricity probably wouldn't work and then I would only have ShaNayNay until she ran out of power? Right?

Umm . . .. Sorry, it's not Friday, I'm not supposed to be rambling.

Anyhoo, after I downloaded ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS, I saw people on Twitter and Goodreads giving it really good reviews. So one day, I was at work and umm, my cell phone that has its convenient Kindle for Droid application just happened to be sitting on my computer and ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS just happened to appear on the screen.

Funny how those things happen to me. It's so weird. LOL!

ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS is a wonderful novel. You cannot help but enjoy the ride as Anna and St. Clair fight their way towards their happily ever after. ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS is a young adult novel, yet while Anna and St. Clair act very, very realistic to their ages (seventeen/eighteen), it's not written in a way that would make an adult reader want to roll their eyes or gouge them out with a butcher knife.

I loved, loved, loved, loved Anna from the minute she appeared on the page. I was immediately drawn into her situation, felt sorry for her and was rooting for her even if she did sometimes do bonehead things. Even when she did bonehead things, Anna was written in such a way that I understood where she was coming from and I totally bought into her actions.

Because this just crossed my mind because I'm eating my lunch as I type this. There is a hilarious scene in the beginning of the novel, where Anna having just arrived at school and the cafeteria menu is in French and so is the chef. She is so embarrassed that she can't speak the language or read the menu that she lives off of bread for awhile. It's freaking hilarious. You have to read this book.

Oh also. You have to buy this book for the subtle digs that the author gives to a certain author who writes romance novels but his charecters always die at the end of the books so people will think that he doesn't write romance novels. LOL!

St. Clair was to die for. Why weren't their boys like this when I was growing up? I'm sure their must have been but I must have been too stupid to see them. LOL!

Etienne St. Clair's is a mutt, so excuse me if I don't get this right. His mother is American (or English), his father is French, he was born in America, but raised in England. The way he portrayed reminded me of a mix between Robert Pattinson and Daniel Radcliffe. Robert Pattison for looks, Daniel Radcliffe for height and personality, I thought he was a dream and a great friend for Anna. Anna and St. Clair had such great chemistry, that I wished more non YA authors would stop falling back on smexing to build the relationship. I totally got why Anna and St. Clair were meant to be together and why no one but the other would do for them.

The conflict is realistic, compelling, and full of teenage angst stuff that anyone could relate to. Actually, I had a situation somewhat similar happen to me but I was twenty-one at the time and should've known better. LOL!

If I go on, I'd just keep gushing about how much I loved this book. So once again, it's a great read, both Anna and St. Clair go through such change that you feel for them. Though theirs angst is realistic and compelling. I laughed, I cried, I re-read immediately so ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS is a definite win for me.

WHERE PURCHASED:
Was a limited time free Download offer from Publisher via Amazon

RATING:
A

Author Name: Erin McCarthy
ISBN #: 978-0-425-22407-6
Publisher Name: Berkley Sensation
Date Released: November 2008
Genre:Erotic Romance
Pages: 274
Book Format: Trade Paperback
Rating: B+

BACK COVER BLURB:

She met him at the racetrack . . .

. . . which was the last place Tamara Brigs wanted to find a man. Even a deeply intriguing, seductively sexy man like Elec Monroe. Tamara's a single mother now after losing her daredevil husband in an accident – and she's not about to get involved with another driver and put her kids, or herself through that again. Besides, Elec's young enough to be her younger brother.

Now things are moving a little too fast . . .

But he sure does get her heart racing. And after she's tricked into a blind date with him, Tamara gives in to her passion. Things screech to a halt, though when he asks to meet her children. Whatever happened to wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am? Suddenly Tamara has to decide how big a risk she's willing to take to experience the thrilling, terrifying power of true love.


COVER SNARK:

It's the classic sexy man titty cover, which usually annoys me. I personally think the man titty cover hides the fact that there is an amazing story between the pages.

FIRST LINES:

"I've meet teenage girls with more testosterone than that man has."


FAVORITE LINES:

My bad. I suck as a blogger. I was too busy devouring the pages to pay attention!



LYNETTE'S TWO CENTS:

I would like to take a moment to curse out you, my fellow romance readers! WTF. Why didn't you tell me about this book? You see the publication date, it's been out forever and you never thought to tell me to read it! What's wrong with you guys! When you know that I freaking flip out when I read an erotic romance and theirs nothing but sex between the heroine and hero, why didn't you tell me about this book and make me read it immediately. I am seriously disappointed in you.

Okay. Now that I got that out of the way.


Back to my review . . . be prepared this review is going to probably be a gushing, rambling mess. My bad.


Elec Monroe (and can someone tell me how you pronounce his first name please!) is the perfect romance hero. He is sexy, an alpha without being a total jerk, kind, considerate, loving, great with kids. Darn it, if I was ever into having a book boyfriend, he would be it. I want Elec!

But you probably want to know about the book . . .. Hmm, give me a minute to say something other than it was great.

Elec (sorry, I can't stop talking about him) is also kinda shy and not comfortable in social settings. He meets Tamara our heroine when she accidently bumps into him at a charity fundraiser. When her purse disappears later, he escorts her to a friend's lodging and the sparks fly between them. They end up having a very heated, drool worthy encounter and the next morning to Tamara's horror she learns that Elec isn't a part of the pit crew like she assumed but a rookie race car driver. She doesn't want to be involved with a race car driver because her husband had been one and he died in a crash.

BTW. Sorry, yes, I know this review sucks donky doo-doo.

Anyhoo. Let me stop now, before I bore you to tears and just go with a bulleted list.

What I loved:

• Elec.

• The fact that just when Tamara's indecision was just about to get on your nerves, she realized what a twit she was being and took action to fix her moronic behavior. Because really, who could deny Elec anything that he freaking wanted. I couldn't!

• Elec.

• The sexual chemistry between Tamara and Elec.

• The emotional chemistry between Tamara and Elec.

• The fact that Elec actually respected Tamara and valued her as a person (yeah, you would think that's pretty standard in a romance novel, but sadly it isn't).

• Elec.

• The seamless way the author turned a sexual attraction into to people entering into an emotional, lasting relationship.

• Elec.

• The way the side characters, (which is clear they'll have their own books) added but did not detract from the romance between Elec and Tamara.

• I also loved Elec's family. I hope they get there own books.

• I hope that we get told the real deal between the animosity between Elec's father and Tamara's ex father-in-law.

• Elec

I think I'll stop now. LOL! It's a great book, buy it!


WHERE PURCHASED:

Borrowed from my local library!


Rating:

Hard. I'm wavering between a B+ and an A so . . . .

A

ISBN #: 978-1-4524-6529-6
Publisher Name: Gwen Hayes
April 2010
Young-Adult/Contemporary
8,000 words
eBook

BACK COVER BLURB:

Beth wasn't pretty. Born with hemifacial microsamia, she's supposed to feel lucky that it wasn't worse, that the surgeries made her almost normal, and that the scars are mostly not noticeable. Nobody told her how to hide the scars on the inside though.

Lucas O'Leary, Lucky, doesn't even notice Beth's face. He's finding out that underneath her granite hard shell, she's really a sweet girl. He enjoys spending time with her and is beginning to realize he might want to be more than just her friend.

But Lucky has a secret--if he doesn't bring Beth to the "dog dinner" party his roommates are having, he's off the team. The soccer scholarship is paying his college tuition--he HAS to stay on the team. But if Beth ever finds out she's his entry in the contest for ugliest date, he stands to lose even more.

FIRST LINES:

Lucas O'Leary didn't often question why his life always seemed to fall into place just right. He was satisfied with the outcome, after all, and it wasn't like he didn't work hard and give it everything he had. Just because everyone called him Lucky, didn't mean luck really handed him everything.

But sometimes, like tonight, part of him felt a little guilty.