Kate Clayborn

After winning the lottery, a beautiful lawyer can finally leave her job—and follow her heart—in this “hilarious and moving and sexy” romance (BuzzFeed). Sure, winning the lottery allows Zoe Ferris to quit her job as a cutthroat corporate attorney, but no amount of cash will clear her conscience of the way her firm treated the O’Leary family in a recent wrongful death case. So she sets out to make things right, only to find gruff, grieving Aiden O’Leary doesn’t need—or want—her apology. He does, however, need something else from her. Something Zoe is more than willing to give, if only to ease the pain in her heart, and the sorrow in his eyes . . . Aiden doesn’t know what possesses him to ask his family’s enemy to be his fake fiancée. But he needs a bride if he hopes to be the winning bid on the campground he wants to purchase as part of his beloved brother’s legacy. Skilled in the art of deception, the cool beauty certainly fits the bill. Only Aiden didn’t expect all the humor and heart Zoe brings to their partnership—or the desire that runs deep between them. But can he let himself fall for the very woman he vowed never to forgive?

Luck of the Draw

Olivia

** spoiler alert **
           This was it, I loved it. Kate Clayborn is an author for me despite my rocky start (which I’m now 100% sure is due to what I’m wanting out of a book and not the quality of the book I read). Aiden and Zoe are the best. The conflict they face and how they overcome it is beautiful and this was the first book that has made me sob in a while. (spoiler ahead) I think it’s because I’m close to the main point of pain in the book as I have a twin, so if you’re a twin and you’re about to read this book, get ready for pain. I swear I was crying every other chapter.

Becky

I worried I wasn't going to like this book. Sure, it was a fake dating book (which pretty much guaranteed I was going to read it) but I had hyped it up in my head which can be a recipe for disaster for any book. My doubts were utterly unfounded though and it was such a satisfying read I am only sad I waited so long to read (but also glad because I got this at such a good price because I waited). 

I had no real opinion of Zoe going in. Sure, you meet her in the first of the series but she left no lasting impression for me. I liked she helped Ben out at the end after things when Pete Tong but I had no feel for her. As such, I was surprised to start with her feeling sorry for herself and wallowing in regrets. I did grow to really like her sarcasm and practicality. She was smart and funny and she was someone who could make anyone feel comfortable apart from maybe herself. She was privileged and she knew it but she had many regrets (who doesn't) and that made her feel so human. I just wanted to hug her close in the end because she seemed like she needed it.

As for Aiden? He was grumpy and shy and grieving and I wanted to hug him close too. He was hella awkward and gruff and even thought he was a manly man (appearance wise) he was a soft little sweetheart who is a hot mess even before Zoe comes along and things just get messier from there. I loved how even when he claimed to hate Zoe he couldn't help but be drawn to her.

In many ways Zoe was too good for Aiden when they first met but Aiden was too good for her too. They were both a hot mess and needed to find each other to finally figure themselves out. They both most definitely brought out the best in each other even if they didn't notice it at first and I loved seeing them grow closer. This is a messy painful relationship in many ways because of that shared past but it isn't angsty it's simply that they are both messy people with a whole lot of pain and they need each other to move forward.

b.andherbooks

Zoe Ferris, once a cutthroat corporate lawyer job defending a pharmaceutical company and now an unemployed lottery winner, thinks it is time to atone for all of the wrongs she did in her past life. She's even created a jar of her mistakes and sins, one she'll draw from to get started on her mission to make things right.

When she draws the name of one of the victims of her former employer, it brings Zoe smack dab into Aidan O'Leary, the brother of the man who died from an overdose in large part due to the the drug her company created.

Aidan, an EMT, is upset to see the cold lawyer who his parent's had to deal with to get the settlement money for his brother's death. The lawyer who helped put a price on his brother's life. But there's something about Zoe, even if she's passed out on his childhood home's front porch from nerves. Even if she's beautiful. 

In Zoe, Aidan sees an oppotunity. She wants to make things right, gain his forgiveness? She can help him secure the property he wants to buy with the settlement money, the property he'll use to create a treatment camp for addicts. She can do that by pretending to be his fiancee, to impress and show the couple selling the land that he's a family man at heart, that he has his shit together, that he's wants this for the right reasons.

Zoe agrees, reluctantly, but also because she thinks it is the least she can do. As the weekends wear on, and Zoe and Aidan form a tentative friendship, a tentative attraction, the ghosts of the past continue to haunt them. Can they ever forget how they came to each other? Does Aidan truly want this camp, or is just something he feels he needs to do? Will Zoe ever forgive herself?

So utterly compelling, and such a lovely slow-burn with competely realistic feelings and problems. I fell in love with Kate Clayborn with Beginner's Luck, and Best of Luck was EVEN BETTER.

The audiobook is especially great, and I think Aidan may be my favorite book boyfriend of 2018. I imagined him as a Bearded-Chris-Evans EMT. Huzzah.

I have read this way more than the 2x Goodreads has me down for it, but whatever! It is my favorite contemporary romance of basically all time and wow I needed this re-listen as 2020 ended.

Lacey

I have heard sooo many good things about Kate Clayborn and I'm glad I finally read her for the first time! This was a really good faking dating romance with a fantastic girl friend group. Bonus: grumpy hero!

Luck of the Draw

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