ARC Review: Lucky by Garrett Leigh

From the blurb:

Dominic Ramos is a Premiership football player with a secret. There are no trophies for being gay in his game. Locked into his rep as the meanest defender on the pitch, keeping his secret is soul-crushing, but love has no place in his sport, even if his soft heart craves it.

Lucky Coleman is on his knees when he meets a man with more money than sense. It’s a Grindr hook-up for cash, not a love match, but dreaming of his desperate, kind eyes earns a place amongst his numerous bad habits.

Meeting once was risky, twice pushes Dom’s courage to the limit. Losing Lucky seems inevitable, but his tight grip on his image counts for nothing when Lucky starts to fall.

Catching him could cost Dom everything, but if he can set his heart free, getting Lucky long term might be a risk worth taking.

Heather's rating:





Gritty and very British, Lucky is a typical, solid Garrett Leigh story but with a sporty twist.

I know literally nothing about Premiership football, but I enjoyed this story a great deal. The football aspect was very minor, and could have been literally any sport and the story would have been about the same. Plus, I don't know if I'll ever get tired of closeted celebrity stories, especially when they have been deprived and repressed for as long as Dominic Ramos.

Lucky wasn't an easy romance for these guys. Both MCs have a TON of baggage, and they are fighting tooth and nail for every bit of happiness in their lives. Dominic is painfully lonely, and my heart ached for him throughout the book. Lucky Coleman is a fighter who has faced an upward battle since he was kicked out of his home as a teen. He lives rough and faces some addiction issues (which were a little downplayed, IMO), though he is doing his best to find his way out of the hole he is trapped in.



I really liked Lucky and Dom together, and thought their chemistry worked well, even if I thought that it was based more on physical attraction than anything else, especially at first. Which is fine, but I like my romances to be a bit slower... a bit more slow-burny, and this was not quite that vibe.

The actual story was fairly intense, and I kept feeling like their lives were going to be upturned and disaster was going to strike at any moment. It isn't a dark story as much as it is a angsty, real story, probably more real than any of us will ever know. There are men right now in both of Dom and Lucky's situation, and the story really made me reflect on them and their hypothetical lives.

If you are a fan of Garrett Leigh, you won't be disappointed by this one. Another great effort from this author.

*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*

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Enjoy, everyone!