He thought the past was finally behind him
Shade Sterling has carried a torch for Lizzy Conners since senior year of high school. But the timing never felt right for them, especially since his ex-girlfriend, Ariel, disappeared without a trace years ago. Now, with their ten-year class reunion approaching, Shade is tired of waiting. Determined to move on with his life and take a chance with Lizzy, he’s all in…until a car is dredged up from a local pond and Ariel’s remains are found inside.
As the newly appointed sheriff, Lizzy must investigate every single lead—including the ones that point right to Shade. She knows she can’t let her heart get in the way of an investigation, but she can’t accept that Shade is guilty. Now if she can only prove it—both to the town out for justice and to herself.
[I received a digital arc for an honest review]
Just His Luck is the Third book in the Sterling’s Montana series by B.J Daniels. If this is your first book in the series let me point out that even though it’s labeled a Romance it is not much of one. Yes, there’s a connection between the main characters that quickly gets explored at the end of the book, but at it’s core this is a western mystery / thriller. That is how each book in the series has been so it’s exactly what I expected when I dived into this one.
Just His Luck has three main characters, the sheriff Lizzy, Shade Sterling, and the point of view of the ghost of a girl murdered ten years ago. I know, it’s odd, let’s move on. Lizzy’s first day as sheriff brings the discovering of a girl she went to school with ten years ago, also Shade’s ex-girlfriend, Ariel. Lizzy has to find out who murdered her from their small graduating class and Shade is her number one suspect but almost everyone has a motive. Shade has crushed on Lizzy for as long as he can remember but the timing has never been right, with being a suspect and other surprises popping up in his life, now is still not the right time, but he’s done waiting. When Lizzy and her former classmates end up stranded at the ranch in the middle of a blizzard she has to figure out who the killer is before more people die.
“Lizzy should be very careful though. I’d hate for anything bad to happen to her before she discovers the truth. After all, there’s a killer out there who’s a lot closer than little Lizzy knows.“
I enjoyed the characters, except for Ariel’s point of view. I felt it unnecessary and little hokey. Besides that aspect, I found the story interesting and the mystery was very layered. I had no idea who the murderer was until it was revealed at the end. However, it did feel a little all over the place and was a bit confusing at times keeping track of which former classmate was up to what. The light romance story line between Lizzy and Shade was a bit forced in my opinion. I don’t understand how they could have feelings for ten years and with nothing actual standing in their way not act on it. Then bam they are in love, yet they hadn’t been close friends in the meantime. It didn’t make much sense but was cute nonetheless.
“He would do whatever he had to because in his heart Lizzy was already his. His hope. His dream. His future.“
3.5 stars
OnceUpon_A_BookDream 