Back in March, I received an unexpected package in the mail. That package turned out to be an ARC of Louisiana Lucky. I had won a copy as part of a Goodreads giveaway. Not knowing what to expect, I jumped right into it. Here is my review of Louisiana Lucky by Julie Pennell.
Louisiana Lucky plot summary
Hanna, Callie, and Lexi are three grown sisters who have made a monthly ritual out of getting together to hang out and play the Louisiana Powerball. Each month, one of them purchases three tickets. Two include numbers chosen randomly. The third is a mix of numbers that each hold a special meaning to the women.
Though it’s a long shot, a windfall of a win would drastically improve each sister’s life. Hanna could move her children into a better house and school, Callie could live a more adventurous life, and Lexi could plan her dream wedding.
Then one night, they hit big, winning $204 million which they split three ways after taxes and taking the lump sum. As suspected, the money drastically changes each woman’s life. At first, it seems as though their lives have changed for the better. But coming into so much money so fast does have its downsides, and as their relationships, values, and resilience are tested, the three Breaux sisters come to understand what’s really important.
The story
Louisiana Lucky is a breezy read, your typical morality tale about how money can’t buy everything. It’s fast-paced, glossing over the details to jump from one scene to the next. There’s a Hallmark movie feel to it, a simple story that never gets too heavy but is an easy, low-stakes ride through this classic “what if” scenario.
The characters
The book is told from each sister’s perspective, flipflopping from one to the next as told through a third person narrator. As with most siblings, the Breaux sisters are very different people. Hanna is the overworked mom. Callie is the career-driven journalist. Lexi is the young romantic. However, they are all close-knit and close to their parents. This family of five is the star around which the supporting characters and readers orbit.
While they have their struggles, their problems are pretty tame and ordinary. The story focuses on overseeing the one or two plans that each woman has for their winnings, and very little gets in the way of that.
The most detailed plans have to do with Lexi’s wedding, since it involves all three sisters and inspires a road trip to New Orleans in which the girls pamper themselves, spend like crazy, and try to become people they’re not. This sets them up for ridicule among their peers, significant others, and themselves when things don’t turn out as planned.
While the women are likable, it’s hard to feel much remorse when they don’t end up with their dream lives. Their goals become more about keeping up appearances than improving their situations. And when things do go wrong, they’re not the kind of problems that become unfixable or life altering.
A page turner
Despite the low stakes, this is an energetic, colorful read. The premise alone is interesting since we all wonder what it would be like to win the lottery and what we would do with the earnings. So, if you go with the flow, it becomes a fun page turner, just to see how it all turns out.
So, I have to give this book credit for not being too much of a downer and instead just making it a regular story about regular southern women living the dream, trying to merge their former lives with a heightened lifestyle. But the opportunities to do this do not make them lucky. Instead, they already were lucky and didn’t know it. That’s the thing to envy about the Breaux sisters’ big win.
Buy it!
Buy a copy of Louisiana Lucky here, and help support local bookstores. This is an affiliate link, and I will earn a commission on any sales.
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Very interesting! Thanks!
We like when books have multiple POVs. Great review!