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snipinfool's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Greer and her best friends, Kit and Zoe, went in together and bought lottery tickets. When they won, she would finally make a long-time dream of hers come true. She wanted to get a college degree. Greer was in the last stages of finalizing what she needed to graduate when she found out that one of her art classes would not count because it was not a studio art class. Her advisor told her she had the option to make an appeal to the chair of the studio art apartment or wait to graduate. She was devastated. Kit’s older brother, Alex, unexpectedly came into town. Alex was an award-winning photographer who traveled the world and would be in town longer than usual. Greer approached Alex with a plan to get the studio arts head to give her a chance to graduate on time. The department chair was a photographer and she hoped Alex could help sway the deal. The chair would allow Greer to earn the credit she needed by attending an adult education photography class if Alex agreed to do some class visits and a few university art events. Alex agreed. Greer and Alex started out as friends while Alex showed her how to work with her camera to take the best photos. By the end of the class, they were more than friends, but he had a life of travel and Greer was happy living where she was.
I really loved these two characters. Greer had been born with a Chiari malformation and had several surgeries to correct it. She would forever need to be careful in what she did physically, but she planned to have the best life possible. Greer was positive, loyal, and loving. Alex was also loyal and loving, but unresolved family trauma had left him with panic attacks. I felt that Clayborn wrote these characters realistically and honestly. The other characters in the book were also well written. This book pulled at my heartstrings and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I really loved these two characters. Greer had been born with a Chiari malformation and had several surgeries to correct it. She would forever need to be careful in what she did physically, but she planned to have the best life possible. Greer was positive, loyal, and loving. Alex was also loyal and loving, but unresolved family trauma had left him with panic attacks. I felt that Clayborn wrote these characters realistically and honestly. The other characters in the book were also well written. This book pulled at my heartstrings and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Death of parent
sfp's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
hilmi's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
bluesky5283's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
hookedbythatbook's review
4.0
Two lost souls learn together that home is not a place, but somewhere you can be loved for who you are, flaws and all. Greer and Alex are complicated characters that both experience enormous emotional growth, on their own and together. Some of their conversations initially were a bit stilted but also comforting, if that makes sense. The author used the same language and tone to describe the intimate moments between them as their processes for lining up that perfect shot with the camera. It created this feeling of anticipation and exhilaration that made each moment even more poignant. This was a complex, emotional read.
cheypreston's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Chronic illness
Moderate: Medical trauma
Minor: Ableism, Domestic abuse, and Addiction
amlibera's review against another edition
4.0
I think I managed to read this entire series in three days. As I've said before, there is something more happening in Kate Clayborn's romance novels - an extra layer. And I think that part of that is a recognition of trauma and the ways that it manifests every day, over time and isn't solved by a happily ever after. The depiction of chronic illness and how it affects families here got me in the gut.
I find myself mildly impatient with some of the romance tropes (which genuinely don't bother me) but mostly because the book itself seems to have outgrown them like a pair of too short pants on a gangly kid. Looking forward to reading her newest when it is released.
I find myself mildly impatient with some of the romance tropes (which genuinely don't bother me) but mostly because the book itself seems to have outgrown them like a pair of too short pants on a gangly kid. Looking forward to reading her newest when it is released.
rainey_'s review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jackiehorne's review against another edition
4.0
In this third installment of her CHANCE OF A LIFETIME series, focusing on three female friends who banded together on a lark to play the lottery and ended up winning the jackpot, Clayborn focuses on the shy, reserved member of the trio, twenty-seven-year-old Greer. Greer's using her portion of the money to pay for her undergrad degree, as well as to pay off her parents' debts, debts incurred treating the rare illness with which she was diagnosed as a teen. Because of that illness, Greer often had trouble participating fully in the things everyone else around her took for granted ("but all of a sudden I feel like the Greer who's never been able to see things through, who's been too tired or too sick to finish what I start, the Greer who needs help with even the smallest tasks" [Kindle Loc 200]). But now that she's on a more even-keel, health-wise, she's growing increasingly resentful of family and friends still treating her with kid gloves, telling her to take it easy and not push herself too much, expecting her to not be able to finish things she's started. Because of this, Greer is more than a little frustrated to discover that an unmet art requirement might keep her from finally graduating from college as she intended.
But Greer is a fighter, and convinces the college to allow her to sign up for a summer class in photography, a class that her professor will only let her add if Greer's friend, thirty-four year-old Alex Averin (the brother of one of the previous heroines of the series), a world-famous news photographer, will help her make up the classes she missed, and will give a guest lecture to the class and agree to display some of his photos in the class's culminating exhibition.
Greer turns the situation from one in which she is yet again dependent on the help of a friend into one which will help Alex, too: she'll only allow him to instruct her in photography and participate in her class if he agrees to get help himself for the panic attacks only Greer knows he's been suffering from since returning from his latest trip.
Clayborn does deft, sensitive work portraying the difficulties both of dealing with a chronic, sometimes debilitating, physical illness and those that stem from more psychological traumas. Her book's dual message— to prioritize self-care AND to allow the ill autonomy and control over themselves and their dreams—plays out against the slow-burn romance between Greer and Alex, while simultaneously exploring the many different interpretations of "luck," the subject of Greer's photographic project.
Clayborn is particularly strong at pointing to the sexism undergirding some of the more common of romance novel tropes, in BEST OF LUCK the self-sacrificing big final gesture that is supposed to prove a hero's love for the heroine. Instead, Clayborn gives us this:
"I love you. I don't need you, but I want you, and that's—that's even better. For me, that's—that's the best thing" (Loc 4247).
But Greer is a fighter, and convinces the college to allow her to sign up for a summer class in photography, a class that her professor will only let her add if Greer's friend, thirty-four year-old Alex Averin (the brother of one of the previous heroines of the series), a world-famous news photographer, will help her make up the classes she missed, and will give a guest lecture to the class and agree to display some of his photos in the class's culminating exhibition.
Greer turns the situation from one in which she is yet again dependent on the help of a friend into one which will help Alex, too: she'll only allow him to instruct her in photography and participate in her class if he agrees to get help himself for the panic attacks only Greer knows he's been suffering from since returning from his latest trip.
Clayborn does deft, sensitive work portraying the difficulties both of dealing with a chronic, sometimes debilitating, physical illness and those that stem from more psychological traumas. Her book's dual message— to prioritize self-care AND to allow the ill autonomy and control over themselves and their dreams—plays out against the slow-burn romance between Greer and Alex, while simultaneously exploring the many different interpretations of "luck," the subject of Greer's photographic project.
Clayborn is particularly strong at pointing to the sexism undergirding some of the more common of romance novel tropes, in BEST OF LUCK the self-sacrificing big final gesture that is supposed to prove a hero's love for the heroine. Instead, Clayborn gives us this:
"I love you. I don't need you, but I want you, and that's—that's even better. For me, that's—that's the best thing" (Loc 4247).
clangton's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0