Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Doucette, Book 2
Publisher: Bantam
Hero: Etienne Doucet (Lucky)
Heroine: Serena Sheridan
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: December 30, 2003
Started On: November 20, 2010
Finished On: November 24, 2010

This week has been totally crazy. After the 10 day break during which I practiced the art of doing nothing except sleep, eat and read, the time during which I met Bastien Toussaint (can you tell whether I love this guy or not? LOL!), the work week started on a crazy note. Added to that I am deep in pursuit on a place to do my Masters degree which I have kept on the back burner for quite some time now. So all in all, I left Lucky hanging far too long and managed to finish this one by staying up all night last night for which I am not even remotely feeling guilty about as Lucky managed to surpass each and every expectation I had of him from the very beginning of this delightful story.

Lucky’s Lady is not my first Tami Hoag. Her book Ashes to Ashes though classified as a Romantic Suspense which sort of falls flat on the romance area was my first Tami Hoag and since then I have never been tempted to read a book from Tami Hoag until I found myself in the midst of a discussion on Amazon where someone recommended this book as being one of the best books ever. Skeptical as I was I couldn’t resist picking this one up for which I am thankful for. This book has that perfect balance of romance and suspense that earns it the right to be labeled as a romantic suspense. Thanks to the rave reviews from various friends of mine on Goodreads such as Lady Jayne, Quinn, Melissa B and Shawna which played a major role in me taking the plunge into this romance based in Louisiana.

Etienne Doucet or Lucky as most people know him as, is one of the most deliciously sinful and heartthrob variety of hero ever. Right from the very first second he entered into the story all my senses went haywire and everything in me clamored to find out more about him. Ex-military, Lucky is a man who has suffered on many levels, who has been to the brink of taking his own life and beyond, taking his refuge in the beautifully mysterious Louisiana swamp he calls his home. Betrayal of the worst kind from the two women who he had dared to care for has left Lucky a man dangerously cynical of the fairer sex and certainly wants nothing to do with the classy Serena Sheridan when she walks into his life destroying every belief and all the walls he has put up around his emotions till now.

Serena Sheridan is classy, beautiful and totally different from her twin sister Shelby. Serena had been fifteen when her father, an only child had died leaving her and Shelby in the care of their grandfather and owner of Chanson Du Terre the Sheridan plantation. Serena’s mother had died long before that and  though Serena has always longed for a close relationship with her twin sister, it had never happened and Serena had upped and left for Charleston where she has made a whole new life for herself as a psychologist. Serena had been married for 4 years to a man for all the wrong reasons and the lack of sizzle in their life had led them to divorce amicably and Serena has resigned herself to believing that she is just one of those women who would never feel that deep passion in her life, until she locks horns with the sinful Cajun hero Lucky.

Someone as classy and beautiful as Serena would never have crossed paths with someone like Lucky who likes nothing better than letting others think the worst about him. It is when Serena returns home for a vacation to spend time with her grandfather and her sister and her family who were currently living at Chanson Du Terre that she finds out that her grandfather had gone into hiding deep into the swamp and it is her deep concern for him that drives Serena who has never set foot in the swamp due to an incident that took place 15 years back, to face her worst nightmare and go after her grandfather into the dark and dangerous swamp. With no one but Lucky left  to guide her to where her grandfather is in hiding Serena has no choice but to bear with the man who just makes all her senses come alive with one word in his drawling Cajun accent that literally makes her knees go weak.

What Serena finds out upon the explosive encounter with her grandfather leaves a sour taste in her mouth. Someone who doesn’t like how the mysterious and yet beautiful swamp which had been her home makes her feel, Serena is forced to make a choice on whether she would run back to her safe cocoon back in Charleston or whether she would stay on and fight the battle of her life against her only family whilst the greatest danger of all is the power that Lucky wields over her heart and emotions within such a short period of time. Filled with mind numbing sexual tension, I never wanted to put this book down ever since Lucky Doucet put his raw powerful frame into the picture.

Likes:

1. Lucky Doucet, Lucky Doucet and Lucky Doucet! Can I say it one more time? Would it make it anymore obvious that the guy totally invaded and took control of my heart, body and soul whilst I was reading this book and then some? Sigh! I don’t think I can adequately describe the way he took absolute control of the story since he walked into the picture. From his sinfully good looks to the edge of his tortured soul, I loved every bit of him and then some more and couldn’t help but sigh and moon over those sexy and at times dirty French phrases he kept tossing into the story which made my knees go weak each and every time! And his total mastery in the bedroom!! OMG!! Should I go on? LOL! This was the one time that I wished that I was able to match his physique with someone real like my friend Jayne on Goodreads is able to. Jayne, wanna help me out here? ^_^
2. Serena Sheridan. She is one classy kick-ass hero who manages to pull the whole thing off quite effectively. Her vulnerability coupled with her strength is what made me love her absolutely as the story unfolded. Her faith and love in Lucky as she discovers the person he is deep inside, the fact  that she is not intimidated by the total bad-ass act that Lucky pulls off quite effectively and the fact that she was strong enough to let Lucky go even though it had been the single hardest thing she had ever done sealed the deal for me with this heroine.
3. Loved the sassy and sexy bantering between Serena and Lucky throughout the story.
4. The super duper sexual tension in the book! My insides were on a total quivering session all of last night since Lucky picked up from where he left off. From the first no holds barred kiss to the give-it-all-you-have encounters between the two left me breathless and at times like a puddle of goo as Lucky took total control of my, ahem! baser emotions. *drool*
5. Absolutely adored the way the story ended. At first as the story progressed, I thought, “Oh well! Here comes another bad-ass hero who is going to make a total fool of himself from the first sight of his woman” and boy was I ever so delightfully wrong! I just love it when the ultimate happily ever after (which of course is a foregone conclusion in a romance) nevertheless is NOT a foregone conclusion within the first couple of pages which is one of the reasons why I rate this as an A+ read and then some. This was a beautifully fitting ending if there ever was one! Sigh!

Dislikes: Absolument pas! (Absolutely none!) ^_^

Recommended for: Anyone who LOVES romances!

Favorite Quotes

What Serena had braced herself for she wasn’t sure, but it certainly wasn’t the man who filled the doorway. The impact of his sudden presence had the same effect as being hit with a shock wave – a phenomenon she had heretofore not believed in.
Her first impression was of raw power. Broad shoulders, bulging biceps. His chest, bare and gleaming with a sheen of sweat, was wide, and hard muscle beneath taut, tanned skin. The strong V of his torso narrowed to a slender waist, a stomach corrugated with muscle and dusted with black hair that disappeared beneath the low-riding waistband of faded green fatigue pants. She raised her eyes to his face and felt a shiver pass over her from head to toe, making her scalp tighten and her fingers tingle. He stared at her from under sleepy lids with large, unblinking amber eyes, eyes like a panthers. Hmm!! Serena certainly wasn’t the only one who felt the shock wave! ^_^

“You’re not afraid of me?” he said arching a brow, the words barely audible. He leaned closer still. “Then mebbe this is what you’re afraid of.”
He closed the distance between them, touching his lips to her.
The heat was instantaneous. It burst through them and inside them, as bright and hot as the flare of the lamps on the table beside them. Serena sucked in a little gasp, drawing Lucky closer. He settled his mouth against hers, telling himself he wanted just a taste of her, nothing more, but fire swept through him, his blood scalding his veins. One taste. Just one taste … would never be enough.

“I don’t give a rat’s ass if you don’t believe it,” he said in a voice like smoke. “You wanna go diggin’ through your psych book for explanations, do it on your own time. I didn’t come here to get analyzed; I came here to get laid.”
His mouth swept down on hers, hard seeking to punish, but he was met with no resistance, no fear. She was soft and sweet, melting against him, and that undid his anger as nothing else could have.

She (Serena) looked up into his face and saw the torment there, the strain as he gave her his body and fought to withhold his soul. For an instant she could look into his eyes and feel the terrible struggle going on inside him, and it tore at her heart. There was no place here for reason or self-control. All she could give him was her love, no matter how foolish it seemed, no matter that she knew he wouldn’t want to take it, no matter that she was certain her heat would get broken in the end.

Je t’aime ma chérie (I love you my darling) ^_^

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