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Winning the lottery is the biggest ticket to freedom Greer Hawthorne’s ever had.

Until her best friend’s brother comes to town . . .

Greer Hawthorne’s winning lottery ticket doesn’t just bring her wealth, it also means her chance at a long-postponed education. She’s finally on the cusp of proving to her big, overprotective family that she’s independent—until a careless mistake jeopardizes her plan to graduate. Lucky for her, there’s someone in town who may be able to help . . .

Alex Averin plans to show up for his sister’s wedding, then quickly get back to his job as a world-renowned photojournalist. But when gorgeous, good-hearted Greer needs an assist with a photography project, he’s powerless to say no. Showing Greer his professional passion ignites a new one, and rouses instincts in Alex he thought he’d long set aside.

Can a ceaseless wanderer find a stopping place alongside a woman determined to set out on her own . . . or are Alex and Greer both pushing their luck too far?

PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF KATE CLAYBORN

“Kate Clayborn's writing is uniquely, intensely beautiful.” —Sonali Dev, Author of The Vibrant Years

“Kate Clayborn’s writing is magnetic and witty and expansive.” —Ali Hazelwood, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Love Hypothesis

“Clayborn is a thoughtful, very talented writer with a gift for complex characters and individual arcs.” —BookPage

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07B75M733
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lyrical Press (November 27, 2018)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 27, 2018
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1401 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 243 pages
Reviewer: warpammer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Best of the best
Review: The only downside of Best of Luck is the fact that it is the last book in this series. I'm simultaneously sad that the series is over and happy that I managed to find and read the perfect romance trilogy. As with the stories of Kit and Zoe, Clayborn takes Greer's story from lottery fueled wish fulfillment to a deep dive into the complexities of the human heart.For Greer, her share of the lottery winnings spells f-r-e-e-d-o-m. The money buys her a college education that will ultimately provide her with a place of her own, a good job, and a life independent of her loving yet somewhat smothering family. While this statement accurately sums up Greer's goals, it is an over-simplification, just as her friends' wishes for home and adventure were. What makes each of these books so compelling is the way the main characters' heart's desire alters as they pursue it. There is no straight path, and the HEA is never precisely what the protagonists first visualize.Greer's story opens two years after the first book, as friends and family gather to celebrate the marriage of Kit and Ben. Greer herself is within spitting distance of her diploma when she discovers that she's missing a required art credit and must jump through bureaucratic hoops to obtain an exception that is in no way guaranteed. I could hardly suppress a sympathy groan while reading, having been a nontraditional student myself and having dealt with those speedbumps on the road to a degree. Greer's appeal to the Art Department Head is bolstered by the very artful support of Kit's brother Alex, a well known photographer. Greer agrees to take a short adult photography course in lieu of a standard full credit course in order to be recommended for an exception. At the same time, Alex commits himself to providing support to the Art Department's end of year photography event.Alex and Greer meet briefly in Beginner's Luck, but Alex's nomadic life and abrupt departure cause their initial attraction to flare and then subside. Greer's first loyalty is to Kit, and when Alex's unwillingness to put down roots causes friction between the siblings, Greer's shyness doesn't keep her from calling Alex out on his BS. Two years later, in spite of old hostility, there is still a distinct pull between the two when they meet again.When Greer discovers Alex suffering through a panic attack on the eve of his sister's wedding, she offers support rooted in her own history of both physical and emotional health challenges. Both Greer and Alex have ongoing struggles with childhood trauma to deal with as they sort out their relationship. Greer survived a life threatening conditionas a kid that still affects her health as an adult. Though she is mostly ok,she still dreads any admission of weakness. Alex grew up with a problem parent and basically raised his little sister. Once Kit was launched safely into adulthood, he embraced a wandering lifestyle following his camera around the globe. In the weeks following the wedding, Alex reluctantly settles into his sister's empty house, begins to see a therapist, and offers his insight to Greer as she tackles photography for the first time.All of the above is a lot to unpack. If the tale of Greer and Alex seems complicated, it's because it is. Yet none of this is even spoilery because it happens so early, and it's where these complications take us that make the book so worthwhile. Clayborn is an absolute queen of dual first person present tense. Alex and Greer have wonderful, distinctive voices; they unfurl their backstories gradually and weave those stories seamlessly with ongoing events. There are no shocking revelations, no excess of drama, but rather an organic growth in understanding, both of themselves and each other. This is the big reason this book works for me, but there are a million little reasons as well.I love the photography competence pr0n and Greer finding her artistic vision. I love the way therapy is handled. Alex is not a manbaby about getting help, nor is the therapy itself treated like some magic bullet. Oh, and can I have Patricia's number, so I can make an appointment, cuz I kinda loved her too. I loved the various minor characters, even when they weren't particularly lovable. Drama momma is annoying yet sympathetic. Even Greer's photography professor, who is actually described as smarmy at one point, turns out to be o.k., not because of a plot twist or change of heart, but because Clayborn is just so good at conveying that a real human can be more than one thing at a time.More than anything else, I loved Greer and Alex together. There is sooo much angst--his, hers, & theirs--yet their relationship is full of smolder. There is scene where Greer is setting up a photograph of Alex. She carefully positions a hat on the rumpled bed, and I was locked in on the tiniest details. She has him remove his shoes, and I was fanning myself. The description is mostly free of explicit language, yet it is suffused with eroticism. To me this is the best kind of chemistry, because the writing is about these two specific people whose happiness the reader cares about, not a generic account of sex.I think Best of Luck is one of my favorite romances ever. It's definitely a keeper and a prime comfort read. I'll probably be looking for it in hard copy as well. So, a heartfelt five stars, and I'd recommend it to any one.

Reviewer: Leigh
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Wonderful end to the series
Review: I’m so sad I don’t have any more Kate Clayborn novels to read. I’ve been anticipating Greer and Alex’s romance ever since book 1 and it did not disappoint. I loved Clayborn’s gorgeous writing, the symbolism of photography, great sex scenes, and of course the friendship between Greer, Kit, and Zoe. Plus, Zoe calls out Greer in the best way a couple of times and it always cracked me up. We get to watch Greer go from "watching" to “doing" and Alex has a similar journey, although his is related to his mental health. They were so good at accepting one another exactly where they were at and I loved watching their relationship unfurl. So many great scenes!While I loved their story, there were a few things that prevented me from giving it a full 5 stars. I wasn’t sure about the way Greer’s chronic illness was handled. We know something happened in her past because of the way her family treats her/her health with kid gloves but we don’t find out what until more than halfway through. I didn’t know what to make of this. Greer almost functioned as an unreliable narrator. It was hard for me to believe she’d never mention her illness by name or what the particular struggles were when we are in her POV. There is a certain level of denial there, mostly because she is overall doing fine despite her illness and because Alex doesn’t know and therefore doesn’t treat her any differently, which is all she wants. That was valid but I wondered whether internalized ableism was at play. I wasn’t sure about the way the reveal was handled or whether it was completely fair to Alex, who needed to be given a chance to handle it well. Related, Greer is a people pleaser and I wish we could have seen more growth along those lines. Toward the end of the book, her mom apologizes for smothering her and Greer says that she doesn’t, which could not have been further from the truth. It would have been the perfect opportunity for Greer to be honest and set some boundaries. I feared her family would back off only because Alex is in the picture. They needed to trust Greer was an adult capable of understanding her limits and tending to her needs.Lastly, there were two things I had qualms about directly because of my past professional experience. Nothing egregious but I also think it’s important for mental health representation to be accurate, in all forms, whether practitioner or client.I used to be a licensed clinical social worker in medical settings so I was very interested in Greer’s social work internship at a hospital. However, it was extremely underdeveloped. Hospital social workers do so much more than long-term care planning and it would have been great to see that. It also didn’t feel likely that the hospital would hire someone who has only a BSW, especially someone whose supervisor still accompanies all her patient visits and needs to be encouraged to take a more active role, at a year in. Perhaps supervision is required for all patient interactions for BSW students and perhaps Virginia law is different than the places I worked at, which required MSW and licensure for someone to be hired. Regardless, Alex refers to Greer as a social worker at the end but you must be licensed in order to refer to yourself as such. Virginia does allow licensure for someone with a BSW. However, there was no way she would have had time to take the test and complete the licensure process at that point.I was also keenly interested in the way Alex’s panic attacks and anxiety were handled. Alex begins seeing a therapist and actually doing the work, which was wonderful to see. There are no magical fixes, no matter how much he wishes there were. It was great to see therapy on page but it was also very much a fictionalized version. I wouldn’t refer anyone to this therapist.Despite my questions and qualms, this was a thoroughly enjoyable read. Alex and Greer take such good care of one another. It was wonderful to see Greer, Kit, and Zoe each get their HEAs in this series and the way it kept their friendships front and center. Clayborn writes with such care and her stories sing. I'm going to miss this crew.CW: panic attacks, anxiety, heroine has Chiari malformation, broken arm and stitches required for cut after an accident, ableism/internalized ableism, alcohol, childhood poverty and neglect (past), reference to father’s stroke two year prior, past death of mother, ableist language, reference to father’s past alcoholism and gambling addiction, references to elderly hospital patients and long-term care planning, references to humanitarian crises

Reviewer: Danielle
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It was light but also thoughtful and light and smart. It is a nice story that took my mind of of things.

Reviewer: Hal L
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Loved this book, love this author, love this series, nothing more to say. READ IT!

Reviewer: Izzy
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Having read all three books in the Chance of a Lifetime series, I’m reviewing the whole series. I adore these books. Sometimes an author comes along and from the first page, you’re hooked. You can’t always pinpoint why exactly. It feels like the author was writing just for you, they simply tick all the right boxes. I read each book in quick succession, then immediately followed up with audiobooks one and two. I’m hoping audiobook three will be available soon, to complete the set. I won’t talk about plotlines - other reviewers have done that better than me. Suffice to say these books are so beautifully written. They may be fiction, but there’s a realism to them, with sympathetic characters you can’t help but root for. They aren’t all hearts and flowers, and I shed a few tears at the raw, gut-wrenching moments, which were written with such tenderness and sensitivity. I confess after being so enamoured with book one, I was desperately hoping the other books would not disappoint (face it, it can happen). They did not. Difficult to choose a favourite. As is often the case, the book I was in the thick of would evoke the “OMG this book is the best” emotions. They are heartwarming, funny, tender, occasionally heart-wrenching stories. With hindsight, they’re all deserving of top billing! They are standalones, but I recommend you read them all for the full effect. I became so invested in the characters, it was a treat to catch up with them in the rest of the series. I am so excited to have discovered Kate Clayborn’s books, and look forward to reading her next project. There are just a handful of authors whose books I will not hesitate to buy. My short list has increased by one. 😉

Reviewer: BarbarinaS
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Beautifully developed and imperfect characters makes this so much more than just a romance. Both Alex and Greer have their imperfections but together they gain in strength. Both have their foibles and for good reason but as they learn about each other, weaknesses grow into strengths. There is depth to the way this author reveals her cast of characters and their interactions and a lovely flow to the writing as we are swept up in the resulting emotions.A very enjoyable read.

Reviewer: Nadine
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I absolutely loved this book i didn’t want it to end it made me laugh, cry and smile I loved the ending I love their story you did an amazing job with these three books I loved every second of this book well done would highly recommend you are an amazing writer sending so much love to the author Kate clayborn