Cover image of "So Damn Lucky" by Deborah Coonts, a novel about a disappearing magician

So Damn Lucky is the third entry in Deborah Coonts‘ Lucky O’Toole series about the beautiful young Las Vegas hotel executive who solves problems, some of them invariably including murder. It’s also the third novel I’ve read in the series. I reviewed the first book, Wanna Get Lucky?, as A funny, sexy, well-written novel about misdeeds and passion in Las Vegas. The second, Lucky Stiff, is at Deborah Coonts on murder and mayhem in Las Vegas (it’s all fun). Though I enjoyed all three, I doubt I’ll be reading any more in the series. As I made my way through So Damn Lucky, I found myself getting tired of all the “delicious” men and their attractive backsides. (Yes, I also tire of books by male writers who only include gorgeous female characters with “ample bosoms.”)

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Lucky O’Toole has only one problem she can’t handle. She hasn’t been laid in six weeks. She can manage to untangle the knottiest challenges a huge Las Vegas “megaresort” can present. Impossibly demanding guests . . . a French chef who throws tantrums . . . the Big Boss nobody can say no to . . . nothing fazes Lucky. But when a hunky male presents himself within her line of vision, she melts. And this tends to happen a lot, since Lucky is six feet tall and extremely attractive. Practically nobody who is male ignores Lucky O’Toole.

So Damn Lucky (Lucky O’Toole #3) by Deborah Coonts ★★★★☆

This weakness proves to be a problem when the aforementioned French chef turns out to be “delicious” and attentive beyond the bounds of politeness. The same goes for the officer from the Nevada Gaming Commission who has turned in his notice, in part because he wants to have a go at Lucky. And these are only two of the problematic characters in So Damn Lucky. The cast also includes Lucky’s mom, the owner of “Mona’s Place, the self-styled ‘Best Whorehouse in Pahrump”; Big Boss Albert Rothstein, the imperious billionaire who has only recently revealed himself to be Lucky’s father; Detective Romeo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, who is (fortunately) too young for Lucky; a gaggle of professional magicians; and an astronaut who recently experienced an alien abduction. There are more. Coonts creates characters who are interesting even if they strain the bounds of credibility.

The world starts spinning faster when a magician performing a seemingly impossible stunt at Lucky’s hotel dies on-stage, or at least appears to do so. Soon, top-secret experiments in extrasensory perception at Area 51 enter the mix. It’s all a glorious mess. So Damn Lucky is fun to read, if your humor tends to the sophomoric (as does mine).

You might also enjoy my posts:

And you can always find my most popular reviews, and the most recent ones, on the Home Page.