ARC REVIEW Getting Lucky by Stacy Finz

Getting Lucky book 5 in Stacy Finz's Nugget California series. This book was funny, aggravating, sweetly romantic and everything I've come to expect from Stacy Finz. Lucky starts off the book a complete moron. Blinded by first love and a fantasy that could never be. He has worked hard to be the best and to prove he isn't trash. Tawny is a strong woman, she has to be, she's been alone for most of her life. She has struggled with a sick father and then a sick child she has worked hard to be the best boot maker around. Lucky is so oblivious and obnoxious at the start but halfway through you start to see him change. Tawny is a hard sell though, when the truth finally does smack Lucky in the face Tawny is still hesitant; once burned twice shy.

Years ago Lucky left Nugget suddenly to avoid scandal. Lucky has been in love with Raylene for just about ever. He knows the dark truth about the family and even though Raylene didn't contradict her father when he accused Lucky of raping Raylene, when in fact they had been sexually active for years behind her boyfriend's back. Lucky was torn up, and in a fit of depression and misery he confided in the first person he came across little Thelma who had to drop out of school to take care of her father and unbeknownst to Lucky worshipped him from afar. Overly emotional and drunk one thing lead to another and  Lucky and Thelma had a one night stand.

Ten years has past and Lucky is back, he has made a name for himself in the rodeo circuit and now he's back home and ready to settle down, especially now since Raylene is divorcing her husband. Raylene didn't waste time pulling Lucky back into her web. The only things that could make Lucky happier is his cowboy camp construction finishing and Raylene bringing their relationship out into the open. But everything changes when Tawny shows up on his doorstep asking him to donate stem cells for the sick daughter he never knew he had. Thelma, now Tawny, found out she was pregnant and never able to get ahold of Lucky, and with all the crap he left behind she didn't want him to come back and ruin everything he worked hard to change; she didn't even tell his mother.

Katie is nine years old and is living with acute myeloid leukemia, she has already gone through chemotherapy and radiation, her only change is to find a stem cell donor that matches her HLA antigens. Tawny has done the best she can for her daughter and she really didn't have any other choice but to tell Lucky about his daughter and hope he is a donor match. The more time Lucky spends with his daughter the more he falls in love with her and with Tawny also. Tawny is more wary this time around even though she has never stopped loving Lucky.

Lucky isn't so lucky, Raylene's father is still out to get him and ruin Lucky's hard work. Also Lucky finds out the crew he hired to do the construction work on his cowboy camp is dealing drugs and rustling cattle on the side. Lucky is forced to work with police to get the evidence they need for arrest and things get messier when one of the workers is murdered by Raylene's father.

Overall, this book has action, emotion, laughs; everything I look for in a good book. Getting Lucky is definitely one of the better ones in the series.