The Worst Best Luck by Brad Vance

Hey everyone,

I’m finally writing another review! Can I get a whoop whoop? No? Okay moving on then... As mentioned in all the books I need to read I’m recently went through my TBR pile and in doing so came across The Worst Best Luck, a book that I had honestly forgotten I’ve even owned. Yet I have now read it and i’m ready to past my opinions about it on to you.

The book:

Peter Rabe's luck is about to change. Taking a co-worker's car into the shop nets him a desperately needed $100 tip...and the attentions of Matt Kensington, master mechanic. Peter can't believe that someone as hot as Matt could be interested in the young man his tormentors used to call "Peter Rabbit." But, incredibly enough, he is. And when the Quadrillions lottery jackpot is up to $700,000,000, wouldn't it be crazy of Peter not to buy a ticket on his lucky day? 

Matt doesn't think much of money, having grown up on New York's Upper East Side in the lap of luxury. He'd walked away from the professional drudgery his Harvard degree had qualified him for, to become a mechanic, to touch things that were real, to fix things that were broken. And a hot shy guy like Peter is another machine Matt wants to believe he can fix. But when Peter finds out he's won the lottery, it almost feels like his luck has run out.

Especially when Cody Burrell, his emotionally abusive ex-boyfriend, mysteriously re-enters his life just before he cashes the ticket and reveals his good fortune to the world... Peter must wrestle with the pressures of wealth on someone who's grown up poor, the pressure of fame that comes with so much instant fortune, and most of all, with his own demons, the demons that Cody knows all too well how to manipulate.

My Thoughts:

I started reading this book without absolutely no clue what is was about, beyond it being a contemporary m/m. I actually thought it a New Adult based on the cover... So that’s not awkward at all. Yet The Worst Best Luck packed a serious punch, it tackled issues left, right and centre without neglecting the core romance between Peter and Matt.

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you know I dislike giving spoilers so I will retain to keep this spoiler free. (I also dislike star ratings but lets keep that between us, okay?)

“He had a date with Matt for Friday night. And then, he’d have to tell him about the lottery, about the... FOUR HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS. An amount of money that screamed, that deafened him, that made him want to clamp his hands over his ears and run away”. 

I have never read a romance book that featured a lottery winner before and I actually loved this aspect of the book. Brad Vance delve into the psychological implications, the financial implications and the relationship implications of suddenly becoming a multimillionaire over-night. Winning the lottery is fantastic, until it isn’t. Until you’re suddenly headline news and all those people who didn’t care about claim to be your best-friend. This is especially difficult for someone with so little self-esteem as Peter.

As a character I wanted to wrap Peter in a blanket, hand him a hot chocolate and tell him that everything will be okay. His backstory is tragic and could have easily been too melodramatic for my liking, but it was saved because it wasn’t the focus of the story but instead just a part of Peter’s journey to eventual happiness. The author does use lengthy flash-backs to give the reader an insight into Peter and Matt’s childhood. I thought this worked really well, although I was little thrown the first time a flash-back happened.

“I’ll be your Samwise, Mr. Frodo, Matt said... no, swore to himself, and to Peter. You won’t carry the burden alone.”.

But enough about Peter lets talk about the cutie-pie that his Matt. Anyone who references Lord of the Rings in their thought-process is my kind of hero, and this quote in its context just gave me warm-tingles. I loved how protective Matt was of Peter. He supported him without controlling him. He was also able to dominate Peter sexually without making him feel worthless. This is a huge moment for Peter, being with someone who views him as a person rather than just a sexual object.

Now The Worst Best Luck wasn’t a perfect book and it won’t suit everyone. It has kinky sex, the writing although engaging isn’t beautiful prose and it a little unbelievable in moment. Having said all that I really enjoyed reading The Worst Best Luck.

My rating:

Happy reading everyone and see you next time!