From the author of the “clever, creative, and sweetly delicious” (Kirkus Reviews) The Coincidence of Coconut Cake and the forthcoming Simplicity of Cider comes a novel about an exasperated wife and mother who makes a play to reignite her marriage–and risks everything in a gamble she hopes is a sure bet. When Milwaukee-area wife and mother MJ Boudreaux notices her husband Chris seems more … her husband Chris seems more interested in the casino than her, she’s more bothered that she isn’t upset than by her husband’s absence. She picks up poker as a way for them to spend more time together–and reignite their marital flame.
Although the game doesn’t give her the quality time with Chris that she’d hoped, MJ finds she has a knack for it. Increasingly unhappy at home, she turns to the felt top of the poker table for comfort. Intoxicated with newfound freedom, MJ begins spending more time at the gambling tables and less with her family, finally carving out for herself a place outside her role of wife and mother.
After a string of great wins, MJ finds herself in Vegas, attracting the attention of a certain magnetic poker star. But when she’s forced to choose between her family and her new exciting lifestyle, the stakes may be higher than she thought and MJ will have to play her hand carefully…or risk losing it all.
Don’t miss Amy E. Reichert’s sparkling new novel The Simplicity of Cider, available nowmore
My least favorite from this otherwise amazing author. This one just did not do it for me. I wasn’t a big fan of either MJ or Chris. Neither were terribly likable, but at least she tried. The book opens(close enough) with MJ sitting alone for over 3 hours awaiting his arrival to their anniversary lunch. He “forgot” and didn’t bother to call. She tried to find something to do together and since he was obsessed with poker she wanted to so it together. A total bust as Chris was a man child who didnt speak to her, but treated her like the maid and caretaker and not an equal partner. Chris didn’t become a decent human until the last chapter and by then I didn’t care. He did some awful things as well and was not really called out in it. She was sorry and wanted to make things right. He filed divorce papers. And the adult in the room is? So while I adore this author this was not at all to my personal liking.
MJ is a wife that keeps the household going, kids to school and their activities, and meets at a coffee-shop with other women about her age. Chris, MJ’s husband, works and his hobby is playing poker which he spends quite a bit of time doing. MJ has hit that stage in her life where things are just routine and she wants to put the sparkle back into her marriage. MJ comes up with a plan to learn poker so she and Chris can spend more time together. When the plan does not has the result that MJ was looking for, she works another but this plan is one where, when she bets, she may lose it all. A good, quick read.
I listened to the audio book. While I think the plot flowed well and I think the writing and reading of the book were good, I really disliked the most of the characters. It made the enjoyment of the book difficult.
The main character MJ is spoiled and full of herself. The fact that she has two children, a daughter who is a senior in high school and a son younger than that, and she leaves at all hours to play poker, in hopes of reconnecting with her husband of 25 years, while she did not have time previously to do the housework and left the clean clothes in bins for the family member to take out themselves, just shows her lack of maturity (which she should have reached years before). Her husband isn’t much better in my opinion. Instead of trying to find a way to become closer to his stubborn wife, he instead lends an ear to an old female friend that his wife hates.
Meanwhile, the children go on with their lives and think this is normal behavior for parents, really? Either of them complain until much later, near the end of the book.
I waited two days before posting, since I was not sure what to write, but unfortunately, I don’t think that helped. I can’t get over my dislike of the characters to give this book more than 3 stars. I read The Coincidence of Coconut Cake just before this book and enjoyed it totally. This book was a disappointment. Sorry to the author. I will continue to read your books in hopes the next one is like The Coincidence of Coconut Cake, and less like this one.