I may have skipped a couple of books in the MacGregor series to land on this one but it was a cute read. Justin Blade and Serena MacGregor Blade's eldest son, Robert MacGregor or "Mac" runs their Las Vegas casino installment, The Comanche. Darcy Wallace, a nice and proper librarian arrives in Vegas on the run from her former life and ex-fiancé in Kansas with only $9.37, a suitcase, and a broken down car just outside of town to her name. She gambles the money away on pure instinct at The Comanche and suddenly becomes a millionaire.

And since we're in NR La La Land, that's of course not where her good luck streak ends. Several gambling metaphors and chapters filled with Darcy and Mac self-doubts and miscommunications later, we all know what happens. It's such a fantastic fantasy of course but I liked Darcy's character enough to appreciate her situation of basically constantly winning all the things. I wasn't too keen on Mac, especially when they seemed to be arguing about the same topic repeatedly until the very end. And as usual, the ending was so short and underwhelming. I was upset at Mac just as Darcy was but Darcy let him off way too easy because we reached the end.

Overall, I liked the story but did not want it to wrap up so neatly and quickly since the ending felt forced from both characters' perspectives. ( )

Darcy Wallace didn’t want to marry Gerald so she stole away from Kansas in the dark of the night. She had her purse stolen in Utah so she only had $10 in her purse when her car breaks down outside of Las Vegas. Well she wasn’t going to let that stop her adventure, she grabs her tote and walks the mile to the city.

Romance! Nora Roberts at her signature finest ( )

This is one of my favorite MacGregor novels. All of them are good, but this one has that little something.
I think the reason I love it because it touches that dream everyone has, about someday hitting Jackpot. Either at a Casino, or through a lottery ticket.
I loved following Darcy's transformation from the wreck she was at the beginning to the confident woman she was at the end. I smiled when she and Mac bantered, and argued.
I cheered for her when she decided to take her life into her own hands, and do what she had dreamed about.

What I liked most, was the romance between her and Mac. In some ways, it felt like an opposite attracts. Darcy is naive and innocent, Mac is cynical and experienced. There were times when I wondered if they would end up together, since Mac kept pushing her away.

What bothered me was the fact that most of the rocky parts was caused by Mac, and his reactions to Darcy's decision regarding important details in her new life. The reason this bothers me, is because I felt that Darcy just floated along sometimes.
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Nothing But Nora Week 2011, Book 5. ( )

Darcy Wallace is a librarian running away from her small town life and marriage to a local bully. She ends up in Vegas- penniless, homeless and like a fairy tale, ends up winning almost 2 million dollars with the last of her money in Mac Blades Casino. A fun read from Nora. ( )