Review: Lucky in Loveland by K-lee Klein

Author: K-lee Klein

Pages/Word Count: 120 Pages

At a Glance: K-lee Klein introduces us to her style of loving, and it is pure romantic gold.

Reviewed By: Sammy

Blurb: Loveland, Colorado is a special place all year around, a community of creativity and art, with scenic views and majestic mountains. But the town really shines once a year, on Valentine’s Day.

Lucky Roberts has lived in Loveland his whole life. He has good friends, strong family support, and is all about keeping his community fun and alive. The only thing Lucky has been “unlucky” with is love. But rather than avoiding February fourteenth in his hometown, he throws himself into helping others deliver their messages of love.

Enter Jack Canon. Jack moved to Loveland for a fresh start, in both his personal and professional lives. After a tough year, he’s finally hoping to just blend in, maybe carve a little niche for himself that his parents would have been proud of. What he didn’t expect was a pseudo-lumberjack with a killer body and shy smile to turn his world upside down – and he sure didn’t expect to like it so much.

When Lucky meets Jack, he feels like a thirteen year-old with his first crush. He’s clumsy, stammering, and the first greeting out of his mouth is a less than articulate, “Wow!” Words like adorable and manbun suddenly become part of his vocabulary as he discovers a deep, hidden need to romance the hell out of Jack.

And what better way to do that than during the most romantic season in the City of Love?

Review: I have never been one for sweet romances—I like a bit of angst—a hard-to-get scenario. Then Lucky in Loveland by K-lee Klein rolled across my Kindle, and my whole opinion on the matter changed in the blink of a page. I need to begin this review by stating unequivocally that this is a slow moving romance done up just right. The rich emotions that are allowed to grow most realistically, and with just a hint of awkwardness and second-guessing, were incredibly touching. The two men, Jake and Lucky, could not have been more opposite and yet so well drawn that their tentative relationship was all the more tender because their personalities were so movingly revealed. Lucky in Loveland was a study of old-fashioned courtship, and the reader is pulled into the growing intimacy between Jake and Lucky with utmost care.

Jake has moved to the small Colorado town of Loveland to escape three selfish sisters who have shown their true natures after the tragic death of their parents. Jake must continually deal with the sadness that threatens to overwhelm him when some small thing prompts a memory of his mom or dad and leaves him almost breathless with the pain it provokes inside. Part-time kindergarten teacher and part-time starving artist, it was not Jack’s intentions to put down roots in the quaint small town but rather, just to gain distance from his siblings—much needed distance. Then he meets the local hockey coach, Lucky Roberts, and he begins to question whether he should reconsider staying.

Lucky has a few painful memories that chase after him as well. Drafted at a very early age into the pros, Lucky spent three years pursuing anyone who would give him the time of day and an easy one-night-stand. When an injury forces him to leave that world, Lucky begins to understand just how empty his sex life has been and how easily the idea of having something as simple as a boyfriend had evaded him. Now, having met the new kindergarten teacher, Lucky is ready to try once more—but this time he is determined to do it right—to court the man who has captured his eye and, quite possibly, his heart.

I think the real beauty of this novel was the rich secondary character—the town of Loveland itself. Admittedly an idyllic setting with amazingly accepting inhabitants, Lucky is one of their own, and when he begins to date, the entire town feels it must lend its support. K-lee Klein sets about creating these marvelous gems—the citizens who surround Jack and Lucky with total acceptance and good wishes. From the youngest in kindergarten to the oldest former hairstylist, these lovely people become flesh and blood under the deft hands of an author who excels at creating people who will worm their way into your heart and leave you smiling.

Then you have the gorgeously awkward Lucky, who is determined that Jack feels that he is so very special by making sure he knows that Lucky wants to get to know who Jack is inside before inviting him into his bed. Theirs is a slow dance of stolen kisses and laughter—a winsome look at how two men become a couple, and a reminder that sometimes the most erotic part of being together is the journey you take in getting there.

If you are looking for some deep storyline, then Lucky in Loveland is not the novel for you. However, if you are in need of a novel that will restore your faith in simple good folk and two men who sweetly fall in love…well, then, look no further. K-lee Klein introduces us to her style of loving, and it is pure romantic gold.

TNA_Signature_Sammy