Unlucky by Jana DeLeon
Mallory Devereaux is the unluckiest woman in the world. The smallest touch from her is enough to cause a waiter to dump your lobster tail on your lap complete with melted butter and a kiss could leave you crippled for life. Her uncle decides to take advantage of this tragedy by cooling the cards of hot players during a poker tournament. Unfortunately, the poker tournament is filled with the lowest scum of the earth, and the worst of the bunch is being investigated by Jake Randall, undercover FBI agent who is dealing the cards at her table. Jake teams up with Mallory when he finds he can’t lose no matter how badly he plays and soon they find themselves attracted to each other. Now can Mallory and Jake find a way to overcome her curse, or will the criminals at the tournament decide to change Mallory’s luck permanently?
This story features a nice collection of unique characters along with a good adventure story. There’s also enough humor to make you laugh out loud several times along the way. A good read.
Details: Love Spell, December 2007
Excellence Rating: Very Good
When Emma Wadsworth’s millionaire husband died under mysterious circumstances, she forced herself to live one day at a time, hoping that no one discovered his secrets. Then she met billionaire, Logan Crawford. Just when things begin to look up for Emma, the world begins to crash in slow motion. Secrets that she thought would never be revealed are now televised on the evening news. Secrets that she hoped would never see the light of day are about to land her in jail. Secrets that she prayed would remain hidden, now threaten the only man she truly loved. Now can Emma find who’s behind the leaks or will she end up paying the ultimate price for her love? 
Maggie persuades her mentor to temporarily release her from her cat’s body because she fell in love with her human. Nick Goodman is shocked to find a naked woman standing outside his door, especially when she appears to have no past and wants nothing more than to share his bed. While Maggie was certain Nick loved her, she never realized that Nick already was engaged to be married. Now can Nick come to his senses and dump his fiancé before Maggie runs out of time?
Tressa “Calamity” Jayne Turner is back again, but this time she’s after the story of a lifetime. A reclusive writer arrives at the haunted mansion just outside of town. No one has seen or spoken to the author in years. If she could just land the interview, Tressa was certain she’d be able to get a full-time job on the newspaper. The only thing stopping her was a blackmailing homecoming queen candidate who also wants to meet the writer, a grandmother with a collection of fertility gods who moves into Tressa’s home, her grandmother’s boyfriend who supposedly was paid $50 bucks to take the writer to her high school prom, a rival reporter who thinks he has the inside track to the story and that sexy park ranger who always manages to show up just in time to spoil her plans or save her life. But as Tressa digs into the mystery behind the writer, the more likely it is that she’ll end up laying in the graveyard near the haunted house. 
Despite his evil father, Mordi has decided to concentrate his efforts on becoming a model superhero. But little did he realize that his father decided to do the same thing. Mordi doesn’t believe his father really wants to be good, but Isole, his father’s empathic rehabilitation councilor, believes his intentions are sincere. Knowing his father is up to something, he attempts to convince Isole that she’s wrong, but instead he ends up falling in love with the woman of his dreams. Now, not only does Mordi have to convince Isole that they belong together, he has to foil his father’s evil plot before he can take over the world. 
Jason Murphy and Lane Kent are in love, or at least they were in love before Jason spent six long years in captivity by one of the most evil people in the world – his father. Lane didn’t realize that Jason was a Protector with the power to turn change into a dolphin, she was just angry that Jason left her the night she told him she was pregnant - the same night that Jason was captured by his father. But when Jason’s father turned his evil intentions on his grandson and Jason knew must do everything he can to protect Lane and his son. Now it’s up to Lane. Will she chase Jason away to protect her heart or will she believe Jason’s story and let him back into her life? 
Hale, the superhero whose secret identity is that of a romance novel cover model, was charged with retrieving Aphrodite’s Girdle. The ancient artifact gives its wearer the power to bend others to their will. Should this artifact fall into the wrong hands, someone could use its power to take over the world, leaving the Council of Protectors powerless to stop them. Tracy Tannin – a mortal – inherited what she thought was a belt after her grandmother’s death and while she noticed that people acted strangely while she wore it, she didn’t understand its true power. However when the guy that appeared on her favorite romance novels flew into her life, everything was turned upside down. When Tracy realized just how powerful the belt was, she had to choose between having all men find her desirable or giving up the belt to her favorite superhero, whom she may never see again. 
George Taylor’s private investigative business is floundering as paying clients are few and far between. So when a mysterious stranger offers him a small fortune to locate an ugly piece of jewelry he readily accepts the case, especially when he’s recently seen the missing necklace around his sister’s neck. Unfortunately, his sister gave the necklace to Zoe Smith, who’s the assistant librarian at the local school. But what George doesn’t know is that Zoe is a superhero, or at least she will be when she passes the required tests by her twenty-fifth birthday. If she fails, she’ll lose her superhero status, but at least she'll have George to comfort her. However if she passes her test, she knows that she’ll never have George as superhero-mortal relationships never last. Finally to make matters worse, the jewelry is highly sought after by the evil outcasts, who plan to use it as part of their plan to rule the world. Now Zoe must choose between a normal life with George or to become a real superhero so that she can save the world. 
Tressa Jayne Turner, aka, Calamity Jayne, is back, this time dishing ice cream for her uncle at the Iowa State fair. But when a series of suspicious accidents targeted at his ice cream stands, Tressa finds herself in the middle of a mystery. Fortunately, Ranger Rick is on the scene and just in case things go wrong (an absolute certainty with Calamity Jayne), Rick’s grandfather and Tressa’s grandmother are around to provide backup. Rogers and Hammerstein never envisioned a state fair quite like this one. :) 
What do you do if your life is one long blond moment? If your name is Tressa Jayne Turner aka Calamity Jayne, you end up on a deserted road with a dead body in the trunk of your car of course. When you show the authorities the car and they find the trunk empty, they simply won’t believe you – not even the hot Rick Townsend, aka Ranger Rick – so you’ll just have to find the body yourself. But Tressa ends up digging herself deeper into the mystery and dragging Ranger Rick along with her. But dragging a hunk along has lots of advantages, especially as it relates to Tressa’s love life.