Lucky

By: Garrett Leigh

Narrated by: Shaun Grindell

Dominic Ramos is a Premiership football player with a secret. There are no trophies for being gay in his game. Locked into his rep as the meanest defender on the pitch, keeping his secret is soul-crushing, but love has no place in his sport, even if his soft heart craves it.

Lucky Coleman is on his knees when he meets a man with more money than sense. It's a Grindr hook-up for cash, not a love match, but dreaming of his desperate, kind eyes earns a place amongst his numerous bad habits.

Meeting once was risky, twice pushes Dom's courage to the limit. Losing Lucky seems inevitable, but his tight grip on his image counts for nothing when Lucky starts to fall.

Catching him could cost Dom everything, but if he can set his heart free, getting Lucky long term might be a risk worth taking.

Contains mature themes.

©2018 Garrett Leigh (P)2019 Tantor

Wonderful to Revisit

I read this for the first time back in 2018… this is my review from then:

It’s really hard for me to say that I have certain favorite by Garrett because all of her books grab your attention immediately and hold onto it for dear life until the end of the book, but with Dom and Lucky I just couldn’t fathom putting them down. Their story was just so gripping and angsty and as per usual for Garrett, she made me cry a dozen times and my heart was literally in pain because of the turmoil Dom was going through and how it ended up affecting Lucky. There was something about Lucky that I can’t put my finger on but he might be my favorite GL character and this book may easily top the list of my GL list! I’m so glad the story focused more on their relationship and the build up than what would be going on behind the scenes with the club and the extra stuff with Dom coming out and all that. I got so engulfed that there was a moment when I was like omg their in love, when did that happen? It’s so subtle that it just kinda sneaks up and bites you. Five huge stars for me! Definitely wouldn’t mind more from this world!!!!

As for the narrator, he’s not the best and this audio won’t be for everyone. Garrett had no say in the narrator and I saw someone else suggest setting the reading speed to like 1.2 or close and that helped a lot. Shaun Grindell has a weird speaking cadence and emphasizes things in a way I’m not sure why it happens like that, but I don’t regret revisiting these characters, and it won’t stop me from listening to the next audios!

Homophobia Sucks

Garrett Leigh is such a talented writer. I’m always impressed by the worlds & characters that are created.
Our first impressions of both Dom & Lucky aren’t quite accurate. I quickly became extremely sympathetic to both of them, and how both men were stuck between a rock & a hard place in their own, very different, but equally oppressive ways.

Good series intro, was generous with the 4 stars.

This title relies heavily on mixed signals and misunderstandings. I am fine with some, but Leigh goes back to that well over and over. I think it is safe to say the closeted sports figure is tried and true, and IMO - overused. There is a lot to appreciate in Leigh's approach to Dom. He is gruff, scared and scarred. His fears, of being caught and being vulnerable are understandable, but as I said, it gets a bit old. At some point he needs to come around to trying with Lucky, or he must stop. As a character, Lucky is quite sympathetic, although his set up is a bit much. The whole Grindr for pay is a bit too tidy for as rough as his life is. What is refreshing is Leigh never has Lucky looking for someone else to solve his problems. When he struggles, he really struggles, but his wins are his own.

After my very rough start with Grindell in the Skins Series first book, I have since found him very enjoyable and in control of the material. No difference here. I think a lot of readers look to Joel Leslie, or maybe James Joseph as the epitome of British accents. The ease with with Grindell vocally moves around the UK is a delight and offers more edge than either of those fine narrators offer.

I dithered over a three or four star for this one. At the end of the day, Leigh presents flawed, interesting men who do not fit conventional expectations. The fourth star is for consistently taking chances. Highly recommended.

A breath of fresh air

The rating for this book doesn’t do it justice. This book isn’t for the faint of heart. Real characters with real flaws dealing with real problems in real ways. Garret Leigh does it again!!!This book is nothing short of a masterpiece. Well written. Angsty. HEA well executed.

Another great story by Garrett Leigh

I feel kind of repetitive because I am working through all of Garrett Leigh's catalog of incredible stories and they are all so good! Luck was no different. I'm obsessed with this author! A rivieting love story between a sometimes homeless, down on his luck (Lucky...lol) guy and a sexy Premiership football player Dominic Ramos. An anonymous hook-up brought them together and as unlikely as it may seem that these two were made for each other, it all made sense. The author drew me in once again to the heart of each character and their journey to find their HEA even if they didn't know they were searching for it. It was sexy, sweet, gritty and warm. Garrett has a way of creating characters that I fall in love with. I highly recommend this book. The narration by Shaun Grindell was perfection!

Really Enjoyable Listen

This was a good story. I think I went it expecting more fluff and heat tbh but this book ended up being deeper than I expected, which made it good just in a different way. I felt so emotionally attached to Lucky right away and his struggles, you really wanted to reach inside the story and hug him. There were even moments I found myself tearing up for him. I did enjoy Dom’s path and struggles as well, though I have to admit he took longer to grow on me because he was just so closed off and at times cold to Lucky. The connection between them though was written well and I was pleased where they ended up. Overall it was a good listen.

Fan-freaking-tastic!!

I don’t know how Garrett Leigh continues to make a mess of my feelings with these books but she DOES!

I freaking LOVE lucky so much. The fact that he is just trying to survive and not take up so space at the same time… shatters me. I want to wrap him in a never cooling warm blanket and feed him.

Dom… uhh!! I love him too. I love that he is 26 and everyone just knows him as the old man who hates everyone lol!

Stunning! I will gladly devour anything and everything - Garrett Leigh!! She stole my loyalty with these ruthless gritty boys!!

Love the Story - cannot tolerate the narrator

I purchased this audiobook in the " Sale Frenzy of Aug '22" because I enjoyed the book . I did listen to the sample but I suppose I assumed it was dramatic because of the events occurring in the clip? Not sure but the narration is so bad.
What is confusing is that when he is narrating conversation it sounds relatively normal but when its the text or internal dialogue he sounds like Captain Kirk (and I do not mean the hot Chris Pine Capt Kirk) . I'm talking about the breathy, pause filled over acting Will Shatner Cpt Kirk.

I stopped listening at this line "leaving me to wonder whether he had ever truly been here at all" which sounded like this
"whether. he. had ever. truly. been here. at all " .. came back two days later thinking maybe it was my mood that day.. speed up the track to 1.1 (which was better) but Nope. Its still awful

the story itself is very good- I gave it 4 stars on KU (two broken boys finding someone to love) but I do not recommend the audio book.

Didn’t engage me

Maybe just not my cup of tea but couldn’t get engaged with the story or the characters. DNF. Maybe it just felt too unrealistic for me to get into the world.

Total shit

Why take a few hrs to hear a story that makes you feel like shit. Why tell a story that would make people good. Life it too short