Smexy Books

Romance and Urban Fantasy Reviews

  • Review Request
  • Contact
    • Smexy Reviewers Profiles
    • New Reviewer Application
    • Contact
  • Advertising
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • By Genre
      • BDSM
      • Contemporary
      • Erotic
      • Fantasy
      • F/F
      • Historical Romance
      • Historical PNR
      • LGBTQ+
      • M/M Romance
      • New Adult
      • Urban Fantasy
      • Paranormal Romance
      • Sci-Fi
      • Romantic Suspense
      • Young Adult
    • By Letter Grade Rating
      • A Reviews
      • B Reviews
      • C Reviews
      • D Reviews
      • DNF Reviews
  • Features
    • New Releases
    • Smexy Deals!
    • Retro Review
    • Weekly Wrap-Up
    • Blog Tour
    • Scenic Sunday
    • To Be Read
    • Guest Post
    • Top Ten/Happy Friday
    • Smex Scene Sunday
  • The Psy/Changeling Channel
You are here: Home / B Review / Review: Beginner’s Luck by Kate Clayborn

Review: Beginner’s Luck by Kate Clayborn

November 21, 2017 by Kini 1 Comment

Beginner’s Luck by Kate Clayborn (Chance of a Lifetime #1)
Contemporary Romance
October 31, 2017
Lyrical Shine

Reviewed by Kini

Favorite Quote:

“What does that mean?” I’m intentionally vague with my question. Maybe I’m asking what it means for Beaumont’s pursuit of me. Maybe I’m asking what it means for him and his job. But maybe I’m asking what it means for him and me. Because when I think of being “involved” with Ben, I think about his clothes on my bedroom floor. I think about all his weight on top of me, that chocolate-sweet kiss. “It means,” he says, looking right at me, looking right through me, really, “that if you say okay, I’m coming in this house with you and finishing what we started. It means I got Sharon to stay with my dad tonight, so I have every intention of taking you to bed and keeping you there all night. It means I haven’t stopped thinking about your mouth since Saturday. It means that right now, I don’t give one good goddamn about anything other than making sure I have you every way I can before you have to go to work tomorrow.”

I saw this book blurb earlier this year and I was really interested in reading this book. I finally got a chance to and I was not disappointed. This is a take on enemies/opposites to lovers trope. Kit is an amazing scientist who is undervaluing herself and Ben is a recruiter looking to get Kit to come work for a corporation doing sciencey things.

I really liked this book. It is told from dual POV and I think Ben is a near perfect romance hero. He is handsome and sweet and handy and he falls so very hard for Kit, almost immediately. At first they are both tentative to move forward with their attraction. He’s trying to recruit her for a job so there is a conflict of interest at play. It was a lot of fun to watch their friendship and romance grow. This book is a little bit of a slow build to the romance and I loved the way it work. Kit has just bought a fixer-upper home and Ben’s dad owns a salvage yard and Ben and Kit bond over repairs. It was really wonderful to see Ben be a helper, but not take over with repairs and telling Kit what to do. I really loved the way that Ben loved Kit and really wanted her to shine and excel in her career. He was never afraid of her intelligence or abilities. It really felt like he wanted to be her partner.

Kit was a great heroine. She is incredibly smart and works as a lab-tech at a local college. She and her two besties won the lottery a few months ago, but she continues to work. She didn’t have a great childhood as her mother was absent and her father has addiction, gambling, alcohol, issues. She has some trust issues and issues with pushing herself outside of her comfort zone. She strives to be independent and build a home for herself that she didn’t have.

Seriously, the way Ben swoons over Kit was wonderful to read. I want all my romance heroes to behave like this. Here are a few examples of Ben falling for Kit.

I think if Kit looked at me that way, I’d probably confess sins I’d never even committed, just so I’d be doing what she wanted— she’s that persuasive, at least to me. In the warehouse, I’d wanted to bring her every single piece of hardware we had so I could see the look she got on her face when she opened something new.

AND

Two texts and I’m way outside my pay grade in terms of the science, but I don’t care. I’d read her texts about crystal structure all night— I’m that excited she’s talking to me.

ONE LAST ONE

We head toward her neighborhood, Kit making an occasional moan of satisfaction, and I decide that I am, despite all the knowledge Kit has dropped on me in the last two hours, actually stupider than I was when I began this day, if I thought watching Kit eat a hot dog was a good idea.

I really enjoyed this story. I loved watching Ben and Kit fall in love. The only small issue I had is the conflict felt a tiny bit forced and I am not a fan when one something happens and one of the characters immediately jumps to a conclusion and refuses to hear the other person out. Especially after they have built a bond and some trust to not give the other person the opportunity to be heard is something that really annoys me. However, I also understand why it happened in this instance. But after the conflict occurred, I would have liked to seen a little more apologies from each character.

There was a great cast of characters in this book, but Ben’s dad Henry really stood out. Ben is a great man because his dad is a great man. Kit’s friends are amazing and I love seeing great female friendships in books. Kit is a scientist and at times it got a little too technical for me, but I skimmed through those parts. I really loved how quickly Ben became enamored with Kit. My small issues with the conflict wouldn’t hold me back from recommending this book. I look forwarding to reading the next book in this series.

Grade: B+
Recent Reviews:
Smart Bitches Trashy Books l Straight Shootin Book Reviews
Goodreads I Author Website

Kindle I Nook

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • More
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Filed Under: B Review, Contemporary Romance, Discussion, Kate Clayborn, Lyrical Shine, STEM

Comments

  1. Kareni says

    November 27, 2017 at 6:32 pm

    This does sound like a fun read! Thanks for your review, Kini.

    Loading...
    Reply

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Welcome to Smexy! If you are reader feel free to use our search feature to find a specific book or browse through our features to find Smexy Deals, New Releases, and book news!

As an Amazon Associate, we do earn from qualifying purchases. We also earn a small commission on affiliate links to Apple, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords,  Booksamillion, and Bookshop,org.

 

Shop our Affiliates!

Amazon

B&N

Apple

Smashwords

Booksamillion

Angela

Melanie

Jen

Kate

Iby

Kate H.

Sign Up for Daily Emails


Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

.

Follow Us!

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterFollow Us on Instagram

Top Posts & Pages

  • Smexy Deals- Deals for books by J.H. Croix, Sophie Jordan, Liana De la Rosa, and more!
    Smexy Deals- Deals for books by J.H. Croix, Sophie Jordan, Liana De la Rosa, and more!
  • New Releases- Week of May 26-30, 2025
    New Releases- Week of May 26-30, 2025
  • Review: Beneath the Burning Sea by Amanda Bouchet
    Review: Beneath the Burning Sea by Amanda Bouchet
  • Smexy’s Top Ten Favorite Sex Scenes of 2012
    Smexy’s Top Ten Favorite Sex Scenes of 2012
  • Review: Manacled by SenLinYu
    Review: Manacled by SenLinYu
  • Review: The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros
    Review: The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros
  • Smexy Deals- Deals for books by B.K. Borison, Tessa Bailey, Caitlin Rozakis, and more!
    Smexy Deals- Deals for books by B.K. Borison, Tessa Bailey, Caitlin Rozakis, and more!
  • Review: The Plated Prisoner Series by Raven Kennedy
    Review: The Plated Prisoner Series by Raven Kennedy
  • Smex Scene Sunday
    Smex Scene Sunday
  • Steamy Excerpt from Everything's Better With Lisa by Lucy Eden
    Steamy Excerpt from Everything's Better With Lisa by Lucy Eden

Disclosure

The majority of the books reviewed at this site have been provided for free by publishers, authors, or other third parties like NetGalley or Edelweiss. Acceptance of a free copy does not guarantee a review or a positive review.

As an Amazon Associate, we do earn from qualifying purchases. We also earn a small commission on affiliate links to Apple, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, and Booksamillion.

Shop our Affiliates!

Amazon

B&N

Apple

Smashwords

Booksamillion

 

Find Our Reviewers

Angela @fv-angela.bsky.social l Goodreads

Melanie @melonreads.bsky.social l  Goodreads

Jen .@thebooknista l Goodreads

Kate  @kateminasian l Goodreads

Iby Instagram l Goodreads

Kate H. @Naranjadia l Goodreads

Copyright © 2025 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d