Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: Stroke of Luck
AUTHOR: Posy Roberts
PUBLISHER: Labyrinth Bound Press
LENGTH: 86 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 25, 2016
BLURB:
After everything Marc owned burned to a crisp, he’s living off the kindness of others. A model condo is his temporary home, and his last dime went to essentials. He doesn’t need another distraction, but the fates conspire against him, setting up a chain of encounters that bring him face to face with Cas.
Cas’s love life has been in limbo for years, lovers moving on as soon as they discover how close he is to his best friend, Maisie. Then he meets Marc. The attraction between the two men can’t be denied, but Cas isn’t sure he can risk his friendship for a guy who will only end up leaving when he sees how close he and Maisie are.
When Marc and Cas discover they live in the same building, it’s kismet. But Marc has to invite chaos into his life if he and Cas stand a chance, and Cas faces a choice between friendship and love. Luck may be on their side… if they’re willing to risk it all.
REVIEW:
I have been reviewing Posy Roberts “Naked Organics” series and jumped on a chance to read some of her other work. Although this is nothing like that series, I enjoyed that she was able to spin a web of misunderstandings and trust issues that was very entertaining.
Marc is having a rough go of it. He is basically homeless since his studio apartment went up in flames. Next, after he accepts the generosity of a stranger, he backs into the man’s car in the parking lot. Things just keep getting worse. Now, after a series of accidental meetings, both men realize that they are not only single, but bi-sexual, and into each other. But they each have a bunch of baggage hanging on them. “Stroke of Luck” is the story of how they sort through that baggage and discover if they can learn to trust someone again.
I liked Marc from the start. Poor guy was really in a downward spin and nothing seemed to be going his way. Talk about bad luck in spades. Every time he even ventured out and tried to do anything something bad happened.
Cas was stuck in a horrible predicament. His best friend, and former lover, Maisie was a very closeted lesbian who was using Cas as her beard to her family. Every time he tried to pull a bit away she sunk her nails in a little tighter. At times I felt like Maisie wanted to have her cake and eat it too. Poor Cas was trapped, not wanting to hurt his best friend but needing to move on with his life.
Although I loved where Cas and Marc were going, I got a bit frustrated with Maisie’s interference. She obviously, genuinely loved her best friend but she was cock-blocking his every move. It began to piss me off a bit that she was so self-serving.
This was a really quick, cute Halloween novella. It had just enough angst to make it interesting and fun.
RATING: 
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