Book Review — Lucky Number Four by Amanda Jason

Pandora Ann Phillips' life is just normal-crazy

Her mom's a psychic, her dad's mom is a snob, her mom's parental units are "too down to earth" and her best friends are newlyweds. Okay, so her best friends being newlyweds isn't really abnormal, but living with them in a cramped two-bedroom apartment definitely is. Sex, sex, sex is totally on their minds. Actually it's not only on their minds, but it's on the kitchen table, couch, on top of the washer...well, you get the picture.

Being a celibate (not by choice, mind you) full-time college student, and an almost full-time barista, Pandora can't afford to lose anymore sleep. So, she seeks out a new place to lay her head. Enter three "drool worthy" male models that are looking for a fourth roommate and they want her...and won't take no for an answer.

Hilarity ensues as Pandora's life turns completely upside down, and she begins to wonder if it will ever be the same again!

Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. In plain English, this means that I may receive a small commission (at no cost to you) if you purchase something through the links provided. This small income goes back into my blog, so I can continue to create fun content for you. I appreciate my readers and make it my goal to be upfront and honest. Thank you for supporting my blog!

I am not ashamed to admit that the cover for this book was what attracted me to it. Who wouldn’t pick up a book with not one, not two, but three hot guys on the cover? Don’t lie, you know you would. Unfortunately, as much as I loved the cover of Lucky Number Four, I didn’t fall in love with the story.

Pandora lives with her two best friends. Her two married best friends who get it on night after night. Ready for a change in environment, she responds to a “roommate wanted” ad at her local grocery store. After speaking with woman about the apartment, she made a time to view the apartment. However, once she got to the rental, she realized that she would not be sharing the apartment with any women. The woman she was speaking to was the sister of male model number one, Drew. I should mention that Drew not only owns the apartment but he owns the entire apartment building.

Pandora soon finds out that she would be rooming with three male models. Every girl’s dream, right? Well, Dora wasn’t exactly thrilled at this prospect. She looked around at the extravagant interior, thinking it was way out of her price range and politely declined. But that doesn’t deter Drew and the gang from getting the perfect tenant. The three amigos track Dora down at her school and practically beg her to move in with them. They made her an offer she couldn’t refuse and agreed to move that day.

Dora’s other new roommates are Liam and Colin. Colin is an English model and always flirting with Pandora. Liam, on the other hand, is much more standoffish and unapproachable. Drew is also incredibly sweet to Pandora. Drew and Colin’s niceties cause problems when one of the roommates grabs her at a masquerade ball and kisses her.

Much of the narrative is in Dora’s point-of-view but at the end of many chapter, there is a paragraph from one of the guys’ perspective. In these paragraphs, the guy tells the reader how much he loves Dora and whether he should tell her of his affections.

I did enjoy parts of the story. I really liked Dora’s best friend, Jeff. He was a breath of fresh air. The believability of the situation wasn’t an issue to me. The “girl living with three male models” had the potential to be a fantastic romantic comedy, but this book fell short. The three modelteers never went anywhere without one another and I found that quite humorous. But after awhile, it started to bother me. As I read on, I realize that they had to go everywhere together to keep Dora’s admirer a secret.

The mystery of which guy was Dora’s admirer wasn’t enough to keep my interest. It wasn’t enough to drive the plot. From the time where Dora moves into when the admirer is revealed not a lot happened. Dora had romantic connections with two of the three roommates, but I didn’t feel connected to either guy. In fact, I didn’t really care which guy she ended up with, I just wanted to know. Based on the snippets of the male narrative, the smitten guy falls for Dora rather quickly for no reason other than “she was different.” That bothered me.

The ending of the book was perhaps where most of my issues lie. You finally find out which guy has been pining for Dora at the 75% mark and they get together. From there, the majority of the book’s conflict happens. It felt too compacted and rushed. I would have much preferred this tension to play out over a longer period of time. I also felt like there were too many dramatic things that happened during the last quarter of the book.

2 stars

*I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.