🎰🎲🃏 All In 🃏 🎲🎰 (2019) - Book Review
MY REVIEW
Paperback: 282 pages
Publisher: Morgan James Fiction (August 27,2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1642792918
ISBN-13: 978-1642492911
Click Picture for Purchase Information
“A
woman’s empty pursuit of happiness leads to a crisis before finding redemption
in the Lord in this challenging and gritty Christian novel.
Twenty-nine-year-old
novelist and blackjack dealer Cami Taylor seems to have it all–but just
underneath her confident exterior and newfound celebrity is a young woman in
trouble. Cami’s boyfriend, Joel, wants to get married, buy a house on Long
Island, and raise a family–a life that’s a million miles from Cami’s idea of
happiness. Her therapist suggests compromise and trust, but Cami would rather
bolt like a deer.
Breaking
things off with Joel, Cami launches herself on a new quest for happiness. But
her pursuit of pleasure only takes her further from herself–and toward a
harrowing new reality unlike anything she’s faced before. What follows for Cami
is a fight to the death that can only be waged with God’s love.”
 |
| ["All In" - Novel by LK Simonds] |
As of this year, I
discovered the “Christian Fiction” genre (Fiction, Romance, Suspense), so I was
eager to read this novel, especially after this tag line:
Cami
Taylor – former blackjack dealer, writer, and fraud
The
cover also stood out for me, especially since I was raised in Las Vegas.
Gambling occupies almost every aspect of the city, and I thought this had a “gambling”
theme to it. That was a very small portion of the back story, actually a minor
part.
“All
In” centers on Cami Taylor; formerly Leona Camille Lingo; who was a
blackjack dealer at the River Bend Casino in Arizona. It is there that she
created the protagonist Jackie for the novel “Double Down Blues”. Jackie, a
blackjack dealer herself, was everything “Leona” wasn’t and Leona wanted to be.
After
the book becomes a best seller – Leona Camille Lingo vanishes and in her place emerges
Cami Taylor. Cami sheds the former image of her self – an overweight bookworm. What
she has become is cynical and stubborn with a string of bad decisions in her
personal life and no remorse for the choices.
Living
in New York, with her boyfriend Joel (of 18 months), she’s living the life that
she wants, or thinks that she wants. Joel has other ideas: house, family, kids.
After realizing what Joel is after, Cami breaks off the relationship to find
her own happiness, even seeking the help of a therapist to no avail.
And,
what she finds is anything but happiness. Her past comes to confront her in a
seemingly deadly way.
I thought
this might be a tale of gambling addiction with a suspense element. I certainly
didn’t envision what I did.
From
the outside, this seemed like an interesting premise. Given the content
contained, it is FAR different than the Christian novels I’ve read from Bethany
House, Thomas Nelson, and Revell. “All In” is definitely NOT a
“feel-good” type of read. It is uncomfortable, it is gritty, and more graphic than
the usual
Christian
reads. That didn’t bother me though; I still kept an open mind. But, I do
caution other reads to not view “Christian Fiction” solely upon this one novel.
There are other great books from the publishers I’ve mentioned.
Cami
was entirely dislikeable up until the end. She had no redeeming qualities about
her. I found her character shallow and empty. The dialogue, for a character of
her age, was quite realistic compared to that age range. Sadly, I couldn’t identify
with her character at all, even at that age. She seemed to use her upbringing
as an excuse to do what she was doing. With respect to that, there are others
who have had a worse childhood and turned out better.
One
interesting part of the story was a distant family member’s introduction. This
person, despite Cami’s unlikeable behaviors, is there solely as a friend –
nothing more. Cami wonders what the person wants. All Kate wants to do is “help”
Cami. It was, to me, awkward.
Some
readers of this genre might take issue with the pre-marital sex, smoking, and
heavy alcohol use. The character also discusses her life with no remorse for
her actions.
Cami’s “epiphany” comes in the form of a cliché with a medical issue,
and a slightly unrealistic redemption. However, it does demonstrate the power
of prayer and what God is willing to do for us if we give him the chance. It
also shows that while we have free will, we don’t escape consequences.
2 ⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads (“It Was OK”)
3 ⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub (“OKAY”)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
L. K.
Simonds is a Fort Worth local. She has worked as a waitress, KFC hostess,
telephone marketer, assembly-line worker, nanny, hospital lab technician, and
air traffic controller. She’s an instrument-rated pilot and an alumna of Christ
for the Nations Institute in Dallas.
All In is her first novel.
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