Texas Hold Him

For the most part, this book was cute. It takes place in the post-Civil War South. The main character, Lottie, needs to get $15,000 fast, so she decides to learn how to play poker. She also decides to ask the best poker player around to teach her. Shenanigans ensue.

I like the premise. I like that slavery is acknowledged, that the love interest fought for the North and that there's a little bit of Lottie working through what it means to own slaves (and when I say “a little bit” I do mean like maybe a paragraph). Lottie's got a lot of verve despite her naïveté, but not a whole lot of street smarts, and that's what really bugs me. She ends up needing to be saved a whole lot, and runs around thinking she's saving others when she's really just complicating things and endangering others. And she doesn't actually learn to play poker that well, but she's everyone's sweetheart, so everyone on the boat (unbeknownst to her) throws the games they play against her so she can make it to the big poker championship in St. Louis.

Overall, though, the story is cute, entertaining, and a quick read (I read the entire thing on a plane ride).