Mallory Deveraux is one unlucky woman. Royal Flush, Louisiana, isn't named after the biggest hand in poker - although it seems that game is quite popular there. No, Royal Flush is named after the town's biggest industry: port-a-johns. Yep, you read correctly. Port-a-johns. Anyway, Mallory's biggest gift - and sometimes her greatest folly - is brushing up against someone and bestowing on that person an unlucky streak. Yes, it does suck when you're in a relationship. That's why Mallory Deveraux has avoided that area of her life recently. And why her uncle would love for her to play in his poker games, not because Mallory is good but because she can rub some of her unlucky streak onto others so her uncle wins big.

Enter Jake Randoll, an undercover agent sent to infiltrate a poker game going on one of Uncle Reginald's boats. It seems that one of the poker players is kinda shady - okay, all of them are. But the man on whom Jake has his eye knows the whereabouts of his partner and is known to launder dirty money. Jake is desperate to catch the guy for both reasons, but along the way, emotions start to rise between the poker dealer-slash-agent and the unlucky cooler in this high-stakes tournament.

With cheaters, shady goings-on and perfect secondary characters, Jana DeLeon crafts a well-rounded sophomore novel. Who can resist a poker-playing priest who spouts Psalms at the table and a beer-guzzling carpenter who acts like he doesn't have a clue about anything yet comes up with all sorts of brilliant ideas?

Unlucky is a fairly good read, although there aren't enough twists to have kept me reading until the very end.