Aces Up by Lauren Barnholdt

Genre: Contemporary

Paperback: 288 Pages

Published: August 10, 2010

Series: None

Rating:★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old high school senior Shannon Card needs money. And lots of it. She's been admitted to Wellesley, but her dad just lost his job, and somehow she has to come up with a year of tuition herself. But Shannon's dream of making big bucks waitressing at the local casino, the Collosio, disappears faster than a gambler's lucky streak. Her boss is a tyrant, her coworker is nuts, and her chances of balancing a tray full of drinks while wearing high-heeled shoes are slim to none. Worse, time is running out, and Shannon hasn't made even half the money she'd hoped.

When Shannon receives a mysterious invitation to join Aces Up, a secret network of highly talented college poker players, at first she thinks No way. She has enough to worry about: keeping her job, winning the coveted math scholarship at school, and tutoring her secret crush, Max. But when Shannon musters up the nerve to kiss Max and he doesn't react at all, the allure of Aces Up and its sexy eighteen-year-old leader, Cole, is suddenly too powerful to ignore.

Soon Shannon's caught up in a web of lies and deceit that makes worrying about tuition money or a high school crush seem like kid stuff. Still, when the money's this good, is the fear of getting caught reason enough to fold?

This fun, sexy, recession-proof story is a bubbly summer read with surprising depth—great for fans of Sarah Mlynowski.

My Review:

        Shannon Card needs money. And lots of it. Not for anything bad, but for her education. After her father lost his job it's up to Shannon to come up with the money or not get an education. So when she finds a waitress job at a casino she's thanking her lucky starts. The job is fine and she's making money, but the problem is the money isn't enough. So when she gets an anonymous invitation to join Aces Up, a secret network of talented college poker players who play in order to pay for college, Shannon is appalled at the idea. But when she realizes she needs more money she decides to give it a shot.

      As her nights at the casino making money get dangerous she meets Cole, a sexy 18 year old leader who is too powerful to ignore. Spending time at the casino and in Cole's company, Shannon finds herself in a web of lies that keeps getting bigger and bigger. Overall, it was an okay book. I read this book when I didn't have anything to read so I wasn't really interested in this story. It was alright for a stand alone, the characters were likable, and the plot was good enough to keep me awake.