House Always Wins: Vegas Ghost Story by Brian Rouff

Publisher:  Huntington Press (Oct 3, 2017)
Category: Paranormal Romance, Ghosts, Crime Thriller, Las Vegas Mystery

Synopsis

Anna Christiansen’s small-town life is about to go haywire. A young reporter stuck in a dead-end job, Anna falls head over heels for an interview subject, the bass player in an up-and-coming alt band. In short order, she pulls up stakes, moves to Las Vegas, gets married and pregnant, and buys a big fixer-upper haunted by the ghost of a Sin City racketeer.

That’s when Anna gets notice from a corrupt casino owner that he’s buying up all the properties on her street to make way for a parking lot. But Anna has poured her heart and soul into the house and digs in hard to fight the system — not the easiest of tasks in a city where bribery, mayhem, and murder are standard operating procedures.

Can Anna’s tough-guy ghost provide the help she needs to prevail in this dangerous cat-and-mouse game? Will Anna’s life be left in ruins? Or worse?

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Praise

“It’s pure Vegas, told from an insider’s perspective.”- Anthony Curtis, Huntington Press

“A whirlwind romance leads an unlikely pair of newlyweds to Las Vegas, home of every dream and nightmare they can imagine―from predatory developers to a friendly ghost. Rouff spins a guilelessly winsome fable whose charming heroine needs to have everything from her ghost’s personal history to the ritual significance of her newborn’s bris explained to her―which means that the reader gets treated to all these explanations too.”-Kirkus Reviews

“Paragraphs are replete with uproariously sarcastic similes, metaphors, and tongue-in-cheek comments. Narrative hooks, drama, unexpected openings, and cliffhanging chapter endings keep the story flowing. Complicated situations, including confrontations with neighbors and pressure from the casino, build to a significant and unanticipated climax. A fun read from beginning to end, The House Always Wins is an attractive romance with a unique ghostly touch.”-Clarion Foreword Reviews, 5 stars

“Author Brian Rouff has dreamed up a fun little tale, which he describes in a release as “part coming-of-age saga, part mystery and part ghost story.” When it comes to Nevada stories, Rouff knows his stuff. He has lived in Las Vegas for more than 35 years and has also written the Las Vegas-based novels Dice Angel and Money Shot.”- C. Moon Reed, Las Vegas Weekly

“Brian Rouff’s writing of The House Always Wins: A Vegas Ghost Story is impressive. It’s a charming, fast-paced story beautifully narrated by the main character, Anna. It contains wit, mystery, and a bit of nostalgia. Meyer reminisces about his racketeering life and how developed Las Vegas has become. Anna is a strong-minded person who possesses a sense of humour, even when her problems are serious. I thought the road trip was interesting, also the descriptions of the communities that had seen changes, for better or for worse. The author has shown the other side of Las Vegas in this must-read novel.”- Michelle Stanley, Readers’ Favorite

Review

I’m not sure I would have picked this book up to read off a random shelf, but I was very pleasantly surprised. From the love story between Anna and Aaron to Aaron’s crazy best friend Boozer, to the ghostly Meyer. All of these aspects wove together a tale that was unexpected.

I have only been to Vegas a few times but the author makes the town come alive with descriptions of the Strip, the various hotels, the buffets, the people, and the outlying towns. Even if you have never been to Vegas, you might feel like you know the town just a little bit after reading this book.

Anna is someone I could imagine being friends with in life. She is smart but snarky. She is loyal and protective of those around her, all attributes you would want in a friend. Plus she is not someone you want to trifle with as a greedy casino owner finds out after trying to oust her from her home.

Anna does give up a safe life to move halfway across the country with Aaron. But this may be the only way that she would ever make the leap and take a chance with someone she just met. While I’m not sure how many of us would give up everything for someone they just met, it works for her and for them.

The parts where the ghost, Meyer, reveals himself were quite interesting. While Meyer was telling his story to Anna, it did seem to go on forever with no interruptions from Anna which is quite surprising considering her journalistic background. His tale was interesting but it would have been nice to have a few breaks during his monologue. I’m curious about the dog, Lucky, that Anna and Aaron adopt and some comments that Meyer makes about his life. I’ll leave it at that, no spoilers!

Overall I really enjoyed the story and recommend this book.  We give it 4 paws up

About the Author

Award winning author, Brian Rouff was born in Detroit, raised in Southern California, and has lived in Las Vegas since 1981, which makes him a long-timer by local standards. When he’s not writing articles, screenplays and Las Vegas-based novels such as “Dice Angel,” “Money Shot,” and “The House Always Wins,” he runs Imagine Communications, a marketing and public relations firm. He is also a regular contributor to Living-Las-Vegas.com.

On a personal note, Brian is married with two grown daughters and five grandchildren. In his spare time, he enjoys movies, playing guitar and the occasional trip to the casino buffet line.

Website * Twitter * Facebook

 

Giveaway

This giveaway is for one print copy or ebook copy of the book. Print is available to the U.S. only but ebook is available worldwide.

This giveaway ends on November 30, 2018 at midnight pacific time.

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The House Always Wins Web Tour Schedule

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Oct 16 Kickoff

Lu Ann Rockin’ Book Reviews Oct 19 Review

Monica Writers N Authors Oct 23 Review & Interview

Yari Yaris-book-world Oct 24 Review

Dawn Bound 2 Escape Oct 25 Excerpt

Dawn Bound 4 Escape Oct 26 Guest Review

Indie Review Behind the Scenes Oct 30 Video Interview 1 pm est (will be posted later in the week)

Bridgette Bookworm Bridgette’s World Nov 1 Guest Review, Excerpt

Carole’s Book Corner Nov 5 Guest Review & Excerpt

Leslie StoreyBook Reviews Nov 12 Review

Shannon Pulp and Mystery Shelf Nov 19 Interview

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Nov 20 Review

Autumn A Little Bit of R&R Nov 28 Review

If you are looking for a lighter quick read, then you might want to look into Not the Marrying Kind by Nicola Marsh!

Synopsis:

Diva Las Vegas!
When investors tarnish the King of Construction’s reputation he’s forced to prove his respectability… by finding a wife!

Beck Blackwood, desert bad-boy made good, will do whatever it takes to expand his construction company nationwide. Including blackmail a woman guaranteed to drive him crazy, into marriage.

LA party planner Poppy Collins is a woman on a mission: save her sister’s sanity. Determined to keep business afloat, Poppy pitches for the divorce party of the century to Vegas hotshot Beck Blackwood, not expecting a proposal of a different kind.

Beck leaves Poppy no option. Marry him or her Divorce Diva Daily secret is out and her sister’s business implodes. He holds a winning hand. However, Beck hasn’t played the game with a defiant woman who has a few tricks of her own!

In the city of high stakes and high flyers, can the Divorce Diva and the construction king take a gamble on love and beat the odds?

My thoughts:

Every now and then I want to read a book that is a quick but fun read….well Not the Marrying Kind DEFINITELY fit this bill!   The story line was fun, and even somewhat interesting.  I’m all for a party but had never thought about a divorce party…not that I plan to get divorced but is something to keep in the back of my mind for friends!  Anyway, I sent the PDF the publisher sent me for the blog tour to my work computer….and I will admit that I read it while at work..shhhh, don’t tell my boss!  I couldn’t help it though, the story hooked me from the beginning and I wanted to see what would happen next with Poppy and Beck.  Isn’t always the confirmed bachelor that has love sneak up and hit him square between the eyes?  And Poppy was willing to go along with Beck’s crazy scheme in the beginning to help her sister.  I think even that is more than what most family members will do for one another.  There is some witty dialogue between the two and some well meaning friends that throw some kinks into the scheme, but that just adds to the intrigue if everything is going to go as planned….but does it ever?!

All in all, Gracie & April give this 5 paws up and suggested that I look for other books by Nicola to read.  What can I say, they have great taste!

Coming tomorrow:  An interview with the author, Nicola Marsh…so stay tuned!

 

Today’s (way overdue) review is for A Slot Machine Ate My Midlife Crisis by Irene Woodbury.  This is Irene’s first novel and was inspired by her love to travel, especially to Las Vegas!  She came up with the idea for this novel in 2006 and after many years of research, A Slot Machine was born.  She said that writing this novel was her mid-life crisis…..I suppose there are worse things that writing a novel!

Synopsis from Irene’s website:

This darkly funny novel describes Wendy Sinclair’s spin-crazy life in Las Vegas after she impulsively decides to not return to Houston following a bizarre girls’ weekend in 2005.

The confused, unhappy 45-year-old newlywed soon rents a ramshackle apartment in a building filled with misfits; wallows in a blur of spas, malls and buffets, and, ultimately, becomes a designer of cocktail waitress uniforms and an Ann-Margret impersonator in a casino show with Elvis.

She also hangs with some pretty colorful characters.  Paula’s her bold, brassy glamazon BFF who’s looser than a Casino Royale slot.  Maxine’s her saucy former-Tropicana-showgirl boss.  Paige and Serena are two twenty-something blackjack dealers she shops, gambles, and clubs up a storm with.  Major crushes on a hunky pilot and sexy former rock star are also part of the mix.

And then there are the phone fights with Roger, Wendy’s workaholic husband waiting impatiently in Houston.  Their clashes are louder and more raucous than a hot craps table at Caesar’s!   Does she go back to him, or does her midlife crisis become a midlife makeover?

My Thoughts:

I will have to admit that I picked this book up and started reading it and had to put it back down.  I’m not sure if it was my frame of mind or the main character, Wendy, but I wanted to grab her by the arms and shake her and ask her what her problem was!  Who takes off for a long weekend in Vegas with a self-absorbed friend and then decides to not come back to a new marriage?  If this is a mid-life crisis it was definitely going to be a doozy!

The story got better as I went along but the ending was a bit of a surprise.  I won’t spoil it for you but it wasn’t what I expected that’s for sure.

Overall I would give this 3 stars.  It was good but I’ve read better and I’ve read worse.