She Treads Softly: The Lucky Winners

Monday, February 23, 2026

The Lucky Winners

The Lucky Winners by K.L. Slater
3/18/26; 362 pages
Bookouture

The Lucky Winners by K.L. Slater is a highly recommended suspense novel following a couple who have won a lottery to win a dream home and cash.

Merri and Dev are behind on bills and the bill collectors are always calling, so when Dev buys a ticket to win the house of their dreams, and gives it to her for their anniversary, she thinks it was a waste of the little cash they have. Then they actually win the home worth millions by Lake Windemere in the lake district along with $250,000 cash. It seems their troubles are over, or have they just begun? While Dev shines in the attention, Merri has a past that she hasn't told Dev about so being in the spotlight is uncomfortable. Making new friends also is uncomfortable for her.

Who hasn't dreamed of winning a life changing sweepstakes? That dream is what will initially pull you into the plot, although most people would choose to sell or a cash option rather than moving to an unknown area with a huge target on their heads from winning the lottery. That is Merri and Dev's first mistake and this quickly becomes clear as they try to settle in and make new friends while a shadowy person is watching them.

The pace is even through most of the plot and doesn't pick up until the end. While the present day chapters follow their win and trying to acclimate to the house and area, alternate chapters flash back to Merri's past, telling her story. Once the story of Merri's past is started, the direction it is likely going to take is predictable, especially with hints at her big secret throughout the novel. There are also some chapters from the watcher, a man who has a grudge against Merri and is planning to take retribution. It is a decent suspense thriller, well-written, and will hold your attention throughout. 3.5 rounded up

The Lucky Winners will be appreciated by those who enjoy novels of suspense. Thanks to Bookouture for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.