In Change of Fortune by Jana Deleon, Fortune Redding has grown tired of waiting for the CIA to catch Ahmad, the arms dealer who has put a million dollar price on Fortune’s head after she killed his brother for trying to sell a girl into sex slavery. So she has decided to put herself up as bait to draw him out of hiding. Neither Fortune’s CIA boss nor Deputy Carter LeBlanc, Fortune’s boyfriend, is happy with the plan, but they realize this may be their only chance to catch the dangerous gun runner. With summer’s nearing an end, Fortune has only a limited time before she will have to leave Sinful or lose her undercover identity. Enlisting the help of their local mafia friends, Big and Little Hebert, Fortune gets things set up to catch the man out to catch her.
In the meantime, life in Sinful continues as usual. Gertie’s alligator friend, Godzilla, keeps coming into town in search of baked goods. He fell in love with baked cooking when Gertie, in an effort to keep him safe from a serial poacher, pulled him out of the bayou with a sling made of her pants sewn together and took him home, putting him in her bathroom. Now that the poacher has been caught, Godzilla keeps leaving the bayou in search of baked goodies. They hatch a plan to trap the alligator and relocate him to a reserve, but that is proving to be a challenge, especially since their enemy, Celia, has decided to avenge herself on the trio she hates by killing Godzilla.
When I saw that Change of Fortune had just been released on audiobook, I was thrilled because I have loved every book in this series. This book did not disappoint in its quality and humor. The book has a great sense of humor, something true of every book in the series. I found myself laughing out loud at times, and even the most dramatic moments made me smile.
The plot of the book contains a terrific combination of exciting moments and comic relief. I appreciate the fact that we go back and forth between the silliness of trying to deal with Godzilla, the minor mystery that the trio tries to solve in who has been stealing food from Francine’s diner, and the preparations for catching Ahmad. The variety provides a clever angle to make the book enjoyable and allows room for some of the silly antics of Gertie and Ida Belle, along with their major rivalry with Celia Arceneaux, who keeps finding ways to display her giant underwear, in this book when she climbs up a pole and a tree to escape Godzilla.
As always, the characters of this book never cease to make me laugh. Gertie and Ida Belle continue to get into trouble while evading Carter’s investigations. Allie provides a normal person to contrast with all the other odd characters. Celia makes a fun enemy to fight with. And the Hebert father and son team, Big and Little Hebert, provide some interesting disclosures about themselves and their devoted henchman, Manny. The relationship between Fortune and Carter develops even further, showing true genuineness.
I really enjoy the narration of Cassandra Campbell as she performs this series. She has the exact level of energy needed to balance this exciting book. I really love the voices she uses for the characters, and when I have tried to read the paperback book while waiting for the audiobook to come to market, I can’t read it without hearing her voices and expressions, which shows how vividly she performs the book.
I really loved listening to Change of Fortune and thought it a great book. I loved the balance of silly and serious and it was exciting to see Fortune prepare to face down Ahmad. I really hope that Deleon doesn’t see this as the end of the series, as the book could have been wrapping it up with its denouement. I really hope we get to see how Fortune manages to come out with the truth about her own identity to the people of Sinful. I especially look forward to seeing Celia’s response to Fortune’s true identity. I truly love this book and series. I give the book five stars!
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