Aces Up - Lauren Barnholdt

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? (From Goodreads)

I adore Lauren Barnholdt. I fell in love with Two-Way Street and I feel like I can always count on her for enjoyable, quick reads. I think it's really great when I find books that should be nothing like my life, but they totally are. Which is what this was. I mean, there's no way I'm good enough at math to count cards, not to mention I'm scared to death to even sit down at a poker table. But still there were moments when I couldn't help but notice that Shannon and I had some things in common. 


First, my friends and I occasionally used to pass the time by playing penny poker in the summer after we'd all gotten off work. We would sit at a picnic table in town and friends would randomly come by and join in. Those nights were among some of my best high school memories. I also related to Shannon's relationship with Max, except those two were definitely on a different timeline that I was. I think if I had read this book 5 years ago, I would have been freaking out about the similarites. 
 
This book deals mostly with working through your issues, working hard and doing it the right way. Shannon tries to take the easy way out and she winds up with a lot of trouble coming her way. If you ever need something light to read, something that doesn't take energy, but doesn't turn your brain to mush, either - I recommend reading Lauren Barnholdt. I liked Two-Way Street  and The One Night that Changes Everything better, but Aces Up is worth a read.