The Ex Lottery

Contemporary romance about a young woman who wins the lottery and travels to Ireland to buy a castle.

Sanders (Shades of Gray, 2011) has a sympathetic character in art teacher Tory Adams. Tory loves spending time with her young students in Savannah, Georgia, and she can’t wait to start a family of her own. Unfortunately, each time she fancies herself in love, the man in question dumps her more callously than the guy before him. On a whim, Tory buys a lottery ticket, choosing numbers based on the dates of her breakups. Amazingly, she hits the jackpot, winning over $600 million. She uses her winnings to travel to Ireland in hopes of purchasing the castle where her grandparents met. Unfortunately, Tory’s three ex-boyfriends learn about her winnings and chase after her with farcical declarations of undying love. As Tory tries to evade her exes, she also delights in learning more about Ireland, the country of her ancestors. Sanders deftly describes the majesty of Ireland’s natural landscape and historic architecture while providing rich detail about Irish culture. As Sanders seamlessly weaves into the story bits about food, custom and Irish lore, she also shows Tory meeting an enchanting Irishman named Shane, a handsome, mysterious man who happens to be incredibly well-informed about the castle Tory is trying to buy. He’s also utterly enamored with her. Tory is drawn to Shane but worries that he knows about her lottery money and is trying to pilfer her winnings. It turns out that Shane has some secrets of his own—but none like Tory expected. Through a series of misunderstandings and predictable near misses, Tory and Shane muddle their way toward a potentially sweet romance. Before long, the two are so enchanted by each other that they can only come clean about all they had hidden and hope that the other will be glad for the surprises.

A light, uplifting romance that’s equal parts comedy, fairy tale and travelogue.