Pink Jinx by Sandra Hill ***

This is the first of a Jinx trilogy by an author I'm just starting to read. I've read that her books are funny - she has a Cajun series, a series about time traveling Vikings some of whom become Navy SEALS, and some other crazy combos.

In this book, Veronica "Ronnie" has a problem or 2, one of whom is her ex-husband. She's been married 4 times - all of them to Jake. Seems they can't live without each other but then they don't seem to be able to live with one another either. (I never exactly understood what happened, but got the idea that she criticized what he did for a living and he left...) Seems an expensive way to live, considering the cost of divorce, but maybe it's cheaper since she is an attorney.

Jake is a gambler - a professional poker player who is successful, at least at the opening of the book. He wasn't always successful, though, which is why Ronnie seemed to take issue with his career choice. This time they meet up during a tournament - Ronnie has come to tell him about her grandfather who has just signed all his worldly goods over to her. When Jake takes a break from playing poker to talk to her, his fiancée comes over for an introduction - which jars her world, even though they've been divorced (for the 4th time) for 2 years.

Of course Jake still has feelings for her too, so ... ok the plot is pretty convoluted, concerns Grandpa - who's been divorced from control-freak Grandma for 50 years and now runs a treasure-hunting business with Flossie, his SO of 30 or so years; some mobsters; a couple of Cajuns from a previous series that I haven't read (Tante Lulu and Tee John which means "petit John" to differentiate him from other Johns in the family); the ex-Amish ex Navy SEAL who is the hero of the next book; and a Cuban character, another diver, who is there just to confuse Ronnie I guess. Grandpa fakes his financial demise to make Ronnie feel sorry for him and come bail him out by participating in a deep sea dive treasure hunt for the mobster widow. What Grandpa really wants is 2-fold - he wants to see her back with Jake (why? dunno) and he wants to finally let her know he loves her, since Grandma raised her to believe he was an asshole who did not.

Ok, it's pretty silly and way over the top in a lot of ways, but somehow I either wasn't in the mood or her humor doesn't affect me positively the way it affects others. I wasn't as put off as I was by the anthology "Here Comes Santa Claus" but I also am not yet a fan either. I'm going with 3 stars and will keep reading - or maybe I should start with the Cajun series? No, wait, the next one is Pearl Jinx which is my Winter 2008 challenge book.