The Lawyer's Luck

A Home to Milford College Prequel Novella

By: Piper Huguley

Narrated by: Shamaan Casey

Length: 2 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Oberlin, Ohio - 1844

Lawrence Stewart is a rare man. Raised with his grandmother’s Miami Indian tribe, as a Negro, he has consistently walked between two worlds most of his life. He devotes his time and study to becoming a lawyer, fully intending to obtain justice for the ousted Miami Indians. No Negro man has accomplished these things before, but he is not daunted. He studies for his exams as he rides circuit through the backwoods of Ohio, handing out justice to people who cannot easily reach a courthouse. His life is perfectly set until one June day....

Aurelia “Realie” Baxter made her way from enslavement in Georgia to the free land Lake Huron in Ohio. Far from happy as a slave doing the bidding of a woman cooped up in a house all day, Realie is a bona fide tomboy with a special gift with horses. Now, she is so close to freedom in Canada, she can smell it, but her plans are interrupted when Lawrence shoots her...by mistake....

Lawrence cannot study encumbered with the care of an enslaved woman, but he’s responsible for her injury.... Realie wants to get to Canada, but Lawrence won’t let her get away in trying to help her.... One chance meeting can change your life from what you thought you wanted...to what you really need.

©2014 Piper G Huguley (P)2014 Piper G Huguley

An interesting historical romance

The year is 1844 and the place is Oberlin, Ohio in the United States of America. It is a very different Ohio than the one you may know and recognize today. Yet, it is the perfect setting for this short historical romance novella entitled “The Lawyer's Luck: A Home to Milford College Prequel Novella”. This piece is written by Piper Huguley and wonderfully narrated by Shamaan Casey. The audiobook appears to be the debut work released by this author avaiable on Audible. Although it is a rather short audiobook, at just over two hours, it was an enjoyable listen, and the story was overall solid and well told. I will be interested to see where the tale goes from here. The novella left quite a few open-ended paths that future stories could take. It is not a bad thing, but I would have liked to have had a bit more for the price of a precious Audible credit, even for a prequel. If you like historical romance stories, I think you will enjoy the start of this new series.

The story opens with a colored man, raised by his native American grandmother, whose only desire is to become an educated man, a lawyer, so he can assist his people, many of whom are still in bondage. We are also introduced to a woman who becomes injured after she is believed to have stolen a horse. The situation quickly escalates in the first few chapters and the remaining chapters tell us the story of their lives and how much they become intertwined as things progress. There are hard decisions to be made, sacrifices that will impact both individuals, and even sometimes of light humor. The subject of slavery in the United States at this time feels to be portrayed correctly and it is not a time one can take pride in how people of color were treated.

I enjoyed the building and frustration of the core relationship, the interactions the characters had with others, and even the tight focus upon the main characters of the story. We clearly see how each of the story’s characters need to sacrifice their own desires and wills for the other and this is where story begins to blend into a light romance tale. The writing style seemed a bit young adult having simple sentences, but I was not sure if this was intention or not due to the background of the characters. I do not recall the locations being very vivid or picturesque. I know it was a rather short story, but when I finished, I mostly recalled the main plot of the story and not much else. It can be difficult when writing where the author is overly descriptive, or the opposite. I wanted a bit more as I think back.

The Audiobook’s narration by Mr. Casey was exceptional and he is a narrator I feel the pleasure to listen too. His voice is deep, rich, and just very smooth. This makes listening to the storyteller effortless and enjoyable. Of the other books he has narrated, even If the story was not compelling or action packed, Mr. Casey is able to grab the listener and bring them in to the story. I have to say that his ability to give the characters live and personality even if it was not a part of the story is a treat.

For parents and younger listeners, this audiobook could be enjoyed by nearly any age group. There is some violence and topics that could be harder for very young readers to comprehend, but the writing style was simple and easy to follow. I do not recall any issues with more mature language or topics.

In summary, if you are one that likes a quick listen and historical romance is your thing, I think you will enjoy this story. The writing is simple, the scenes are not very descriptive, but the overall story is good with a bit if action and intrigue woven in as well.

This audiobook was provided at no charge by the author, narrator and/or publisher in exchange for providing a non-bias review.

Enjoyable Historical Romance

4.5 out of 5 stars

I found myself really enjoying The Lawyer’s Luck. The more I read into it, the more I liked it. It had a few characters other than Lawrence and Realie, but they were the definite stars of this show. Lawrence and Realie run into each other early in the story and things from there get interesting. Early on, I wasn’t sure how this story was going to play out, but as it built, like Realie, I was learning who Lawrence was and what his intentions were.

The story in The Lawyer’s Luck was extremely cute, but it was also a time-period that I don’t read as much about as I probably should. Taking place in 1844 in Oberlin, Ohio (Southwest of Cleveland), it’s a time period that was in flux. Slavery still existed, but freed slaves did too. This story seems to touch on some of these topics along with understanding how Lawrence was in the spot that he was in (especially compared to Realie).

The narration by Shamaan Casey was perfect for this story. He portrayed Lawrence perfectly, and made this story even better by narrating it. I’m really glad that I got a chance to listen to it. I also thought this story was the perfect amount of time, any longer and things would have felt drawn out to fill pages.

This book was on sale. It should have been free.

The narrator did terrible southern and women's voices. I am not sure why this is considered a book. it should have been a short story and left at that.