Cara Bertoia

Casino Queen

Caroline Popov, alone, heartbroken, and deeply in debt ends up in glamorous Palm Springs, California where Native casinos have just opened, offering employment to thousands. She lands a job at the Palm Oasis Casino and is mentored by the charismatic tribal chairman, John Tovar.
Embraced by casino culture, Caroline works her way up to casino manager of the Night
Hawk, in the High Desert town of Joshua Tree. There, she is responsible for managing multicultural team members, satisfying the demands of challenging guests, growing revenue while rooting out corruption.
In the process of rediscovering her inner strength, she learns, you have to gamble like your life depends on it. Because it often does.

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Publication Date: March 16, 2022
ISBN: 9781509240913

"Reading Casino Queen felt like stepping back onto the casino floor on a busy Saturday night. The details were so authentic. The story kept me guessing to the end." - Jeff Puklavetz former Casino Manager for Princess Cruises.

"Cara Bertoia brings up deep into the colorful, character-filled world of gambling and high-stakes shenanigans and doesn't let us go until the very twist filled ending." - Amy Bernstein author of The Nighthawkers

Available for order:

AMAZON | B&N

Growing up in a strait-laced Southern family, I was always fascinated with casinos. In my twenties on a summer hiatus from teaching in North Carolina, I drove to California and became a dealer at Caesars in Lake Tahoe. Well, I can tell you that after teaching high school, handling an unruly gambler was a piece of cake. My mother highly disapproved of my working in a casino, "a place so bad it has 'sin' in the middle." But I made a career out of casino life and now I write about it.

carabertoia.blogspot.com

Tags: Adult, Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Women's Fiction