Review: ‘The Gamble’ by Kristen Ashley #romanceopoly
The Gamble
by Kristen AshleySeries: Colorado Mountain #1
Published by Forever on December 11, 2012
SubGenres: Contemporary Romance
Format: eBook
Pages: 679
Source: Purchased
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Love is the greatest gamble of all...
Nina Sheridan desperately needs a timeout vacation. With a fiancé who can't even remember how she takes her coffee, Nina wants some distance to rethink her engagement. Flying halfway around the world from England to a mountain town in Colorado should do the trick. But when she finds a gorgeous man at her rental cabin, Nina's cold, lonely adventure suddenly heats up.
The owner of the house, Holden "Max" Maxwell is surprised by the beautiful woman who turns up at his door. But when Nina becomes ill, Max spends days nursing her back to health. A private man with a broken heart, Max finds himself drawn to the strong-willed woman. Soon it becomes impossible for Nina and Max to deny their growing attraction to one another. Yet even as these two wounded lovebirds think about taking a chance on a relationship, a dangerous secret from Max's past emerges-and threatens to end their love for good.
Why did it take me this long to read a book written by Kristen Ashley? I have no idea, but I’m glad I read The Gamble. The Gamble is the first book in Kristen’s Colorado Mountain series, but each can be read as a standalone. I picked up The Gamble thanks to the Romanceopoly challenge that was created by the Under @UTCBookBlog and @PeaceLoveBooksXO. (You should go check them out on Instagram and YouTube.)
First, a little bit about the book without giving too much away. The female character Nina Sheridan is on a timeout vacation from her fiancé, and she has rented a cabin in a small town in Colorado for two weeks. Unfortunately, when she gets a grumpy sexy man is waiting and states there has been a mistake and that she needs to find other accommodations because the house was not supposed to be rented since he will be staying there. Her two timeout vacation has now turned out to be a bust, especially since she has to brave the snow storm again and she’s not feeling too good. When she goes out into the storm, she ends up in the ditch, and before she knows it she’s back in the cabin, and grumpy sexy man is taking care of her. Her two-week vacation then turns back around. She starts to get to know him and she finds out his name is Holden Maxwell, but he goes by Max. There is going to be a lot of getting know Max and let’s just that is when her two-week timeout from her fiancé may end up turning into something different. (Okay I tried to be brief, but remember this book 600+ long. I did not give anything away.) ?
Things I loved about this book:
1. I loved Maxwell aka Max. {Check out my hero descriptions below of him} Max was sweet, caring, loving, and different from Nina’s jerk of a fiancé who I did not like. I loved every moment how Max treated Nina. Although, it did seem he was keeping secrets from her at first. I realized at the end he wasn’t. Nina was not asking him.
2. I liked Nina, especially how she handled Max at the beginning of the book. This was also when she was sick. The poor woman had to deal with the mountain man with she had a fever didn’t know it. She also had to deal with several stalkers. She even knew how to handle herself. Although, made Max realize she wasn’t like other women.
3. I loved Max and Nina together when they realized they were great together. (All the bickering and steamy moments between the two were ah-mazing!!) Yes, you may have read that Nina was on a timeout vacation from her fiancé at the beginning of this review. Readers are going to find out so much of what is going on with her current relationship and about her past that makes the readers why she’s on an actual timeout. Readers will also get to know her fiancé, and you will not like him. I didn’t like him. I also didn’t like her dad. I loved her mom and stepdad.
4. I loved all the secondary characters too. Even the ones that crashed to have dinner, when Max and Nina were trying to have moments together just the two of them. Those crashing moments happened a lot.
Now onto one thing that I didn’t like or bothered me: (but it didn’t stop me from reading book)
1. The book is over 600+ pages long, so it’s a big book. I found myself reading over certain parts, but those parts were with the jerk of a fiancé and Nina’s father. I couldn’t stand them. I wanted the parts with Max and Nina. I also wanted to find out about the suspense of the story going on, which I won’t give anything away on that. Be prepared because this book has a lot going on with not just Nina and Max, but with some of the secondary characters. It was a lot to take in, when reading the book.
Okay, I’ve typed up a long review for this one. I’m going to finish my review by saying this, I’ve already bought the second and third books in the series and plan on reading the books next month since I’m going to start creating my TBR lists for the month to stick to from now on. I can’t wait to read more of Kristen Ashley books now. If you are a fan of KA, please recommend books to me that I should read after this series. ?
Story Rating: 4 stars
Steaminess Rating: 4 stars
Standalone or part of series: Part of the Colorado Mountain series, but I believe this can be read as standalone. First book in the series.
Do I recommend this book? Yes.
Will I read other books from the author? Yes, definitely.
Tropes/Elements: Small Town Romance; Suspense; Action/Adventure; Mystery
Hero: Widower; Alpha; Mountain Man; Swoony; Protective
Heroine: Solicitor/Lawyer; Half-American/Half-British; Injured; Reclusive; Strong
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About Kristen Ashley
Kristen Ashley was born in Gary, Indiana, USA. She nearly killed her mother and herself making it into the world, seeing as she had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck (already attempting to accessorise and she hadn't taken her first breath!).
Kristen grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana but has lived in Denver, Colorado and the West Country of England. Thus she has been blessed to have friends and family around the globe. Her posse is loopy (to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write.
Kristen was raised in a house with a large and multi-generational family. They lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland and existed amongst the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon and Whitesnake (and the wardrobes that matched).
Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music, clothes and love was a good way to grow up.
And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.
My obsession with reading started over 30+ years ago when I went to my first Scholastic Book Fair and found R.L. Stine's Fear Street series. Later, I came across Anne Rice's novels at my public library when I was fourteen when my obsession with vampires started. I was the girl who preferred to be a vampire over a princess any day. My husband says I would leave him a heartbeat for a vampire that looked like Spike or Angel (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries. (It's true, though, and he's accepted it.)
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