The Gamble [NOOK Book]

The Gamble was my first introduction to Kristen Ashley. After co

The Gamble was my first introduction to Kristen Ashley. After concluding it is absolutely guaranteed that I am her newest fan. This story in particular follows Max and Nina. Two completely unique and different characters. Max being the mouth watering mountain man, and Nina as the English conservative definition of a woman are a very unlikely pair. All concerns are laid to rest from the first encounter. Nina and Max are like fire and dynamite, and the story that concludes will rock readers to their core. Max and Nina meet in another very unlikely situation when she pays for a two week vacation in the mountains; only to find the owner is home and the vacation will be canceled. When is terrible sickness overcomes Nina the most unlikely character rises to the occasion with tender love and care. This is the beginning of roller coaster ride that left me breathless. What starts out primarily as a romance soon shifts when a suspense novel. When a murder hits close to home everyone in this sleepy town becomes a suspect. As Max and Nina's relationship grows, she rapidly gaining friends from this little town. Although, with the good always comes bad and not everyone is excited for Nina to be in Gnaw Bone. Nina's vacation soon becomes overwhelming ride, and this little timeout just might end up costing her more than the plane tickets or cabin reservations.

As you can obviously tell I loved this story. From start to finished Nina and Max offer a thrilling and intense story that will see you through to the very end. As a avid reader and a book blogger I am required to be honest and open minded. Therefore, I must recognize where there is room for improvement and review accordingly. There were a couple things that stood out about this novel that was easily overlooked because it was so absolutely incredible, but to create a truly honest review I am going to address them here. As this was such an action packed novel it was very noticeable any time the story seems to slow down. Every so often this seemed to happened throughout the story, and it gave me moments that felt like I was dragging through the story. It was not enough to cause me any real heartbreak, but it was enough that it will be noticed. Secondly, I noticed that Nina's character was a little wishy washy at moments. For someone that was built as strong and independent; she had a few moments that I was ready to throttle her. As these were very few moments; it too was easy to overlook, but they were there none the less. Lastly, and was the one I noticed the most. Almost every time Max says something to Nina she has one response, "Sorry?". I could have handled the simple fact of her making him repeat himself as though what she heard was a shocked. Though every single time she said that same one word, "Sorry?". There are an abundance of other things that could have been said in it's place such as: pardon me, excuse me, can you repeat that, anything. This appeared so frequently, that I noticed the response losing its effect at portraying the characters response.

Even with a few concerns this book is a newest BOOKWHISPERER FAVORITE. I can not wait to see where the next book in the series will take us. With a five star read like The Gamble I can't wait to see what this author has up her sleeve.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

The Gamble

I enjoyed this book because it was different from the so many others I've read. Like other reviewers I had to get used to the way Kristen wrote but it didn't take long.

The banter was very good between the two main characters but towards the end it started getting on my nerves a little. Its a long ebook but enjoyable.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Loved!!!

A great romance story set in Colorado.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Excellent

Recommended

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

OMG loved this book

Another great one by KA. I love all her books, but this one had such a deep story and the characters were amazing. Highly recommend this and all of Kristen Ashley's books. I haven't read one I didn't like yet!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Awesome

Amazing, funny, and very romantic!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Im moving

That's it! I'm packing up and moving to Colorado. I LOVE MAX!!! There has got to be one of him out there somewhere. This was a good, fun read. It got a little tedious towards the end but nevertheless entertaining.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

what a surprise

I bought this book on a whim and am so glad I did. It is 1466 pages of fun. Nina needs a couple of weeks time out from her fiance who doesn't treat her like a loved woman should. The adventure starts immediately when the cabin she rented is already occupied. Her life changes completely within the first day and never stops in the 2 week period. The story is told from Nina's thoughts only. It was refreshing not bouncing from character to character thoughts. The author did use a lot of 'then' they did this and 'then' and 'then' but it also gave for a very vivid scene. The journey of Nina and her Mountain Man (yummy) was truly wonderful and sexy. I only wish I had a man who called me every sweet pet name and couldn't keep his hands off me. :) Please don't hesitate to get this book. I will be reading the next "Sweet Dreams" from This author. Wonderful Ms. Ashley.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Fantastic!

Well worth the length! Nina is a bit annoying though

great

classis Kristen Ashley..can't go wrong

loved!!

I could not put this book down. I loved how the action kept going throughout the book. I want more of nina and max!

Aww.

This book is so sweet, and I thought the characters fit together.

However, and this is not a criticism, I don't get how this story fits with the others in the series. Other than being peripheral characters in a couple of the other books, Max and Nina seemed like their own stand alone story.

I recommend this novel to anyone with a sweet tooth. It is just a nice story.

I've heard a lot about Kristen Ashley's books and finally was ab

I've heard a lot about Kristen Ashley's books and finally was able to get to one of her books, anxious to see what everyone else was raving about.   I can say I honestly enjoyed the book and she seriously snuck some tear-jearker moments in there that took me by surprise.




Nina Sheridan decided to take a break from her life and finance in England to figure out what she wanted.  When she rented the mountain A-Frame house outside Denver, she figured it would be the perfect retreat for her to regroup and decide what direction her life should take.  She didn't plan on the owner to suddenly be at her rental or to find herself involved with not only her very own mountain man, but the charming and quirky people of Gnaw Bone, Colorado.




I have to tell you, Nina had one hell of a two week period.  So much crap was smashed in those two weeks I'm not sure how she came out the other side of her "break" sane.  First, she mets Holden "Max" Maxwell, the mountain man alpha male owner of the house she rented and instantly begins fighting him and her attraction to him.  Then she finds herself becoming friends with many of the residents of the tiny town of Gnaw Bone and engaging in verbal spats and fisticuffs with others.  All this and fighting with her fiance, her estranged father and reuniting with her mother and stepfather.  It was a bit far-fetched, but it made for an interesting and entertaining story.




But what kept me glued to this story was the relationship with Nina and Max.  Both carried a little baggage into their relationship.  And while they kept sweeping their preverbal baggage under the rug, Nina kept trying to fight off Max.  But Max was determined to have Nina.  He knew what he meant to lose something that meant the world to him and he was determined that Nina was going to be his, despite what Nina thought.  I loved their verbal spat and how, despite Nina's protest, Max always seemed to get what he wanted by flustering Nina with innocuous statements like "You're cute."  




They did have this instant chemistry and it was that chemistry that kept me hooked until the end.  Their relationship and the hoops they seemed to jump through just to be alone with one another, in addition to the verbal sparring they did on a regular basis about meaningless things, made up for most of the secondary storylines that I didn't really care about (with the exception of Mindy's.  I need Mindy to get a HEA after all she'd been through).  




A decent read and one I'm glad I picked up.   If nothing else, to find out what all the buzz was about.

BEST BOOK EVER!

Absolutely LOVED this book! Full of action, romance and true emotion. I cried, laughed and LOVED the characters and their plight. Definitely a re-read, maybe even tonight!

Good book. Really long and couldn't get consumed by it... Was ve

Good book. Really long and couldn't get consumed by it... Was very predictable but overall a good read. 

Oh yeah

Another great read and a great start to this series. This book makes you want a mountain man or to plant roots in colorado. Max and Ninna are perfect together.

I just fell in love with the characters...Max and Nina's story j

I just fell in love with the characters...Max and Nina's story just grabs you and then the other characters just add to the richness of the story. It has everything...love, hate, passion, mystery, humor...what more can you want? Kristen Ashley's books do not disappoint! Read it!

Awsome read!

This a book to cherish. You will fall in love with the charcters and get so lost in the story, that you feel like you're on that mountain and in the town of Gnaw Bone.

Too good to put down!

Don't pass this one up so good on to next in series

By the middle of the book some of the repetitive mumblings of Ni

By the middle of the book some of the repetitive mumblings of Nina ("Sorry...?", and constantly repeating Max's name) and the phrase "Macho Mountain Man" began to elicit some serious eye rolling. I get that he was supposed to be a dominating male character in the book but I would have appreciated if he had listened to Nina occasionally when she tried to get his attention by saying his name. The plot was interesting though, it had a good mystery along with the love story and that kept me going.