Book Spotlight: The Gamble (Colorado Mountain Series #1) by Kristen Ashley

The Gamble
Colorado Mountain  #1
By:  Kristen Ashley
Published:  5/27/14
Publisher:  Forever Romance
Source:  Publisher
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Summary:
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. 

Colorado Mountain Series:

My Thoughts:

The Gamble, by Kristen Ashley, was a beautifully crafted, complex, detailed, and lengthy read.  It is the story of Nina, a 36 year old lawyer, who lives in England with her rather apathetic and dull fiancee.  She is unhappy in her relationship and really lonely.  She has had several bad experiences in love, and has dealt with everything from cheating, to stealing, to abuse.  Therefore, she has settled for her current relationship.  However, she decides that she needs a time-out from her fiancee, so that she can evaluate her life, and her relationship.  She rents a beautiful cabin in the Colorado Mountains for two weeks.  

When she arrives, she is shocked when the gorgeous mountain man, Holden "Max" Maxwell, answers the door.  Nina learns that he is the owner of the cabin, and the caretaker made a mistake by renting the cabin out to her during the present time.  Max tries to send her away, with a promise to return her deposit Monday morning, but Nina puts up a fight.  She ends up leaving, and wakes up a few days later in Max's bed.  Her car got stuck in the snow, and after Max found her, he nursed her back to health during a horrible bout of the flu.  Suddenly, Max doesn't want Nina to leave, and offers for her to stay in the cabin for the two weeks in his bed.  He will stay on the couch.  Even though Nina is determined to leave, she learns she has no hope when she comes up against this stubborn alpha mountain man.

The first ten percent of the book went really slowly for me.  It was bogged down in a lot of detail and information as the author established the setting, and some background information.  After that, the story really picked up, and I couldn't put the book down.  I fell asleep with my e-reader in my hands, and then picked it right back up.  I loved the colorado small town setting, Nina and Max, the community of colorful and secondary characters, the murder mystery, and of course the steamy and emotional romance. 

The more I learned about Nina and Max, the more I loved them, and knew they were a perfect match.  Nina was fun, friendly, feisty, loyal, and everyone that met her couldn't help but love her.  She was hilarious, and had a tendency to speak candidly and from the heart.  She was very sensitive, and had giving, but she also had a ton of gutsiness.  Max was a bit of a mystery at the beginning of the story, but right from the start these two had a passionate, fun, and feisty dynamic.  Max exuded sex appeal, and masculinity.  When he staked his claim on Nina, he showed her what real love and caring looked like.  She also gained many close friendships, and a beautiful life worth living.

My Rating:

The Gamble, by Kristen Ashley, had a little bit of everything in it to appeal to a variety of readers.  There was a beautiful setting, suspense, a murder mystery, friendship, love, and passion.  The epilogue brought tears to my eyes, and tugged on my heart strings.  I give The Gamble, 5 Sinfully Delicious, Suspenseful, Alpha Mountain Man Filled Stars!

My Favorite Quote:

   "'Learned some things in my life, Duchess.  One of the most         important--you find a good woman, you take care of her.'

   'Please."

   'This happens between us, Duchess, I'd take care of you.' 

   'Don't.'

   'Die doin' it,' he vowed."

~Max & Nina (eARC, LOC. 2860)

Purchase At:

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About Kristen Ashley:

Kristen Ashley grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana, and 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 multigenerational family. They lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland, and Kristen grew up listening to the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon, and Whitesnake. Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music and love was a good way to grow up. And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.

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Giveaway:

A Copy of The Gamble (U.S./Canada Only)

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