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The Gamble (Colorado Mountain Series Book 1) by [Kristen Ashley]

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Kristen Ashley

The Gamble (Colorado Mountain Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Kristen Ashley (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

1,483 ratings

Book 1 of 7: Colorado Mountain Series

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Welcome to New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kristen Ashley's Colorado Mountain Series, where friends become family and everyone deserves a second chance.

Love is the greatest gamble of all . . .

Nina Sheridan desperately needs a timeout vacation. With a fianc?àö¬© 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 souls think about taking a chance on a relationship, a secret from Max's past emerges-and threatens to end their love for good.

Length: 660 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
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Book 1 of 7 in Colorado Mountain Series

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Ashley delivers a deeply emotional second installment of the Chaos contemporary romance series (after Own the Wind)... Punctuated by blistering-hot sex scenes and fascinating glimpses into the tough world of motorcycle clubs, this romance also delivers true heart and emotion, and a story that will stay with the reader long after the final page is turned."―Publishers Weekly, Starred Review, on Fire Inside

"I adore Kristen Ashley's books!"―Maya Banks, New York Times bestselling author

"Kristen Ashley's books are addicting!"―Jill Shalvis, New York Times bestselling author

"[Kristen] Ashley captivates."―Publisher's Weekly

"With Brock's raw side contrasted with Tess's innocence, Wild Man delivers a passionate, opposites-attract romance."―Patricia Smith, Booklist

"There is something about them [Ashley's books] that I find crackalicious."―Kati Brown, DearAuthor.com

"I felt all of the rushes, the adrenaline surges, the anger spikes... my heart pumping in fury. My eyes tearing up when her my heart (I mean... her heart) would break." (On Motorcycle Man)
―Maryse's Book Blog, Maryse.net --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

About the Author

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.

You can learn more at:
KristenAshley.net
Twitter @KristenAshley68
Facebook.com/kristenashleybooks --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN : B00AHFJAAO
Publisher : Forever; Reissue edition (December 11, 2012)
Publication date : December 11, 2012
Language: : English
File size : 2276 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 660 pages
Lending : Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #61,808 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews:
1,483 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		70%
4 star		15%
3 star		7%
2 star		3%
1 star		5%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Melissa

I just got very annoyed with all the run-on sentences and random slang

Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2017

Verified Purchase

** spoiler alert ** This book was my first KA book. It did not wow me, it did not move me in any particular way.

The writing was not what I expected. It seemed very scattered; and maybe that's because the main character, Nina, is supposed to be a scatterbrained woman. I just got very annoyed with all the run-on sentences and random slang.

The plot was a bit scattered too. I realize my opinion on this is the minority, but I felt that the book could have ended in 300 pages, not 600. It didn't need all the extra.

I also did not like the diminishing of the abusive man, Damon, in this story. This person is an abusive guy, that beats up Nina multiple times, and yet she's easily recovered because Max comes and saves the day. It's not real, and I realize this is a fiction story, but it diminishes the mental strain an abused person goes through after the abuse. The reality is that she wouldn't just call the abuser "my macho mountain man stalker" like it's a light-hearted thing. She wouldn't be okay to just cover it up with make-up, or in another scene, let her man feel her up right after. I was so annoyed by this that I almost stopped reading the book.

Another thing KA diminishes is Rape. There is a character that has gone through the trauma of being violated and raped two weeks prior to Nina coming to Gnaw Bone. Yet this girl is skip dancing around the house? Come on. Let's not pretend that she was just fine immediately after. There were some serious actions taken by this character that did reflect that she wasn't fine, but I felt the writing was very insensitive for the two topics mentioned above.

I also HATE how weak of a woman Nina is. She isn't strong, she isn't smart, she is annoying and flighty. She can't come up with a solid sentence to save her life. All the "Um....I'm sorry....Huh?" sentences grated on my nerves.

All in all, I will read another KA book to see if this is a pattern or if this book was just a one-off miss. As this was my first KA book, I'll give it another chance.

I also realize my review and poor rating is an outlier among all the positive reviews. I will accept that as I do not take lightly to serious issues that affect women being trivialized in this way.

153 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Excruciating

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2017

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I have read 3 KA books, each from a different series. This one was my last for oh, so many reasons.
This review may contain minor *SPOILERS*.
After slogging through Nina and Max's story, I've decided that KA is a one-note writer. All her stories are repetetive, with too much going on and a lot of inexplicable drama to take away from the MC's. All her H/h are the same persons, just repackaged, renamed and relocated. All her men are controlling, possessive Neanderthals with poor language skills, but they're HOT so that makes their "Me Man, you woman" mentality okay. They are utter jerks, but since they're hurting it's okay. When they're upset they have the power to brainwash their women. Even when clearly RIGHT the heroine suddenly is convinced she's wrong and also the worst. person. ever.
"OMG! what was I thinking? I suck! He's so perf and I don't deserve him!"
I refer to the 'big conflict' in The Gamble. No KA hero can speak in full sentences, but in this instance Max magically regains the ability and blisters Nina with a self-indulgent guilt-trip because she knew about his dead wife and didn't tell him. Worse, she couldn't read his tiny mind! She didn't automatically KNOW that he was struggling with how to tell her. Oh, the humanity!
Right. Sorry dude, it was YOUR responsibility to tell her about your wife, BEFORE you basically strong-armed her into uprooting her entire life because after just a week you fancy her as 'yours.'
Max knew Nina's whole history but withheld his own and then had the stones to tear her to shreds and walk out on her. Hell no.
And did Nina make him work back into her good graces? Oh no, because a KA hero never shows remorse or lowers himself to an apology and Cro-Magnon mountain man Wonder Max is no exception. Although to be fair, ol Maxi pad did admit he made a mistake once or twice. He didn't learn from them but hey, it's sort of an apology, right?
But Nina, like all KA heroines, is TSTL. These women are supposed to be strong and so amazingly special that they are the ONLY ones able to reach the poor, damaged hero. In actuality, they are spineless, weak doormats who allow their will to be subverted, forget who they are and constantly make excuses for the abhorrent behaviours of their men. Being a KA heroine also means that the ability to express herself drains away (probably from all the sex the hero uses to keep the lil' woman in line). She is left unable to get more tgan a word in through all that manly grunting - "But...", "well...", "um...", "sorry?" and of course my favourite, the hero's name on ineffectual repeat. Goals for life, I tell ya.
I have yet to meet a woman who finds being micromanaged attractive. No intelligent, self-respecting, capable woman wants to be so posessed and protected she can't even use the toilet alone. Forcing your will on another, ignoring their protests and controlling every aspect of their lives is not love. It's sick, and I'm convinced that this writer has a very twisted view of love, relationships and what women find desireable in a man.
Thanks, but no thanks. 1 star, because I have to.

129 people found this helpful

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Rebecca M Davis

Not worth your time

Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2017

Verified Purchase

I tried hard to get through this but I simply could not finish it. We all expect romances to be formulaic, that's why we read them. However, every scene does not need to be exactly the same, same verbs, same interrupting, same tired machismo from the hero. I also think the amount of men dragging women around by their hands when the women disagree with the men is b.s. This even happened in the end to a (SPOILER) young woman who was recovering from a rape. Poor choice. What's also aggravating about this book is that the heroine can be articulate with the police chief but not with Max. It's just so cliched. It's like one moment there is a strong heroine and then the next moment she's practically an idiot.I tried to read a second KA book and gave up. All the same cliches and half sentences from the men, all the bossing around of the women by the men. Ugh.

69 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Berkshire BookWench

The Duchess Nina

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 30, 2020

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Am on a KA re-re-re-read I could go on but I keep coming back to read and discover something new again.
Nina is USA born but raised in the UK and has a delightful upper crust English accent that comes over beautifully in the audio book. But I digress, Nina following the loss of her beloved half brother decides she needs a time out away from life, away from work and definitely away from her spineless, useless and down right prattish fiancé Niles. So she books a fortnight away in a beautiful Colorado Mountain hideaway only on arrival she discovers its actually occupied by the owner Max who is rude and tells her to go back down the mountain to the hotel in town.

Long story short, Nina didn't feel well on the flight over and when she wakes with a high fever to find herself in Max's bed where he has been nursing her.
Once Nina is back on her feet she runs into to all sorts of issues, first there is Damon who doesn't understand the concept of boundaries. Then there is Mindy (sort of Max's little sister) who goes off the rails big time with Damon not helping matters. To cap all this Niles still hasn't phoned or emailed her which proves to her he really doesn't care. Lots of new characters to learn about and love.

Max meanwhile has decided Nina is his Duchess and his next chance at a happy life having lost his own wife to a car crash 10 years before. But Nina has never had a good relationship and spends most of her time in her head trying to sort herself out when all she does is cause more problems and misunderstandings with her overactive imagination. Add to this her mental conversations with her dead brother Charlie and you have a recipe for a darn good book!

LilleyLoohLah

5 Hot Mountain Man Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 28, 2019

Verified Purchase

I read this book a number of years ago and remember being a little disappointed. I decided I needed a reread. So glad I did. Faultless, is how I would describe the writing and the story. Sucked in by both Nina Sheridan, and (most definitely) by the man of the mountain, Holden ‘Max’ Maxwell, who I must say can come off as overly alpha, and it works like a charm, I loved him. If I wasn’t happily married, I’d seriously be thinking about finding myself a hot mountain man.

Needing a time out from her mediocre (at best) relationship with her fiancé, Nile’s, Nina flees England to evaluate her relationship in the Colorado mountains, Herein starts a long list of complicated events that lead to Nina and Max spending a LOT of time together, time that is constantly interrupted (often with hilarious results) by friends, family and exes. A romance with a murder mystery on the side. Wonderful characters and an addictive storyline. For some unknown reason I found it much more enjoyable second time round.

KITTEN

Kristen Ashley - a formula - but it works.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 21, 2012

Verified Purchase

This is good Kristen Ashley storytelling. It's strange, I can't read her books one after another because the main characters are basically the same in all her stories and therefore you feel like you've read the dialogue before - you have in the previous KA book!

However, the stories are all really good so when I hit a literary 'lull', I will go see what KA has released - I know it'll be a good story, the male lead will be dominant and a lot of the dialogue will be 'babe', they'll both get 'pissed' at each other a lot and the lead female will whisper a lot. They'll eat strange american food like 'biscuits', pigs in blankets with biscuit dough?????? (had to ask an american starbucks waitress here in the UK what that's all about), and the male lead will have built his own home and I will fall in love with it!!

Your in safe hands with this author but no surprises when you've read one of her novels.

19 people found this helpful

Mandy Cochrane

Too long and, frankly, boring

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 28, 2017

Verified Purchase

I love long books when they're well written; even formulaic romance novels (and I've read my share) can be excellent and entertaining if you like the characters and the story zips along. Unfortunately, this book was far too long with too little in the way of satisfactory story-line or characters to justify it.

Nina is extremely irritating. I think she's supposed to come across as that ever-popular romantic heroine trait, "cute and sassy"; at least all the minor characters contrive to convey this to us, as they all, at some point, have a scene in which we are shown how wonderful they think she is (after knowing her for just a couple of days). But irritating summed it up for me.

For a start, she rarely seems to finish a sentence. She says "Max - " a lot, but is often interrupted by the great man himself, at which point she says, "Max - " again, and then several more times. If her (stereo-typically dotty but doting) mother is in the scene instead, just replace "Max -" for "Mom -", and you get the idea.

The relationship between her and Max is also developed far too quickly and not especially subtly. It isn't so much the sexual side of things; that's fairly tame to be honest. It just seems like they've only just met and already he's gotten really intense and "alpha" over her, and she's trying to sort out her predictably tangled emotions. Slow down! With a book this long, there's no need to rush us along. Give us something to anticipate!

The plot actually had some potentially interesting ingredients - murder, attempted suicide, bar brawls and bitchy ex-girlfriends etc. Unfortunately, many scenes seemed not so much a development of the story-line as just another excuse to show us Nina being sassy, Nina being cute or outraged, Nina being an absolute brick in a crisis or Nina impressing those nice Colorado people with an English accent she affected (in her cute, outraged, sassy way, of course) not to have.

I finished the book, but it was a long slog.

K Bartholomew

Another great K.A read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 16, 2018

Verified Purchase

While this is not my favourite Kirsten Ashley book it is still a great story. Nina has had it rough in life and heading to the Colorado mountains to reflect on whether where she is in life is where she wants to be, the last thing she was expecting was a mountain man of hotness at the rental she had booked.
Max had been content with his life. Had great friends, mostly ok family and a beautiful home on his mountain. The arrival of an argumentative English woman was a surprise.
As they navigate their fledgling relationship and all the drAma that surrounds them and their friends we are treated to a fab read.