The Gamble

By: Kristen Ashley

Narrated by: Emma Taylor

Length: 25 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

GoodReads Author of the Year 2012, Nominee

Welcome to New York Times and USA Today best-selling 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 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 souls think about taking a chance on a relationship, a secret from Max's past emerges—and threatens to end their love for good.

©2012 Kristen Ashley (P)2014 Hachette Audio

Great story

The author does get way too wordy when she describes thing but this is still a very good story. I’m surprised it could keep my attention as long as it was but I did enjoy it

Best Book I've heard in a while

I love the relationship between Max and Nina.
This was.an amazing story!!
I am hooked

Pretty Good

Overall the book was a pretty enjoyable listen. I'm actually a big fan of Kristen Ashley and have read many of her books - oddly enough I'm writing this review after a second listen to The Gamble. The narrator is great - I truly did enjoy her performance. While some of the accents after a while can be a little much to the ear, I don't think they were bad at all and she transitions between the different characters very well! She's by far one of my favorite narrators I have ever listened to.

The romance between the main characters is just OK. I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it more during the first listen versus this second one, as this time I felt it was a bit flat and unrealistic. Even while the "swept off your feet" concept in a fantastic, Hollywood type way is always dreamy - this story still read in a slightly disconnected way that is too unbelievable. While I never literally believe most fictional romance stories would realistically take place - it's just hard to really lose yourself when you're constantly shaking your head in utter confusion at the choices being made. The timeline is just too compact and some of Max's directives would highly unlikely go over well with the average woman ('alpha' personality or not). Nina's horribly repetitive "Max," "I'm sorry" and mumbles gets extremely EXTREMELY old after a while. I think I literally yelled out loud at one point "STOP SAYING HIS NAME AND USE YOUR WORDS."

Ahem.

But again, overall, it truly is an enjoyable listen and I do recommend it. Perhaps just not as a repeat read as I believe it was much better the first time around when you notice less of the details. Kristen Ashley has some great stories - and she's most definitely an author to spend your time exploring but there can be some misses.

On my second listen - cannot put it down

Help, I cannot stop listening to this book. Between the narrator's awesome accent, the words they put in the hero hunk's mouth and the engaging and surprising storyline, I am constantly listening. I am so happy that it is a 25hr book but I want more. When I was done I went back to the beginning and I am loving it just as much as I did the first time. I find myself smiling, laughing and crying along with the characters.

If you want to imagine yourself being loved by a strong, handsome hunk that recognizes the value of love and life - jump in!

worth the credit for sure!

i really enjoyed the story. it was long but it was good. Loved the narrator. i will find other books narrated by her. she is that good. there is just enough sex. i hate thebooks that are all sex and no story. this had romance, suspense and some comedy.

Everything I've been looking for in a book!

Love, romance, crime/action all rolled into one long book! Detail was great! Narrative was on point! I enjoyed that it was a longer book to get me through several work days. You definitely get your bang for your buck! Can't wait to listen to the other books in this series! Kristen Ashley is now one of my favorite authors. I'm excited to purchase more books from her!

Wonderful!

Best story ever! Loved the performance. Sever different characters to love or hate. Funny and yet also brought me to tears. Will def listen to again.

A great story with lots o f characters

While light on the romance the story was very well presented enough for me to be on book two now. LoL

It was hard not to listen all the time....

What did you love best about The Gamble?

It is an good story like it may happen in real life. Only at the end there was a somehow to weired show-up. But the characters are funny. It was sometimes really hard to put the mobile aside and stop listening. And it is sexy.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Gamble?

It reminded me to my husband and how we met. Maybe thats why I am probably not a objective reviewer.

What about Emma Taylor’s performance did you like?

Awesome! One of the few narrator how manages different accents and genders (!) in a fantastic way. Her "male-voice" is convincing and sexy!

Great book, excellent audiobook!

Wow, this is such a great book, I love it it just as much or more than the first time or two I read/listen to it! Characters are fabulous in audio format, it really brings them to life. The story is interesting and not predictable at all. I’ve read/listen to every book in this series and they are all great stories but by far this first one in the series is my favorite! I would highly recommend this book and the author.