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

Narrator

Where does The Gamble rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I like Kristen Ashley's other books, so I wanted to try this series. I like the book, but this is the first time I can honestly say I am not crazy about the English accent. I never did get used to the voice. The male voice is not very good either.

What did you like best about this story?

Different from the other books and the story is fun, dialogue is fun, but the again, the narrator takes away from the fun part.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

No, I know the "heroine" is English, but the accent drove me nuts.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The female is going through alot and the male really helps everyone. They are real and easy to relate.

Any additional comments?

I hope the rest in the series are not this narrator. Or at least she won't be doing the English accent.

WOW!

Any additional comments?

Now this book was written beautifully, had a wonderful story line and two awesome characters. She was cute and sassy and he was hot, tough and sweet. She's engaged but not sure he's right for her so she takes a "time out" trip from England to Colorado for time to think about what she wants in life. She went online and found a beautiful A-frame house and rented it in Colorado. When she gets there a hot mountain man lives there and has no idea about anyone renting his house trying to send her away. The interaction in between is filled with fire and challenge on both sides. She walks out and goes to her car ready to drive to the hotel. She wakes up to find herself in someone's bed alone. Read the rest of it yourself. I couldn't put it down and neither will you.

Best Kristen Ashley Yet!

I was introduced to Kristen Ashley through Motorcycle Man and then the Rock Chick series. I know she is going to provide me with a fun escape when I start one of her books on audio. :) The Gamble blew away my expectations. I loved the story and character development and supporting characters. Nina may be my favorite heroine of all romance novels!

Loved the story

When I read the reviews I thought maybe it would have too many details such as what food in detail or too much on scenery or clothes they wore but I didn't think that was the case. This story kept me entertained from start to finish. In fact it was so good I bought the second book in the series.

LOVED IT!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I really liked the way this book was FULL of action. Although so many events are not really likely in real life to happen so quickly, it kept me truly entertained. I love the characters and the authors evaluation of their personalities. The narrator was truly a joy to listen to, her accent was noticeable without being difficult to understand. Very good! The downside of the book, for me, was the pre-marital activities of the hero & heroine (while common today, still does not get my approval) and the much over-used F-bomb.

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

While there were many memorable moments, the twist in the end was remarkably written. I loved the way Max took care of his 'Duchess'.

What about Emma Taylor’s performance did you like?

The narration was the best I've heard in quite a while and I listen to many many books. She was truly a joy to listen to, her accent was noticeable without being difficult to understand. Excellent!

Deliciously Domineering Alpha Mountain Men

Narration - Emma Taylor - Really Good.
She really changes from character to character seamlessly. The character of Nina is read with a lovely British accent and Max's character has such a deep voice, it kind of made my throat hurt thinking about how she made that voice! I did wish that at times she would express a little bit more emotion into Max's voice, (especially during the sexy times) but I imagine it was hard enough just to make that voice, let alone add a lot of inflection. Overall, really a superbly narrated audiobook.

It's been a while since I've read a Kristen Ashley novel, so I forgot exactly how alpha she writes her males. Overbearing, but would do anything for their women - sweet, protective, domineering, sensitive, sex machines. Max is a keeper.

Nina is smart, feisty, loving, tough and also very caring and protective of those she loves. She's lived in London for years and has obviously been "british-ized" but she thinks she doesn't have an accent. The narration was so wonderful for her character. There's some repetitiveness particularly with Nina's character, and a couple times where she was uncharacteristically ditsy, but not enough to become a real bother.

This is a LONG book - the audiobook is 25 hrs, 16 mins, with the last 43 minutes of that being an excerpt from book 2 in the series "Sweet Dreams". I think the narration made it move and seem like a much shorter book than it was.

Oddly enough, though Max is certainly all up for taking Nina to his bed, (and not just to sleep) they are interrupted so frequently by a very entertaining cast of secondary characters that a whole lotta book passes by before they actually get busy. Really great cast of characters and there is actually some plot and character development with all of them so it's just a great book that got me invested in the entire community, their past, the mystery, the danger, the murders - it seems there's just a little bit of everything! And that Epilogue? Wow! Such a terrific, sweet, heartwarming way to wrap everything up. <3

Very THOROUGH

I really thought the narrators' accent was going to be a problem but I was wrong. She was excellent conveying all characters. Storyline was easy to follow and overall the book was well written.

Best story I've ever listened to!

If you could sum up The Gamble in three words, what would they be?

fun, loving and exciting!

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

Max walking out after he found out Nina knew about Anna.

Have you listened to any of Emma Taylor’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

First time I listened to Emma - I loved her narration and voices!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed, cried and was totally surprised by this story - loved every minute of it!

Lovely story - sometimes a real "page" turner ..

I really liked the story and all its many facets. But I might have enjoyed it a little better without the gratuitous use of the "F" word and the sometimes funky descriptions in the sex scenes.

Love it!!!!

The story is great. Lots of fun people and subplots. Enjoying each other's lives. All about family and friends.