Review of The Gamble (Colorado Mountain #1) by Kristen Ashley

The Gamble is the first book in the Colorado Mountain series.

Nina Sheridan is taking a two-week vacation as a time out from her fiance. She travels from England to Colorado to stay in a gorgeous mountain cabin. Upon arrival, she finds the owner, Holden "Max" Maxwell, is there and her reservation is a mistake.

Instead of getting rid of Nina, Max finds himself caring for her through an illness. As she gets better, sparks fly. Yet Nina has a fiance even though Max makes her feel alive and appreciated in a way Niles never has. She begins to wonder if she even loves Niles.

With Max's tragic past and reluctance to commit to a serious relationship, can the pair move on and take the chance to love again?

I loved this book. It was unexpectedly wonderful.

The characters of Max and Nina were well-developed. I loved Max and in turns rooted for Nina and wanted to shake some sense into her. The doubts and reservations she has felt real and reasonable—most of the time. All the characters, even the minor ones, had unique personalities, and it populated the town in delightful, colorful people.

I adored the way everything seemed to conspire to prevent Max and Nina being together—everything from a local photographer who happens to be an idol of Nina's delivering promised photos from a gallery showing to relatives inviting themselves for time getting to know the couple. Nina's entire family arrives, some positive and some negative, while Max cares for his best friend's sister after tragedy strikes. The events of the book were almost comically random, and I couldn't help getting frustrated myself as Max was thwarted time and time again from intimacy with Nina.

There was a surprise suspense element for me. Nina calls the locals Mountain Men and comments repeatedly that one of them has gone rogue. The climax was shocking, but not quite out of left field. Nina was understandably confused, just like I was, but it made sense within the social climate of the small town they live in.

The ending was perfect, and I adored the epilogue. It was a beautiful cap on a wonderful story.

The descriptions were vivid at the same time as sparse. Compact and brief yet letting me perfectly envision the beauty around Nina. I wanted to be at Max's cabin with them and explore the nearby town.

The only thing I would knock this book for is extremely long chapters. In a more than 600-page book, there were only just over a dozen chapters. There were breaks within the chapters to give a place to pause, but if you're waiting for a chapter break to stop, you might be reading for a long while.

All in all a delightful read. I highly recommend this novel, and can't wait for the next book in the series!

Photo Credit marcolm via freedigitalphotos.net

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