The Gamble (Colorado Mountain, #1)

The Gamble (Colorado Mountain, #1) - Kristen Ashley This was a poorly written book. Kristen Ashley could have shaved about 50 pages worth of unnecessary and repetitive nonsense off of it. There were a bazillion instances of the use of "Then I" to start numerous sentences in a row. "Then I did this. Then I did that. Then I did something else." A scene would start with Nina standing in the kitchen - about 3 sentences - before we're told retroactively how the last scene ended. The author used that entirely too often... I'll go out on a limb and say that she used that technique for at least half of the scenes. Really fucking annoying.But does any of that matter?Nay! It doth not! (Serious lack of medieval gifs out there, people.)Somehow it doesn't matter how poorly written the book is because the story is just so god damn entertaining! I laughed, I cried, I got pissed, I was spooked, I was riveted, and I was entertained the whole time. I hate soap operas because I can't keep track of who is having sex with which unknowingly related half-brother while planning their marriage to who-the-fuck-ever. But this book was what I imagine soaps on TV are aiming for, just condensed.Where Kristen Ashley seems to shine is quick-fire dialogue. She really knows how to keep the tension at just the right place while giving the dialogue a rhythm that makes you feel like you're in the midst of these 6 people having 4 different conversations all at once in the middle of Main Street. I absolutely loved it!So, while this book should be a bit shorter and needs a critical editor, I have to let go of those complaints in light of the fact that it was still one of the most entertaining stories I've ever had the pleasure of reading.I will absolutely recommend this book, though I may offer a disclaimer urging them to try to look past the weird writing.I've yet to look at any other books by this author, but if anyone has read some of her other books, please let me know if her writing is improved.