Emmaline Hunt only had one thing she could call her own. A piece of land that held a secret not even her drunken stepfather knew about. When he gambles it away in a high stakes poker game, Emmaline does the only thing she can. She tries to steal the land deed back.
Tristan Avery has seen his share of bloodshed while sitting at a gaming table and knows its time to lay low when he wins a wad of cash and a piece of land. Especially after his opponent ends up dead at his feet. High tailing it out of town is his only option but things take a drastic turn when he finds a woman in his hotel room trying to rob him blind.
The botched robbery attempt is only the start of his troubles when Tristan finds his new land occupied by the same girl who tried to rob him. When he realizes he’s left her homeless, and killed her stepfather, his conscience forces him to do the right thing. Taking her to his hometown and setting her up with a new life will make up for all he’s taken from her.
But Emmaline has other plans. She wants her land, and Tristan’s money, and she’ll do whatever it takes to get them. All she has to do is convince him she’s there to stay, outwit him, find a way back home and not let a single soul know she has a gold mine bursting at the seems with untapped wealth.
Lily Graison is a USA TODAY bestselling author of historical western romances. She also writes a variety of genres under the name L. R. Grasion. Most all of her stories lean heavily to the spicy side with strong female leads and heroes who tend to always get what they want. On occasion, she can be found penning ‘sweet’ romances with chaste kisses and wholesome values. Ever a romantic, she believes in love at first sight and has a tendency to fall for bad-boy romance heroes.
Well, I made it to 94% lol. Then I got so irritated at one stupid thing happening after another. Between the things they thought or did.
Warning: the heroine is not a virgin. She was maybe around 18 yrs old and it’s mentioned often how she had used sex in the past in exchange for food, wood for heating, etc. So it was an unfortunate childhood she had and makes for some non-fluffy dark reading at times. Because of her past sexual abuse, her first instinct was to disrobe and offer sex to thank the hero for food that he brought her. She continues this manner of ‘thanks’ thru out the whole story basically.
The hero was nothing but considerate to the heroine, and as of 93% she still had not learned to trust him and believe him that he cared for her. Constant inner dialogue of does he like me or not? And the girl was obsessed with stealing back the land deed.
As of 94%, I still didn’t understand why the hero liked the heroine. She wasn’t exactly friendly with him, she was always wanting to steal the land deed and run away. It got to the point the hero needed to hide the land deed to guarantee she wouldn’t run away again. Why would you want a woman like that if you needed to force her to stay?
And! And this hero takes the heroine to his family’s big ranch, everyone knows they are sneaking into each other’s room and having sex… but when ppl ask the heroine if her and the hero are planning to get married, she just shrugs and says “Why?” and then “No, I’m just staying here until I get back on my feet.” Way too cavalier of an attitude of premarital sex for that time period, especially while talking to the hero’s family.
So I was never convinced that they were a love match. Huge trust issues that were not getting dealt with successfully. I actually don’t remember them interacting much besides having sex. Too bad, the storyline could have played out so much better!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
After absolutely loving The Outlaw, I was very excited to read The Gambler. Boy was I disappointed. I did not like Emmaline and altho Tristan was good to her, he used her that first night. Just like she used him for clothes, food, and a roof over her head. I guess she didn’t know any better but still, not romantic in my book(no pun intended)
(This is just a warning for anyone who expects a western romance in it's traditional sense.)
I loved the previous book from the series hence was quite excited to get started on The Gambler. Girl was I disappointed..
So the reason I read historical/western romances is it gives me something I don't get from contemporary. A different way of evaluating virtue and gender roles and such..
I don't want to make a political statement here. I simply like the way how an innocent woman of young age falls for a man and gives him everything she has of value and to hell with decency, she'd sacrifice her future of a respectable life to give herself to the man she loves even if for just once. Romantic, right?
Now what we have here - SPOILER - is a sexually abused and starved girl who drops her clothes and throws herself at the guy justifying her actions by saying 'this is what all men want anyway' and at this point I stopped reading because I felt bad about myself despising this poor creature who apparently couldn't decide if she wants to kill or rape the hero.
I would have appreciated this being mentioned before I made the purchase. I do feel sorry for all victims of abuse and do not think that a woman's worth is less once she's had sex, (well not in today's world anyway given that protection is available), but I found myself wondering whether she's got some ugly diseases or if she's pregnant from another man.
Couldn't get over it. I want my romances to be free of such abuse. Anyone can argue with that but I hope we can all agree on my original point which is there should be a warning so you know what to expect before you pay for the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The Gambler by Lily Graison Willow Creek Series Book 3 Tristan Avery was a gambler and good at it. One night of winning not only money but a deed to some land in Idaho changed his life. Not the money or deed but the the little spitfire that felt he had no right to her land. That her stepfather had no right to gamble it away. What else could he do but take her with him when he decided to go home for awhile. Back to where he hadn’t been for nine years, back to where he was told if he left….don’t return….back to Willow Creek in Montana Territory.
Emmaline Hunt has a secret on her land. When Harold lost it to the gambler she had to get her deed back. Her first attempt failed so when he took pity on her and asked her to go with him to Montana she agreed. She just needed the right moment to get her deed and his money so she could hightail it back to her precious secret. Sounded easy enough, right? Wrong.
Those Avery boys really aren’t the type to settle down but it seems the right woman enters into their lives in the most unexpected ways. I am really enjoying this series. Once Tristan returns to Willow Creek we get to see how Morgan and Abigail are doing, The Lawman and how Colt and Sarah are coming along as well, The Outlaw. The one brother who was married and is now a widowed father hasn’t found that special woman yet and he would like to. No worries….The Rancher will hopefully have Holden finding that special woman to complete him as well. **Sexual situations and language http://justjudysjumbles.blogspot.com/...
The story line had potential to be fantastic, but instead the author choses to focus on "bedding" the couple instead of developing a beautiful relationship and adding more detail and depth to the story. The characters could have been wonderful, instead they were mediocre and boring, because all they did was lust after one another. It's a nice bedtime read... because I don't have to focus on anything or invest any emotional energy into the storyline and characters. It's not a book that I can't put down. Disappointing really. It had potential...
Tristan Avery is a gambler and won his biggest pot ever but the loser is not happy. He tries to shoot Tristan but he is killed instead. Emmaline Hunt, the man’s stepdaughter, wants the deed to the property that Tristan also won. She has found gold in an old mine on the property but doesn’t want to let him know. He takes her to his home in Willow Creek. She finds friendship and peace in the town for the first time in her life and finds love with Tristan.
His brothers Holden and Morgan asks Tristan what he is going to do about Emmaline? She tries to leave but he halts the stagecoach and brings her back to the ranch. He thought about getting married but has always been footloose and fancy free and doesn't know whether he could settle down in one place but having Emmaline in his bed every night would be nice.
Emmaline knows he cares about her by his actions. She has fallen in love with him. When she got lost in the blizzard and broke her leg, she awoke to find him sitting beside her bed and, from the looks of his wrinkled clothes, he has been there for a while.
She tells him about the gold mine and he gives her back the deed with two conditions. One is he will go with her and the second is she will marry him. Her condition is no more gambling. They marry in the spring.
While I really enjoyed Tristan and found him delightful, Emmaline started to annoy me at every turn. When she was first introduced I have to say I was completely on board. I liked her feistiness and her determination to do what needed to be done- but as the book progressed, her antics became more tiresome than anything. While Tristan on the other hand was interesting and likable all the way through.
Emmaline was a brat and ridiculous at some points and I didn’t get the feeling she was mature at all. The fact that she was poor didn’t really explain why she acted as the world centered around her. By the end of the book I was almost ready for Tristan to give her what she kept saying he was doing “making her homeless”. This was one of the most grating of her accusations because by that point he had done everything to make her feel safe, taken care of and protected. He bought her clothes, always made sure she had a roof over her head and her belly was full, something she admitted no one else had done, but that wasn’t enough.
I didn’t hate this book at all, but it’s definitely not one I will likely return to.
The Gambler is a smoking hot read and definitely not a sweet romance. Instead, it has real life feelings, dilemmas, and tons of passion and desire. Tristan Avery wins the deed to 100 acres of land in a card game. When he checks out the land, he finds Emmaline, destitute and starving. He decides to take her back to his family's home town in Willow Creek. They try to learn if this relationship is a matter of attraction and circumstance or if it is something more.
The author, Lily Graison, has woven another very engaging tale with complex characters with large ranges of emotion and lots of unpredictable action. While this book can be read as a stand-alone, some sub-plots do connect back to the previous books in the series. I can't wait to read #4!
The third brother wins more than he bargained for. What will it take to set things right? It's a good read to find out what's next for Tristan and the rest of the family. Another winner Lily!!!
Loved the book. Two strong people who find each other in strange situations. Enchanting story. Ready for the next book in the series. Kept me interested and ready for more.
I seem to always fall in love with Lily Graison characters from their first meeting.
“You’re a girl?”
“I’m a woman, thank you very much.” She straightened her shirt and met his gaze. “And I’d be obliged if you’d get that gun out of my face.”
Tristan won a deed in a poker game. Later on while defending himself he ends up killing the owner of the deed. When he goes to check out the land he won he finds Emmaline in a beat up shack and was the one who tried robbing him of the deed in his hotel. He soon learns that was her step dad he killed and all she has left his the beat up shack and the land. He can not bare to kick her out and not let her live the way she is living in a run down shack with no protection since he killed her step dad. Her feistiness intrigues him and is finding it hard to keep is hands off her. While he tries to figure out what to do with her, he comes up with a plan to take her back to his hometown and find her a husband. He has been gone too long and find it would also be good for him to go home.
Loved Tristan as he is arrogant, bossy with a alpha male attitude but also has a sweet side to him. I loved how he truly believes he is trying to find her a husband but really deep down inside he can not bare to part with her. He is not the marrying type and knows she can find some one better.
Loved Emmaline’s character as she has a backbone and will do what ever it takes to keep her land. It is all she has left and of course she has a secret containing her land that Tristan can never know about.
It was a treat when finally all the Avery brothers are together back home. Loved seeing how Abigail, Morgan, Sarah, and Colt are doing. Holden’s book is next in The Rancher (The Willow Creeks #4). Look forward to seeing how he will finally get his HEA.
The third Willow Creek book didn't not let me down. Just as great as The Lawman and The Outlaw. All the characters in the book come alive for me and I love them all.
Emmaline Hunt has a drunk for a stepfather who has just gambled away a piece of land which holds a secret which only she knows. It was her land and she wants it back. The only way to get the land back is to steal the land deed from Tristan Avery.
Tristan Avery is a gambler who knows its time to lay low when another gambler ends up dead at his feet. He had just won cash and land from the dead gambler. Time to leave town but that plans changes, when he finds Emmaline in his room trying to rob him.
Emmaline may have lost her home and her land but doesn't plan to leave. She will get her land and home back, she just need to convince Tristan to give it back to her. Tristan has other ideas and takes her to his hometown of Willow Creek. He plans to leave her there with his brothers so she can start a new life. Emmaline doesn't want the new life, she just wants her old one back and has to convince Tristan she is there to stay.
Does Emmaline convince Tristan she is going home with or without him? Does she tell him about the Goldmine? Can Tristan convince Emmaline to stay in Willow Creek? Read the book to see!!
I would recommend this book and the series so far.
The Gambler is one of those books that you can't put down from start to finish! Lily Graison weaves a story that will hold you spellbound, with a magnificent cast of characters who are believable and easy to relate to, who will steal your heart. Tristan sat at a card table in a saloon across as he heard the bet "all or nothing" with a deed to one hundred acres sitting on top of the pile of chips. Walking back to his room the new owner to the land in Idaho when he's attacked buy the looser of the land as Tristan pulls his gun and fires the ol' man slowly falls to the ground dead. Tristan meets the ol' man's stepdaughter why she is trying to steal the deed but thinking Emmeline is a boy Tristan is in for a surprise! Emmeline will do anything to get that deed back! They soon find their attraction building for one another in this heart pounding story full of drama, hot passion, turmoil, trials and tribulations, secrets and while the suspense builds, tensions escalate and all twist and turns abound that makes for one outstanding story! Can't wait to read The Rancher!
Tristan is the youngest Avery boy and left home at 17 to pursue his career in gambling. Okay, so he didn't really leave, his dad told him to leave until he pursued respectable pursuits.
Emmaline has been left to fend for herself on her land for years. Her stepfather brings supplies every once in a while, but she has had to do everything else. She was always short on supplies and food, and her male neighbours took advantage of her situation when she ran out and came to them for help
The stepfather bets and looses her land to Tristan and she tries to get the deed back, throwing them together
The story didn't have a lot of romance per se but it had a lot of summering heat. Both have a level of immaturity from having to fend for themselves, her by need and him by choice
Independent by nature, they both need to learn to trust the other, and that is what the crux of their relationship is missing. Once they cross that hurdle, all bets are off!
This was the first book I've read in this series. I like western romance and I'm so glad I got introduced to this author...'cause she does western romance right. The description of rural life in the old west is believably authentic and made me feel like a witness right there alongside the characters in the story. Emmaline was in such a tough predicament when she met Tristan and their backgrounds were so different that at first it was hard to figure how they would become a couple...but become a couple they did and the romance sizzled! Their courtship had its ups and downs but their love straightened out the kinks so that they had an old-fashioned happy ending. Now I'm anxious to read the rest of this series!
After winning a land deed in a card game, Tristan wakes in the middle of the night to find Emmaline attempting to steal the land deed. After visiting his new property he finds Emmaline in a rickity shack, alone, and half starved. Since the property is now his responsibility, he assumes responsibility of Emmaline. After dragging her across the country for her own good, she manages to steal the land deed back and tries to get back home.
Lily Graison writes such an enjoyable story. They keep me interested from start to finish. Her characters are strong, and are everything I love and expect in an American West Romance. My only complaint, is that I wish a could read more of this couples story. I highly recommend this book for your collection.