Once a Gambler

by Carrie Hudson

A riverboat card man, Jake Gannon is about as no-good as they come--despite that good-looking hotness that can make a gal's skirts twirl in most unladylike ways. Suspected to be traveling under an assumed name, Jake has a mighty troublesome past, and was last seen in the company of one fiery filly who goes by the name of Ellie Winslow.... But Ellie ain't no ordinary looker. No sir, she landed here in 1876 by accident and is looking for her sister...and...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0373794657
• ISBN13: 9780373794652
• Release Date: March 2009
• Publisher: Harlequin Blaze
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.2" x 6.6"

Customer Reviews

"Once a Gambler" has it all

Photographer Ellie Winslow is still grieving over the mysterious disappearance of her sister a year ago. When she returns to the place where Reese was last seen, Ellie finds a photograph of a woman who looks identical to her missing sister. But the photograph was taken over a hundred years ago. If I had to use one word to describe "Once a Gambler", it would be transportive. From the very first page you're immersed and transported. It starts out among the Hollywood jet set and then whisks you back to a 19th century riverboat to rub elbows with gunslingers and poker players. The story is a contemporary, it's a historical, it's even a little bit of a futuristic. Time travel is a difficult device to use in storytelling. Too much detail and your eyes will glaze over. Gloss over the details and we'll be rolling our eyes instead. "Once a Gambler" amazingly handles even those little details in a fascinating manner. It's all in the details and Carrie Hudson never compromises a single element. I read all over the romance map and this story so completely satisfied every romance craving I could have -- red carpet glamour, wild-west adventure, and, above all, ruggedly handsome men. Real men. Men like Jake Gannon who'll hold your chair out for you and still kiss you breathless. Red-hot sex is everywhere nowadays. But what about good old smoldering sexual tension? And emotion that cuts so deep you can feel the ache in your heart? It's all in here. You have to read it just for the way Jake looks at Ellie. "Once a Gambler" is Book #2 of the "Stolen from Time" series. This story makes me long for my very own bad-boy gunslinger -- almost as much as I long for Book #3. And while we're at it, can we line up Book #4 and #5 too?

Excellent Chemistry!

This isn't your typical Blaze. And thank goodness for that! Carrie Hudson makes the characters jump from the page and not on each other every chapter. The heat between Jake and Ellie is In-Your-Face from the second they meet so when they do finally, well, "jump" each other, it's worth the wait. You will, however, be left with some unanswered questions... I hope to have them all answered in the next Carrie Hudson Blaze!