Review: Holt's Gamble
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 14, 2014
Holt's Gamble, formerly known as Passion's Prize, is about a woman, Kierin McKendry, who finds herself as part of Clay Holt's winnings when John Talbot ups the stakes on a poker game one night. She couldn't do anything about it since she was indentured to Talbot, courtesy of her father, Asa, who did it to get his hands on some money from the transaction. In the process of escaping from Talbot's saloon after the game, Holt gets injured when Talbot seeks to get his money and the girl back which causes them to seek refuge on a wagon train, going west to Oregon, forcing them to pose as a married couple.I thought this book was, for the most part, enjoyable and interesting because it was filled with action, character development, revenge, charisma, chemistry and camaraderie. I was most captivated by the magnetism between young Kieran and the sexy Holt who seems to be the ideal dream man for anyone. It was extremely admirable and appealing that Holt didn't turn out to be an unconscionable womanizer that many other heroes have ended up being. The conviviality between Holt and his friends, including his Cheyenne ones, was also captivating.Some cons, however, included the naivete of Asa who fell for Talbot's backstabbing schemes many times in the book, to the point where lives were at stake. The sad thing was that he dragged Kieran into his hair-brained schemes. Kieran, herself, was significantly naive as well, falling for Asa's lies when she reunited with him later on, never questioning his sketchy story. This made it hard, at times, to continue reading the book when seeing the holes that the father and daughter dug themselves into come to sad, disastrous fruition. It would've been nice if the heroine had a bit more backbone and a strong-headed streak in her, but I guess since she was 18 years old, we understandably shouldn't have too many high expectations of her.Other than that, Holt's Gamble, was an enjoyable, action-filled, and romantic book. If you like passionate, fanciful, maudlin and whimsical westerns with tons of action and backstabbing in them, then this is the book for you.