Jamie's Gamble by Gregg Bell

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"She was a little tired from being on her feet all her day, but she was in Texas, and she was working - and she was making it on her own." -Gregg Bell, Jamie's Gamble

Jamie is determined to escape her controlling father. She goes to a friend in Texas who helps her find a job. That's where she meets Ricky Benson. A man who has lost a lot and that's affected him. They fall in love. But when Ricky's accused of murder, and the sheriff's son no less, how far will Jamie go to save him? Find the official description on Goodreads.

Throughout Jamie's Gamble, you receive several different character's perspectives. Most notably Jamie and Ricky. It's interesting because it allows you to gain insights to both characters, their thoughts, motives and just what makes them tick. It's great to see what is going through each character's head at any given moment especially when there's something big going on. And then there's the fact that those characters don't know everything that's going on so it's great to see how they react even if they don't have all of the facts and why they react in that way. 

I especially loved seeing Jamie's perspective and the fact that she's in Texas to escape her father's control but she's still being influenced by him or it seems as if she is. Throughout the book she hears his advice and almost obeys it many times before making a different choice. But it's nice that Gregg Bell includes this difficulty because it's showing how much influence her past as on her and the fact that she's not going to be able to shake it off that easily. The same goes for Ricky.

Then there's the fact that Jamie seems to be the one fighting for the relationship much more than Ricky. In a lot of novels that I've read(So I'm not saying it doesn't happen, just I don't read many books where it does) the guy tends to be the one doing the most fighting to win the girl. But in Jamie's Gamble this is completely flipped. Instead Jamie is fighting, telling him he loves her and determined that they will work, never giving up even when she's at her most desperate. It's refreshing to see and a nice break from what I usually read.

Then there's the ending. I'm not going to give any spoilers, but again Gregg Bell has gone against the grain. It's not the ending that I was expecting. I'm not going to say any more than that because it might spoil the ending and I want to see what you guys thought about the ending of Jamie's Gamble.

This book is definitely for those who are looking for a different kind of novel, one that changes what usually takes places in romance novels. Have you read Jamie's Gamble? If so, what did you think about it?