...Bookfanatic

'Gambling on Love' was originally released back on 2011 and I didn't read the first edition so I'm not sure what the changes between it and this second edition are besides the cover and can i say I do like this cover it's definitely the more attractive of the two in my opinion.

This is a second chance story about Abe (Abel, but don't call him that he doesn't like it) and Gary or Fox as Abe tends to call him from time to time and yes, he is a ginger but that's not where the nickname comes from or at least not entirely. Apparently it's because he's too smart for his own good and that makes people wary of him.

Abe and Gary are best friends and during their senior year in high school they figure out that they both want more than friendship and that's all well and good until they get caught in the locker room by Abe's coach he gets an eyeful of how much more than friends they are. Unfortunately when it comes time to face the music Gary decides to pack up and leave without so much as a 'see you later' for Abe who stays and faces the music on his own and eventually settles into the comfortable and safe life he's makes for himself. A life very different from Gary, who has spent the last few years they're apart with Peter an older very dominant and controlling man who has shows Gary a very different world from the one he grew up in.

It's 11 years later when Gary finds himself heading towards his past and quite literally by accident back into Abel's life as he sets out to fulfill Peter's last request following the man's untimely death 

Needless to say while Abe's never stopped loving Gary he's also a little bit angry at how things ended and Gary's got some issues of  his own from that time as well.

One of the things that worked for me was the the emotional roller coaster ride that these two men went on when they encountered each other for the first time after their 11 year separation. It was a case of 'come here, come here, no get away, get away' and I could see that because out of the blue you find yourself confronted with your first love and the first person to ever break your heart add to that the fact that neither man ever really got over the other and I know if that was me it would be roller coaster time. There was more than one instance of 'get out of my life but I'm never letting you go again' totally conflicted feelings on both sides.

However while this worked for me and I could see how and why things would be this way I didn't quite feel it. I didn't have any gut wrenching moments where I felt like all that mattered was these two men getting things worked out. The sex was hot, undeniably so but I didn't find myself squirming in my chair or heading for a cold shower and the ending had a bit of predictability to it not in terms of exactly what would happen but more in that it would go in the direction that it did. In spite of this I liked the specifics of how things ended up the way they did and given what we knew about Peter from Gary's account it make sense to me as well, so for me it worked.

'Gambling on Love' isn't my first book by Jane Davitt and I have to admit it's didn't turn out to be one of my favorites because that spot still belongs to her series 'Laying a Ghost' and her books 'Hourglass' and 'Truthful Change' but it was an enjoyable story that kept me entertained for a few hours and that's never a bad thing either.

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A copy of 'Gambling on Love' was graciously provided by the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.