Talia Spencer’s life is the epitome of boring and predictable. But then she meets him… The first time she meets Casey Waltham, she’s buying condoms…for her grandmother. And of course drops them accidentally at his feet. Face plant. The second time she sees him, she’s this close to landing her dream job and is celebrating at a club. Two chance encounters in the same day–that’s got to be a … the same day–that’s got to be a sign, right?
He’s charming and flirty and just what Talia needs for the night.
But it was just supposed to be a hook-up. At least, that’s what she thought…until he turns out to be her new boss…
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Excellent storytelling. Casey and Talia meet over a dropped box of condoms and fate takes over. The dialogue is fun and flows effortlessly. They are both wounded from events in their childhood and find it difficult to trust anyone outside their small inner circle. As their relationship blossoms they have to battle old insecurities and doubts that rise up to interfere with what they are building together. Owning up to missteps they had made they are able to smooth out the wrinkles and look to a bright future filled with love and happiness.
Katherine Garbera scores another winner with this steamy story. Casey is trademark Katherine Garbera, a sexy, to die-for-hero. Talia is a great heroine, vulnerable, but strong. I really enjoyed this book!
One Night Gamble by Katherine Garbera is book One in the Joker’s Wild series. This is the story of Talia Spencer and Casey Waltham.
Talia and Casey have a one hot night stand but the next day when she goes for a job interview she finds that her one night stand would be one of her bosses. Casey brought himself up from nothing to be a co-owner of a casino. Talia didn’t have things easy either and how her father treated her. But slowly together that were able to see something other than past hurts. The Grandmother’s scene were always a good break in the story.
3.5 stars
I had a bit of a difficult time deciding what I wanted to say about this book. I enjoyed the story, but there were elements that overshadowed that enjoyment at times.
It was apparent that Talia was in desperate need of some therapy. Throughout the entire book she could not get over what her dad did to her while growing up. She needed to let that go and realize not everybody is as driven by gambling as he was.
Poor Casey was paying for Talia’s dad’s mistakes big time! I really liked him. He was a straight shooter. He was honest, caring, and seemed to truly be a good guy. He was definitely in control of his poker playing.
I liked the humor which lightened Talia’s mood here and there. I think if Talia had gotten out of her head, I would have liked her better. Her single-minded focus on all things bad with gambling got old after awhile. Her negativity overshadowed what chemistry she had with Casey and I barely felt any. I was surprised she didn’t just walk away. The author needed to let Talia reshape her thoughts of gambling because of Casey. If it wasn’t for my love of Casey, I would have rated this lower than I did.
I definitely am looking forward to reading the next book in this series about Casey’s friend Nicholas.
I requested this one because of the description, I thought it was cute. I really like the whole 3 friends owning a casino and each of them have different talents storyline. I enjoyed Casey and Talia, they both have some complicated pasts. I thought it was a pretty good easy read. I finished it in a couple of hours. I’ll probably check out the other 2 friends books, it’s cool what they do.
This was just okay. The way this blurb reads I thought it was going to have to some laugh out loud moments, but I didn’t find any. Casey owns a casino and is a professional poker player. Talia’s father was a gambling addict and she hates everything related to it, but yet she’s interviewing for a job at a casino. She hooks up with Casey the night before her interview, but didn’t know he was going to be her boss. How, I really don’t know. You’re going up to his apartment that just happens to be the penthouse in the casino, but no red flags? The drama that goes on with Casey and Talia seems a little much as well. She knew he was a gambler from the moment she met him, but it didn’t bother her until the end? While I didn’t love this one, I would be willing to give this author another read.
I voluntarliy reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book.
This one is an office affair love story. After having hot one-night stand Talia is surprised to see that Spencer is one of her new bosses. They start their affair but will Talia get over that Spencer is a gambler and that that is a big part of his life? I couldn’t relate to this love story. Both main characters didn’t speak to me. Especially Talia. She didn’t fight at all not to have a secret relationship with the boss. Her reservation toward Spencer because he was gambler was also for me not solid because we see from the start that he is a successful man, with no depth, with no alcohol, drugs or womanizer issue so story plot was for me lame. I hope that the other two will have a better story than this one.
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for Netgelly
hmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Okay, so here’s the thing. I’m not really the girl that enjoys a story being told to her. I much prefer my characters to interact and tell me the story thru their actions/banter. Internal monologue is not my thing. And yes, I get that things are often thought and not spoken but when the majority of the journey is inside the H/h head, I’m gonna get bored quick. Which I did. However, not so bored that I was disinterested in the story. And honestly, that’s the only reason I made it to middle of the road rating.
As individuals, I found Talia and Casey both to be good characters, but together there was nothing. I had zero connection to their alleged chemistry. So I wasn’t wow’d …. And honestly, I’m a little upset that the blurb of this book didn’t deliver inside the story. What I got from the blurb was a promise of spark and sizzle …. Yeah, not so much LOL I mean that could be because they talked to themselves more than each other, I don’t know. I just wasn’t feeling it.
Jokers Wild #1, Jokers Wild is a new Casino in Las Vegas it’s owned by three friends who have been by each other’s side since they were kids and they have in their each way made it big. Casey the gambler, Nicholas the magician, and Darien the dare devil; all three of them invested their money together to create a new experience for those coming to Vegas. Talia has spent the last seven years of her life cleaning up her father’s mess, an inept gambler, if it wasn’t for Talia her grandmother would have lost the house to a loan shark because he used it as collateral. Talia has sworn off gamblers she’s concentrating on her job and taking care of her Gran.
Talia has the opportunity to get a really good job managing the social media for the new Jokers Wild casino if she gets this no more working two jobs. Casey isn’t looking for anything more than a good time but a chance encounter with a woman not once but three times in one day has him thinking differently. One wild and hot night was all it was supposed to be until the next day when they realize Casey is Talia’s new boss.
Talia and Casey’s sexual attraction is very strong the chemistry is there, but Talia focus so much on the fact that Casey is a gambler and that is basically the epitome of everything she hates that as the reader I had a hard time seeing anything else in the way of Casey’s redeeming qualities besides the sexual attraction. Whereas Casey loved everything about Talia you could tell even when she was being obstinate he still loved her and he was trying very hard to get her to see a future for them. Told in the third person POV you get a omniscient view of both sides of their story.
Overall, it was a very smokin’ hot story. I enjoyed the characters and their story and I look forward to Nick and Darien’s books.
4 1/2 STARS!
Steamy, fresh and full of angst! I really enjoyed the kick-off to the Joker’s Wild series! It’s encompassed with a unique hero and the journey towards happily ever after even when it seems like the cards might be stacked against him. There was a rich background given on both main characters and a plot that moved at an adequate pace to keep our attention and yet keep us guessing at the same time. Looking forward to more in the series!
Talia Spencer can’t believe she meets a hot guy and immediately embarrasses herself by dropping condoms at his feet. To later run into him when she’s out at a club celebrating her possible new job just seems like a sign to her. Why not live it up and have a wild night with a sexy stranger? It’s not until the next day that she realizes it’s a bad idea … when he walks into the interview as her potential new boss!
Casey Waltham owns the brand new Vegas casino Jokers Wild with his two best friends. He’s determined to make a success of their newest venture, and they all agree that Talia is just what they need in the social media marketing position … even if he can’t keep his thoughts from turning lusty at the very sight of her! Can he manage to convince her that what he does for a living isn’t all that bad?
This is the first book of the Joker’s Wild series and my very first book by Katherine Garbera.
It is a fun, sexy but also sweet story of Talia Spencer and Casey Waltham and I enjoyed reading it. The plot is great, storytelling is good and the characters are well build. I kinda have more sympathies for Casey here, Talia is a bit more complexed and she has to go over some things from the past so she could live happily in the future.
I liked grandmother’s situations that made me smile too.
I am not getting into the story itself, you have the blurb for that, I just want to add that I had nice time reading it and helped me to spend nice time during this cold winter days. I am looking forward of reading the next instalments of this series.
One Night Gamble by Katherine Garbera was just an okay read for me. The plot seemed rather thin and the characters were one dimensional. The potential was there but just never seemed to pan out.