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Texas Jewel
GAMBLER'S PASSION - When Bern Kendall first laid eyes on the poker-playing vixen, he didn't know whether to kiss her or send her to jail. — DEALER'S DESIRE - When Caroline was given the choice of prison or employment, she took one look at the handsome Mr. Kendall and struck a deal. — TEXAS JEWEL - He knew it was madness--hiring this wayward woman as a child's governess. But Caroline Jennings was a lady as well as a gambler and as tempting as she was talented. Now Bern Kendall really has his hands full--with a card-playing, horse-racing spitfire of a woman he can't control and can't resist. In a gamblers game of love, the most passionate winner takes all!
339 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 19, 2024
I think if this book had been classified (and written more like) a contemporary frontier/western instead of a bodice ripper romance, it would have been a better story. It simultaneously had nothing and too much happening. The author had too many ideas to fit well into 330 pages, so a lot of the heavier themes felt superficial and unimportant, if they were even explored at all. There were a few plot points that really weren't necessary and probably should have been cut so that the ending would feel less rushed.
I felt like the male lead was in the background doing other things way too often for being a main character, so the romance (you know, the main point of this story) didn't really land for me like it should have. That's part of why I wish this had been about the female lead finding community and belonging or whatever. That would have worked better for how the plot played out. There still could have been romance, but it wouldn't be the main focus of the story.
I also felt like this book's description was a bit exaggerated because our female lead gambled for the first time near the beginning of the book, despite the description making it sound like she was a gambler for a living or had been doing it for years. The real kicker is that she is actually really bad at gambling! Every time she gambled in the book, she either lost or almost lost, and her winnings were often quite small.
I'm honestly only giving this book 3 stars because the sex scenes were so stereotypical that it made me laugh, the storyline with the male lead's ex-fiancee was wild to follow, and I found it interesting that this is the only book this author ever wrote. I have so many questions as to why that is the case. Is that all she had to say? Did she die? Did she just publish a book for the experience? I must know!
Unrelated to the book itself that upped its star rating was that this book was published in 1993 with, as far as I know, only one edition ever printed, and I was somehow able to find it over 30 years later in a random little library while on vacation and there is just something beautiful about that.
I felt like the male lead was in the background doing other things way too often for being a main character, so the romance (you know, the main point of this story) didn't really land for me like it should have. That's part of why I wish this had been about the female lead finding community and belonging or whatever. That would have worked better for how the plot played out. There still could have been romance, but it wouldn't be the main focus of the story.
I also felt like this book's description was a bit exaggerated because our female lead gambled for the first time near the beginning of the book, despite the description making it sound like she was a gambler for a living or had been doing it for years. The real kicker is that she is actually really bad at gambling! Every time she gambled in the book, she either lost or almost lost, and her winnings were often quite small.
I'm honestly only giving this book 3 stars because the sex scenes were so stereotypical that it made me laugh, the storyline with the male lead's ex-fiancee was wild to follow, and I found it interesting that this is the only book this author ever wrote. I have so many questions as to why that is the case. Is that all she had to say? Did she die? Did she just publish a book for the experience? I must know!
Unrelated to the book itself that upped its star rating was that this book was published in 1993 with, as far as I know, only one edition ever printed, and I was somehow able to find it over 30 years later in a random little library while on vacation and there is just something beautiful about that.
May 10, 2026
This was such a good read
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews