Noah and Paige- such a cute pair! I really enjoyed this story and the good HEA ending. I always enjoy a relatable character and felt this with Paige.

Self-professed perfectionist meets bad boy, who wouldn't want to read that love story. When the bad boy is described as the fourth Hemsworth brother and the story takes place in Melbourne, Australia. Well then I was sold. This is the first romance that I have ever read that has taken place down under and it honestly made the story so much better.

Paige Thomas's life is not going the way she planned. In her mind, she would have the perfect accounting job at this point in her life not unemployed and living off her best friend's couch having daily matches with her cat Damon. And she did have this perfect accounting job until her decision to go on a date with a co-worker resulted in her termination. Now she had less than a month to find a job or it was back to her small country town, solidifying the fact that she, in her mind, had failed. Who knew that one visit to First, a bar-slash-restaurant for a simply cup of coffee to clear her head and get her refocused after another unsuccessful job interview would change her life forever.

Noah Reid was just trying to hire a new barista at First, which he was temporarily managing while his friend Des was away, but so far the applicants were less than stellar. That is until Paige breezes into First. Paige is more distracted by how freakin' gorgeous Noah is that it takes her a minute to realize that Noah has mistaken her as his next applicant. What does Paige do? Well she hijacks someone else's interview of course. The thing is, working in a place like First is not so far fetched seeing as Paige's family owns a cafe back home which she worked in for many years. When Noah finds out that Paige is not who she say she is well things go a little south from there. Except Noah does not know Paige's determination because she bets him that if she can make him the best coffee he has ever tasted then he has to hire her.

Paige and Noah's first meeting was so fun much and absolutely hilarious. It was what drew me into the book in the first place. Their banter was so cute and natural during the interview but you could clearly tell that there was some underlying sexual tension happening. I think the best part was when Paige was trying to win the bet. You could clearly see the romantic comedy elements of the book coming out. Paige seemed so comfortable around Noah even though they had just met but she was still kind of shy and a little bit embarrassed especially after the incident that happened during her interview. Let's just say Paige exposed a little bit more of her self than she wanted to Noah while dazzling him with her coffee making skills.

While I really enjoyed the beginning of Paige and Noah's relationship and the bets they made to one another, I think my expectations in terms of where the story was going and the overall pacing did not match up with the story. I finished the book wanting more. More of Noah's relationship with his family. More intimate moments between Paige and Noah. Just MORE. I will say though that the ending really tied things together for me even if the middle was in the end a bit underwhelming.

If you are looking for a cute romantic comedy that takes place down under, then definitely check out Betting the Bad Boy!

Paige has left the country looking for a job in the big city but it's harder than she thought. Deflated after another day of job hunting, she walks in to a coffee shop and mistakenly interviews for a job. It's not at all what she wants to do but it'll pay the bills till she finds the right job...besides her boss is hot! Noah desperately needs a barista and Paige makes the best latte he's ever tasted. Knowing she's here till she finds a different job, he takes a chance on the beautiful woman. Paige wants romance and forever while Noah doesn't belive in relationships. Same old story but a good read...till the end. After one night together, Noah wants no more and Paige realizes it's over before it began. When Noah realizes his mistake, it takes a chapter or two to make it right and move in together...the ending happened to fast...suddenly they're in love after that one night. Just didn't finish as smoothly as the whole book was.

Betting the badboy was a really fun and quick read. I loved Noah and Paige and thought their chemistry was fiery and their banter just as sexy and snarky. They were two people as opposite as light and day, but with combustible sexual tension and a penchant for betting, nothing could stop their attraction! I could not get enough of this couple! 

A countrygirl at heart, growing up on a farm in a small town has shaped Paige to believe that escaping into the city and having dreams of moving on to bigger and better things was the way to live. A perfectionist through and through, she believed having lofty goals and aspirations would be her ticket to big city success. But what happens when she meets Noah, a self-admitted commitment phobe with a wounded past and a shattered sense of self-worth. Can they make it work or will they realize they were wasting time on a bad bet all along?

While this is the third book in the Behind the Bar series, Betting the Badboy is a complete standalone. I really enjoyed Paige and Noah and look forward to the next one from this author! 4 stars! ~Ratula

I would like to thank Netgalley and Entangled Publishing LLC for an advanced copy of this novel!

A Coffee Barista, a bet, and one hot boss. This story of discovery, romance, and the ability to find love is the perfect pairing with a fresh brewed cup of coffee or a shot of vodka.

Stefanie London always delivers must read romance. I loved the tension, banter and one-liners. There are other books in this series but it reads great as a standalone.

I just couldn't get into this story. I won't be rating nor reviewing it.

Betting the Bad Boy by Stefanie London is an easy, fast-paced, lighthearted read. In Betting the Bad Boy, Stefanie London introduces Paige Thomas. She's a country girl at heart and a perfectionist with dreams of a happily ever after.

Noah is her complete opposite. He lives life and never commits to anything, that is partly due to his history with trusting others and what not.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read. In my opinion, Paige is a little too persistent (almost annoying) and a bit repetitive. She doesn't believe in casual sex and keeps reiterating it through her monologue and in her conversations with Noah.

After one night of passion, she immediately wants Noah to commit. It made her too pushy and unrealistic I thought. Sure, Noah needs a shove but not the way she handles it. She sends Noah running the other way even though he kind of wants to give things a try. But again, it feels as though she wants a ring on her finger after sleeping with him once.

Again, at the risk of sounding repetitive myself, this was an enjoyable light read. This is part of Stefanie London's Behind the Bar series, but it's stand-alone so you can totally read it out of order.

Paige Thomas gets a job in the big city and makes one mistake and she is out of a job. She is now scrambling to find a job, any job so she doesn't have to go home and tell her family she failed. She sleeping on her best friends couch but even that has an expiration date.

Noah Reid only has a few friends he calls family. Being in the fostercare system as a child has left him with"trust issues". He doesn't want to be held down by a job or people making it hard to create any type of relationship. His friend who is like his family asked him to look after his bar for a month.

Noah hires Paige and sparks are flying. She is determine to keep her hot boss at arms length because she isn't repeating her mistake. So she bets Noah that she can keep her hands to herself. Noah wants to win the bet but there something about Paige that makes him breaking all kinds of rules. It isn't always a smart idea to bet the bad boy and Paige is going to quickly learn her lesson.

I really enjoyed this book. It is a book about two people who were burned by people and have trust issues. They have chemistry in spades and it is hard for them to no act on this chemistry. I love it. There is build up of will they or won't they? Can Paige keep up the bet? Or will she give in to the chemistry? It was a good book that was easy to read and enjoy. It a sweet romance with 2 people who have had their hearts broken and don't know if they want to trust each other. I love Noah and Paige. Its was a great read! loved it!

Paige has a plan. Move to the big city, find the perfect job, the guy who is going to make her his everything, get married, have kids and live the perfect life. And so far... she's running nil on all accounts. Who knew that one date could ruin her plans and have them all going up in smoke. After being let go from her job that was going to take her places, she's now sleeping on a friend's sofa (which she has to be gone from by the end of the month) and no job or prospect of a job in site. So when she walks into a coffee shop and accidentally highjacks an interview, she at least can put down she has a job... right?

Noah can believe the nerve of this girl, walking in and pretending to be someone else to get a job. If he wasn't so desperate for a barista that knows what they are doing, he would have kicked her out. Although, she is pretty hot. So maybe this won't be so bad after all.

Paige has a rule... don't date someone from your work. Especially after what happened last time. But Noah has other plans. Paige bets Noah that she can hold strong, but Noah never loses a bet.

This was a fun book with a lot of heart and soul. Paige and Noah each need to learn to let go and trust someone, but both have ghosts from their pasts that are holding them back.
I really enjoyed the banter and ease between all the characters and will definitely be checking out the other books in this series!

Short, sweet, funny and a little steamy - I really enjoyed this book! I can't wait to read whatever this author writes next!

Paul’s older brother was Des the bar/restaurant where they all worked. Noah was a close friend. Des oversaw the operation and finances. Paul managed the bar and Noah was the head barrister who also inducted and trained the new hires. Des was in Hawaii with his wife Grace, Paul was knee deep in getting his mixology school off the ground that left Noah to be boss for the month Des was to be gone. Des was to soon expand his business and dropped hints he wanted Noah to manage it. Paul had a girl he was crazy about - Libby so Noah was the only bachelor left. Paige had just been trying to get a job and had been for awhile. And she was stressed about her future. Paige was trying to get an accounting job. Paige had been staying with her friend Sally. Sally just left her know that in a month she would be moving in with her boyfriend. Paige had already been looking for a job for a month. Paige stopped at Des’s bar/restaurant First for a coffee and fell into an interview as another girl. Then Noah was told the other girl wouldn’t be in Paige bet Noah a job she could make him the best cup of coffee he had ever had. Noah thought Paige looked like sex on a stick in a kind of girl next store way. Paige thought Noah looked hot. On Paige’s first day she brushed shoulders with Noah and felt sparks go through her. She hadn’t felt those kind of tingles since her first kiss. Paige had moved to Melbourne about four months ago before that a country girl born and raised. Paige had a different job in the accounting field but had dated a coworker but when she wouldn’t sleep with him he spread it all over the office she was a floozy and she lost her job. She had learned never mix business with pleasure. Noah had been brought up in the foster care system and had several foster parents and he felt he had let them all down but Paul and des were his best friends. Noah also had three sisters not blood but sisters nevertheless. Noah had a policy to always set the bar low when it came to commitment. That way he didn’t expect much. As a kid Noah had been kicked out of every foster home he had been in. Being a lone wolf meant security. Noah was always desperate to be the one leaving when it came to relationships as he was never in it for the long term. Paul and Noah had been friends since third grade.
I enjoyed this story. I liked how Noah and Paige tried to control what they felt. I was glad when they came together. I liked the plot and thought this was well written. I thought this dragged a little at different times but didn’t stop me from finishing the story. I liked how close Noah was to Paul and Des. I also loved how Noah loved his sisters. I loved Paige’s determination . This was just a good read I loved the characters and the ins and outs.I recommend.

Betting the Bad Boy is the third in the Behind the Bar series, boy did I enjoy reading this novel. It was just as good as the first two and didn’t lost the quality that some novels do in a series. Paige has been burned by a work place romance so bad that she on the hunt for a new accounting job because of it with no luck. Needing a pick-me-up-coffee she pops into First were she is mistaken by Noah for his new barista applicant. In need of a job ASAP she goes along with the confusion but once Noah realizes the mistake he is disappointed that the one candidate good at the job isn’t actual an applicant or willing to stay one permit if he did hire her. With no other choice, he decides to give Paige a shot to work until she can find an accounting job. Noah is a commitment phoebe, while Paige is looking for a solid commitment. Paige fights her attraction for Noah because she’s already been booted from a job because of a man but Noah is persistent and the chemistry is too strong to deny. I was completely entertained by this romance novel. I loved the fact that while reading I felt emotionally connected to the hero and heroine. I could laugh and cry while reading. I was rooting for their HEA as I read! 5 stars

I was able to add this to my collection from Stefanie London. Paige and Noah made this story for me. Romance with little angst. Loved it all.

Paige has her future all planned out. She’s getting an accounting job, getting married, and having babies. Preferably in that order. Her mind is set, and she will not deviate.

Noah’s trying hard to forget his past. The fact that his mom left him, her family didn’t want him, and the number of foster homes he’d been sent to (and rejected from). He has three foster sisters and 2 best friends. As far as he’s concerned, he has everything he needs.

Paige is all about relationships.
Noah avoids them at all costs.

Do they have anything in common?

How about intense physical attraction, straightforward honesty, and the unwillingness to play games.

Sounds like a match made in heaven right…at least if they could get past that pesty commitment thing.

Should they? Can they? Will they?

Well you’ll have to read the book to find out. With witty exchanges, the coolest BFF’s, an original premise, and well-developed plot, and sex just has hot, steamy, and milky as the coffee, I promise you won’t regret it.

4 stars

Betting the Bad Boy by Stefanie London was a fun, sweet and very entertaining read.
I enjoyed watching Paige and Noah's relationship unfold, they brought out all the feels, I really liked them together.

Overall, Betting the Bad Boy is a great addition to the Behind the Bar series and I highly recommend it.

*Thank you to Entangled - Lovestruck via Netgalley for the advance copy.*

So cute!

I loved both Noah and Paige, and the bet motif was abso-freaking adorable. I can't imagine why I haven't read the other two books in this series--yes, it worked just fine as a standalone, but still--but you'd better believe I'm going to soon. I'm really going to enjoy watching Noah be all smug in his non-commitment-dom, knowing exactly what is coming in his future :)

Rating: 4 stars / A-

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Paige and Noah's story is fun, romantic and sexy, but I have to say, it didn't have that extra wow factor to make it stand out from the crowd for me. It was a good read, I would read it again and I would read other work from the author if given the opportunity, but I can't say that I absolutely loved it.

This is the third, and I believe final, book in Stefanie London’s Behind the Bar series, but it can easily be read as a standalone. One of the things I really like about Stefanie London’s books is her ability to write hot, romantic stories that make me laugh without actually crossing the line into straight up romantic comedy. This was a perfect example. Opening with a discussion of a cupcake latte that looked like “unicorn vomit”, this book was everything I’ve come to expect from this series. Paige and Noah’s meet-cute involved mistaken identities that were quickly cleared up, and they moved pretty quickly into the wanting-each-other-and-refusing-to-admit-it stage of their relationship, which is where the titular betting came in. But to be clear, this is not a book-defining “I bet I can sleep with that chick” bet. Paige and Noah bet on a lot, but none of it is mean-spirited.

Noah bets that Paige wants him. Paige bets that she can keep her hands (and lips) to herself. There’s not much substance to the bet, though, and it’s usually only referenced in a jokey “Oh, right. We’re not doing this” kind of a way.

Paige was intriguing. She’s a transplanted country girl, recently moved to Melbourne to escape the life she didn’t want. She worked in her parents cafe, which is where she learned the skills that convinced Noah to hire her even though she wasn’t actually the interview he had lined up for that afternoon (which they also bet on). She was determined to leave the country and make a life for herself in a large city, but that is not as easy as she expected it to be. She’s sleeping on a friend’s couch while she tries to find a job, but she’s not having any luck with the job and the couch suddenly has an expiration date. The job at First, the bar Noah is currently running, is supposed to just be a way to get some money coming in while she continues her job search, but she quickly finds the job to be a lot more enjoyable than she expected. And the eye-candy certainly doesn’t hurt. But she can’t imagine telling her parents that she broke their hearts by not wanting to work in their cafe only to move to Melbourne and work in a cafe there. So she continues the job search.

Noah was… I liked Noah. I got a picture in my head really early on and I liked what I saw. I just felt like there was a little less to him. He’s the perpetual single guy, no commitment for him, thank you very much. He hasn’t seen commitment work out for very many people in his life, and he’s decided not to bother going after it himself. He likes women, he likes sex, he’s just not trying to keep either of them around for very long.

But he was clearly a good guy, book title notwithstanding. He still has a great relationship with two of his foster sisters, and an rocky relationship with the third. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to run the bar in Des’s absence, but he stepped up to do it so his friend go on a babymoon with his wife, and he was really good at it. He was great with Paige, when he was with Paige. When they weren’t actually together, he had a tendency to let his inner demons get the better of him and he did and said some really dumb, hurtful things. Which he would always own up to, I’ll say that for him, too. So I did like him, I just felt like he was a little less of a known quantity than Paige. There was just a little less there there.

This was a perfect wrap-up for this series. Everyone from the previous two books was here, they’re all well on their ways to their own happily-ever-afters, and the bar is even going to open a second location. I was happy to hang out at First for the brief amount of time we spent here, and as usual, I’m excited to see what Stefanie London will do next.

I fell in love with this book and with Paige and Noah! Nothing gets much better than a sexy Aussie man who definitely knows how to set a woman on fire, an intelligent, sassy heroine, romance, angst, and yes, coffee!
Paige is a girl from the country who came to the big city to make a life for herself. She has had her life mapped out for a long time…a good job in an accountant’s firm, a great apartment, and a sexy, successful husband. She learns the hard way that life has a way of messing up those plans. Instead, she finds herself sleeping on her best friend’s couch, out of a job after an unwise decision, and definitely no sexy boyfriend, much less a husband. Now, she’s begging the hot guy at the coffee shop/bar for a job. She’s about to learn that life’s little surprises can be the best treasures, and sometimes what you weren’t expecting ends up being just what you need.

Paige and Noah are complete opposites with the exception of their inability to walk away from a bet. After Paige begins working with Noah, who must be one of the sexiest barista/bartenders in Australia, the heat between them continues to build. After one unforgettable kiss, yes it even made my toes curl, Paige insists that it doesn’t need to happen again. Her poor decision about a guy is what landed her in her current position. But, sweet, dirty talking Noah bets her, she won’t be able to resist him in the few weeks she will be there. Could this be her most unwise decision yet? Who could work with Noah and not touch him, especially when he is whispering such naughty things in her ear?
Noah is a player who has HUGE trust issues. He can’t ever stay in one place too long, and only allows only a select few into his inner circle. In fact, he prefers being alone. His belief is it’s hard to disappoint people if you don’t ever make them any promises. He does have a rather painful past with most of the people he cared about never sticking around. Paige somehow is making rethink his philosophy though. The question is: will he listen to his head or his heart?

Paige may be a girl from the country, but she’s a tough as they come. She left everything she knew and came to the city for school and to make a new life for herself. Instead of giving up, she digs her heels in and is determined to make it. Even though Noah gets under her skin and makes her want to give into that bet, she certainly works hard to let him know that. She is a girl I would definitely want in my corner.

Once I started this book, I literally didn’t stop. Now, I was in the backseat of a car on a trip, but in my mind, I was thousands of miles away in a bar in Australia with a front seat watching one heck of a romance unfolding before my eyes. The angst and anticipation of Paige and Noah was INCREDIBLE! The build-up of the deed between the two of them was HOT! When he was whispering those naughty things in Paige’s ear, I was getting butterflies! I love when a writer takes control of my emotions, and Stefanie London certainly did that. It was the PERFECT mix of sexy and sweet. If you are looking for a romance to make you swoon, READ THIS ONE NOW!!!