Great road trip romance and just like any road trip there were several curves, side trips and unexpected turns in this story. Kayla and Tony are Friends-to-Lovers-to-Friends-to-Lovers, whew that’s a lot to take in. But Tawna Fenske wrote an incredibly true to life story of self-examination of one’s past actions that have led them to where they are today.

Although this book does have humor intermingled into the storyline, it delves into human emotions, actions and reactions as we follow Tony and Kayla on their journey. Both of them discover things that they don’t exactly like about themselves, but they also discover the truth about their lives and their past interactions with others.

I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a wonderful and joyful read. Love happy endings in books I suggest reading this book. Couldn't put it down

Self help, his and her exes, a road trip with her ex, who happens to be her current BFF.
Oh, and a a little bet.

Kayla is BF's with Tony. He can't keep a relationship going past a few weeks. He and Kayla were an item for a hot minute a year ago and now he's her BFF. One road trip, a self help book, his and her exes and a friendly little wager can have these two rethinking their commitment issues and get the thing they really, really want.

Recommend.

Another absolute gem from Tawna Fenske! I just adore her writing, and reading Just a Little Bet was delightful...and also eye-opening and heartfelt.

This has got to be one of the best friends-to-lovers romances I’ve read. The dynamic between Kayla and Tony is electric, and equal parts funny and sweet. Their banter is on point, and their road trip one that shows the highs and lows of friendships, relationships, love, and family.

With a serious subplot to balance everything out, but enough lighthearted feels to make everything feel good, I can safely say that Just a Little Bet is more than just a little bit wonderful.

Is it hot in here...?!
Just a Little Bet, the second Smokejumper book by Tawna Fenske is once again a page turner. We were introduced to Kayla and Tony in the first smokejumper book. Despite them dating and subsequently breaking up, these two became best friends. After a drunken night they make a little bet to determine why Tony is so bad at love. They decide to take a road trip together just to figure it out. Throughout the ensuing road trip they both work on themselves and slowly learn how they both need to learn to love. This book does also tackle a domestic situation that could potentially be triggering for some. Tawna presents it wonderfully and even at the end provides resources. She clearly is amazing! I’m so glad I was able to get an ARC of this from the publisher!

Two best friends/exes go on a fun work road trip together... While simultaneously trying to figure out why they suck at relationships. This is a fun one that tackles some tough situations. And the leading lady is really sexually confident and outspoken, which is so refreshing to read.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed this title.

My thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC copy of this book available to me.

Very enjoyable FTL story. The little dog served for a number of humorous scenes and as another means for our lovers to bond. While I do prefer the author's funnier romances (try "Studmuffin Santa" and the rest of the Ponderosa Resort series), this one works quite well. My only quibble would be that while we got a fair amount of background on Tony's firefighting job, we got very little on how Kayla came to be a professional photographer.

Best friends, second chance romance, mention of abuse, family traumas, and a self-help book induced exes road trip.
Kayla and Tony dated briefly before things wilted out and then became friends. The story is not fluffy, the characters show growth, and it was an interesting read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book received from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I am a huge Tawna Fenske fan, and, after reading The Two-Date Rule, I was thrilled to receive an ARC of this second “Where There’s Smoke” smoke jumper series (both books can be read as stand-alones). Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for giving me an ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Smokejumper Tony and photographer Kayla had tried dating, but when that didn’t work out, they remained the best of friends. In Just a Little Bet, they take off on a road trip that entails Kayla shooting photos of burned out forests for her new book/gallery show, as well as accompanying Tony to meet some of Tony’s exes, to try and discover why he’s never been able to make a relationship stick. Yes, it’s a geographical, as well as an introspective journey. aOh, but there’s so much more, including very thorough and emotional backstories for both characters, and their realization about their own commitment issues (and strong attraction to each other).

Filled with the spot-on realistic situations and dialogue, hot sex, and humor that makes Tawna Fenske one of my favorite authors, this book also tackles some serious emotional issues, including gaslighting and psychological and emotional abuse. While I was drained reading those chapters, I really appreciated how these things contributed to creating a multi-dimensional picture of both main characters. Overall, this lovers to friends-friends to lovers second chance book was a winner!

Just A Little Bet was a great read for this Fenske fan. While not as laugh out loud funny as some of her books have been, I really enjoyed the easy relationship between former exes turned best friends Tony and Kayla. While touching on Tony’s job as a smoke jumper, this book doesn’t go into as much detail as book 1, The Two-Date Rule, which you don’t have to have read to enjoy this story.
The focus is on Kayla and her photography, and their road trip that brings them in contact with a few of Tony’s many ex-girlfriends. We learn a lot about the kind of guy that Tony is...great, kind, funny, but definitely commitment-phobic. Of course, there’s a loveable pooch, a rekindling of feelings plus some long-ignored family drama that Tony hasn’t shared with anyone. Kayla is great for him and is way too hard on herself where her family is concerned. She’s discovering things about herself on this trip as well.
While I don’t want to give away the storyline, I do want to mention that elements of abuse are discussed, and this might be a trigger for some. It is handled in a factual, caring and informative manner and I applaud the author for her thoughtful and thought-provoking portrayal of this sensitive subject.
I loved it!

Thank you NetGalley, Entangled Publishing and Tawna Fenske for gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
Exes Tony Warren and Kayla Gladney have never let their past keep them from being best friends. Even though their relationship didn’t work out, their chemistry still burns white hot and their bond is still strong. After yet another breakup and a very drunken night, Kayla and Tony take off on a roadtrip to find Tony’s exes and ask them the big question: What went wrong? The more exes they visit and the more miles they cover, the clearer it becomes that they are a lot more than just friends. A childhood of trauma and inconsistency has left Tony with serious commitment issues and goals of getting married and starting a family are keeping Kayla from settling. Can they meet in the middle and make it work?
I’m such a sucker for a second chance romance and the friends to lovers trope that I was instantly down to read this one! Just a Little Bet is the second book in Tawna Fenske’s ‘Smokejumper’ series and I had no problem reading this as a read alone. There wasn’t a lot of fire talk in this book besides mentioning that being Tony’s career, but the author does mention that in her end acknowledgements and says book one lays that info out better.
There were a few moments I found hard to believe, but for the most part I really liked this one! Tony and Kayla have fantastic chemistry and their banter kept some of the heavier subjects this book tackles from weighing the story down too much. WARNING: the intimate scenes are spicy! The book felt quick and was super easy to get into but you still get to know the characters and finish feeling like the story was completed! I ended this feeling happy for these two and is there anything more you could ask for from a romance?

This story has all the heat and all the heart!

A little road trip, a little self-help book, and a little Fireball add up to make this a deeply emotional, sexy, heart-pounding love story. It's both a second-chance and a friends-to-lovers story, as Kayla and Tony have kept their friendship despite their break-up a year ago. Now, Kayla needs to tour old wildfire sites for her upcoming photography book and since the fire season has ended, Tony is the perfect tour guide.

Because it's set in the off-season this book doesn't deal with the smoke jumpers on the job, but it still has plenty going on. In an effort to figure out why he hasn't been able to maintain a lasting relationship, Tony agrees to include interviews with a few of his exes on this road trip. Between those insightful (and sometimes hilarious) scenes and the thought-provoking excerpts from the self-help book Kayla's sister recommended, these two find that laying their souls bare to each other is the most intimate thing either has ever done.

The emotions are sometimes gut-wrenching but necessarily so, while the physical attraction between them is not ignored either. These two go through an entire lifetime of experiences together in just a couple weeks and my heart was captivated every step along the way. Their HEA is hard-won and absolutely perfect for them. I loved every bit of their story, and highly recommend it. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

Fab read.

Tony and Kayla met when their best friends got together and later married. They dated for a while but are now best friends. After a drunken bet leads to Tony admitting to things about his past, they end up on a road trip together visiting some of ex's along the way, to find out why he always gets dumped.

Being friends with an ex-boyfriend and then going on a road trip adventure to track down other ex-girlfriends! Wow, Kayla either really is hiding something or she is truly not interested in the guy!

Kayla who is a remarkable photographer, says that fearless smokejumper Tony has commitment issues! They both are unlucky in love and they even once had a fling, but Kayla knew Tony wasn’t on the same path of settling down!

These two find out from his ex’s an eye opening adventure for both of them! The author takes their situation and weaves so the readers will have to keep turning the pages because their are secrets that both are afraid to face and share!

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone!

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley and these are my willingly given thoughts and opinions.

I love Tawna's books and really look forward to them making me smile. The one though did not hit the mark for me. I felt a thread of sadness from the beginning that dampened my enjoyment of the book. It also was missing the laughs that I experience when reading Tawna's books. I think if you like heavier romance novels (or really fiction books with a splash of romance) this one may be for you. For me, it was just too heavy.

This is the first book that I have read from Tawna Fenske and I really liked it. I thought that this was an original story line. Two ex’s that have remained friends. There was some humor, emotional parts dealing with abuse. But overall I thought it was a good read.

[Content warning at end of review]

After dating for a short period of time, Kayla and Tony decide that they make better friends than lovers. And after a year of serious best friendning they decide to help each other out. Smoke jumper, Tony agrees to accompany Kayla as she tours the midwest for old forrest fire burn sights to photograph for a book and Kayla bets Tony that they can determine weather he is just a bad boyfriend or afford of commitment by catching up with his former loves along the way!

This totally sound like a recipe for disaster, but these two are so perfect together that he their road tripping and ex interviewing becomes an exercise in growth for the two of them!

At the beginning of this book, the hero, Tony seems so shallow and out just for a good time and a laugh. I really enjoyed seeing his layers be unraveled as he accepted some hard truths about him self and his motivation. Kayla also learns about herself and comes to some significant revelations as well. These two really grew on me as I read this book!

This road tripping, second chance/ friends to lovers story ending up having some real depth and happily surprised me!

[Content warning - there is in depth talk about mental abuse and gaslighting to characters close to the main couple]

Just a Little Bet by Tawna Fenske is scheduled to release October 26th, 2020.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Entangled Publishing. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#JustaLittleBet #TawnaFenske #NetGalley #pinkcowlandreads

I read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from NetGalley.

This is the story of Kayla and Tony. They dated previously but remained friends after deciding that they weren’t the settling down types. Tony joins Kayla on a road trip that she needs to take in order to take pictures for a new coffee table book that she has in the works.
(I don’t know what happens with the whole book deal because the author changes the purpose of the pictures at the end of the story- not sure if this was intentional or an oversight.)

I’ve read other books by this author and I’ve even read the first book in this series. She is one of my automatic one-click authors. I enjoyed the book overall and would recommend it to others. It has a deep, powerful understory about family and not letting your past/upbringing taint your entire being. You can overcome!

-- Read this review, and others, on my blog at https://hookedbythatbook.com --

Tony Warren, smokejumper and commitment-phobe, decides to accompany his best friend, Kayla Gladney, on a road trip for a photography project that Kayla is working on. She also happens to be his ex-girlfriend. Tony believes he is just a bad boyfriend, and Kayla is convinced it’s because he is afraid of commitment that he can’t seem to hold on to a girlfriend. They decide to visit the girlfriends of Tony’s past as part of their road trip, to find out what went wrong, and settle the bet that they had going on.

Imagine, if you will, a slider on a line of intimacy in a relationship. Tony and Kayla started off way at the left, where everything is easy-breezy and light. And as they came closer to the end of their trip together, that slider crept slowly to the right. With the increase in intimacy, came a lot of introspection and they had to find what it is that they want for themselves first. Both had to face harsh truths about themselves and their relationships with their family.

I wouldn’t call it light, or fluffy. It dealt with some very hard real-life issues, and what Tony and Kayla had to face and overcome, was definitely not easy. There is a lot of growth here for both characters.

Overall, I enjoyed it. There is plenty of lighter moments, and lots of steam.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Firstly huge thanks to the publisher for my advanced readers copy. This book tells the story of Kayla and Tony who are best friends that have dated before but it didn't work out. Who after Tony's latest breakup something good comes out of (definitely not going to spoil for anyone). It's a awesome story with great characters and two cups of swoonworthy love. Definitely recommend it if you need a second chance romance with friends that you root for