DNF@21%

I absolutely adored the synopsis and setup for this book. But unfortunately in execution, it just didn't work for me.

This follows a 20-something who is down on her luck and moves in with her brother and is roommate. On her first night there she receives a text from a misdial that turns into more. This setup is everything I love - epistolary, forced proximity, opposites attract.

But I found the heroine to be unbearable.. She is clumsy, forgetful, and completely unreliable. Which sounds like a fun quirk, but it was TOO MUCH. She is constantly breaking everything around her, leaving dangerous things unsupervised, and making downright terrible decisions.

I got to the point where she left the apartment while the stove was on and grabbed coffee with a friend and I just couldn't take it anymore. I disliked her so much that there was no way I'd be able to root for her romance.

I'm really sad that this one didn't work for me but I am interested in checking out future adult romances from this author. I liked the premise and writing, it was just the main character that stopped this from being the rom-com for me.

This book was so adorable! The banter between Colin and Olivia had me smiling the entire time I was reading and I really loved them together. I'm not always a big fan of the quirky heroines because sometimes they're just a little too silly for me. That was not the case with this book at all though. Olivia was portrayed perfectly as a bit of a mess, but in the best way possible and it was so fun to see how Colin reacted to her crazy moments. Especially when all the romantic feelings started building between them.

Overall, this is definitely a recommended read and I think it will end up being a favorite of the year.

“‘Did we just christen your new kitchen?’ ‘We did.’ I grabbed my shirt from where it was dangling on the faucet and said, ‘Someday, when my mother swings by without calling first and sets her purse on this very spot, I will smile, knowing just how upset this scenario would make her.’”

Ahhhh this book. I just loved it! It is sweet and sexy and laugh out loud funny. My girl Olivia burned down a whole building setting fire to old love letters from her cheating ex. This is the kind of passion and anger a scorned woman can relate to, amiright? Mr Wrong Number is the ultimate of romcoms! Colin and Olivia had the most perfect witty banter. I have heard this compared to The Love Hypothesis and they are not wrong.

I loved reading along as Mr Wrong Number and Miss Misdial learned more and more about each other. The evolution of their relationship so so natural and fun and it was incredibly satisfying to watch it unfold. If you like enemies to lovers, laugh out loud funny banter, and some sliiiightly steamy scenes then pick this one up on pub day tomorrow!! You will not regret it.

Thank you to Netgalley, Berkley Publishing, and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mr. Wrong Number... The writing style is fun, flirty, and enjoyable. This book was such a quick read, and kept me engaged throughout. It was enemies to loves, brother's best friend, childhood friend, some texting/messaging mix ups... The main female character was silly, clumsy, bad luck and the guy was nerdy-ish? good looking (abs, abs, abs), smart, quick with comebacks. I guess in a sense it was a little predictable, but at the same time it worked for a fun read.

Olivia’s life is a dumpster fire. She accidentally burned down her apartment the same day she was fired and her boyfriend dumped her. Olivia receives a random text from a stranger and they start messaging each other which makes Olivia forget all the bad in her life.

Unfortunately this one did not work for me. I wasn’t able to connect to the story or the characters. Olivia is supposed to be clumsy and cute but I found her to be self-centered and obnoxious. I think that if Olivia wasn’t so rude, I would have been able to enjoy this story more.

Thank you @berkleyromance and @netgalley for gifting me this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

After a ritualistic love letter burning accidentally burns down her apartment building, the newly single and unemployed Olivia is forced to move in with her brother and his roommate. Shortly after moving in, Olivia receives a spicy wrong number text which turns into a reoccurring sexy yet truthful text exchange between strangers. But, unbeknownst to Olivia, Mr. Wrong Number is actually her brother’s best friend and roommate, Colin. Even though they’ve known each other for a long time, their anonymous texting relationship allows Colin and Olivia to open-up to each other in new and unexpected ways. When Colin discovers that his “Miss. Misdial” is Olivia, he has some tough decisions to make…should he end the spicy text relationship with his best friend’s little sister before things get messy or should he take a chance on this unexpected love connection?

Mr. Wrong Number is a romantic comedy that invokes the enemies to lovers, forbidden romance, and forced proximity tropes with it perfect for fans of Emily Henry, Angie Hockman, Sally Thorne, and Dylan Newton. This book deals with themes such as appearance versus reality, communication, order and chaos, family, truth and lies, working class struggles, love and heartbreak, and identity. The takeaway of this story is to live in the moment and not be afraid to laugh at your mistakes or misfortunes; “You aren’t a hot mess at all Livvie. You’re just this…this…human tornado who is so alive so filled with the energy of the moment, that there occasionally is a little collateral damage…But all the damages are worth it. They’re but a small price. I wish I lived in the moment like you do.”

Mr. Wrong Number was the first one of Lynn Painter’s books that I’ve read, and I didn’t know much about this book before I started reading…but I ended up loving this book and it completely exceeded my expectations! This book was a quick read for me—I found that the plot was relatively fast-paced, and I literally did not want to put this book down! Olivia and Colin’s chemistry and witty banter was really entertaining to read, and I found the plot to be very engaging; I wanted to keep on reading to find out what would happen when Olivia inevitably discovered that Colin is Mr. Wrong Number. I also enjoyed the comedic scenes in this book, which mostly consisted of Olivia’s clumsiness and outrageous accident-prone escapades.

There wasn’t a lot about this book that I didn’t like. One minor complaint for me was that, even though Colin and Olivia obviously had steamy chemistry together, I never got excited goosebumps or a strong feeling that Colin and Olivia were wholeheartedly perfect for each other.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and it definitely exceeded my expectations. In addition to being engaging, light, funny, and steamy, Mr. Wrong Number could probably be read in only a few sittings or over a weekend.

I really loved the premise of Mr. Wrong Number and how an accidental text could turn into so much more. The book featured lots of favorite tropes like: forced proximity/roommates, enemies to friends to lovers, best friends sibling, and epistolary romance. Things started off really fun, but unfortunately once the identity of the misdial was discovered, the story started to derail for me. I am not a fan of lying by omission and that entire plot point lasted way too long. Colin really shouldn't have let that drag on and the "she's my best friend's little sister" excuse got old fast. Olivia came across really immature and her back and forth behavior with Colin gave me whiplash. Her quirkiness and extreme clumsiness was funny at first, but it never became endearing. I also never fully believed the enemies aspect of Colin and Olivia's history and things felt too instalove/forced. The last quarter or so of the book was filled with lots of unnecessary drama and the "grand" declarations fell flat. So much could have been avoided and resolved if these two just talked to each other. Overall, Mr. Wrong Number was an entertaining romcom, but I didn't love it as much as I hoped.

CW: cheating ex (past), fire (past) and loss of property/belongings, strained parental/family relationship, financial insecurity

*I voluntarily read an advance review copy of this book*

I read this book in a night and I have absolutely no regrets.

Hot Takes
- This book sucked me in, but in the best way. I absolutely could not put it down once I started!
- I absolutely love a text/email situation throughout a romance and this was the perfect scenario that made me swoon and cringe at the same time lololol.
- Colin was SUCH a smartass and I love him for it hahahaha
- There wasn't a huge amount of steam in this, but I was totally okay with that, because it still felt "adult". There was so much sexual tension, banter, etc. especially through the texting that when it came time for the steam, I wasn't really searching for more because I kinda already know? Idk it makes sense in my mind.
- Something small that I adored was how Colin was super firm in his insistence that Olivia know she is deserving of the best, and ensuring she is asking for what she deserves. Very well done!

Read If You Like
- Singles Table for a hot mess main character and an ass hole dude that you can't help but love.
- A roommate situation
- Best friend's little sister that is, yet again, weird.

Mr. Wrong Number by Lynn Painter is a contemporary romantic comedy novel. The story in Mr. Wrong Number is one that is told by changing the point of view between the main characters giving both sides of the romance.

Olivia Marshall has always felt that if it weren’t for bad luck she’d have no luck at all. Olivia’s latest disaster of starting a fire trying to burn the love letters from her ex has landed her living with her brother and his roommate, his longtime aggravating best friend Colin, in their apartment and being homeless and jobless.

As Olivia thinks things couldn’t get any worse she gets a text from a random number asking what she’s wearing. How lame can the mysterious guy be? But before she knows it she ends up carrying on texting with the stranger while she tries to navigate her new life.

Mr. Wrong Number by Lynn Painter was such a delightfully fun read full of snark and sass and a lot of laughs. I loved that Oliva was able to laugh at her many misadventures through life and has come out stronger than ever and the banter between Colin and Olivia would have me chuckling over and over again. The idea of an anonymous friend was also interesting although a tad obvious it still made the story all that more hilarious at times. Definitely an author I would return to in the future after reading Mr. Wrong Number.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Mr. Wrong Number was a delightful quick read that I absolutely blew through and had many times that I was literally laughing out loud.

The banter between Ms. Misdial and Mr. Wrong number and the confessions of the embarrassing moments had me absolutely gripped to this book.

The book had references to Pride and Prejudice as well as Lizzie and Darcy vibes between Olivia and Colin (thank god he was nothing like Mr. Colin’s iykyk)

This book delivered a well done my brother’s best friend trope and a great way of doing the miscommunication trope (cause we all knew it had to come out sooner or later..)

I really loved this book and would 10/10 recommend for anyone looking for a light read with some laughs and some steamy moments, cause dang, Colin was yummy and their tension was *chef’s kiss*

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Books for the ARC of this book! I am so thankful to obtain a copy to read in advance of its release!

Actual - 3.5

TW: cheating (off page, relating to h only)

This was super cute and a classic take on "hidden identities". I thought that the banter between the two characters was solid between the face to face interactions and the "wrong number" interactions.

I really enjoyed the struggle between them with their realizations that they are entering into "forbidden" crush territory (best friends sister) and attempting to put a stop to it before it escalates, but of course it doesn't because *forced proximity*

It's hard to write a character that is very clumsy and not come across as cliché; to me the FMC came across as someone with ADHD - and me, currently being tested for it, really related to a lot of her "quirks" as I viewed them as some what normal. That being said, the FMC is definitely quirky and won't be everyone's cup of tea. Same with our hero - a grump, but only to her, but only because of past assumptions and interactions.

If you're looking for a quick rom-com where they're kind of pen-pals but they're kind of roommates, with a hint of steam, this is the one for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Pub for this ARC; I am voluntarily leaving this review.

Thank you @berkleyromance and @netgalley for the [gifted] eARC of MR. WRONG NUMBER.

I really wanted to love this one. In fact, I did love the first third of the book when Mr. Wrong Number and Miss Misdial are exchanging hilarious and sexy texts without knowing who the other person is. But as soon as Colin realized who Olivia was and kept it quiet… that was a huge turn off for me. It just felt kind of icky and manipulative. Also the concept that he'd accidentally booty text a number that wasn't in his phone when the girl he was trying to text was saved in his phone makes zero sense to me. But I also haven't been single in a gagillion years so what do I know?!

Also I could not get behind Olivia as a Main Character. Yes, she’s chaotic and accident prone but she also makes some epically stupid and immature decisions (like lying to get a job) and then is devastated when things blow up in her face. And some of the stunts she pulls post breakup (burning letters or throwing out fancy sheets) just feels like something a high schooler would do… not a 25 year old woman.

So ultimately, this book wasn’t for me. I’m definitely in the minority because Goodreads is full of glowing reviews for this book so I encourage you to check those out as well and decide for yourself if this one is worth picking up or not.

MR. WRONG NUMBER is out 3/1/2022!

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4567585229?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cac34P5PXkB/

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced reading copy! This romantic comedy really hit all the right notes for me, and though this is my first book from Painter, I will definitely be reading her again in the future! Olivia accidentally burned down her Chicago apartment while burning the love letters of her cheating ex, forcing her to move back to Omaha to live with her brother and his roommate Colin, a childhood enemy who always annoys her to no end. Olivia develops a texting relationship with a wrong number and sparks fly, and it ends up being Colin, forcing both to re-examine their annoyance with each other. This book made me laugh out loud so many times and I devoured the book in two days because the pacing was perfect and nicely moved me forward to the very sweet ending. Painter sure can write banter well, and I did not even get tired of the text messaging format; the author balanced it well with the dialogue and multiple points-of-view. I am giving it 5 stars because I think that Painter really did the romantic comedy genre and enemies-to-lovers trope masterfully and it was just what I needed in my reading life right now. I highly recommend this book to fans of contemporary romance, romantic comedy, and enemies-to-lovers.

Olivia Marshall has had some truly bad luck, most recently catching her fiancé cheating on her with a co-worker she partnered him up on a work project with, and her apartment burning down after she burned his love letters on a barbecue. Having to move back home into an apartment with her brother and his roommate she thinks she’s hit rock bottom. Until she gets a “What are you wearing?” wrong number, an exchange that lifts her mood and turns her life around. An ongoing exchange that improves her self-worth, she starts to look forward to these texts from Mr. Wrong Number.

Colin Beck has always looked at Olivia as his best friend’s messed up little sister until he realizes she is Ms. Misdial and he has been sexting his best friend’s sis. Now he can’t help but see her through different eyes, eyes that no longer see her as a little sister, but as a grown up woman who he is coming to admire.

Mr. Wrong Number was an absolute hoot! Olivia was a hot mess but she had a joie de vivre that was hard to resist and even staid and studly Colin couldn’t help but see it. Their text exchanges were so funny I swear I had trouble keeping from laughing out loud. Lynn Painter does a great job inserting humor and emotion into every word. This was a well written rom-com!

Of course, disaster in the wake of Olivia finding out the truth about Mr. Wrong Number can’t help but happen but the story turns really sweet as Colin tries to woo her back. For a novel that I mistakenly took as shallow (albeit funny!), it had some hidden depth and those emotions kind of slapped me upside the head. I should know better than to judge a book by it’s cover and sassy title. This book was fun, but it also had heart, and the witty banter continued even after the texting was done.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher for my honest review and it was honest.

Thank you @berkleyromance for Mr. Wrong Number. This was such a fun rom com with humor and banter.

The texts between Mr. Wrong Number and Misdial were a hoot.

It was fun seeing the relationship between Colin and Olivia develop as they learn more about each other. Olivia with her string of bad luck was so resilient. All the characters were so fun.

Mr. Wrong Number is so trope-tastic: we’ve got brother’s best friend, enemies-to-lovers, opposites attract, forced proximity, anonymous relationship. This book is full of laugh-out-loud moments, hilarious banter, and steamy tension. Olivia is the captain of the Hot Mess Express, but she’s so endearing and there’s more to her than meets the eye. As her brother’s best friend and roommate, she’s known Colin for ages, but he’s only ever seen her as a pain in the butt and a walking disaster. Even her own family sees her that way, but Colin slowly realizes there’s more to Olivia than he ever expected.

This book is fun, light, engaging, and funny. I read it in a span of 24 hours, which basically never happens. Fellow romcom fans, this one is a must!

Fun, sexy enemies to lovers tale

Olivia Marshall is a disaster walking and always has been. Bad luck just seems to follow her. This last time around, though, it was worse than normal and she ends up having to move in with her brother and his long-time friend Colin, who was her childhood nemesis.

Things look up when she gets a misdialed text message that turns into a series of steamy texts that brighten her days - and nights - as she tries to straighten out her life. But little does she know, and Colin doesn't know until later, that he and Olivia are trading sexy text messages.

This story was great fun. I loved klutzy, loveable Olivia and hunky Colin.

I highly recommend this enemies to lovers romance tale.

I received this book from Berkley Publishing through Edelweiss and Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

Lynn Painter can do NO WRONG IN MY BOOK. I love this You Got Mail reimagining. This was a true romcom. LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH!

I knew this book is going to be a delightful romcom, but what I was not expecting is THE WITTY BANTER! The humor, and all the small details that made the story even more special.
We follow Olive, mid twenties throughout her journey to find a new job in her hometown, because of an accident she had to move back, to her brother and his roommate Colin..
Olive is the perfect messy, clumsy but full of with life character and honestly she represents the struggles of a new adult perfectly. She gets a text from an unknown number and the rest is history. Swinging between Colin (childhood enemy, but super sexy) and Mr. Wrong Number, Olive tries to find herself, a dream job, love and living in the moment.

It was hilarious, fun, unexpected! Highly recommended for a quick read and a feel-good story.

Olivia Marshall seems to be very unlucky. After her apartment burns down and she loses her job she moves in with her brother and his best friend Colin. Colin sees Olivia as the annoying little sister and they constantly trade insults and barbs. One night Olivia receives a suggestive text from a mysterious number, They begin to exchange flirty texts as Olivia feels that her life is beginning to turn around. Colin on the other hand discovers by accident that the recipient of his mistaken text and subsequent texts is Olivia! Things get complicated as Colin sees a different side of Olivia and begins to notice that she is vibrant, fun and attractive.

The like-able characters with great chemistry lead to an adorable story with lots of humor and heart.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.