I love Lynn's writing and this is officially my new favorite book by her!
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This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2023 and it exceeded my expectations!
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Friends to lovers & fake dating are my favorite tropes so this was honestly perfection.
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I’m not a huge romcom person but Lynn’s romcoms get the balance just right!

This was a masterpiece!

I adored this book so much! I didn't realize this was. a sequel of sorts and that we were getting Jack's story from Mr. Wrong Number. So as I was reading and thinking "that character's name sound familiar" "surely there can't be that many books with siblings that share the same names" I then realized what was going on.

I did not expect this Jack to come out. He didn't give me the same vibes as he did in book, but it was such a great surprise! I love the connection between him and Hallie. They were such a sarcastic and funny pair and I rooted for them from the start even though they would obviously get together. I love their fake dating, their "lets be real" moments, and the closet scene melted me.

💖 REVIEW: The Love Wager 💖

SUMMARY: Hallie has one hot night with wedding guest Jack before deciding it’s time to get her life together. She begins by signing up for a dating app, where she promptly encounters her one-night stand. The pair jokingly message back and forth, agreeing that dating one another would be way too weird, and make a bet to see who can find love first.

This is my second Lynn Painter book, and it won’t be my last. Her books are consistently 🔥, fun, and exactly what I’m looking for in a romantic comedy. This is the stuff that perfect 90s romcoms were made of.

Check it out if you like:

😏 Fake dating
👫Friends to lovers
🛏️ Only one bed
💬 Charming banter
🌮Weekly taco night

I read this one, but after I was done I immediately put myself on the waitlist for the library’s audiobook copy. It was just so fun; I know the audio version will be entertaining.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

This was my first book from Lynn Painter and I absolutely adored it! I was a little iffy at first. There were definitely some cringe moments that had my secondhand embarrassment screaming. Secondhand embarrassment is the absolute worst for me, where I either have to skim the pages to get through it, or I stop reading for like a whole month. HOWEVER, I loved their banter, so I ended up skimming through the cringe and finished the book in a day.

This one was hookup > friends > lovers. We also had some fake dating. And their angst and chemistry was off the charts.

We follow Hallie, who is a bartender when we first meet her. And then there’s Jack, the brother of the bride. They meet at his sister’s wedding that she’s bartending, and after a semi-public breakup, Jack and Hallie get drunk and end up hooking up. They both end up on a dating app and they become the greatest friends. They’re basically wingmen for each other and it’s so sweet because we watch him fall first.

Then it’s time for her sister’s wedding in Colorado, so he agrees to fake date her regardless of his feelings for her (that he won’t admit to anyone). AND WE KNOW HOW FAKE DATING GOES, especially while packing on the PDA to sell it to family. And this is why it’s one of my absolute favorite tropes, especially tied with friends lovers.

This was funny, romantic, and I had a great time reading it. It was easy to follow and hard to put down. I love books like this where you see the struggle between the two main characters and you just know they will end up together so you find yourself yelling at the book to just figure it out already! LOL overall, a lovely contemporary romance.

Thank you @berkleypub for the free book and @prhaudio for the audio version as well. My thoughts are my own.
#penguinrandomhousepartner

GENRE: RomCom
PUBLISHER: Berkley
DATE RELEASED: 3/14/23
320 pages
7h 1 m
Narrated by: Kristen DiMercurio & Zachary Webber

SUPER SHORT SYNOPSIS: After a one-night stand Hallie and Jack become best friends and they make a wager about who can find REAL love first. The story becomes hilarious as they often choose to date at the same restaurants and then meet afterwards to commiserate about how hard it is to find the “right one”! I especially enjoyed the speed dating and later, when they became a “fake couple” for a weekend wedding!
 
MY THOUGHTS:
This is a light-hearted friends-to-lovers troupe with good character development, an amusing plot, and lots of good-natured banter. It is a fairly quick read; I read it in one night. I also checked out the audio version and it was particularly enjoyable with Kristen DiMercurio and Zachary Webber bringing the characters to life.

This cute book would make a great rom-com movie!

Add this one to your summer beach reads if you enjoy:
*fake dating
*strangers-to-friends-to-lovers
*likable characters
*witty banter
*some spice

The Love Wager is a one night stand-to friends- to fake dating- to lovers romance. The novel starts with Hallie Piper, the protagonist having a one night stand. After Hallie decides she wants to get her life together, she finds herself on a dating app and ends up matching with Jack, the man she had a one night stand with. Hallie and Jack become friends and make wagers on who will find their one true love first. Not so spoiler alert: they are each other's one true love.

I really enjoyed The Love Wager. As the first sentence of my review might have revealed, this book has tons of common romance tropes. In my opinion, they were done well. This story is fun, funny, and entertaining. The characters were very likable. As Hallie and Jack dated other people, I was 100% rooting for them to get together and that’s proof that this story was successful (in my opinion).

There were some phrases that got used a lot that were an inside joke between the characters. It got a little repetitive, but it wasn’t too terrible.

I will definitely be going back to read the first book in this series and I’ll be looking out for Painter’s next romance release!

After a one night stand with the attractive groomsman from the wedding she was a bartender for, Hallie Piper decides to change her ways. She quits her part-time gigs and joins a dating app to find true love. But her first match just so happens to be Jack, the handsome groomsman. The two ultimately decide to be each other's wing people in their quest to find true love, and even make a bet on it. The journey brings the two close together - they are becoming best friends and denying their attraction to one another is getting harder. So who will blink first? The book is a fun and easy read you will find yourself sucked into right from the beginning!

3.5 Missed Out Stars
I missed out on the first book, Mr. Wrong Number! This is the follow-up, which has the premise of two people who have "an experience" together...doesn't go so well, and decide separately to go on a dating app to have a fresh start in the world of dating. Surprise, they are a perfect match for each other.

Both decide to "be friends", help with the dating experience and end up in the end...a perfect match for each other....but will they see that...

I will read anything Lynn Painter writes because she is queen of the rom-com and funny situations. Highly highly recommend.

This one didn't work for me! I enjoyed Better Than the Movies, so I was excited to find another Lynn Painter romance with a killer premise. The Love Wager is fast-paced, Christina Lauren-esque, and it has a *lot* of texting between the MCs, which I LOVE. But overall, the book reminded me most of The Hating Game, just without all the....hating? There's a lot of "she's sooooo tiny" (derogative), some frustrating (and unnecessary) miscommunication between the MCs, and the dialogue often reads in a way that is both awkward and cringe-inducing. I'm not sure if I'll give Painter another try, but I'm nonetheless grateful to have received this ARC!

I am so picky when it comes to rom-coms. I usually get bored or something falls flat, but this is certainly not the case with this adorable series! It has the perfect amount of humor, tropes, and warm & fuzzies. And the banter!! The banter *has* to give in order for me to completely swoon.

My personal favorite in the series is Mr. Wrong Number (how can you not love a modern-day You've Got Mail story) ugh SO GOOD! Not to mention the enemies-to-lovers (which can be so hard for me to believe in a rom-com) was perfect. And who can resist a forced proximity brother's best friend!? I sure can't!! Anyways, it's amazing.

The Love Wager was equally adorable. Friends-to-lovers can be another hard trope to convey because a lot of the time communication can come into play, but for me, it really worked!

This is the perfect series if you're looking for a fun adult rom-com without too much spice (I want to say there are 2 open door scenes in both and do not go into heavy detail)

This was my first Lynn Painter book and I really enjoyed it!

The Love Wager revolves around Hallie and Jack, two strangers (besides one brief encounter..), that have a terrible time dating. Separately, they decide to get on a dating app, and guess who they find (I will let you guess). They become quick friends and decide to help each other. They schedule lots of blind dates at the same restaurant so they can save each other when things go south. The longer they hang out, the harder it is to deny their true feelings and line soon become blurred.

What a sweet and funny book. Hallie and Jack were great main characters. Their banter had me laughing out loud.

My only issue with the book was that I didn't really understand they why. The reasoning for some the Hallie and Jacks decisions were mentioned but I wish we would have gotten a deeper dive into the reasoning. Truly, I feel like this book could have been 50 pages longer and it would have been perfect!

I’m new to Lynn Painter but loved Mr. Wrong Number so I had to check this one out. Good thing I did because this one was even better! Such a great story with lovable characters. Can’t wait to read more from this author!

The whole concept of this book was adorable. There were so many tropes in this one, done to perfection. I fell in love with the whole book almost immediately.

I love the way Hallie and Jack met, it was cute and funny at the same time. I enjoyed that we got both of their points of view it helped build on emotions. The banter between the characters was stunning.

Overall, this was a sweet, charming, funny, engaging read, that left me wanting more. This was the first book I’ve read by this author and I can’t wait to read more!

a fast-paced, witty rom-com following hallie and jack, who, after a drunken one-night stand, decide to place a bet on who can find love on a dating app first. with fake dating, the one-bed trope, and great chemistry between the characters - this was a great romance! looking forward to whatever lynn painter writes next.

After an ill-fated one-night stand at a wedding, Hallie and Jack connect again months later on a dating app. Both are trying to get their lives back in order, so they wager a bet over who's going to find true love first. Through many taco dates and some fake dating, Hallie and Jack soon realize that who they were looking for might have been right in front of them the entire time.

Hallie and Jack's chemistry was fantastic the entire book. I loved how their friendship helped each other heal their wounds and believe in love again. I was rooting for them the entire time. Plus, I was hungry constantly, because...tacos.

I listened to the audiobook, which had dual narrators. They were both fantastic and kept me listening to hear what would happen next between the pair. It's a quick listen, running 7 hours.

If anyone can make me love a friends to lovers trop, it's Lynn Painter. The Love Wager had me hooked from the very first lines. It has amazing dialogue, witty banter, and laugh out loud comebacks. I loved the group text messages and Hallie's quirky roommate. The cat cameos were everything. This one was just pure fun to read!

Loved it!! Ended up buying the hard copy I loved it so much!! I have a few of Painters books but I haven’t read them. Absolutely picking up her others after reading this one…the banter in it was fantastic and I highlighted and tabbed so much!

overall 5.0 I loved this romance pick! Loved the banter and dynamics between Hallie and Jack. Friends to lovers, fake relationship, one bed, etc. I loved it all!

Such a fun rom-com. This kept me entertained from start to finish. Loved the chemistry and this trope is my fave! Well done!