Lynn Painter can do no wrong. Young adult or adult romance and she is a star. She is my #1 auto buy author. I loved this story of Bailey and Charlie. It was kind of an enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, and fake dating all rolled into one. I loved how Charlie helped Bailey with her family problems while accepting all of her quirks. They were a total swoon worthy couple.

After reading Lynn Painter's "Better than the Movies", this was a no-brain Netgalley request for me. Painter writes easy-to-read, adorable, and swoonworthy romance novels that don't disappoint, and "Betting on You" is no exception! I thought the romantic plot was about as predictable as her other books, aligning with many of the tropes of the genre, but I thought it was much more organic and satisfying that her previous books. While I wasn't surprised about anything that happened in this book, it was a quick read that was enjoyable to read! Pick this one up if you're in a reading rut, enjoy romance, or just want some quick fun!

i have really loved lynn painter's YA in the past, but this one just felt like too much for me. there were so many tropes, so many when harry met sally quotes, so many taylor swift references, so many weird nicknames and in-jokes — i never felt like i had time to settle into the read. i'm bummed!

Lynn Painter does not ever miss. My girl is a cute romance queen and I will recommend this book until the end of my days!

Bailey is a Type A personality. She needs to see rules followed, she deconstructs her pizza before eating it, and she'd prefer her soda half-regular, half-diet. Charlie is... aggressively not these things. Fortunately, when the two are forced to sit next to each other on a flight from Fairbanks to Omaha, they both know they'll never have to see each other again. Until, three years later, they do.

Fresh off a breakup, the now-17-year-old Bailey runs into Charlie at her new job. But now he's more tolerable, even becoming something of a confidant as the pair are fellow children of divorce. It starts when Charlie floats a bet on whether Bailey's bestie will cheat with a coworker, expanding into Charlie becoming Bailey's fake boyfriend to frighten off her mom's new boyfriend. But a ski trip to Colorado changes everything, and soon they've gone from fake PDA to rile up the potential new dad to catching feelings for each other.

With a narrative that skips between Bailey and Charlie, we see both sides of the teen romance blossom. While Bailey fully (but reluctantly) embraces her growing feelings, Charlie—convinced that friendships between guys and girls never work and even romantic partners will always leave him—battles internally over which extreme to go to.

For teen readers, Betting on You is a deceptively competent look at friendship, romance, and the changing face of blended families. The book is a little rickety on its judgment call re: friendship between boys and girls, although it makes one or two last-minute attempts at saying something a little more solid on that front. Older readers may squirm a little at the (expected) lack of clear communication between the young protagonists; however, for its intended demographic, it's a fun and adorable read.

Bailey meets Charlie on an eventful plane ride and it's loathing at first sight. Now, three years later, they are thrown together at work and they are betting on still hating each other.

Lynn Painter is the YA romcom queen. Her books are literally like reading John Hughes movies. Betting on You is no exception. Bailey is adorable as she navigates an unwanted friendship with Charlie as well as her divorced mother starting to date again. Charlie is absolutely one of my favorite YA MMCs. He is genuine while also maintaining that cool guy attitude. But underneath all of that, he is a great representation for anxiety. His chapters are short, but give you such a look into his mind and fears.

Each page of this book is filled with heart and humor. If you are a YA romcom fan (books or movies) this is the book for you!


Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the gifted copy. My reviews are always honest.

I finished @lynnpainterbooks latest YA, #BettingOnYou and loved every single page. Whether she’s writing YA or adult romance, Lynn Painter is a master of buildup and banter and I couldn’t get enough of Charlie and Bailey’s story.

Bailey meets Charlie during one of the worst times in her life. It isn't a meet cute, but rather a meet hate, or at least a meet "really annoyed". Over the next few years, Baily will run into Charlie over and over and while she remembers everything he said about love and his outlook on life, can people change?
Charlie is a cynic. He has seen just what love gets you. Nothing but heartbreak and you lose people in your life that you want there. Charlie and Bailey are working at the same family fun place and he can't help but challenge her to a bet. A bet she doesn't want to take because it involves her best friend, but she does anyways because she does believe that girls and guys can be "just friends". While they embark on their friendship, Charlie can't help but have feelings, ones he swore he would never have. He knew that he couldn't just be friends with Bailey, but he never wants to lose her and that means they should never date.
Bailey can't believe she is falling for Charlie, but he is so much more than she thought he would be. They fill up eachother's days and their friendship means everything. So when it takes an unexpected turn, and all bets are off, will Charlie step up and admit that maybe there is more to what he is feeling or will he continue to friendzone?
I loved this book so much because the two of them reminded me of myself when I was younger. I absolutely loved that we got to see inside of Charlie's head too, not just from her POV. This helps me tremendously in books to know the struggles and see the pining that is happening. I need pining. Always.
Thanks to Lynn Painter, Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for an early copy.

This was my first Lynn Painter book... and let me say, I GET THE HYPE NOW!!! I am here for the Lynn Painter fan club, reporting for duty.

SYNOPSIS: Bailey met Charlie at an aiport, when he was on his less than exemplory behavior. He was rude, arrogant... but also really cute. Now a year later, they both show up for orientation for the same job, and end up falling into a pattern of (semi) friendship with lots, and lots of banter. He swears men/women can't be friends, without a romantic entanglement, and she swears they can. So when her bestie starts flirting with another one of their coworkers... who is NOT her boyfriend... they place a friendly bet. However, as two teens struggling with divorced parents and navigating a new family dynamic, they start to build more of a bond than just coworkers... and dare I say, more than friends?!

MY FEELS: I read this one for Netgalley November, and read the e-book on a couple different reading sprints, over a few days... and was lowkey embarrassed over how much I kept giggling out loud. This is the kinda romance that people are talking about when they say "giggling and kicking their feet". I get it, besties. I absolutely adored both characters, but especially Bailey - she is so charming and endearing. This book made me fall in love with Lynn Painter's writing, and now I want to devour her entire back log too.

5/5 Stars

[Gifted by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers & Netgalley - thank you! All opinions are my own.]

A chance meeting on a flight from Alaska to Nebraska, what are the chances of Bailey and Charlie ever meeting again? Without knowing each other’s names, they bump into each other at a movie theater, and again as coworkers at a local adventure park. Despite their unfavorable first impressions of each other, their banter and bond develop into the likes of friendship—the one thing Bailey needed to cope with her mom’s new boyfriend, but the last thing Charlie didn’t want. Because per Charlie, girls can’t be friends with guys. Or, could they?

Oh how I just love Painter’s writing! The lively banter and flow of the storyline made this so easy to binge! Loved how coping with divorce and adjusting to a new life when a parent has a new partner was a big part of this story. The romance part was of course golden because both characters were flawed yet perfect in their own ways. I really believed in Charlie and Bailey and was here for all the swoon! If you loved Wes from BETTER THAN THE MOVIES, then you will love Charlie! Because I did!

This new YA romcom from Lynn Painter is a good addition to her work. Fans of her previous YA titles, will get just what they’re expecting- sweet romance with many classic romcom tropes and references! This is another cupcakey teen romance between Bailey and Charlie who first meet as they are both flying solo from Alaska back home. They have a few meetings over the course of the next several years, and I liked how Painter employed these moments in quick secession leading up to the main timeline of the story. My biggest gripe with this book was the excessive language. I know language is becoming more and more common is YA fiction; however I wish that weren’t the case (especially with the f word). While I know in real life most YA readers are familiar with cursing, I just don’t think it has much place in books written for younger audiences. Besides that, the book was enjoyable!

Thank you for this ARC!

Another adorable YA rom-com from the YA legend herself, Lynn Painter. While I don't tend to pick up YA novels, especially romance, there was such an enjoyment present when reading. The characters still felt like teens falling in love without the immature nature that would make it hard to get through reading. It wasn't my favorite or a groundbreaking romance novel of the century, but it provided so much entertainment with many sweet moments.

This is a story about accepting your true feelings.  When Bailey's parents divorced, she moved from Alaska to Omaha.  On the flight to her new life, she encountered perhaps the most annoying boy she had ever met.  In the course of the flight, he shared many of his life philosophies, including his firm belief that men and women can never be friends (based, in part, on watching When Harry Met Sally with his mom).  A year later, she is less than excited to find out that boy, Charlie, is one of her new co-workers at a hotel waterpark.  Soon, though, Bailey realizes that instead of finding him irritating, Charlie is the person she most looks forward to seeing and hanging out with at work -- not least of all because he truly understands the difficulties of being a child of divorce with both parents seeing someone new.  

Bailey and Charlie find themselves hanging out even more outside of work. They even begin "fake dating" as a way to annoy Bailey's mom's boyfriend.  Soon Bailey and finds she is developing real, and strong, feelings for Charlie.  But although there are times where it seems Charlie may feel the same way, they are quickly followed by moments where Charlie seems to make clear it is all just a game to him.  Will the two ever be able to find their way to each other for real, or will the actual reason Charlie has been holding back keep them apart forever?

I really enjoyed this book.  I'm a huge fan of the author's previous novels, so I was excited to dig into this one.  Like her earlier books, it is a sweet, thoughtful, and entertaining story about two people with a strong connection whose lives often get in the way of their feelings.  The author deftly explored the differing and overlapping challenges that Bailey and Charlie faced being children of divorce, in particular the ways they often felt the need to hold back their true feelings so as not to overburden their parents.  I also appreciated the book's treatment of Charlie’s anxiety, particularly how it was triggered by the tension between what he felt he needed to present to his friends and peers and how he felt inside.  Most of all, like the best rom-coms, this one will have you rooting for Bailey and Charlie (even as you wish they would just communicate better) and laughing out loud in equal measure.

Strongly recommended!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for an advanced copy! Lynn painter is a great romance novelist! She is becoming an auto buy author! Although I prefer her adult romances these YA closed door romance are so well done. I love how this book touches on parent divorce and remarriage as a teen. Bailey and Charlie meet years before on a long flight and end up as coworkers who become friends. There’s a bit of fake dating and they’re just too cute to resist. Can’t wait for more of their friends stories

Once upon a time Bailey and Charlie met at an airport. Reluctant seat mates, the pair quasi bonded as they commiserated over both being children of divorce. But aside from coming from broken homes, they didn’t have much else in common. Where Charlie was cool and confident, Bailey was reserved and regimented. On the long flight, Charlie also reveals he lives by the When Harry Met Sally adage that men and women cannot be friends. Agreeing to disagree, they go their separate ways.

Fast forward a few years and Bailey and Charlie cross paths again at a movie theater. This time around their run in is more fleeting, but it still registers with Bailey that the smooth and suave Charlie is actually in a committed relationship. Charlie notices Bailey is attached as well, but he also noticed her, period.

So when they meet AGAIN the following year, they cannot believe it. Both taking jobs at a local hotel waterpark, they are thrown together for lengthier stretches of time. Only now they have something new in common- they are both getting over bad breakups. The cynic in Charlie returning, he makes a bet about their mutual friends not remaining platonic. Fueled by the desire to prove him wrong, Bailey plays along.
Only as the two co-workers (who are definitely not friends thank you very much) begin to hang out with each other more, they begin to grow closer. Now the lines begin to blur and all bets, no pun intended, are off.

Amazingly I had never read a Lynn Painter novel until this year. After reading and falling in love with The Love Wager though, I was eager to dive into Betting On You. This book is classified as young adult and it’s an accurate classification- feeling a bit like Kate Goldbeck’s You Again’s younger sister. While the men in this story, Charlie and Bailey’s dad included, did some frustrating things, I found the relationships to feel real and relatable.

This sweet, friends to more romance will likely be another hit for Painter. In fact, it’s a bet I’d be willing to make.

After moving to Omaha following her parents divorce, Bailey, most comfortable when she has her nose in a book, has built a new life with her mom and her best friend. When she and her best friend start a new job at a hotel, she can't believe another of their co-workers is Charlie, a boy she met on that first plane ride to Omaha who seemed determined to irritate her. Baily expects more of the same, but she soon finds herself texting with Charlie regularly and hanging outside of work. Although Charlie insists that they are only co-workers, Bailey starts to develop real feelings for him, especially as Charlie keeps showing up for her when she most needs it -- and suspects he may feel the way. But as Charlie keeps pulling away, Bailey wonders what is really going on: is their chemistry all just an act or is there more beneath the surface keeping her and Charlie apart?

This was an engaging and well-written story. Bailey and Charlie are both strong and multi-faceted characters, working through real challenges in their family life while also figuring out the complications of their feelings for one another. This funny and heartwarming novel is another great book from this author.

Highly recommended

My ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I love Lynn Painter’s writing. It feels a bit weird at first to be reading a YA book as a 40 yo but as with all of the books by this author, this book was un-put-down-able. 😂

I adored this book! I became a fan of Lynn Painter when a friend recommended “Mr. Wrong Number” and was so excited to be approved to read her latest. It didn’t disappoint!
This book follows two teens, Bailey and Charlie, and their journey from antagonists to colleagues to friends (and eventually to more). Bailey and Charlie are both complex but endearing characters- I believed them as I was reading. Painter does a tremendous job, writing dialogue, especially banter, and I found myself laughing out loud more than once. The only thing keeping this book from a five star review is that a few of the plot lines felt a bit forced- without giving away any spoilers, it felt that the author had inserted barriers for the couple that didn’t feel organic to their characters or the story. However, the plot was so engaging overall and the characters were so likable that this didn’t hold me back from thoroughly enjoying the book.
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a feel-good romantic comedy read!

Charlie and Bailey are polar opposites. Charlie’s cynical and playful while Bailey is even-tempered and logical. After a chance meeting on a plane three years ago, Bailey believes she will never see “Mister Nothing” again. Charlie believes the same thing about “Glasses”. But fate has a funny way of placing them randomly in each other’s path…until it becomes a more permanent situation.

If you are a die hard “When Harry Met Sally” fan like I am, then this is a book you need in your life. Charlie believes girls and boys can’t be friends. Bailey believes Charlie is too cynical for his own good. When they come together to work towards a common goal…sparks begin flying, though neither wants to be the first to admit the other one might just be right.

Lynn Painter, the queen of banter, has done it again. I loved every single moment of Betting On You. Charlie and Bailey are immediately so wonderful and loveable that you feel you are reading about two of your closest friends. This book had me giggling from the very first page!

When I say I devoured this book, I really mean it. It took me two days.

Charlie is just wonderful. You will fall for him immediately. I know I did. His type of humor and sarcasm are pretty much my kryptonite. The banter was top notch and the nickname!! Don’t get me started on how I felt every time he called Bailey “Glasses”. I may have swooned.

Bailey may be a little unrelenting in her thoughts and opinions but that’s what made her great. She stayed true to herself no matter what. She knows who she is and isn’t afraid to be that person always. No mask, no hiding. Just complete confidence in who she is. She is my role model.

The two of them together? Perfection!

If you need a quick, light, romcom that will make you laugh, this is definitely the book for you!

Betting on You was a disappointing read to say the least. The characters were insufferable and one dimensional, despite the promising concept of children of divorce becoming friends. Even though the story was mainly character driven, there was hardly any development by the end of the book. The tropes were overwrought in a bad way rather than comforting. The male MC swore entirely too much for a YA book and the female character was so spineless and never learned to stand up for herself. Plus, as a card-carrying swiftie, I feel I have the right to say there were way too many Taylor Swift references.