Lynn Painter does it again! She has written another fun, hilarious, and adorable YA rom com. I don't know how she does it but everything she writes is just so darn great!
This one featured kids of divorced parents + great anxiety rep in a male character, both of which were really well done.

Another solid 5 ⭐️ book from the queen of rom coms + YA! Check it out.

Thank you to.the author, publisher + Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

When I first started reading this book, I went in blind so I didn't know what I was getting myself into. You just have to be in the right mood for YA romance sometimes. But when I got back into it, I really enjoyed it!

Once the fake dating trope entered the scene, I knew that these two were done for. He falls first, but can't get past his past relationships always falling apart so he pulls away when she finally reciprocates his feelings.

I really enjoyed this book, and I have to pick up more Lynn Painter books. I loved every single funny scene, the banter between the two of them, the Taylor Swift references... it was just a feel good read! And the scene at the end was absolutely adorable.

Although this was not my favourite Lynn Painter book, I still really enjoyed reading it! The characters were so much fun to learn about, and I really liked having the dual perspective from Bailey and Charlie. I did think that their relationship was missing something as I read through the book, which is weird because this author has always delivered on relationships for me in the past. I was a bit frustrated at the characters at times, especially when they arbitrarily had arguments or miscommunicated for no reason, but I really loved the plot and pets in this book. Definitely will continue to read Lynn Painter books!

What a completely delightful story! A classic teen romcom that is bursting with cleverness and angst. Bailey and Charlie first meet at an airport and it’s hate at first sight. After a couple of other chance encounters, they end up working together and their hatred moves quickly into friendship territory. These two just have undeniable chemistry and their conversations kept me so entertained through the entire book.

This is an enemies to friends to lovers story, with some deeper emotions of divorced parents and anxiety. I loved every page honestly, and am wondering why on earth I haven’t read a Lynn Painter book before.

My only wish was for more of Charlie’s perspective. It was dual pov but Charlie’s chapters felt few and far between, and I would have loved to learn more about his family.

The writing was so quick witted, the scenes so heartfelt and the characters so authenticity teenagers, that it will likely be one of my favourite books of the year.

Thank you to @simonschusterca for my copy on @netgalley! I am now adding all of her backlist to my TBR.

Charlie and Bailey meet each other randomly a few times during the course of their early teenage life. They eventually end up living in the same area and working at the same place. Both Bailey and Charlie are getting over serious relationships with the help of one another. As their friendship grows so do their feelings towards one another.

The story is told through multiple POVs - Bailey and Charlie, with a few flashbacks every once in a while. I found the plot of the story started off a little slow for my liking, but once we got into the details of the story I couldn’t put the book down. Lots of Gen Z relatable references throughout the story, which had me smurking a little every time I caught one which made reading a little more entertaining. Though the miscommunication/lack of communication trope - one of my least favourite types of tropes - used for the plot really had me disappointed. Granted you knew this was coming from the get go. But despite this, the book was quite enjoyable, definitely one the YA audience would enjoy.

This is just the 2nd piece of Lynn Painter’s work that I have read, I didn’t exactly love this one, but I’m definitely looking into reading more from Lynn Painter.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I truly love Lynn Painter's writing. Better than the movies is one of the sweetest YA romances and I went into this one expecting the same, but honestly...overall it was okay.

I liked the concept of the book, but it didnt feel original. Yet there was just a lot going on that felt like we were going in a different direction every page.

AND HONESTLY I am a huge swifty, but wow..too many references.

Nobody writes a YA romance quite like Lynn Painter. Lynn's books are always so good! I loved this story about Bailey and Charlie. It was sweet, cute and funny. I couldn't put it down and it ended up being a very quick read.

What started as enemies, turned to friends and of course, eventually turned to dating. The two main characters had such great chemistry and the way their relationship progressed was very believable. They had excellent witty banter together and it was just a joy to read! I loved that they also had multiple random meetings over the years before they even really got to know each other. It made it almost feel a little bit like fate or soul mates.

I also liked the family relationships that were showcased in the book. Both characters came from families who went through divorce and were learning to navigate the challenges of their parents getting into new relationships. It felt like something that would be relatable for a lot of readers. The friendships in the book were great too and I enjoyed some of the secondary characters.

I have no complaints about this book at all and basically loved everything about it! If you're into YA romance, definitely add this one to your list! And if you havn't read Lynn Painter before, I'd suggest looking into her backlist books as well because they're all great! Thanks to netgalley, the publisher and the author for my review copy.

the book was okay and I liked the idea but I also felt like I have read this before? i enjoyed the beginning but it quickly went downhill for me.. also the amount of taylor swift references was a little too much

This book was adorable, I really got into the characters and enjoyed this one so much! Looking forward to more from this author.

. . . ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⋆
I say this every time, but why don’t I read more YA? I’m never drawn to the genre, and yet, each time I finish a YA book, I’m surprised at how much I enjoy them - this one very much included.

I don’t know that I would have even requested this one had Tess not ( loudly ) sung the praises of the author’s debut novel ‘Better Than the Movies’, but I’m so glad I did.
This was cuuuuuuuuuuute, and just what I needed. Being YA, it was actually kind of the perfect escapist read for me - save for also being a child of divorce, I had nothing in common with the characters, and this suited me just fine. It pulled me out of my own head when I was reading it, and had me feeling a little bit of everything.

It also quite literally had #allthetropes : enemies-to-lovers, friends-to-lovers, fake dating, grumpy vs sunshine, meet cute, workplace romance, a lil’ love triangle tossed in there - all the highlights were hit. And while you might think that it was too much, it really, really wasn’t. Only complaint in this regard is that it also included one of my least favourite tropes, which is the bet-trope, which I just find to be a little tired.

The banter was cute, and age-appropriate for the characters ( something that I find ++important when it does come to the YA genre ), and even though I found that their feelings were “big” for their ages, it’s probably just because I’m looking at that time period from the rearview mirror.

All in all this book was a very enjoyable read, offering a little bit of everything - which, as it turns out, was precisely what I needed.

~ 👩🏻‍🦰

I really enjoy Lynn Painter’s adult books but this one really missed the mark for me. I just couldn’t get behind the characters and I was not a fan of their attitudes. I did finish it but I just was not a fan of this story.

Thank you to the publisher for an eARC via NetGalley to read and review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4.5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. I didn’t want to put it down, and I found Charlie and Bailey so good together. Their friendship was fantastic and I loved how it started to become more especially after the fake dating weekend. I could have done with a little bit less of Charlie being a complete ass and trying to ignore his feelings, but I liked the way things worked out in the end.
I did feel like there was too much going at times. There was the ex’s, the fake dating to piss off mom’s boyfriend, the trying to maybe get rid of mom’s boyfriend, their coworkers and the bet, and also Charlie and Bailey falling for each other. The book was a bit long for a YA romcom contemporary, and I felt like it could have done without some parts having as much page time.
I did really enjoy the progression of Charlie and Bailey’s friendship, and I loved the way they acted around each other. The characters were both well developed and written. I wish that we’d seen a bit more of Charlie’s anxiety and the acid reflux. It was mentioned several times but never really explained or discussed by the characters.
I found the writing style easy to follow, and the characters POVs were distinct. I didn’t want to put this book down, and I found it moved at a really good pace.

Fake dating is one of my favorite tropes, and Lynn Painter did so much justice to it in this book. I was completely smitten by Better than the Movies. It was adorable, and I had a great time reading it; Betting on You was a similar feeling. Charlie and Bailey's banter were everything to me, and I had several laugh out loud moments.

It was so easy to read and imagine a full-fledged rom-com film in my head. Lynn's writing is so easy to get lost in, and this book was no exception!

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the arc.

(4.25 stars)

Thank you Netgalley, Simon & Schuster teen and Lynn Painter for this incredible e-arc. Not sure how she does it but Lynn expertly writes YA and romance books.like no other. This one exceeded my expectations and will be one of the bestnbooks I read in December. I will recommend it to any one / everyone that listens.

This book, like a majority of Lynn Painter's, was simply okay. The characters were okay at best and annoying at worst. It just felt like the author was both trying too hard yet not trying at all. I enjoyed her other two YA books but this one was a miss for me, I guess. Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is my first Lynn Painter book and it definitely will not be my last.

I have been slowly moving away from YA, especially YA romance because I am getting older and these books don't have the vibes or emotions I really want in my romance books - but this one. GUYS.

It might be because I am a kid with divorced parents (though VERY young!) or the fact that the angst and the yearning was just done so well. I stayed up till 2am finishing this book because I had to. There was no other choice!

Charlie and Bailey are such great characters, and I really loved seeing their story come together. I wished Charlie had a lil bit of bigger chapters because the angst from this chapters made me feel so much.

I did end up with tears in my eyes a few times during this book.

I think the only thing that I would critic is that there is some miscommunication between Scott not having a daughter, but then having a daughter. I hope that would have been fixed in the final edits before the book was released.

this wasn’t as good as the author’s previous books in my opinion, but it wasn’t bad either! i think what i disliked the most about this was charlie, the male character. in the beginning of the book he tries to come off as cool and different for not following laws but to me that only made him annoying. it took me a long time to warm up to him, and i can say he is my least favorite love interest in any of lynn painter’s books so far. the conflict of this book also did not help charlie’s case. it made no sense to me and just really pissed me off… none of charlie’s excuses for why he was so terrible were good ones and it just made him even more of a jerk in my eyes. i did really love his moments with bailey, and bailey was a great character overall. her internal conflict with her parents’ divorce and her mom’s new boyfriend were well done and i liked how everything wrapped up in that regard. i loved better than the movies and really enjoyed the do over but unfortunately in comparison this one fell short for me. but i’ll still be reading the author’s future books because i love her writing style!

I was excited to finally get to this book this week. This was a cute YA romance that covered what it feels like to be a child of divorce fairly well. We really saw both of our main characters come together through shared experiences and the feeling of having their lives turned upside down.

This was just middle of the road for me. I think mostly because I was not the main demographic for this book. Charlie took a minute to grow on me, but I think our main female character felt the same way about him. Overall, it was a cute YA romance!

**Read an ARC from Netgalley Rating : 3 Stars

Lynn Painter is the queen of YA romance and I would read them over and over again. Her couples are always so cute and feel like real people despite some crazy situations. Can’t wait until next fall for the next one.

Unfortunately this book was just not for me.. it was not a bad book but it was just not my type of genre and writing. There are some YA books I enjoy but this wasn’t a favourite.