“…there’s no such thing as destiny, only dick-stiny.”

The Neighbor Wager reads like both a fun, early aughts romcom & a classic Hallmark movie but with more self awareness than the former & more spice than the latter (though, it’s not difficult to be spicier than a Hallmark movie). You have Deanna, the classic “I don’t believe in love, I only believe in algorithms” type of FMC who couldn’t put herself first in any situation ever. You have River, the literal boy-next-door who goes through a real Matthew Lewis-level glow up, but who is also apparently still obsessed with Deanna’s sister, Lexi. Then you have Lexi, the golden girl who is so afraid to accept the good in her life that she turns her focus on River as a literally attractive avoidance technique. And Deanna is convinced that the success of her app, & her very specific world view, depends on keeping Lexi & River far apart. So Deanna takes a really sexy bullet & decides the easiest way to keep them apart is to just make sure he’s only hanging out with her, instead of Lexi. If this isn’t a 2004 romcom, I don’t know what is!

I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, though I’m not sure why outside of, apparently, my own thoughts which are cynical enough to give Deanna a run for her money. But yeah, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Every character was dynamic in their own way & it’s always great when it feels like no one has any malicious intent but rather, they’re all just silly humans fumbling along & trying to navigate their feelings as they manifest in confusing &, often, unproductive ways. The writing was fun, the story flowed in a smooth way, & the spice was spicy; on a basic level, there’s really nothing else I need from a romance!

*4.5

It took me a little bit to get into the book, but once I did I really liked it. River and Deanna are a fun duo who brought out the best in each other. The ending with the powerpoint was super cute.

I received an arc through netgalley.

The Neighbor Wager is an opposites attract story with an interesting premise. In this steamy romance, Crystal Kaswell sets up a wager between the main characters, and makes a case for feelings vs logic when it comes to finding love.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Awkward, artsy River grew up next door to sisters Lexi and Deanna, and had a massive crush on Lexi. Deanna warns him off, not wanting her sister to hurt his feelings. Ten years later, River returns from NYC with confidence and tattoos, and now Lexi might be interested. But she has a current boyfriend who she met through the dating app Deanna designed; not only does Deanna like seeing Lexi happy, but she needs her to stay with her boyfriend to prove their algorithm works. So she makes a wager with River to keep him away from Lexi while they each make a case for logic vs intangibles as the basis of a relationship. Deanna hopes it will save her company and Lexi’s relationship, but she doesn’t count on her own feelings for River.

Look, I believe that all romance hotel rooms have only one bed, so willful suspension of disbelief isn’t usually an issue for me. But I had a tough time buying into River and Deanna’s initial wager, and each of their individual obsessions with her sister Lexi. And it’s odd that Deanna would want her sister to keep dating someone simply for the sake of their company. For his part, River spends the first section of the book sighing about his feelings for the beautiful Lexi, which makes his switch to insta love with Deanna a little abrupt.

While the start is awkward, the book gets better as it goes along. Once River and Deanna spend more one on one time, their connection is more apparent and their steamy scenes showcase their chemistry.

The Neighbor Wager is an interesting romcom. While the storyline didn’t always work for me, the connection between the main characters and steamy scenes did. If you are a fan of opposites attract and complex family dynamics in your romance, you might want to give this book a try.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Neighbor Wager by C. Kaswell, published by Entangled Publishing is a witty and fun stand alone.
Deanna and River grew up next door. She crushed on him rather heavily, while he was interseted in her sister.
Years later, River's back, all grown up and Deanna's jaw hit the floor at first sight.
What to do?? Grifty girl that she is, she develops an app to match her current boyfriend with, sorry not sorry no spoilers here, only so much, this is an highly entertaining witty and fun, quick read, 4.5 beautiful stars.

An emotional next door neighbor, childhood crush love story wrapped up with a dating app twist. Two sisters develop a new kind of dating app that claims to be able to predict people's compatibility. Things get tricky when one sister starts falling for their childhood neighbor who's returned to help his ailing grandmother and tries to see if he can finally make something happen with the other sister he's always been infatuated with.

This was an okay read for me, I didn't really buy into the romance but I did really enjoy the emotional family drama parts. Recommended for dating app romcom fans of books like The soulmate equation by Christina Lauren or The right swipe by Alisha Rai. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

CW: parent with addiction issues, cancer

The nerdy boy next door is all grown up and the Huntington sisters have taken notice…

✨ Book Review: THE NEIGHBOR WAGER by Crystal Kaswell ✨

I really enjoyed this steamy opposites-attract romance! I found the exploration of identity really interesting and appreciate how River and Deanna saw and brought out the best in each other. Plus, the side characters, especially River’s erotica-writing grandmother, were a hoot!

Read THE NEIGHBOR WAGER for
💞 Opposites attract
🔥 Steamy open-door romance
📈 Boss lady energy
🥰 Boy next door
🎨 Artsy meets analytical
✌️ Dual POV
🌴 SoCal scenery

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5 stars)

😘 Thanks to @Entangled_Publishing and #NetGalley for the eARC of this books in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this opposites-attract rom-com more than I expected to at first. There was a part of me that was just not on board with a woman getting involved with a guy that was ogling her sister like 30 seconds before…but I’m glad I stuck with it. Turns out it was not as “ick” as I first imagined.

This story navigates how a passionate artist and a logic-loving cynic can inspire & educate each other. Maybe when it comes to love, it doesn’t have to be everything or bust. There is a lot of talk around casual sex, but I did not find this book to be overly explicit with any of the few on-page scenes really, just some of the dialogue.

Thank you to Entangled & NetGalley for an e-arc. All thoughts and opinions expressed above are my own.

Very cute book. Reading the story of Deanna and River was enjoyable. Not my favorite book of all time but a good quick story that ended with their version of a happily ever after.

I liked this book but didn't love it. I'm not sure exactly what it was about this book that failed to grab me, but I often found myself struggling with it. Overall, I would say it was a cute read. It just didn't strike me as funny or romantic as I expected it to be.

I unfortunately had to DNF this a the 45% mark.
I found the characters to be far to whiney and unlikeable to continue on with the story. I like the premise but this one is not for me.

Is love a magical force or biological release of chemicals and compatibility?

Oh my god! I fell for this book hook line and sinker. Every part of it was amazing. Between the angst and pining from the MCs and the steamy relationship they develop, to the complicated but heartfelt relationship within each MC’s family, I loved it all! And the banter and sass all the characters give each other while still being kind and respectful. 🤌🏻 There’s grief, longing, humor, and spice as well as equality, kindness, and a dirty minded sassy grandma. Gah! This book is perfect, just go read it.

🌶️🌶️🌶️
Characters: 💙💙💙💙💙
RomCom: The Other Sister, Girl Next Door, Opposites Attract, Steminist, Artist, Bet Against Love, Close Knit Family
First Person, Present Tense, Dual POV
⚠️: Parental Death (off screen), Cancer, Abandonment

- 5 stars / 2 spice

- Slowburn
- Growing and maturing on love
- The sisterly connection was good to read, realistic sense of resentment yet love and understanding
- Lots of respectful love and delightful meddling by his family lol
- I can see this as a movie
- Childhood crush/infatuation on the classic Cali girl, or the idea of her. Came back home as an adult and was going to have an opportunity with her possibly but then falls in love with her sister.
- Absolutely no cheating. Open communication


***some reviews we’re talking about how can he switch from sisters like that etc.***

Before comments like that turn anyone off from reading this :

- he’s had childhood CRUSH on one of the sisters but he was never with her or ever physical with her either. He was obsessed with the idea of her.
- so it’s not unrealistic that actually getting to know the sisters he eventually falls for the one he is compatible with, the other sister than the one he spent years crushing on from a distance.

In Brief
A modern day gender twist on the classic movie Sabrina, The Neighbor Wager establishes itself early as a retelling before veering off course and offering a more generic romance novel experience. Deanna and Lexi grew up in the lap of luxury in California’s affluent Orange County, and River was the boy next door with a massive crush on Lexi. Now grown up, River is back in town, and Deanna and Lexi are working to get funding for their dating app that involves Lexi proving how happy she is with the man the app matched her with. River has no place in Deanna’s plan, so she does everything in her power to divert River’s attention by making a wager that might give him the chance to pursue Lexi. As Deanna and River spend increasing amounts of time with each other, sparks begin to fly and Lexi is almost all but forgotten. With sizzling sexual tension, a side story involving the health of River’s grandmother, and plenty of time spent enjoying the sunshine, The Neighbor Wager offers tantalizing glimpses into a classic movie. However, it quickly lost steam as Deanna and River found it harder to deny their sexual chemistry, resulting in this novel diverting into a decently steamy generic romance novel, complete with the third act break up. There is some charm and some funny moments, but it certainly doesn’t hold it’s own against Sabrina.

Extended Thoughts
I couldn’t say exactly why, but Audrey Hepburn’s version of Sabrina is one of my favorite movies, so, when I saw The Neighbor Wager is a gender twist on the story, I had to jump on it. Relocated to Orange County, California and featuring two sisters from a wealthy family working to get funding for their dating app, it has some fun nods to the film, but is also incredibly updated with more sexual tension and sex scenes than I felt comfortable with. This ended up leaving me disappointed and struggling a little to see the movie I so love on these pages.

All his life, River was always just the boy next door, the one who lived with his erotica author grandmother next door to a lavish estate belonging to the Huntington family, slipping into their backyard to hang out with the two daughters. Deanna is the older one, a pragmatic workaholic who has no time or interest in a relationship. Her younger sister Lexi is the complete opposite: bubbly and friendly, she can’t keep a relationship to save her life. Now that they’re adults, River is back home from New York City to care for his grandmother with his cousins, and it brings back all of his old feelings for Lexi, the girl he always loved. Deanna and Lexi, though, have started a new dating app and have tentatively secured funding, provided they can prove Lexi’s newest relationship, formed thanks to the app, can last. But Lexi gets cold feet and River’s reappearance throws a wrench in Deanna’s carefully laid plans, and she might be the only one who can keep things on track by diverting River’s attention to her.

Initially, I did enjoy this gender twist, even if River came off as mostly a lovesick puppy. I liked that it put women into a place of wealth and connections while also keeping the spirit of the story of Sabrina. It was fun to see the inspiration behind some of the scenes. I wasn’t as sure about River cast as the lovesick Sabrina as Sabrina’s more feminine and demure character didn’t translate as well into a modern male body, but he had his charms. The beginning of The Neighbor Wager charmed me and I had high hopes for this novel.

Things went a little sideways for me the longer I read. After a strong start that enthralled me, it started to feel like The Neighbor Wager was starting to lose its sight on the source material. Instead of feeling like a modern gender twist, it came off more as inspired by the spirit of the story of Sabrina and then went its own way for most of the middle. Other than the initial drive River felt to be close to Lexi and his desire to be with her, this novel very quickly set up River and Deanna, making me suspect it might have actually been Deanna River wanted all this time. Of course, there’s not really any proof of that, but their physical connection sizzles and I’d say both of them forgot all about Lexi for at least half the book. It ended making this book feel more like a generic romance, complete with the third act break up, than truly inspired by a classic film, if romance is based almost entirely on physicality and sexual tension. Because I really struggled to find any emotional investment on either side or any true form of them getting to know each other.

The thing that bothered me most was the wager itself. Deanna and River make a wager that essentially boils down to Deanna being able to protect her app and its tentative funding and potentially giving River the ability to pursue Lexi. At first, it seems like it might create some interesting situations and give both of them the chance to get what they want. But then the romance ramps up and the wager is never really discussed or even goes away once they start falling for each other, creating kind of an icky situation where River and Deanna engage in sex and the reader knows they have this wager that might give River the chance to be with Lexi. It’s uncomfortable, and might have been better dealt with if, once they discovered they actually liked each other, and maybe before they went to bed together the first time, they had done something about the wager. Instead, it’s casually tossed off, and perhaps the story hopes the reader will forget, but then it does rear its head towards the end, and there’s no denying the wager probably made things a little uncomfortable.

On the bright side, most of the characters were actually quite interesting. I adored River’s grandmother, and his cousins were fun additions. I could have gone without the side story regarding them as I didn’t feel it actually added much to the story, but they were a delightful trio, and I liked how open and casual his grandmother was about sex. I wish Deanna and Lexi’s father had been more of a presence, because, in the film, the father was a really fun character. Unfortunately, it just seems disappointing that the characters who were the most interesting could have actually just been cut.

And that brings me to Deanna, River, and Lexi. I was not a big fan of River. I didn’t like his characterization and he just seemed to lack any depth. He swings from being head over heels for one sister and then the other in what felt like the blink of an eye, and possibly because one is a true potential bed partner than the other. He does get some internal conflicts, but is otherwise not very interesting on his own despite a whole arm of tattoos and a day job that calls for his creativity. Deanna was the only interesting one to me. I liked how pragmatic and practical she is, but she does have her own interesting flairs that gave her depth and a backstory that made sense with her present characterization. I liked her, but wasn’t a huge fan of hers once she and River really started falling for each other. Lexi is the David character in the movie. Like David, she was a playboy, or girl in this sense. She’s fun and charming and there’s really not much else, unless you count her cold feet when it comes to the man she’s been dating for the past several months. Despite her conflicting feelings for River and Jake, her boyfriend, she really didn’t make many moves to be on her own with River, so there was no true conflict in this story beyond what Deanna and River created for themselves. As for Jake, he was completely lackluster and forgettable, there for the sake of the story but not adding much color, being completely uninteresting on his own. Though he was given a really interesting point that came off as more embarrassingly hilarious than anything else.

The one highlight I really enjoyed was the setting. Being a Southern California native, I love it when books are set in SoCal. This one is set in the affluent Orange County and, while I wish Disneyland had been mentioned, I did like it. The characters spend a good amount of time at the beach and out in Palm Springs, so it was nice to see them in this novel. I didn’t get a strong sense of setting, but I at least like the images that came to my mind since I’m familiar with both Orange County and Palm Springs.

As a gender twist on a classic film, I feel like The Neighbor Wager didn’t quite rise to the challenge. There was far too much sex and sexual tension throughout the book and Deanna and River just fell for each other too fast. It didn’t feel believable, and all the charm I liked in Sabrina was completely missing, instead being made up for in a grandmother with an interesting profession and a boyfriend with an interesting dilemma. I was also missing the classic ending to the movie I love so much, though this one tried to offer something just as remarkable with a modern twist. The Neighbor Wager was an amusing read, but it comes off mostly as a generic romance that can’t get out of the formula, though I did like the callbacks to the classic film it made now and then.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

⭐️rating: 3/5

The Neighbor Wager was a cute and quick read. I loved the premise, especially because it reminded me a little of The Soulmate Equation (which I’m obsessed with😩).

I think it had a lot of promise, though the execution lacked in my opinion. I was lost in the plot a bit. It didn’t fully make sense at times, so I occasionally had some trouble following what was happening and why.

I liked the characters, and it was fun to see the tension as they fought their attraction. Plus, I liked the ending. I was a little confused about the timing of the epilogue, but I did like it.

So while it was a cute story with a fun premise, it fell below my expectations. I also have a new pet peeve because instead of saying “algorithm”, the characters only ever referenced the “algo” and as someone in the tech industry myself I just couldn’t….it grated on me😬.

Overall, it was alright, though I personally wouldn’t re-read. But I’m sure others will enjoy this more than I did.

Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Witty, steamy and poignant with a touching surprise

After a slow start this book becomes very entertaining once the wager is placed. The prologue sets the stage for River who is an 18yo nerdy artist who likes to make graphic novels and crushes on the pretty girl next door named Lexi. Unfortunately, River Beau isn’t even a blip on Lexi’s radar. But when he returns ten years later looking fine with a sleeve of tattoos, buff bod and a great job in NYC, Lexi takes notice. To what end?
Deanna is Lexi’s 28yo sister who took pity on the nerd River was back in the day. Now she and Lexi are co-owners of their own dating app business. In order to get funding, Deanna needs to keep Lexi and River away from each other. Why? River who never saw Deanna as anybody but Lexi’s sister, is now seeing beyond the obvious.
I loved the premise of this book. Even though it dragged in some places, I honestly cannot see it shortened for the reader to get the full impact. The narrative was witty, steamy and poignant where appropriate. I volunteered to review an ARC of this book through Entangled and NetGalley.

The Neighbor Wager by Crystal Kaswell

⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶🌶️

A cute contemporary romance with strong female characters and their neighbor who returns to town tattooed and muscular! Enjoyed the character dynamic, wager and banter.
While this did take some time for the slow burn to finally hit, when it did there was a whole lot of spice!
If you enjoy a story with the feel of Sabrina with a gender switch then this one is for you!

I received an ARC copy of this book and am leaving an honest review.

This was an interesting reading, and getting to know Deanna and River. I can see why Deanna would like for her sister and her boyfriend to get together, since she was the one who got these two together. But River's idea that he knows true love, and it's adamant he's going after it, it was amazing to read.

This book has something that I absolutely love, that it's the dual POV, which allows us to see what the other character is thinking over an interaction.

I'll probably be reading more of Crystal Kaswell in the future.

Thank you Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this title.

This is a contemporary version of the classic "Sabrina". I was captivated by the story of Deanna, the mastermind behind a dating app that doesn't allow photos, and her unforeseen involvement with River, the nerdy boy next door who underwent a transformation. This story brilliantly contrasts technology-based compatibility with the unpredictable nature of human attraction. I was particularly intrigued by the relationship between Deanna and River, as their evolving bond challenges the fundamental basis of Deanna's app. The book expertly combines romance, personal growth, and the enduring question of whether love can be calculated. As someone who loves both romance and technology, this story resonated with me, providing both a heartwarming journey and a thought-provoking exploration of modern love.

Don’t let this cutesy cover fool you, because what starts off quite innocent turns a bit 🌶️🌶️🌶️ by the end✨

⭐️THE NEIGHBOR WAGER, out TOMORROW (2/20)⭐️

3.25⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and @entangled_publishing for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!

I got 34% into this book. It just wasn’t for me. I found the characters lacked depth and the writing seemed almost childish. I just didn’t enjoy it and don’t wish to continue.

Best of luck!